Kate Duchêne (, born Catherine Anne Purves Duchêne; 5 January 1959) is an English actress best known for her role as the teacher Miss Hardbroom in the adaptation of the children's books ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...

''.

Career

Duchêne started to act at the age of 14. She studied French and Spanish at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in the 1980s, where she became a member of the

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

theatre group, writing and performing her own material.Mini Bio
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

She also acted with the Cambridge Mummers, appearing in such plays as Measure For Measure (as Isabella) in Cambridge and the Edinburgh Fringe. In the 1980s she joined the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, appearing in the premiere productions of Losing Venice and The White Rose. Since 2000 she has appeared frequently at the National Theatre in London, frequently working with director Katie Mitchell. She briefly went to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, teaching English to children, and returned in 1986.

Television

Duchêne is best known for her work as Miss Constance Hardbroom, the strict "deputy head and potions teacher" on the popular TV series ''

''. She stayed with the programme for its three-year run, and appeared in the first episode of its 2001 spinoff '' Weirdsister College'' but did not return for the second spinoff, ''

The New Worst Witch ''The New Worst Witch'' is a television series based on Jill Murphy's ''The Worst Witch'' books about a group of young witches at a Witch Academy. It ran for two series from 2005 to 2007. The series is a spin-off from ''The Worst Witch'' TV se ...

'' (2005–2006). Later projects included ''

Afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

'', a paranormal drama series, and extensive

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

work.

Radio

From October 1987 to July 1991, Duchêne played Alex Parker in

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's drama series ''

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

''. In 2013 she guest-starred in the final Series 4 episode of '' Cabin Pressure'', playing a captain in the service of a Zurich-based airline.

Private life

Duchêne spent her infancy in France, and was brought back to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

permanently in 1962, residing in the seaside town of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. Her partner is Robert Hickson. , they have 2 children.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Biography and Filmography (to 2009 only)
at "Badgers" unofficial fansite. 1959 births English film actresses English television actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses Living people Actresses from Essex Actors from the London Borough of Newham People from Plaistow, Newham {{UK-screen-actor-stub