It’s your chance to ask the real-life Dame about playing a baroness in Downton, being married to Richard Briers in Ever Decreasing Circles or sacrificing herself to the DaleksIt’s hard to pick a favourite Penelope Wilton cha she tends to play such lovely and forgiving people, from John Cleese’s ex-girlfriend in Clockwise, Simon Pegg’s mum in Shaun of the Dead (“Don’t point that gun at my mum!”), Ricky Gervais’s confidante in After Life, and Richard Briers’ long-suffering wife in BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles.Wilton began her career in theatre, in King Lear at The Old Vic and in The Philanthropist on Broadway. Since then, she has played an art teacher in The History Boys, Colin Firth’s secretary in Operation Mincemeat, Bill Nighy’s wife in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Keira Knightley’s aunt in Pride and Prejudice. In 2008, she sacrificed herself to the Daleks so that David Tennant’s Doctor may live. Fans of Sunday evenings, meanwhile, will know her best as Isobel Grey, Lady Merton and mother of Mary’s late first husband Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey and the various spin-off films, including the most recent, The Grand Finale. Continue reading...
Monday 13 October 2025
.theguardian - 2 days ago
Post your questions for Penelope Wilton
Latest News
Ukraine war briefing: Moscow voices ‘extreme concern’ at Trump threat to send Tomohawk missiles to Kyiv
- .theguardian Coral reefs, ice sheets and Amazon rainforest approaching a tipping point due to global heating, report says
- .theguardian Generational shift as millennials make up half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales
- .theguardian Punjab CM Mann holds virtual meeting with eminent NRIs, seeks support for Mission Chardikala
- newzealandnews Despite limited opportunities.... : Kumble hails Kuldeep for five-for against WI in Delhi Test
- newzealandnews The Guardian view on gen Z protests: these movements share more than an interest in anime | Editorial
- .theguardian The Guardian view on Labour targeting nature: the problem isn’t snails, but a broken housing model | Editorial
- .theguardian William Hill owner says it could shut up to 200 shops if Reeves raises gambling taxes
- .theguardian Uefa plans to relex multi-club ownership declaration rules after Crystal Palace furore
- .theguardian Canada Super 60: Dottin stars as Toronto Sixers make history to win Mel Jones Trophy
- newzealandnews Britain s youth clubs have been quietly decimated. What s most revealing is that few seem to care | John Harris
- .theguardian I spent years trying to avoid Vinted. It turns out I was right to be afraid | Carys Afoko
- .theguardian ‘Rashes, pain, blisters and bleeding’ … are we glossing over the dangers of manicures?
- .theguardian Actor Eve Myles looks back: ‘Early on, I was told I wasn’t the typical leading lady. Now I realise my idiosyncrasies are what make me authentic’
- .theguardian From Annie Hall to Something’s Gotta Give: Diane Keaton was the quintessential comedy queen
- .theguardian How smoking a bong brought back the trauma of being shot by the Taliban – an exclusive extract from Malala Yousafzai’s memoir
- .theguardian Chính quyền tận lực ‘dìm’ Vu Mông Lung, nhưng cư dân mạng phản công thần kỳ! Ban lãnh đạo Mango Media bỏ trốn, cổ phiếu lao dốc!
- dkn Urgent calls for debt relief as study shows health and education cuts in developing world
- .theguardian Democrats are captive to outdated etiquette. It’s endangering democracy | Ryan W Powers
- .theguardian Dining across the divide: ‘He was shocked when I told him that schools weaponise anxiety’
- .theguardian ‘I wanted to write more than I wanted to have children’: author Sarah Perry on rejecting motherhood
- .theguardian Move over, Alan Turing: meet the working-class hero of Bletchley Park you didn’t see in the movies
- .theguardian Country diary: Panic, stress, glory – my day scaling the Inaccessible Pinnacle | Merryn Glover
- .theguardian The IMF boss is right to say ‘buckle up’ – the global economy is facing multiple menaces
- .theguardian This is how we do it: ‘I worried about his kinks, but I’m learning to relax and be playful’
- .theguardian Một tháng sau cái chết của Vu Mông Lung, công lý vẫn chưa được thực thi, dân chúng phẫn nộ thoái ĐCSTQ
- dkn Ceasefire live: aid trucks enter Gaza as Hamas confirms it will begin releasing Israeli hostages on Monday morning
- .theguardian ‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system
- .theguardian Parents who film their children crying for clicks should take a good look at themselves | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
- .theguardian Philippines says Chinese ship ‘deliberately rammed’ government boat in South China Sea
- .theguardian France is not alone in its political crisis – belief in a democratic world is vanishing | Simon Tisdall
- .theguardian I apologise too much, and it annoys everyone around me. How can I stop? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri
- .theguardian Punk Royale, London W1: ‘Someone shoved mystery slop in my mouth’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
- .theguardian ‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder
- .theguardian Restitution row: how Nigeria’s new home for the Benin bronzes ended up with clay replicas
- .theguardian My foolproof guide to living with a partner – and not falling out about home decor | Polly Hudson
- .theguardian
Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard to chair Women’s prize for fiction in 2026
- .theguardian‘Their chemistry made one of their deaths inevitable’: how a billionaire couple’s life in paradise turned deadly
- .theguardianCan Xue and László Krasznahorkai are joint favourites to win 2025 Nobel prize in literature
- .theguardian‘Stay true to yourself – and fly closer to the sun’: what I’ve learned from 50 years of rejection
- .theguardianMan convicted of 38 paedophile offences revealed as police informer who spied on UK activists
- .theguardianOperation Pope review – hard-bitten thriller about a true-life papal assassination plot
- .theguardianTriple Trouble: Fairey, Hirst, Invader review – the most revolting visual soup imaginable
- .theguardianI had a cameo in the Inside No 9 stage show. It was a living nightmare | Adrian Chiles
- .theguardianIAF displays India s first indigenous aircraft restored HT-2 for first time, performs aerobatics during 93rd Air Force Day celebrations
- newzealandnewsCecil Beaton’s Fashionable World review – a narrow view of beauty from a borderline stalker
- .theguardianIt’s Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he’s the future, can we go backwards? | Marina Hyde
- .theguardian‘It’s a question of humanity’: how a small Spanish town made headlines over its immigration stance
- .theguardianGet Cartier! How Jean Novel turned an old Paris department store into a museum to rival the Louvre
- .theguardian
‘Hits the nose like wasabi’: the best (and worst) supermarket English mustard, tasted and rated
- .theguardian ‘It’s a question of humanity’: how a small Spanish town made headlines over its immigration stance
- .theguardian ‘Page one of the authoritarian playbook’: how Trump and allies are exploiting Kirk’s killing
- .theguardian Do we need Imax? 70mm? VistaVision? All I need to watch movies at the cinema is darkness and quiet | Larry Ryan
- .theguardian ‘Rock stars would be like, Yeah, bring the kid in’: Cameron Crowe on his wild years as a teenage music journalist
- .theguardian Revealed: Labour-run council using legal loophole to serve families with no-fault evictions
- .theguardian Hackers leak Qantas data containing 5 million customer records after ransom deadline passes
- .theguardian Militia drone strike kills at least 30 people at displacement shelter in Sudan, says local group
- .theguardian Hung thủ xong rồi! Oan hồn Vu Mông Lung ra tay, toàn bộ bằng chứng video từ dark web bị rò rỉ!
- dkn Don’t fall for the authoritarian hype – Reform and the hard right can be stopped in their tracks | Gordon Brown
- .theguardian Charlie Higson: ‘By my mid-20s, I had a beer gut. It’s now the most substantial part of me’
- .theguardian From getting kids to eat veg to curbing screen time: the parenting hacks that actually work
- .theguardian Former Israel-Premier Tech cyclist faces €30m damages claim after ending contract over ‘personal belief’
- .theguardian ‘I’m going to write about all of it’: author Chris Kraus on success, drugs and I Love Dick
- .theguardian Emma Doran: ‘When I was growing up, a woman’s biggest compliment would be that she was immaculate’
- .theguardian Trump says ‘for the most part, there is consensus’ on next stages of Gaza ceasefire plan – live
- .theguardian China issues rewards for information about Taiwan military’s ‘psychological warfare unit’
- .theguardian My kids gave me enough material to write TV comedy. Where will the jokes come from now they’ve left? | Helen Serafinowicz
- .theguardian Winter is coming: England’s cricketers fly out for long tour that will decide Ashes and World Cup
- .theguardian A World Cup preying on Fomo: Fifa’s 2026 ticket scheme is a late-capitalist hellscape
- .theguardian Clive Tyldesley: ‘I’ve only been drunk twice and once was with the England women’s team’
- .theguardian Triple Trouble: Fairey, Hirst, Invader review – the most revolting visual soup imaginable
- .theguardian ‘I step outside into a cacophony of nature’: an off-grid escape in the west of England
- .theguardian Witches of Essex: Rylan and Prof Alice’s look at one of history’s most shameful periods is unfailingly moving
- .theguardian Rachel Reeves looks for extra headroom in budget to insulate UK economy against bond market
- .theguardian Meera Sodha’s recipe for za’atar roast vegetables with whipped feta | Meera Sodha recipes
- .theguardian Blind date: ‘After too many tepid, app-based dates, outsourcing my love life to a paper is obviously the way to go’
- .theguardian ‘To the men who ran the world, I was just a photo op’: Malala Yousafzai on growing up, getting cynical – and how getting high nearly broke her
- .theguardian ‘Our job is to maximise their losses’: how Ukraine’s forces attempt to claw back against Russian advances
- .theguardian Your Guardian sport weekend: Women’s cricket, Super League Grand Final and World Cup qualifiers
- .theguardian Six great reads: Trump v Nato, the ‘filthy fifteen’ and the rise of selfish self-help
- .theguardian ‘I deserve to heal’: freed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah on his prison ordeal and next steps
- .theguardian ‘We’re fighting for you!’ Podcaster Ben Meiselas on taking on the Maga media – and winning the ratings battle
- .theguardian Bellingham must accept Tuchel’s collective structure or risk England exile | Jacob Steinberg
- .theguardian World Cup qualifying: Big win for Northern Ireland while Mbappé helps France close in
- .theguardian Women s World Cup: New Zealand registers first win in tournament with 100-run drubbing of Bangladesh
- newzealandnews Trump’s strong-arming of Netanyahu led to a deal. He must sustain that pressure | Mohamad Bazzi
- .theguardian Martín Zubimendi: ‘I have to adapt but Arsenal signed me because they like what I do’
- .theguardian ‘I expect to find a ghost city’: Gaza residents on the long, arduous journey back home
- .theguardian Sources