Rachel Bell

Acting

Rachel Bell

Born

1950-01-01 (76)

Place of birth

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

Rachel Bell (born 1950) is an English actress. Bell has many television credits to her name and has been associated as a long-running character with three series: Margaret Holmes in Grange Hill (1997–2002); Edith Pilchester in The Darling Buds of May (1991–1993); and Louise, the overbearing chair of the divorcee support group in Dear John (1986–1987). She also appeared in the Doctor Who story The Happiness Patrol (1988) and the Only Fools and Horses episode "To Hull and Back" (1985). Her films include Sweet William (1980), Red Mercury (2005) and the 2008 Keira Knightley film, The Edge Of Love. In 2010 she played Hyacinth Bucket in a theatrical adaptation of the BBC situation comedy Keepin…

Known for

Midsomer Murders poster
7.5

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Midsomer Murders

1997

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Agatha Christie's Poirot poster
8.2

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

Agatha Christie's Poirot

1989

Grange Hill poster
6.7

Children's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.

Grange Hill

1978

Sister Boniface Mysteries poster
6.5

First there was Father Brown. Now, say hello to Sister Boniface. This clever, moped-riding nun is the police's secret weapon for solving murders in this divine Father Brown spin-off.

Sister Boniface Mysteries

2022

The Upper Hand poster
7.2

The Upper Hand is a British television sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and Columbia Pictures Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, an affluent single woman, raising a son with the help of her mother, hires a housekeeper only to have a man apply for the job.

The Upper Hand

1990

Film credits

2000s · 4 titles

1980s · 3 titles

Series credits

Midsomer Murders poster
7.5

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Midsomer Murders

1997

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Agatha Christie's Poirot poster
8.2

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

Agatha Christie's Poirot

1989

Grange Hill poster
6.7

Children's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.

Grange Hill

1978

Sister Boniface Mysteries poster
6.5

First there was Father Brown. Now, say hello to Sister Boniface. This clever, moped-riding nun is the police's secret weapon for solving murders in this divine Father Brown spin-off.

Sister Boniface Mysteries

2022

The Upper Hand poster
7.2

The Upper Hand is a British television sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and Columbia Pictures Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, an affluent single woman, raising a son with the help of her mother, hires a housekeeper only to have a man apply for the job.

The Upper Hand

1990

Shoestring poster
7.7

Shoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 hour-long episodes. Eve opted not to return after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre, so the production team changed the setting to Jersey and created Bergerac, also following a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.

Shoestring

1979

The Darling Buds of May poster
7.9

An idyllic picture of 1950's rural England as seen through the lives of the Larkins, a farm family living in Kent. The show revolves around Pa Larkin, a man of a kind and mischievous nature with a penchant for getting into scrapes and talking his way out of them with equal equanimity; and his daughters, as they deal with growing up and discovering the joys and sorrows of young love.

The Darling Buds of May

1991

Murder in Mind poster
8.3

A series of self-contained stories, each recounting a murder scene as seen from the chilling viewpoint of the killer. Explore the inner workings of a criminal's brain, revealing humanity at its darkest.

Murder in Mind

2001

No artwork available
NR

A series of plays from Birmingham by new writers.

Second City Firsts

1973

Dear John poster
7.6

Dear John is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Two series and a special were broadcast between 1986 and 1987. The title refers to 'Dear John' letters, girls to their boyfriends breaking off a relationship. John discovers in the opening episode that his wife is leaving him for a friend, and he is forced to find lodgings. In desperation, he attends the 1-2-1 Singles Club and finds other members mostly social misfits. In 1988, an American adaptation of the same name was produced by Paramount for the NBC network, starring Judd Hirsch. It lasted for four seasons.

Dear John

1986

Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye poster
7.3

When a handful of grain is found in the pocket of a murdered businessman, Miss Marple seeks a murderer with a penchant for nursery rhymes.

Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye

1985

Home to Roost poster
6.5

Home to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew. The premise is that Henry Willows is forty-something, who has been divorced from his wife for seven years and is perfectly happy living alone in London. That is, until his youngest child, Matthew arrives to live with him, after being thrown out by his mother. The plots generally revolved around Henry's annoyance at having his solitude disturbed, and the age gap clash. Henry employed two cleaners throughout the show's life; first Enid Thompson, and, in the third season, Fiona Fennell.

Home to Roost

1985

Mrs Biggs poster
8.0

The true story of Charmian Brent (née Powell), the rebellious product of a strict 1950s upbringing, and her whirlwind romance with Ronald Biggs leading to a descent into crime, most infamously 1963's Great Train Robbery.

Mrs Biggs

2012

Disraeli poster
7.6

Disraeli is a British four part serial about the great statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli.

Disraeli

1978

The Magnificent Evans poster
6.8

The Magnificent Evans is a 1984 BBC situation comedy written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker, Sharon Morgan and Myfanwy Talog.

The Magnificent Evans

1984