Alison Bettles (born 22 April 1969) is a retired

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

television

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She is known for playing Fay Lucas in BBC's ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' for six series (1982–1987).

Career

Bettles was recruited into acting at the age of eight by Sylvia Young of the

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in 19 ...

. As a child, Bettles appeared in various television advertisements, which included a

public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...

for the

Green Cross Code The Green Cross Code is a brand created by the National Road Safety Committee (now the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, RoSPA) to raise awareness of pedestrian road safety in the United Kingdom. The multimedia Green Cross Code cam ...

with

Bob Carolgees Bob Carolgees (born Robert Frederick Johnson; 12 May 1948) is a British comedy entertainer who appeared on the Saturday morning TV series ''Tiswas'' and then later in its adult versions '' O.T.T.'' and '' Saturday Stayback''. He is best known fo ...

in 1981.Alison Beetles
", ''www.grangehill.contactbox.co.uk''. URL last accessed on 6 October 2007. She is known for her childhood role in the

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

drama, ''

''. Bettles played the prominent character Fay Lucas between 1982 and 1987, who was most notable for having an affair with one of her teachers, Mr King (David Straun). Bettles was one of various ''Grange Hill'' actors to feature in the UK's

Just Say No "Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying ''no''. ...

anti-drug campaign. The cast recorded a song (also entitled "Just Say No"), which was released as a single, and reached number 5 in April 1986. Bettles was also featured on a special music album released by the ''Grange Hill'' cast, with songs written by Steve Wright, who composed the theme tune for Channel 4's ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

''. Bettles sang a solo track entitled "School Love", which was based on her character's doomed relationship with Mr. King.Fay Lucas
", ''www.grangehillfans.co.uk''. URL last accessed on 6 October 2007. In 2005, Bettles was reunited with some of her former ''Grange Hill'' castmates in

Justin Lee Collins Justin Lee Collins (born 1974) is a former actor and radio and television presenter from Bristol, England.Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary, '' Bring Back...Grange Hill'', which saw them perform their top ten hit, Just Say No, in front of an audience at the

Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to be built ...

. Aside from her ''Grange Hill'' music projects, Bettles also sang on the charity single "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

", released by

Ferry Aid Ferry Aid was a British-American charity supergroup, brought together to record the song " Let It Be" in 1987. The single was released following the Zeebrugge Disaster; on 6 March 1987 the ferry had capsized, killing 193 passengers and crew. ...

in 1987 to raise money for victims of the

Zeebrugge ferry disaster MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was ow ...

. In 1988 Bettles appeared in a spin-off of the popular BBC soap opera, ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. The spin-off, entitled ''

CivvyStreet "CivvyStreet" (sometimes written as "Civvy Street") is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera ''EastEnders'', broadcast on BBC1 on 26 December 1988. The episode is a flashback to World War II and is set at Christmas 1942. The epis ...

'', was set during the second world war, and looked back on the early life of some of ''EastEnders senior residents. Bettles played a young

Ethel Skinner Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which s ...

.EastEnders
", ''www.televisionheaven.co.uk''. URL last accessed on 6 October 2007. Among Bettles' other credits are:

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

's police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' (1988) (credited as 'Alison Beetles'); ''

No Strings ''No Strings'' is a musical drama with book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers. ''No Strings'' is the only Broadway score for which Rodgers wrote both lyrics and music, and the first musical he composed after the death o ...

'' (1989); ''Closing Numbers'' (1993); ''Ostatni Accord'' (1994) and '' London's Burning'' (2001). Bettles gave up performing in the 1990s to marry and bring up her family. During her time away from acting Bettles qualified as a beauty therapist, and in 2005 she set up a specialist freight forwarding company called Kenvale Recruitment.

Personal life

Bettles was born in 1969 to a mother who worked as a chaperone for the ''Grange Hill'' series from its inception in 1978 to 2002. She and her two brothers grew up in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where Bettles attended Aveley Comprehensive. Bettles is married and has four children—three boys and a daughter. Bettles' children have also taken to performing, with her son Albert Valentine appearing in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episodes, ''

The Empty Child "The Empty Child" is the ninth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 May 2005. It was directed by James Hawes, and was the first canonical episo ...

'' and ''

The Doctor Dances "The Doctor Dances" is the tenth episode of the first series of the revival of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2005. It is the second of a two-part story, following t ...

''. Another son, Arthur, has appeared in ''EastEnders''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettles, Alison 1969 births Living people English television actresses People from Aveley Actresses from Essex Actors from Thurrock