Alice Patten is an English actress, and the daughter of Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, a prominent British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and the last

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. She played a leading role in the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film '' Rang De Basanti'' (2006), earning her praise from Indian film critics.

Early life and education

Patten was educated at Island School in

and at Queens' College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. She lived in

from 1992 to 1997, during her father's governorship.

Career

Her first major role after graduation was Eugenie in ''

Vincent in Brixton ''Vincent in Brixton'' is a 2002 play by Nicholas Wright. The play premiered at London's National Theatre with Jochum ten Haaf in the title role. It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre and later to Broadway. It focuses on artist Vincent v ...

'' in the West End in 2002. In 2004, she appeared in ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'' as Gillian Bailey. In 2005 and 2006, she appeared in

English Touring Theatre English Touring Theatre (ETT) is a major touring theatre company based in London, England. History English Touring Theatre was founded in 1993 by Stephen Unwin. In 2008, the directorship of the company was taken over by Rachel Tackley, making E ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'', playing

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

opposite Ed Stoppard. In 2006, she appeared in the Bollywood film '' Rang De Basanti'' as Sue McKinley, a young British woman who comes to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to make a documentary film about the

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. In 2008, she played Thea in ''Hedda'', a new version of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's '' Hedda Gabler'', at London's

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

and, in 2009, she guest-starred as

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

's mother '' Ygraine'' in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

fantasy drama series ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

''. Patten also played the role of Vicky Anderson, in an episode of ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

'', the daughter of an English-born

businessman, Douglas Anderson, who had been involved in questionable building deals in Hong Kong, shortly before the end of British rule in 1997.New Tricks - Dead Man Talking

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...

, 8:30pm, Friday, 11 February 2011

Filmography

Television

* ''The Forsyte Saga'' (2002) as Imogen (2 episodes) * ''Where the Heart Is'' (2003) as Candida Oliver-Watts (3 episodes) * '' The Last King'' (2003) as Lady Frances Stewart (1 episode) * ''

'' (2004) as Dawn/Gillian Bailey (1 episode) * ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' (2004) as Emily Hide (1 episode) * ''Heroes and Villains'' (2008) as Joann (1 episode) * ''Mistresses'' (2010) as Alice (4 episodes) * ''

'' (2010) as Vicky Anderson (1 episode) * ''Merlin'' (2009–2010) as Y'Graine (3 episodes) * '' The Musketeers'' (2014) as Sister Hélène (1 episode) * Our Girl (2014) as Rebecca (1 episode) * ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'' (2014) as Diana Clark (1 episode) * ''Six Wives with Lucy Worsley'' (2016) as Katherine Parr (1 episode)

Film

* ''Vincent In Brixton'' (2003) as Eugenie Loyer * '' Rang De Basanti'' (2006) as Sue McKinley * ''Trade Routes'' (2008) as Sarah *''The Dry Cleaner'' (2019)

References

External links

*
Alice Patten interview on ''Rang De Basanti'' in BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patten, Alice Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Actresses from London People educated at Island School Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Daughters of life peers English television actresses English film actresses English stage actresses British expatriates in Hong Kong English expatriates in India Actresses in Hindi cinema British expatriate actresses in India 21st-century English actresses