Theatre After drama school, Badland joined
Ian McKellen's
Actors' Company at the
Cambridge Arts Theatre; her first professional productions were in director
Noel Willman's
Three Arrows (by
Iris Murdoch) and
Richard Cottrell's
Ruling the Roost (
Georges Feydeau) in October 1972. After pantomime (
Toad of Toad Hall at the
Dukes Theatre, Lancaster), at the end of that year she moved on to the 1973 season with the
Royal Shakespeare Company at
Stratford. Her Audrey in
As You Like It was considered an auspicious debut in a leading company. Badland joined the cast of
Jim Cartwright's play
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which centres on a shy young woman from Lancashire who expresses herself through song, at the
Aldwych Theatre from October 1992 through February 1993. In 1994, she starred in
Tony Kushner's post-communist tragic comedy
Slavs!, which explored the repercussions of the post Soviet era.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a play adapted from
Muriel Sparks's novel about an otherwise inspirational teacher who transpires to have an unhealthy admiration for fascist leaders, saw Badland as headmistress Miss Mackay on London's West End in 1998. She went on to perform opposite
Jude Law in both David Lan's 1999 production of ''
'Tis Pity She's a Whore and his 2002 production of Doctor Faustus'' at the
Young Vic Theatre in London. In 2006, Badland worked with
The Peter Hall Company on two productions at the
Theatre Royal in
Bath, England. The first was
Shakespeare's
Measure for Measure, a drama centring on protagonist Isabella's moral dilemma of whether or not to sacrifice her virginity to save her brother. Second was writer
Alan Bennett's ensemble piece
Habeas Corpus, a farce penned in 1971 and set to modern music of that time. She went on to work with Hall again in 2007 in a production of
Noël Coward's
The Vortex at London's
Apollo Theatre. During the Tiata Delights Festival in 2009, Badland performed in Zimbabwean playwright Michael Bhim's
The Golden Hour, a thriller set in a London hospital where the main character encounters a baby he thinks has been brought to the country illegally. That same year she participated in
Hampstead Theatre's (London) fiftieth anniversary season by starring in
Michael Frayn's play
Alphabetical Order, which is set in a provincial newspaper library. Finishing out 2009, Badland featured as psychic medium Madame Arcat in Noël Coward's comedy
Blithe Spirit at the
Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England. With a cast consisting mostly of child actors, Badland starred as the headmistress in 2010's
Royal Court Theatre production of
Kin, a disturbing play detailing the lives of young girls at boarding school. From there she went on to star in
Far Away,
Caryl Churchill's dystopian drama where the future is war, at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre. In 2018, Badland signed on to work with
The Globe Theatre in London in their production of Blanche McIntyre's ''The Winter's Tale,
which was broadcast live to theatres in October of that year,'' and Matt Hartley's
Eyam, based upon the true story of a
Derbyshire village that voluntarily quarantined themselves during an outbreak of the Black Plague. During the first quarter of 2019, Badland starred in two separate productions, featuring the same cast, at the
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London. The first was
Edward II, where she portrayed Mortimer, and the second was
After Edward, a response to
Marlowe's
Edward II, where she portrayed
Gertrude Stein. In September 2019, Badland was made a patron of The
Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham. The theatre dedicated a seat in her honour that reads
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it". In March 2020 she appeared in
Our Lady of Blundellsands, a new play written by
Jonathan Harvey as one of the two sisters in the dysfunctional Domingo family. In September 2021, she was the sole performer in a special event held on the
Golden Hind in Brixham Harbour to mark the 131st anniversary of the birth of the crime writer
Agatha Christie: fittingly, specific details of the event were not publicised in advance and the audience of 30 was sworn to secrecy.
Television Badland's first professional television role was for
Thames Television in 1975's feature length biopic
The Naked Civil Servant, where she portrayed the tap-dancing pupil. Between 1978 and 1980, she was featured in a series one episode of
BBC Two's ''
The Devil's Crown'', an episode of
Southern Television's
Spearhead,
ATV's long running serial
Crossroads, made-for-TV film
Flat Bust,
BBC One's
Shoestring, and
Thames Television's
The Dick Emery Hour. From there she secured a recurring role as Charlotte in BBC's crime drama
Bergerac (1981–84), a four-episode stint in Thames Television's
Bognor, BBC's mini-series
Great Expectations, and several episodes of BBC Two's comedy
The Last Song. 1982 saw Badland appear in several guest-starring roles in episodic television. ITV's crime drama
The Gentle Touch, a police drama set in 1980's Britain, featured her in the series three episode "Solution". She also guest-starred as a nurse in both BBC's period drama
Nanny and Thames Television's crime series
Minder. ABC's drama
Lace, originally aired in 1984, featured Badland alongside
Angela Lansbury and
Phoebe Cates. She would reprise her role as Piggy Fassbinder in the 1985 made for TV sequel
Lace II. From 1985 to 1986, Badland starred as Christine in ITV's sitcom
Troubles and Strife, which revolved around the effect a new young vicar had on the town's women. She went on, the next year, to co-star in the PBS mini-series
A Little Princess, based upon
Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic
children's novel (1905) and a series one episode of the BBC's sitcom
You Must Be the Husband. Badland was a regular guest in series one of ITV/Channel 4's comedy sketch series
Hale & Pace in 1988 before a turn in a series four episode ("Chinese Whispers", 1989) of BBC's anthology series
Screenplay. Following that, she appeared in "The Rough and The Smooth", an episode of
All Creatures Great and Small, an episode of BBC's medical drama
Casualty, and
CBS's made-for-TV film
The Pied Piper, alongside
Peter O'Toole. From 1990 to 1991, Badland featured as multiple characters in BBC One's children's series
Happy Families, which was based upon a set of
books by
Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Badland guest-starred in a four-episode stint on BBC's Manchester based comedy
Making Out early in 1991 and three episodes of the BBC One children's programme ''Archer's Goon
in 1992. She also featured in two separate episodes, one in 1991 and one in 1993, of the family sitcom 2point4 Children''. Returning to BBC's medical drama
Casualty for a second time, Badland featured in 1993's series 8 episode "Born Loser". She also appeared in director
Andy Wilson's mini-series
The Mushroom Picker and director Carol Wiseman's mini-series
Goggle Eyes. Between 1993 and 1995, Badland starred as the nurse in BBC's comedy,
Inside Victor Lewis-Smith, which was presented as a look into comic and journalist
Lewis-Smith's mind while he was in a coma. In 1995, Badland was featured in three episodes of BBC's BAFTA nominated children's program
Jackanory, which featured celebrities reading bedtime stories for younger audiences. From there, she guest-starred on a series one episode of
Stewart Lee and
Richard Herring's comedy sketch showcase
Fist of Fun and a series three episode of the
British Comedy Award winning show
Outside Edge. Between 1995 and 1996, Badland starred as Dolly Buckle in the BBC's drama
Black Hearts in Battersea, an adaptation of Joel Aiken's
novel of the same name. During that time she also featured in
NBC's two part mini-series ''
Gulliver's Travels'', BBC's children's series
The Demon Headmaster, and director Martyn Friend's made-for-TV movie
Cuts. BBC's gritty crime mini-series
Holding On (1997), set in London and following a series of unconnected characters, featured Badland as Brenda in four of the eight episodes. Between 1997 and 1998 she guest-starred in the BBC One children's comedy
Mr Wymi, which focused on a young boy who builds a robot butler for his family, and ITV's children's program
The Worst Witch. In 1999, Badland guest-starred for the fourth time on ITV's long-running police procedural
The Bill. She appeared in a series seven episode entitled "Vital Statistics" (1991), a series eleven episode entitled "Off Limits" (1995), a series fourteen episode entitled "The Fat Lady Sings" (1998), and a series fifteen episode entitled "Look Again" (1999). That same year, Badland guest-starred on the series two premiere of BBC's medical drama
Holby City,
TNT's made-for-TV movie
A Christmas Carol opposite
Patrick Stewart, and ITV's
Alan Bleasdale penned mini-series
Oliver Twist. In three episodes broadcast between 1999 and 2000, Badland portrayed Aunt Glenda in BBC's dramatic comedy series
Microsoap. She also featured in her first episode of BBC's medical drama
Doctors in the series one episode "A Woman's Right to Choose". Children's series ''
The Queen's Nose, originally broadcast on CBBC, saw Badland in the role of Mrs Dooley in series four and five (2000/2001). She went on to star in the made-for-TV film The Gentleman Thief'' and feature in
Hallmark's two-part-mini series
The Lost Empire (aka
The Monkey King). Her next television role, in 2002, was a guest spot on BBC's family drama
Born and Bred. Badland followed this appearance with two made for television movies. First was
The Mayor of Casterbridge, an adaptation of
Thomas Hardy's
novel, and the second was
Indian Dream for BBC Two. Between 2002 and 2005, Badland co-starred in BBC's
Cutting It, a drama series set in a
Manchester, England hair salon. Badland was once again showcased in an ''Agatha Christie's'' adaptation in 2003, this time portraying Mrs Spriggs in the episode "Five Little Pigs" in the series nine premiere of ITV's
Poirot. Following that role, she featured in her second episode of BBC's
Doctors in the series six episode "An Inspector Called". 2005 saw Badland featured in a variety of television mediums. She began the year by portraying
Einstein's nurse in an episode of BBC Two's documentary series
Horizon entitled "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony". From there she returned to serialised television in a four-episode stint on long-running soap opera
Coronation Street, a two-episode guest-starring role on BBC's court drama
Judge John Deed, and an episode of BBC Three's dark comedy
Twisted Tales. In a crossover episode of medical dramas
Holby City and
Casualty, where fans decided the fate of certain characters, Badland guest-starred as Wendy Wincott. She also portrayed the recurring villain
Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen a.k.a. "Margaret Blaine" in the 2005 series of
Doctor Who and provided commentary on the
Doctor Who Complete Series One Box Set for the episodes "
World War Three" and "
Boom Town". Portraying Angela Robbins, a disturbed inmate who suffered from
Dissociative Identity Disorder, Badland appeared at Larkhall Prison in 2006 in an episode of the eighth series of ITV One's drama
Bad Girls. The next year she starred in
Hat Trick Productions' made for TV Film
Miss Mary Lloyd and featured in her third role on BBC's
Doctors in the series nine episode entitled "Background Noise". Badland then featured in the series two premier of ITV's comedy
Kingdom (2008), opposite
Stephen Fry, Channel 4's
Coming Up, opposite
Imelda Staunton, and made-for-TV film
Summerhill. She also portrayed the sharply conservative Ethel Tonks in BBC's
All the Small Things (April/May 2009) alongside
Sarah Lancashire,
Neil Pearson,
Sarah Alexander and
Bryan Dick. BBC Three's mini-series
Personal Affairs, a candid look at office life among up and coming women, featured Badland as Mahiri Crawford, and the made-for-TV film
Whatever It Takes saw her portray the role of Connie. Then, in a third appearance on BBC's medical drama
Casualty, she guest-starred in the series twenty-four episode entitled "Every Breath you Take" (2009). '' convention on 17 November 2018. In 2010 Badland featured in her fourth stint on BBC's
Doctors in the series twelve episode "Love Thy Neighbour" and the pilot episode of Sky One's
Little Crackers, a series of autobiographical shorts written by and starring some of Britain's top comedians. The next year she featured in an episode of BBC's
WWII drama
Land Girls, which focused on the lives of several women in Britain's
Women's Land Army, a second episode of
Little Crackers based upon
Sheridan Smith's life experiences, and an episode of BBC Two's documentary series
The Faces of... focusing on the career of
Michael Caine. From 2011 to 2015 on
The Sparticle Mystery, Badland appeared in four episodes as DoomsDay Dora and eight episodes as HoloDora. 2012 saw her appear in several episodic series, including Channel 4's cult-hit
Skins, her fifth and final episode of BBC's
Doctors, and her fourth and final episode of BBC's
Casualty. Badland also appeared as Ursula, from 2012 to 2014, in the
CBBC science fiction series,
Wizards vs Aliens. Award-winning web series
3some featured Badland as one of the main character's mother in 2013. She went on to star in an episode of Sky One's
Playhouse Presents entitled "Snodgrass", which imagined what would have happened if
John Lennon had left
The Beatles prior to becoming famous. She rounded out 2013 by featuring in an episode of comedy series
You, Me & Them and several episodes of Channel 4's sitcom
Man Down. On 12 December 2013, it was announced that Badland would appear as a regular in the
BBC soap opera,
EastEnders, playing
Babe Smith. She made her first on-screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 31 January 2014. In 2016 it was announced, by new executive producer
Sean O'Connor, that Badland's character would be leaving the serial and making her final appearance on 9 February 2017. Beginning in 2014, Badland portrayed the featured recurring role of Mrs Fitzgibbons in
Starz's television adaptation of
Diana Gabaldon's best selling Scottish time travel novel
Outlander. That same year she featured in an episode of BBC's mystery series
Father Brown "The Daughters of Jerusalem" as Judith Bunyon
, before a turn as her
EastEnders character Aunt Babe in the made for TV Film
Neighbours 30th Anniversary Tribute: Ramsey Square. In May 2018, Badland reached the final of BBC's charity series
Pointless with
Midsomer Murders Neil Dudgeon, eventually donating £500 to the Midland Langar Seva Society. 2018 also saw Badland in several episodic television roles such as BBC One's sitcom
Not Going Out, ITV Two's
Roman sitcom
Plebs, CBBC's children's series
The Dumping Ground, BBC One's comedy
Hold the Sunset, and Sky One's mystery series
Agatha Raisin. "The Fairies of Fryfam" as Betty Jackson. In 2019 she guest-starred on BBC's dramatic daytime comedy
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators "Nothing Will Come of Nothing" as Ms Rose King. Beginning in series twenty (2019) of ITV's long-running crime drama
Midsomer Murders, she has portrayed Dr Fleur Perkins, Midsomer's resident
pathologist.
Film Badland's first film role was
Terry Gilliam's 1977 film
Jabberwocky, based upon
Lewis Carroll's epic poem, alongside
Michael Palin and
Harry H. Corbett. She would not return to film again until 1986's independent feature
Knights & Emeralds, which explored the consequences of a white drummer joining a mostly black marching band. From there she landed roles in director
Jonnie Turpie's film
Out of Order (1987) and director
Chris Newby's
Anchoress. Writer
John Brosnan's horror film
Beyond Bedlam (1994) and director Angela Pope's drama
Captives, which focused on a prison dentist's illicit affair with an inmate
, both featured Badland in 1994. Her next film was director
Paul Unwin's Oscar nominated short
Syrup. She went on to Xingu Film's comedy
The Grotesque (1995, aka ''Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets''), director Philip Haas's drama
Angels & Insects, director Angela Pope's drama
Hollow Reed, and director Shane Meadows sports drama
Twenty Four Seven. In 1998, Badland co-starred in the
SAG nominated drama
Little Voice (1998) as the friend of Little Voice's mother Mari (
Brenda Blethyn). 2000 saw Badland in two feature films, the first was director David A Stewart's drama
Honest, a black comedy set in London of the late 1960s alongside
Peter Facinelli, and the second was
Focus Films'
Secret Society, a comedy where several women working factory jobs by day are secretly sumo wrestling by night. Between 2001 and 2004, Badlland had roles in the comedy
Redemption Road, dramatic comedy
Club Le Monde, dramatic comedy ''
Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War'', director Joe Perino's
A Village Tale, director Sonja Phillips's directing debut
The Knickerman, and Caspian Productions' short film
The Tale of Tarquin Slant. In 2005, Badland lent her voice to the
Walt Disney's animated feature
Valiant, about a WWI carrier pigeon who joins the Royal Homing Pigeon Corps, alongside
Ewan McGregor and
Tim Curry. She went on to feature in
Tim Burton's fill-length film
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
, thriller
The Kovak Box (2006)
, and the drama
Almost Adult (2006)
. The Baker, a comedy from director Gareth Lewis about a hit man seeking refuge from his career, saw Badland feature as Martha Edwards early in 2007. From there she went on to star in director Nic Cornwall's short film ''Mr Thornton's Change of Heart,
feature in the comedy Three and Out opposite Colm Meaney, and appear in the thriller Legacy: Black Ops
opposite Idris Elba. In 2009, Badland signed on for a role in Jam
, the first short film from three eighteen year old filmmakers, which was financed through crowdfunding after attracting the attention of the public and celebrities. Continuing with short films, she starred in the Oscar nominated Wish 143,
the story of a young man trying to live life before succumbing to cancer, from director Ian Barnes. 2012 saw Badland featured in Mother's Milk'', a drama based upon
Edward St. Aubyn's novel of the same name, before returning to short films for 2013's
The Girl In A Bubble and 2014's
A Quiet Courage. In 2017, Badland featured in two separate
biopics. The first was the biographical drama
A Quiet Passion, directed by
Terence Davies and starring
Cynthia Nixon, which chronicled the life of poet
Emily Dickinson. Second was the biographical dramatic comedy
The Man Who Invented Christmas, directed by
Baharat Nalluri and starring
Dan Stevens, which explored author
Charles Dickens's journey to overcome writer's block and produce the
novella A Christmas Carol. In 2018, Badland starred in writer/director Callum Crawford's debut film,
Degenerates, a film which centres on a writer who, unable to sell his screenplay ideas, sets out to create his own.
Radio Badland began her radio career in 1992 with a role in
David Halliwell's comedy
Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs for
BBC Radio 3. In 1994, she was cast as the lead role of DI Gwen Danbury on
BBC Radio 4 Extra's crime drama
An Odd Body, a role she would portray for three series. From 2000 to 2003, Badland was a regular on BBC Radio 4 Extra's comedy
Smelling of Roses before being cast in the six-part BBC Radio 4 radio drama
Rolling Home, which centred on a group of people living in caravans (aka mobile homes/campers). In 2004, Badland starred in
BBC Radio 4's play
The Pool, which focuses on a Londoner's adventures while stuck in
Liverpool for the day, opposite
Peter Wright,
The Diary of a Nobody opposite
Stephen Tompkinson, and
Bumps and Bruises, which focuses on an unqualified woman attempting to run an antenatal (prenatal) class opposite
Penelope Wilton. Richard Monk's
Church, broadcast in February 2005 and starring Badland alongside
Andrew Garfield, tells the story of sex and religion through the eyes of two different men. In 2006 Badland starred in BBC Radio 4's ''River's Up'' alongside Peter Corey. The next year she featured in
Jonathan Myerson's six-part radio dramatisation of
Boris Pasternak's epic story
Dr Zhivago. From there, Badland featured as Tilly Carbury in BBC Radio 4's
15 Minute Drama The Way We Live Right Now (2008), an adaptation of
Anthony Trollope's satirical novel, and served as a narrator for
Heather Couper's
Cosmic Quest, an educational history of astronomy.
Yerma, a poetic play touching on the themes of love, infertility, and isolation by Spanish author
Federico García Lorca, saw Badland star alongside
Emma Cunniffe and
Concrad Nelson in 2010 on BBC Radio 3. That same year, she appeared in several episodes of BBC Radio 4's
Poetry Please, where poems of various themes are chosen by listeners, and Chris Wilson's play
Lump-Boy Logan, which focused on a boy with acne, for BBC Radio 3. BBC Radio 4 Extra's show
Poetry Extra featured Badland in an episode showcasing the work of poet
Molly Holden later that year. She later guest-starred in an episode of
Sebastian Baczkiewicz's dark fantasy-adventure radio program
Pilgrim (2013), a series of tales that followed the adventures of main character and immortal being William Palmer. In the two-part radio serial
The Aeneid (2013)
, writer
Hattie Naylor's adaptation of the
epic poem by
Virgil, saw Badland in the role of Roman Goddess
Venus on BBC Radio 4.
Doing Time: The Last Ballad of Reading Gaol, based upon the poem by
Oscar Wilde and showcasing odd historical facts from the prison's records, featured Badland in 2014. She went on to perform as a reader for series one, episode five of
Jenny Eclair's short story vignette series
Little Lifetimes in an episode entitled "The Viewing". The next year, she scored the lead role of Mrs Pickwick, a commissioner for local government, in director
Jeremy Mortimer's drama ''Mrs Pickwick's Papers
on BBC Radio 4. It was announced in 2018 that Badland would reprise her role as Doctor Who'
s Margaret Blaine in the spin-off radio series Torchwood''. The episode, entitled "Sync", was released in May 2019. ==Filmography==