Ruth Kettlewell

Acting

Ruth Kettlewell

Born — Died

1913-04-12 — 2007-07-17

Place of birth

Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

38 titles

Known for

Heartbeat poster
7.1

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992

Tales of the Unexpected poster
6.8

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Tales of the Unexpected

1979

All Creatures Great and Small poster
7.8

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

All Creatures Great and Small

1978

The Expert poster
9.0

The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.

The Expert

1968

The Onedin Line poster
7.0

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in affairs like international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.

The Onedin Line

1971

On the Buses poster
7.3

On the Buses is a British comedy series created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to a friend, Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television, who loved the idea; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.

On the Buses

1969

Film credits

1980s · 3 titles

1970s · 5 titles

No Blade of Grass poster
5.3

A strange new virus has appeared, which only attacks strains of grasses such as wheat and rice, and the world is descending into famine and chaos. Architect John, along with his family and friends, is making his way from London to his brother's farm in northern England where there will hopefully be food and safety for all of them.

No Blade of Grass

1970

Adventures of a Private Eye poster
4.4

While a private detective is away on vacation, his not particularly bright assistant takes it upon himself to "solve" a case that comes in. Complications ensue.

Adventures of a Private Eye

1977

The Black Panther poster
5.9

A gung-ho ex-military man pursues a secret life of crime, culminating in the kidnapping of a teenage heiress.

The Black Panther

1977

Zeppelin poster
6.2

The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable position. Although his allegiance is to Britain, his mother was from an aristocratic Bavarian family, and he spent his summers in Germany as a child. When Geoffrey is approached by a German spy who offers him a chance to defect, he reports the incident to his superiors, but instead of arresting the spy they suggest that he accept her offer--and become an Allied agent. In Germany, among old friends, Geoffrey discovers that loyalty is more complicated than he expected, especially when he finds himself aboard the maiden voyage of a powerful new prototype Zeppelin, headed for Scotland on a secret mission that could decide the outcome of the war.

Zeppelin

1971

When the Bough Breaks poster
10.0

NSPCC social worker Margaret Ashdown is given the case of investigating into the Gosse family, when the young mother, Sheila, is unable to explain her baby's fractured skull at the hospital. She discovers the family live in poverty and ignorance, and have a tradition of instability.

When the Bough Breaks

1971

1960s · 6 titles

Oh! What a Lovely War poster
6.6

The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.

Oh! What a Lovely War

1969

Target Generation poster
NR

The Ship contains a generation, and only one inheritor knows what must be done when the tremor is felt throughout the metal cylinder.

Target Generation

1969

Sons and Lovers poster
6.5

The son of a working-class British mining family has dreams of pursuing an art career, but when he strikes up an affair with an older, married woman from the town it enrages his kind but possessive mother.

Sons and Lovers

1960

Cathy Come Home poster
7.0

Cathy and Reg are a couple with three young children, who find their life spiralling into poverty when Reg loses his well-paid job. Gripping and emotional, Cathy Come Home remains a truly ground-breaking piece of dramatic fiction, engaging viewers with social issues, such as homelessness, unemployment and the rights of mothers to keep their own children.

Cathy Come Home

1966

Clue of the New Pin poster
6.5

TV journalist Tab Holland assists Scotland yard with the murder of a reclusive millionaire whose corpse is discovered locked in a vault. The key to the vault is mysteriously found on the table beside the corpse.

Clue of the New Pin

1961

Press for Time poster
5.9

Norman is quite happy selling newspapers outside Westminster station but his Grandfather (the Prime Minister) wants to get him "a more responsible job". A few favours are called in and Norman becomes the newest reporter at the seaside town of Tinmouth. After causing chaos at a local council meeting and causing the demolition of a new house he tries to organise a beauty pageant. A slapstick tale of corruption in high and low places

Press for Time

1966

Series credits

Heartbeat poster
7.1

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992

Tales of the Unexpected poster
6.8

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Tales of the Unexpected

1979

All Creatures Great and Small poster
7.8

The trials and misadventures of the staff at a country veterinary office in Yorkshire. James Herriot, a young animal surgeon, moves to a small Yorkshire town to begin his first job.

All Creatures Great and Small

1978

The Expert poster
9.0

The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.

The Expert

1968

The Onedin Line poster
7.0

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in affairs like international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.

The Onedin Line

1971

On the Buses poster
7.3

On the Buses is a British comedy series created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to a friend, Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television, who loved the idea; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers.

On the Buses

1969

The Good Life poster
7.7

Tom and Barbara Good escape the rat race and pursue a self-sufficient lifestyle in Surbiton, much to the concern, frustration and sometimes envy of their neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. Entitled ‘Good Neighbors’ when shown in the USA.

The Good Life

1975

Catweazle poster
7.5

A medieval wizard (though not a very good one) Catweazle is transported to the modern age... A British television series, created and written by Richard Carpenter which was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for London Weekend Television under the LWI banner, and screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. A second season in 1971 was directed by David Reid and David Lane. Both series had thirteen episodes each, with Geoffrey Bayldon playing the leading role. The series was broadcast in Ireland, Britain, Gibraltar, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Nicaragua and Quebec. The first episode is available to view in full at the BFI Screenonline site.

Catweazle

1970

Not in Front of the Children poster
7.0

Jennifer Corner is a rather scatterbrained middle-class housewife. Her husband Henry is a school art teacher, and they have three children, Henry, Robin and Trudi.

Not in Front of the Children

1967

That's My Boy poster
6.6

That's My Boy is a British sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1981 to 1986. It stars Mollie Sugden as Ida Willis, who takes a job as a housekeeper for her son, whom she gave up for adoption years earlier.

That's My Boy

1981

All Gas and Gaiters poster
6.2

All Gas and Gaiters is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of "John Wraith" when writing the pilot. At St Oggs Cathedral is a carefree bishop, an old tippling archdeacon, and an accident-prone chaplain, who all wish to live a quiet bachelor life, but this is continually threatened by the dean, who tries to bring by-the-book rule to the cathedral.

All Gas and Gaiters

1967

Life Begins at Forty poster
6.7

After 17 years of married life, Chris and Katy Bunting are faced with being parents for the first time. The repercussions are only just starting to become apparent.

Life Begins at Forty

1978

Moody and Pegg poster
7.5

Roland Moody is a newly divorced 42-year-old junk/antique dealer greatly anticipating freedom from matrimonial ties. Daphne Pegg, plain spinster and dedicated civil servant in her early thirties, leaves her home in Bolton after realising that her office boss will never agree to marry her. She heads for London and a clean break, but, owing to a rogue estate agent's dealings, finds that a man - Moody - also has a valid lease arrangement for the property she acquires. Unable to work out who is the squatter, they agree to be feuding partners and share, forging a very uncomfortable situation that is exacerbated by Moody's prodigious line of visiting girlfriends. With hilarious consequences.

Moody and Pegg

1974

Hardwicke House poster
5.2

Hardwicke House is a 1987 British sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for ITV. Seven spisodes were made, but the series was so poorly received that only the first two were transmitted. In the large comprehensive school Hardwicke House, the staff of which are as dysfunctional as the pupils. One teacher is a multiple murderer while the deputy headmaster lusts after male pupils. One teacher, Moose Magnusson, is on an extended exchange placement because his own school in Iceland refuses to have him back.

Hardwicke House

1987

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

No artwork available
NR

Chéri is a 1973 British drama television series produced and aired by the BBC. The five-episode miniseries is an adaptation of the acclaimed French novels by Colette, following the turbulent romantic entanglement between an older courtesan and a much younger, spoiled man.

Chéri

1973

Oh, Father! poster
7.5

Oh, Father! is a British sitcom produced by Graeme Muir for BBC One. A follow-up to the 1968–70 series Oh, Brother!, Derek Nimmo reprises his role as Brother Dominic, who finds himself promoted to Father, but that's as far as his luck goes. He's just as clumsy and accident-prone as ever.

Oh, Father!

1973

Boy Dominic poster
8.0

The adventures of a 12-year-old boy's struggles in Victorian Yorkshire, after his father, Captain Charles Bulman, is lost, presumed drowned off the coast of Africa.

Boy Dominic

1974

The Georgian House poster
7.5

Two children travel back in time and attempt to help a Black slave boy who possesses strange powers.

The Georgian House

1976

Mr Don & Mr George poster
6.2

Mr Don & Mr George was a Channel 4 sitcom, featuring two characters from the Scottish comedy sketch show Absolutely. Moray Hunter and Jack Docherty played two unrelated characters who happened to share a surname. Hunter and Docherty wrote the series and it was made by their production company, Absolutely Productions. The humour was surreal and often featured ridiculous visual gags and wordplay. A single six-episode series was made, and was first broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 in 1993. The series was released on VHS in the 1990s. A single VHS tape was released with all six episodes on as well. This tape stated that it had the entire first series on one tape, however no further series were made.

Mr Don & Mr George

1993

No artwork available
8.0

While on holiday, the Walker children spot an island. Borrowing a boat, they meet pirates seeking their uncle's trunk. After adventures with storms and cakes, the children and pirates learn friendship.

Swallows and Amazons

1963