Rebecca Jane Lacey (born 20 April 1965) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Dr. George Woodman in ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and Hilary in '' May to December'' and for her stage work in the West End and The RSC.

Early life

She was born in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, the daughter of actor

Ronald Lacey Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' ...

and actress Mela White.

Career

Lacey is best known for her roles as Irene Stuart (series 4) in '' Monarch of the Glen'', the feisty Dr George Woodman in ''

'' (having previously made two guest appearances in the series as patients in 1991 and 1994), and ditzy but kind-hearted Hilary in '' May to December''. She has also played a number of roles in ''

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 ...

'' and many other TV series. In 1992 she appeared in the film '' Carry On Columbus'' and followed it up in 1995 with an appearance 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 ...

/WGBH comedy drama adapted from '' Heavy Weather'' by

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

and starring

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...

as Lord Emsworth. She has appeared in a number of theatre productions including a season with

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen ...

in Terry Johnson's ''Dead Funny'' in the West End and ''

Amy's View ''Amy's View'' is a play written by British playwright David Hare. It premiered in London at the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre on 13 June 1997, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup and Samantha Bond ...

'' by David Hare. From 2012 to 2013, she portrayed Laura Tyler in the

soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''.

Filmography

Television

* ''

'' 1984 ("It's Not Such a Bad Job After All") - video shop assistant * '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' 1984 ("Fools Rush In") - Gloria Pelham * '' Mann's Best Friends'' (1985) - Receptionist * ''

Starting Out ''Starting Out'' is an Australian television soap opera made for the Nine Network by the Reg Grundy Organisation in 1983. Background The five-night-a-week series was created by Reg Watson as the network's replacement for the long-running s ...

'' 1986 (''To Be or Not to Be'') - Maggie Robertson * ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' 1986 ("To Sleep No More") - Receptionist * ''

Home to Roost ''Home to Roost'' is a British sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television between 19 April 1985 and 19 January 1990. Written by Eric Chappell, it stars John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his teenaged son Matthew. The premise is tha ...

'' 1986–89 (3 episodes) - Julie Willows * '' The Bretts'' 1987 (various episodes) - Emily * '' News at Twelve'' 1988 (various episodes) - Sharon Doyle * ''

'' 1989 ("Street Games and Board Games") - Debbie * '' Hannay'' 1989 ("The Confidence Man") - Florence Peterson * '' May to December'' 1989–93 (Series 1-5) - Hilary * '' The Darling Buds of May'' 1993 (2 episodes) - Marion Winters * '' Comedy Firsts'' 1995 (The Smiths) - Carol Smith * '' Game On'' ("Bad Timing") 1995 - Claudia * '' A Touch of Frost'' 1996 ("Fun Times for Swingers") - Anne-Marie Pearce * ''

'' 1997 ("Once Bitten") - Diane Holloway * ''

'' 1997-99 (various episodes) - Dr Georgina 'George' Woodman * ''

Badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

'' 1999 (various episodes) - RSPB Officer Claire Armitage * '' Murder in Mind'' 2002 ("Memories") - Jenny Wilsher * '' Monarch of the Glen'' 2004 (Series 4 eps 1-8) - Irene * '' Murder in Suburbia'' 2004 (" Millionaire's Row") - Hannah Finch * '' M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team'' 2005 (series 2 episode 3) - Ruth Baxter * '' Heartbeat'' 2005 ("Blast From The Past") - Louise Parry * '' Hustle'' 2005 ("Confessions") - Juliette Keyes * ''

'' 2007 (episode 475) - Shiela Morgan * '' Waterloo Road'' 2009-2011 (Series 5-6) - Dina Robbinson * ''

2013 - Laura Tyler * ''

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 ...

'' 2015 ("The Wolf of Wallbrook") - Cindy * '' Endeavour'' 2017 S4 E2 Canticle * '' Rellik'' 2017 Gabriel's therapist * ''

Doc Martin ''Doc Martin'' is a British medical comedy-drama television series starring Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham. It was created by Dominic Minghella developing the character of Dr Martin Bamford from the Nigel Cole comedy film '' Saving ...

'' 2017 (S8 E4) - Tara Newcross * ''

Grantchester Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...

'' 2022 (S7 E2) - Betty Rose

Film

* '' Carry On Columbus'' 1992 - Chiquita * '' Heavy Weather'' BBC, 1995 - Sue Brown * '' Arthur's Dyke'' 2001 - Phillipa * '' Chalet Girl '' 2011 - Thea Matthews

Other work

*Narrator - ''Anne Of Austria'' 1998 (Chivers Audio Books) *Narrator - ''The Exorcist'' (BBC Everyman) *Numerous TV adverts (O2, McVities, Tropicana, Oral B, The Sunday Times, Canon, KLM)

Plays

*Elmire - ''Tartuffe'' (2011) (English Touring Theatre) *Sheila - ''Benefactors'' (2012) (Sheffield Theatres) *Mrs Bennett - ''Pride and Prejudice'' (2013) (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) *Siobhan - ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime'' (2015) (Gielgud Theatre, London) *Patricia - ''Merit'' (2015) (Royal Theatre, Plymouth) *Margaret Hyman - ''Broken Glass'' (2018) (Watford Palace) *Mistress Page - ''The Merry Wives Of Windsor'' (2018) (Royal Shakespeare company) *Sonia - ''Vanya and Sonia and Marsha and Spike'' (2019) (Bath Theatre Royal), (2021) (Charing Cross Theatre) *The Ghost of Christmas Past - ''A Christmas Carol'' (2022/23) (Royal Shakespeare Company)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Rebecca 1965 births English television actresses Living people Actresses from Watford English people of Australian descent English people of Welsh descent