Special thanks to reader Jillian Trainor who tipped us off to this glaring oversight in our pantheon of crushworthy women, Dame Harriet Walter!
A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (1987) – Harriet Vane
The Advocate (1993) – Jeannine Martin
Sense and Sensibility (1995) – Fanny Dashwood
“People live forever when there is an annuity to be paid them.” (Fanny Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility, 1995)
The Governess (1998) – Mrs. Cavendish
Onegin (1999) – Madame Larina
George Eliot: A Scandalous Life (2002) – George Eliot
Marple: Sleeping Murder (2006) – Duchess of Malfi
Atonement (2007) – Emily Tallis
Ballet Shoes (2007) – Dr. Smith
Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons (2008) – Miss Bulstrode
Little Dorrit (2008) – Mrs. Gowan
Cheri (2009) – La Loupiote
The Young Victoria (2009)
Suite Francaise (2014)
Downton Abbey (2015) – Lady Shackelton
The Crown (2016) – Clementine Churchill
Call the Midwife (2017) – Sister Ursula
Black Sails (2017) – Marion Guthrie
The Spanish Princess (2018) pre-production – Margaret Beaufort
No shots of Harriet Walter have been released yet so we don’t know what to expect!
What’s your favorite historical costume movie or TV role of Harriet Walter’s?
Ohh yes I’m all of a -quiver. Harriet Vane. Grrr-owl.! In the same class, as far as I’m concerned, Cheryl Campbell, Janet McTeague and Haydn Gwynne. Oh yes. I’ll be in my bunk. And Barbara Flynn is coming with me…ahem.
Yes to Campbell and Mcteague!! Staples of 70’s – 90’s British tv! Gotta see if I recognize Gwynne now…
Lady Peter Wimsey, er Harriet Vane, Queen Adelaide and Fanny Dashwood
Best. Fanny. Dashwood. Evar.
Also, Lady Gresham in From Time to Time (2009). I really liked how her character rebukes the Regency-Mrs. Oldknow on her treatment of the children.
Not a costume drama, but I fell for her in The Price. Loved her as Harriet Vane as well. very versatile actress.
Joining in, Harriet Vane, hands down. She looked and acted so closely to the Harriet Vane in my head when I read the books.
I love her.
And I think it’s bloody unfair they’re going to waste her as a stock villain Margaret Beaufort in The Spanish Princess (written by She Who Must Not Be Named) when she could play the REAL, utterly fabulous, bad-ass Margaret Beaufort in something better. :P
Oh, I loved her as Harriet Vane, she personifies that role for me. She’s amazing on stage, too – saw her as Elizabeth I in Mary Stuart with Janet McTeer at the Donmar which was mesmerising.
She popped up on my screen last night in the HBO production “My Dinner with Hervé” which doesn’t count as period because it’s set in the 90s. Seeing her in modern clothes was a slight shock, but hearing her deliver modern dialogue (i.e. four letter words) was just as delicious as you’d expect.
I love her as Harriet Vane too!
Side note: she has about 5 minutes of screen time in Star Wars: the Force Awakens as the medic treating Chewbacca. For some reason, that amuses me. :D
I love her as Harriet Vane too!
Side note: she has about 5 minutes of screen time in Star Wars: the Force Awakens as the medic treating Chewbacca. For some reason, that amuses me. :D
(reposted b/c I think I mistyped my email. Sorry!)