Cadell was born in London. She has been appearing on British television, film and theatre over the past forty years. She has taken on a wide range of
supporting and
leading roles. In 1985, she appeared in Agatha Christie's
Miss Marple 'A Pocket Full of Rye' as Mary Dove, also in the TV series
Victoria Wood in 1989,
Jeeves and Wooster in 1993,
Pie in the Sky (S2:E5 "Dead Right") in 1995, and
Midsomer Murders '
The Killings at Badger's Drift' in 1997 (as Phyllis Cadel). Since then, she has played Dorothy Crowther in
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard; was part of the main cast of the critically acclaimed and long-running
Doc Martin; and the Dean Mieke Miedema in
Lab Rats. Her film career has included roles in
Not Quite Paradise (1985),
Prick Up Your Ears (1987),
The Madness of King George (1994),
Mrs. Dalloway (1997), ''
Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002), Match Point (2005) and Snow Cake'' (2006). In 2015, she directed the
Royal Shakespeare Company's first production of
Love for Love by
William Congreve. In 2009's "Allegory of Love", S3:E1 of
Lewis, she played Professor Bernice "Bernie" Rutherford. She played the title role as the vanishing lady herself, Miss Froy, the character previously played by
May Whitty and
Angela Lansbury in the previous two versions, in the 2013 TV film
The Lady Vanishes from the BBC, directed by
Diarmuid Lawrence from an updated screenplay by Fiona Seres. She appeared as Professor Alice Sandwell in
New Tricks episode "Buried Treasure" (S4:E6). In 2019, Cadell appeared in the
Acorn TV series
Queens of Mystery. In 2017, Cadell revealed that the American actress
Sigourney Weaver has been her good friend for more than 40 years. They appeared together onscreen when Weaver guest starred in
Doc Martin. In October 2019, Cadell was the guest on an episode of the
BBC Radio 3 programme
Private Passions. Cadell made a third appearance as Venetia Butts in
Midsomer Murders 'Book of the Dead' (2023). == References ==