
Acting
Penelope Keith
Born — Died
1940-04-02 — 2026-06-29
Place of birth
Sutton, Surrey, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
59 titles
Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, DBE, DL (née Hatfield; 2 April 1940 – 29 June 2026) was an English actress and presenter, active in all genres, including radio, stage, television and film and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born.
Known for
5.6Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.
Wogan
1982
7.8A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
The Avengers
1961
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
7.0ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967
6.9A British television drama based on P. D. James' novel of the same name, a murder mystery sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Six years after the union of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Lydia Wickham barges into Pemberley screaming that her husband has been murdered.
Death Comes to Pemberley
2013
7.5What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programs of all time.
Remembers…
2022
Film credits
2020s · 4 titles
7.0The cosy sitcom had storylines tackling mid-life crises, drunken wife-swapping and more.
The Good Life: Secret & Scandals
2022
NRDocumentary celebrating 50 years of The Good Life.
The Good Life: Inside Out
2025
NRA feature-length special retrospective of one of Britain's most beloved sitcoms, with new and archival interviews and footage examining the production and enduring cultural impact of the BBC's 'To the Manor Born'.
To the Manor Born: Britain's Best Loved Comedy
2024
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Britain's Most Expensive Home: Building for a Billionaire
2020
2010s · 2 titles
NRA history of the British television comedy double act Morecambe & Wise to coincide with the BBC drama about their early lives.
Eric & Ernie: Behind the Scenes
2011
NRWhat was it really like behind the scenes of The Good Life? With contributions from Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Monty Don, Brian Sewell and John O'Farrell.
All About The Good Life
2010
2000s · 2 titles
7.7Haughty housewife Margery and her cleaner Gladys go on the run after mistakenly believing that they have killed a teenage burglar.
Margery and Gladys
2003
Movie with some of the greatest brittish comedians such as Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese.
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
2005
1990s · 3 titles
5.4Drama about the Dunar and Carey-Lewis families, before during and after WW2.
Coming Home
1998
3.6As a merchant sets off for market, he asks his three lovely daughters what they would like as a present upon his return. His youngest daughter, who he adoringly calls Beauty, replied. "All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me." Remembering his promise to Beauty he plucks a rose, enraging the owner of the rosebush, a fearsome boarlike beast who inhabits the nearby castle. The Beast agrees to spare his life, but on one condition, that he brings him the daughter for which he plucked the rose.
Beauty and the Beast
1992
5.6A young man's life is turned around with the help of a genie inside a lamp.
Aladdin
1992
1980s · 6 titles
7.2Clarissa, the wife of a Foreign Office diplomat, is given to daydreaming. 'Supposing I were to come down one morning and find a dead body in the library, what should I do?' she muses. Clarissa has her chance to find out when she discovers a body in the drawing-room of her house in Kent.
Spider's Web
1982
5.0Following the banning and burning of his novel, "The Rainbow," D.H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda, move to the United States, and then to Mexico. When Lawrence contracts tuberculosis, they return to England for a short time, then to Italy, where Lawrence writes "Lady Chatterley's Lover."
Priest of Love
1981
6.0Set in a British country house in the 1920s, Hay Fever follows the outlandish bevaiour of the Bliss family when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. Best described as a cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, Hay Fever is one of Coward's most popular plays.
Hay Fever
1984
Michael Frayn's play about a college reunion.
Donkeys' Years
1980
Lonely people in a quiet hotel find their lives shaken up by the arrival of the glamorous, assertive Helen Lancaster.
Waters of the Moon
1983
Adaptation of the play by Frederick Lonsdale
On Approval
1982
1970s · 9 titles
4.9Teddy works for a large advertising company. Given the seemingly impossible task of selling frozen porridge, he decides to produce commercials that make the product seem sexy. This leads him to confrontation with the "Keep Television Clean" movement, of which his wife is a senior member.
Every Home Should Have One
1970
4.4When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1978
5.8Young Jenny heads to the South of England to start a new career as a school teacher. Even before she has had a chance to settle in she meets Patrick, one of the local "lads". Within a short time she has her hands full when a number of the local boys take a liking to her. But who will be the lucky one who wins her affections?
Take a Girl Like You
1970
6.0While investigating a murder case, a detective stumbles upon a rare-stamp swindle involving the victim's twin sister.
Penny Gold
1973
4.9Several old college friends converge at a mansion, ostensibly for a pleasant reunion. Larry Dann, the most easygoing of the bunch, comes to the conclusion that all is not well in the old dark house. For one thing, he's run across several people whom he's never met. For another, they all seem to be of a different time and place.
Ghost Story
1974
Elton John has trouble getting correct directions. Eric and Ernie move house. Ernie's play is called 'Cyrano de Bergerac' and stars Francis Matthews and Penelope Keith.
The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show
1977
A film biography by David Jones with Freddie Jones as John Clare "I am - yet what I am, none cares or knows" (John Clare) John Clare (1792-1864), farm labourer, had three obsessions: his youthful love for Mary Joyce, the countryside of his native Northamptonshire, and the need to celebrate both in his poetry. Clare cracked under the increasing strain of poverty and neglect, and spent the last 23 years of his life in Northampton General Lunatic Asylum. He imagined himself to be Lord Byron, a bigamist, and a prize-fighter; but the poems of his madness are perhaps the most remarkable he ever wrote. "Clare's asylum foretells our need for an asylum, his deprivation foretells our deprivation" (Geoffrey Grigson) Commentary spoken by Tony Church (from BBC Midlands) (David Jones and Patrick Stewart are members of the Royal Shakespeare Company; Tony Church appears by permission of the Northcott Theatre, Exeter)
John Clare: "I Am"
1970
4.2Armitage runs a chemical company that is on the verge of producing a gas that causes temporary disability. Clearly the military want it but it is also sought by a group of Japanese. Both Armitage and Madam Greenfly hire different people in the same detective agency to guard the gas and steal it respectively... confusion, double crosses and hilarity ensue...
Rentadick
1972
6.8Divorced couple Amanda and Elyot have both recently remarried. On their honeymoons, however, they discover that they have accidentally booked adjoining suites at the same hotel. Containing some of Coward's best dialogue, the play revolves around the agonising realisation that despite their ferocious incompatibility, they are still drawn to each other.
Private Lives
1976
1960s · 3 titles
6.6Intellectually driven doctoral student Rosamund Stacey, while undertaking graduate work at the British Museum, becomes pregnant after a brief affair with a television newsreader. Against the advice of her best friend, Lydia, Rosamund chooses to keep the baby and adjusts her life to include both her studies and her pregnancy. However, when the baby is born, an unforeseen complication threatens the self-sufficient life Rosamund plans for herself.
A Touch of Love
1969
6.0A penniless woman meets a strange girl who insists she is her long-lost mother and becomes enmeshed in a web of deception, and perhaps madness.
Secret Ceremony
1968
6.5Francis Bigger, a notorious charlatan who tours the country lecturing on the subject of mind over matter, slips off the platform in the middle of his performance and ends up in hospital under the care of Dr Tinkle. The hospital is about to enter a period of total chaos.
Carry On Doctor
1967
Series credits
5.6Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.
Wogan
1982
7.8A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
The Avengers
1961
7.8A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
The Avengers
1961
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
7.0ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967
6.9A British television drama based on P. D. James' novel of the same name, a murder mystery sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Six years after the union of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Lydia Wickham barges into Pemberley screaming that her husband has been murdered.
Death Comes to Pemberley
2013
7.5What are the secrets of our favourite TV shows? Famous names from both sides of the camera reflect on making some of the most popular and influential programs of all time.
Remembers…
2022
7.7Tom 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
6.4This sprawling BBC saga follows an aristocratic family through three generations of power, wealth, intrigue, and scandal in Victorian England. Based on Anthony Trollope’s “political” novels .
The Pallisers
1974
8.7Secret agents Anita Knight and Victor Volt protect the world from evildoers, who are primarily members of T.H.E.M. (The Horrible Evil Menace), headed by the ruthless Doctor Doctor. Backed by fellow U.Z.Z. staffers Professor Professor and Unit Commander Agent Ray Rocket, the pair works to keep the world safe. And in keeping everyone apprised of their progress, the agents always hijack "The Fluffy Bunny Show" -- much to the chagrin of Grandma and the pink bunnies who are supposed to star.
The Secret Show
2006
7.3Boohbah is about five little sparkling atoms who love to dance. They encourage viewers at home to follow along.
Boohbah
2003
NRTickle On The Tum was a series of ten minute programmes for young children produced by Granada Television and aired on the ITV network from 1984 until 1988. The series was set in a shop in the fictional village of Tickle-on-the-Tum. The original presenters were folk-singer Ralph McTell, fresh from his stint on Granada's other children's series Alphabet Zoo and Danusia Harwood. From about the middle of the second series, Harwood was replaced by Jacqueline Reddin. In the final series, Reddin became the show's lead presenter and sang the theme song, after McTell returned to his recording career.
Tickle on the Tum
1984
7.0Following the love-hate relationship between upper-class Audrey Forbes-Hamilton and Richard DeVere, the nouveau riche businessman who buys her manor house when she can no longer afford to keep it.
To the Manor Born
1979
7.3Two's Company is a British television situation comedy series that ran from 1975-79. Produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV Network, the programme starred Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden.
Two's Company
1975
6.2Jean Price is the newly elected, somewhat rebellious Labour MP for an inner-city constituency, and her life in the House of Commons. She's married to Geoff Price, a public defender and carer of many household chores so that Jean can pursue her new career. Jean balances her personal life with parliamentary duties, including 'women's issues', which Jean alternately fights for and is frustrated by, as other MPs think she cares about nothing else due to her gender. She often is surprised by others' duplicity and hypocrisy, holding them to a significantly higher standard.
No Job for a Lady
1990
NRAlone and without her parents, Judith Dunbar spends her school days in a boarding school. When her friend Loveday invites her to Gut Nancherrow one day, it is love at first sight for Judith. The elegant lady of the house Diana, her husband Colonel Cary-Lewis and Loveday's siblings Edward and Athena immediately fall in love with her and treat her like family. But the outbreak of the Second World War put an end to the idyll on Nancherrow overnight. A long, thorny road lies ahead of Judith until she finally finds happiness in a family of her own...
Coming Home
1998
6.2Executive Stress is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1986 to 1988. Produced by Thames Television, it first aired on 20 October 1986. After three series, the last episode aired on 27 December 1988. Written by George Layton, Executive Stress stars Penelope Keith as Caroline Fairchild, a middle-aged woman who decides to go back to work. Her husband, Donald, is played by Geoffrey Palmer in the first series. However, Palmer was unable to return for the second series, so Peter Bowles played Donald in the last two series. Keith and Bowles had previously appeared in together in To the Manor Born.
Executive Stress
1986
7.3Andrew and Maggie Prentice have taken early retirement and plan to move to France, however when tragedy strikes they are left to care for their three grandchildren: Georgia, Jake and Michael and are going nowhere fast.
Next of Kin
1995
This show was a series of six plays in which the hero of one was the villain in another, thus illustrating the good and bad sides of the characters.
Six Shades of Black
1965
Set in Chelsea, London, an agony aunt named Kate Graham works as a newspaper columnist where she gives advice to readers dealing with personal problems, but sometimes she can't help getting personally drawn towards the people that write to her.
Kate
1970
Series of plays about the comic and tragic situations of people who rent a country cottage.
Cottage to Let
1977
10.0From cafes to craft fairs, glamping to ghosts, join Dame Penelope Keith as she meets the owners of Britain’s historic country houses struggling to keep their homes intact. Featured properties include Ashby Manor in Northamptonshire, Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, and Mapperton House in Dorset. As these estates turn to innovative ventures to stay afloat, Keith offers insight into the challenges of maintaining these grand homes in 2025. Will their creative solutions be enough to save their history?
Saving Country Houses with Penelope Keith
2026
Wild, Wild Women was a British sitcom that aired on BBC from 1968 to 1969. Made in black-and-white, it starred Barbara Windsor and was written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney.
Wild, Wild Women
1968
7.2Law and Disorder is a British sitcom that aired on ITV in 1994. Starring Penelope Keith, it was written by Alex Shearer, who had also written No Job for a Lady, which Keith appears in. It was directed and produced by John Howard Davies. Law and Disorder was made for the ITV network by Central and Thames Television.
Law and Disorder
1994
6.3The trilogy presents a comically fraught weekend from three different perspectives, as family and in laws gather at the decaying country home of their bedridden mother; the drink flows, and hidden enmities, intimate secrets and uncomfortable truths emerge through the veneer of jollity and civility.
The Norman Conquests
1977
Sweet Sixteen is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 in 1983. It stars Penelope Keith and was written by Douglas Watkinson and directed and produced by Gareth Gwenlan.
Sweet Sixteen
—
8.5Moving is a British sitcom that aired on ITV in 1985. It stars Penelope Keith and was written by Stanley Price. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television.
Moving
1985
Penelope Keith delves into the BBC's written archives.
BBC: The Secret Files
2015
NRPenelope sets forth on a special journey exploring the UK's seaside villages
Penelope Keith's Coastal Villages
2017
6.0The Manor Reborn will see a team of historians, experts and volunteers reinterpreting 500-year-old Avebury Manor in Wiltshire and restoring it as an immersive experience.
The Manor Reborn
2011
