Born in Stoke Newington, London in 1934, Jean Marsh took an interest in showbusiness at an early age, inspired by childhood dance classes, and started her career in repertory theatre. 

In 1959, she played Hero in Sir John Gielgud’s Broadway production of Much Ado About Nothing. Around the same time, she began her screen career with appearances in TV series including The Twilight Zone and The Wonderful World of Disney. 

Jean’s most remarkable success was the period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs, which she created in 1971 with her friend Eileen Atkins. Her starring role as head maid Rose Buck earned her an Emmy. Upstairs, Downstairs aired on ITV for five seasons from 1971 to 1975, and was later revived by the BBC from 2010 to 2012, with Jean reprising her role. 

To all of us at Big Finish, though, Jean will be remembered most fondly for her roles in Doctor Who. Jean first appeared in the show, alongside William Hartnell’s First Doctor, in the 1965 serial The Crusade, playing Joanna, the sister of Richard the Lionheart. 

She was invited back a year later, this time to play Space Security Service agent Sara Kingdom, who travelled with the Doctor across episodes four to twelve of the epic adventure The Daleks’ Master Plan. Jean’s third and final role in televised Doctor Who was in 1989 serial Battlefield, appearing as the sorceress Morgaine alongside Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor. 

Her association with Doctor Who didn’t end there. In 2007, she made her Big Finish debut in Sixth Doctor audio adventure The Wishing Beast. Director John Ainsworth remembered: “Jean played Maria Applewhite, forming a lovely, somewhat eccentric double act with Geraldine Newman as her sister Eliza. Jean had a lot of fun with the part and was clearly enjoying it. At the end of the recording, I jokingly suggested that Maria and Eliza should have their own spin-off sitcom. Jean loved the idea of this and said she’d start writing it as soon as she got home.” 

And in 2008, she returned to the role of Sara Kingdom in the Companion Chronicles story Home Truths. She would voice this popular character for Big Finish multiple times, her final credit being in the 2016 Early Adventures story The Sontarans. 

Jean Marsh was married to Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee from 1955 to 1960. In 2012, she was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. 

Jean’s death was confirmed by her friend, the film director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who said, in a statement: 

“Jean died peacefully in bed looked after by one of her very loving carers. You could say we were very close for 60 years. She was as wise and funny as anyone I ever met, as well as being very pretty and kind, and talented as both an actress and writer. An instinctively empathetic person who was loved by everyone who met her. We spoke on the phone almost every day for the past 40 years.” 

Big Finish producer David Richardson said: 

"Working with Jean Marsh was a massive deal for me. I am a huge fan of Upstairs Downstairs, which I’ve watched through several times. And The Twilight Zone. And of course Doctor Who…  

“I’d actually met her first in 1989 – Jean was rehearsing Battlefield, I was writing for Starburst Magazine; I was invited along to the rehearsal rooms and I talked to Jean in the canteen in North Acton. She was charming and chatted with great energy about her amazing work, and to this day I’m very proud of that interview. 

“Then in 2010, I hit upon the idea of resurrecting Sara Kingdom for The Companion Chronicles, and to my great joy Jean agreed to reprise the role, having not played her for 44 years! Jean loved it – Simon Guerrier’s script was great, she relished the lunch, she had fun with us, and working with her was always an absolute hoot. I remember she had a very naughty sense of humour which would leave us howling in the green room, but what is said in the green room stays in the green room. 

“She became, to our great fortune, one of the Big Finish gang and went on to appear in full-cast stories and even a Lost Stories recording of Terry Nation’s TV pilot The Daleks: The Destroyers, which centred on Sara and the Space Security Service. Only ill health kept her from returning to the role. It’s such sad news that she has left us. She was a great actor and a lovely human being. Just lovely.” 

• Jean Marsh, actor and writer, born 1 July 1934; died 13 April 2025.