Doctor Who Manning played the part of
Jo Grant from 1971 to 1973 alongside
Jon Pertwee's
incarnation of the
Doctor. She struck up an immediate rapport with her co-stars Pertwee,
Nicholas Courtney (
The Brigadier),
John Levene (
Sergeant Benton),
Richard Franklin (
Captain Mike Yates) and
Roger Delgado (
the Master). Fans of
Doctor Who often refer to these characters as the UNIT family — UNIT, the
United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, being the fictional United Nations organisation that the Doctor worked for. Making her debut in the first part of the serial
Terror of the Autons, the character of Jo Grant instantly became liked by audiences to the extent that she is often thought of as the archetypal companion along with
Sarah Jane Smith and
Rose Tyler. Manning had a particularly close relationship with Pertwee to the extent that he would pick her up every day from outside her house, either in his car or on his motorbike where she would ride
pillion, and take her for filming or rehearsals for
Doctor Who. They had races with
Dick Emery and Sir
Ralph Richardson to see who could get to the BBC studios first. ,
Louise Jameson and Manning at the
Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013 In recent years, Manning has maintained her connection with
Doctor Who. She voices
Jo Grant in the audio adventures by
Big Finish Productions. She is the voice of
Iris Wildthyme, the
Time Lord in several of their
audio plays. She has contributed to a large number of documentaries and DVD commentaries detailing her time on
Doctor Who. In 2022, Manning made a cameo appearance as Jo Grant in the
Doctor Who special "
The Power of the Doctor". She reprised the role again in the series
Tales of the TARDIS.
After Doctor Who Straight after leaving
Doctor Who in 1973, Manning presented her own ten-part TV series for the BBC on crafts, entitled
Serendipity shown in the daytime schedules. She then appeared as one of the first lesbians on television in an episode of
Armchair Theatre before starring in her first film ''
Don't Just Lie There, Say Something!'' (1974) alongside
Leslie Phillips,
Joan Sims and
Joanna Lumley; the film was written by Pertwee's brother
Michael. Manning followed this with a role in the comedy film
Eskimo Nell (1975) as
Rosalind Knight's rebellious daughter before she was reunited with Jon Pertwee when she appeared in
Whodunnit? on ITV; at the time that Pertwee was chairing the panel. In 1976, Manning aroused controversy when she posed nude with a
Dalek for the
Girl Illustrated magazine. In 1977, she appeared topless as a drug addict in the hard-hitting crime drama
Target with
Patrick Mower. Manning starred with Sion Probert in a BBC Wales comedy pilot entitled ''How's Business?'' in 1979. After leaving
Doctor Who, Manning appeared predominantly on stage consistently. From 1973 to 1975, she appeared opposite
Derek Nimmo in
Why Not Stay For Breakfast? in the
West End, as well as appearing in ''
There's a Girl in My Soup with Gerald Flood. She then starred in the play French Without Tears in 1975 and So Who Needs Men'' with
Peter Denyer and
Jeff Rawle in 1976 before joining the
Young Vic for a time in 1977 and taking part in many of Shakespeare's works including playing Ophelia in
Hamlet. From 1977 to 1978, she toured in
Doctor in the House, a production that also starred
Jimmy Edwards,
Bob Grant and future
Doctor Who actor
Colin Baker, before starring as Myra alongside
Lionel Blair in
The Monkey Walk in 1978. In 1978, she toured
Rhodesia in a run of
Bedroom Farce. From 1979 to 1980, Manning toured in the thriller play
The Gentle Hook, then in 1980 toured in Peter Terson's
VE Night alongside Ian Cullen and Jane Goddard before appearing on stage in
Thark alongside
Brian Murphy and
Reginald Marsh in 1981.
Australia and the U.S. After moving to Australia in 1982, she appeared as Mary Smith in the first run of the play
Run for Your Wife with
Bernard Cribbins before appearing in
Otherwise Engaged opposite
Martin Shaw in 1983,
The Odd Couple with
Jack Klugman in 1984 and then in another tour of
Run for Your Wife from 1987 to 1988; other members of the cast in the production were
Jack Smethurst,
David McCallum and
Eric Sykes. Manning appeared as Rita in
Educating Rita from 1989 to 1991 at the
Sydney Opera House, the venue at which she also played Elvira in
Blithe Spirit in 1990. She also appeared in the films
Melvin, Son of Alvin (1984) and
Frog Dreaming (1986). Manning wrote a comedy pilot entitled
Two in the Bush in 1986 with her friend and fellow actress
Penelope Whiteley. She also wrote the TV series
Private Wives and has been involved in other writing and directing projects. In 1993, she was reunited with Pertwee and Courtney for the first time since she emigrated to Australia at the
PanoptiCon 93 event; their interview was filmed and released on DVD. Some time between 1994 and 1996, Manning moved to live in
Los Angeles where she shared a flat with her best friend Liza Minnelli and had large house parties that had guests including
Sean Penn,
Shirley MacLaine and
Whoopi Goldberg. In 1996, Manning and Minnelli appeared drunk on
Ruby Wax's television series
Ruby Wax Meets... which has since gone on to become one of the most popular and well-known moments in the show's history. Wax's interview was initially to be with Minnelli but Manning appeared with her and spent most of the interview on the floor. Manning was the voice of Australia's
UKTV television channel in the late 1990s and provided voiceovers for the indents. She also hosted her own chat show from 2001 until 2008 called
Preview with Katy Manning and had guests including
Lenny Henry,
Edgar Wright,
Petula Clark and
Basil Brush. Manning also voiced characters for the animated films
D4: The Trojan Dog (1999),
Easter in Bunnyland (2000) and
Jungle Girl and the Lost Island of Dinosaurs (2002) for
Burbank Animation Studios. From 2000 to 2001, she voiced the main character Gloria in the Australian children's animated television series ''Gloria's House
, amongst countless other animated films and television series. In 2002, Manning appeared in an episode of All Saints and also starred in a production of the Ray Cooney play It Runs in the Family
with Robert Coleby and Judy Cornwell. Also in 2002, she released another documentary about her life for Reeltime Pictures as a sequel to Where on Earth is Katy Manning?
called Katy Manning's Life Down Under
showing her life in Australia. In 2003, Manning directed the original run of the musical play Eureka as well as other productions including Banjo Paterson
and Shirley Valentine''. She also starred as Miss Harrington in the film noir
When Darkness Falls (2006) directed by Australian filmmaker
Rohan Spong; a role for which she would win Best Supporting Actress at the
Melbourne Underground Film Festival. In 2019, 2020 and 2023, Manning reprised her role of Jo Jones for three specially filmed scenes to promote three
Doctor Who blu-ray box sets for her three seasons on the programme. She also starred in a special episode to mark the conclusion of
The Sarah Jane Adventures, released via
YouTube in 2020 on the anniversary of
Elisabeth Sladen's death. == Personal life ==