Joanne Heywood
Acting
Biography
Joanne Heywood is an English television actress, probably best known for her role as Jessica Lovelock in Grace & Favour, a spin-off series of Are You Being Served? Born in York, Heywood was educated in York, Guildford and in Sydney, Australia. She studied musical theatre at the Guildford School of Acting and, after graduating, made her professional stage debut in 1985 production of the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at York's Theatre Royal. For the next decade, she regularly appeared in pantomime at the same venue, often as principal boy. During this period, she also performed in stage musicals, including regional productions of Annie, Gypsy and Camelot, as well as the world premieres of Scrooge: The Musical and the stage adaptation of High Society. Heywood's television debut was in the role of Dilys on the short-lived BBC series First of the Summer Wine. In 1991, she made appearances on the television shows The New Statesman (natural selection,se3) and The Brittas Empire. In addition to her role as Jessica Lovelock, Heywood played Sally Bennett in the Gerry Poulson film Stanley's Dragon. She has also guest-starred in Knightmare, Next of Kin, four episodes of Coronation Street and A Prince Among Men. In recent years, her television appearances have become less regular. She has appeared in Heartbeat, Emmerdale Farm and My Hero. Since then, Heywood has continued to perform frequently in regional and West End theatre productions, including plays, musicals and pantomimes.
Known For
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
The ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.
Gran Turismo
My Hero is a BBC sitcom created by Paul Mendelson. The programme ran for six series, first broadcast in February 2000, and concluding in September 2006. The series follows the antics of the dim-witted superhero "Thermoman", portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon in series one to five and by James Dreyfus in the final series. The series was regularly directed by John Stroud. In the UK, the digital channel Gold regularly re-runs the programme, although the last series has yet to appear on the channel. In the United States it was shown on PBS and, briefly, BBC America. In Australia, UKTV offered re-runs of the first three series, while BBC Entertainment provided repeats for Scandinavia.
My Hero
The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time.
The New Statesman
The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. The show ran for seven series and 53 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Norriss and Fegen wrote the first five series, after which they left the show. The Brittas Empire enjoyed a long and successful run throughout the 1990s, and gained itself large mainstream audiences. In 2004 the show came 47th on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom poll, and all series have been released on DVD. The creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen often combine farce with either surreal or dramatic elements in episodes. For example in the first series, the leisure centre prepares for a royal visit, only for the doors to seal, the boiler room to flood and a visitor to become electrocuted. Unlike the traditional sitcom, deaths were quite common in The Brittas Empire.
The Brittas Empire
Knightmare is a British television programme for children and was broadcast on CITV from 7 September 1987 to 11 November 1994. An adventure game show, Knightmare involves a team of four children – one taking the role of the sightless dungeoneer, and the remaining three acting as their guide – traversing a medieval environment as they attempt to complete a quest and exit the dungeon, using their wits to overcome puzzles, obstacles and the unusual characters they meet along the journey. The show is most noted for its use of blue screen chroma key and use of 'virtual reality' interactive gameplay on television. Broadcast to high viewing figures throughout its original run, it has garnered a cult status amongst its fans since its final television episode in 1994. It was revived for a one off special by YouTube in August 2013.
Knightmare
Jacko is a painter and decorator with an eye for the ladies. He works with Eric, who's married to his sister Jean. The painting and decorating firm they work for is owned by Lionel Bainbridge.
Brush Strokes
Grace & Favour is a British sitcom sequel to the long-running series Are You Being Served ? The series begins with the staff of Grace Bros returning to the store to read the will of Young Mr Grace, the former head of the department store, recently deceased while scuba diving on holiday in the Caribbean with his personal secretary, Miss Jessica Lovelock. It aired on BBC1 for two series from 1992 to 1993 and marked the return of Are You Being Served ? creators and writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft.
Grace & Favour
Sitcom prequel to Last of the Summer Wine set in a small Yorkshire village in 1939 as Britain becomes poised for war.
First of the Summer Wine
Paul's journey of self-discovery takes a unique turn when he embarks on his ambition to become a drag queen, despite fear of ridicule from his peers and being ostracized by his family. Opportunity presents itself when Paul meets drag queen Mimi Le Purr, a seasoned performer at The Sequin Club in Blackpool.
Sequins
Exploring a cavern, Stanley loses his friends but finds an old egg. He is excited when it hatches and a dragon comes out of it, but the authorities don't agree and put the dragon in the zoo. Stanley sets out to free his new discovery.