Pickles was born in
Halifax. She lives in
London. She is the daughter of the
Circuit Judge James Pickles, a niece of actress
Christina Pickles, and great-niece of
Wilfred Pickles, the TV and radio personality. Pickles grew up in and attended school in
Halifax in West Yorkshire and Bradford Girls' Grammar School. She read drama at the
University of Manchester, taking roles in a number of student productions including
Narrow Road to the Deep North by
Edward Bond, and the lead in Brecht's
Mother Courage and Her Children. She joined the
BBC's
Radio Drama Company. Pickles played the lead role, in 1986, as Miss Bluebell (
Margaret Kelly, founder of a dance group called the Bluebell Girls) in the
BBC series
Bluebell. She also appeared in
The Bill for two years as DCI
Kim Reid, as Simone Trevelyan in
May to December and in
The Tales of Para Handy as Lady Catherine Ramsay. Pickles also appeared in the cult BBC children's educational drama series ''
Through The Dragon's Eye. She was a leading character (12 episodes in 1982) in the TV series We'll Meet Again''. Pickles has appeared in a number of films, including
Roman Polanski's
Tess (1979),
Agatha (1979) and ''
The Mirror Crack'd (1980). In 1990, she appeared in an episode of Casualty (Series 5 episode 8). In 1995 she played as Linda Livingstone in I Don't Speak English with Paolo Villaggio. Pickles appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 as the Muggle Studies teacher, Charity Burbage. In 2006 she played the part of Jane Templeton in the final episode of the first series of Lewis'' an ITV drama. In 2011, Pickles played Mrs Gulliver in Series 2 and 3 of
Land Girls. In 2013, Pickles played journalist Maggie Radcliffe in the ITV drama
Broadchurch. She appeared in all three series, from 2013–2017. Since 2022, she has played Reverend Mother Adrian in
Sister Boniface Mysteries in a recurring role. In October 2023, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera
Doctors as
Joyce Kilter. ==References==