Editing Penelope Wilton (section)

==Career==
Wilton began her career on stage in 1969 at the [[Nottingham Playhouse]]. Her early roles included [[Cordelia (King Lear)|Cordelia]] in ''[[King Lear]]'', both in Nottingham and at [[The Old Vic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahds.rhul.ac.uk/ahdscollections/docroot/shakespeare/performancedetails.do?performanceid=11405|work=Designing Shakespeare Collection – Performance Details|title=Performance Details – King Lear|access-date=8 June 2016}}</ref>

She made her [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] debut in March 1971 when she played Araminta in the original Broadway production of ''[[The Philanthropist (play)|The Philanthropist]]'', and made her [[West End (theatre)|West End]] debut in August 1971 opposite Sir [[Ralph Richardson]] in the [[John Osborne]] play ''West of Suez'' at the [[Cambridge Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/interview-penelope-wilton|work=TimeOut London|title=Interview: Penelope Wilton|date=28 April 2011|access-date=8 June 2016}}</ref> She had previously appeared in both plays at the [[Royal Court Theatre]]. She played Ruth in the original 1974 London stage production of [[Alan Ayckbourn]]'s ''[[The Norman Conquests|Norman Conquests]]'' trilogy, initially as understudy for [[Bridget Turner]].

Her television acting career began in 1972, playing Vivie Warren in the BBC2's adaptation of ''[[Mrs. Warren's Profession]]'' opposite [[Coral Browne]] in the title role and [[Robert Powell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/fce706d308d34b28935c4c64df0c7666|title=Mrs Warren's Profession|date=28 September 1972|issue=2551|pages=35|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> The production was repeated as part of the ''[[Play of the Month]]'' series in 1974 on BBC1.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/66c1ecd4a77a4700ace420bc4b92aad1|title=Play of the Month: Mrs Warren's Profession|date=18 April 1974|issue=2632|pages=23|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> In 1994, Wilton portrayed Browne in a radio adaptation of ''[[An Englishman Abroad]]'' for the [[BBC World Service]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/fd26d25141f7ce8ae0307019b46566de|title=Play of the Week: An Englishman Abroad|date=27 October 1994|issue=3694|pages=115|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> and repeated on various BBC radio formats since.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/cd8f29bf49f65c512c53fc9aeeabe047|title=An Englishman Abroad|date=15 September 2005|issue=4251|pages=143|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> 

Following the broadcast of ''Mrs. Warren's Profession'', Wilton then had several major TV roles, including two of the [[BBC Television Shakespeare]] productions (as [[Desdemona]] in ''[[Othello]]'' and [[Regan (King Lear)|Regan]] in ''[[King Lear]]'' ).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0423xc1|title=Early TV appearances: Penelope Wilton and Brenda Blethyn – King Lear (BBC, 1982), Shakespeare Lives|website=BBC|date=27 July 2016 |access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>

Wilton's film career includes roles in ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)|The French Lieutenant's Woman]]'' (1981), ''[[Cry Freedom]]'' (1987), ''[[Iris (2001 film)|Iris]]'' (2001), ''[[Calendar Girls]]'' (2003) and ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' (2004), [[Jane Austen]]'s ''[[Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)|Pride & Prejudice]]'' (2005), [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Match Point]]'' (2005), and in ''[[The History Boys (film)|The History Boys]]'' (2006).{{cn|date=December 2022}}

She did not garner fame until she appeared with [[Richard Briers]] in the 1984 BBC situation comedy, ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'', which ran for five years. She played Ann, long suffering wife of Martin (Briers), an obsessive and pedantic "do-gooder". In 2005, Wilton guest starred as [[Harriet Jones]] for two episodes in the BBC's revival of the popular TV [[Science fiction on television|science-fiction]] series ''[[Doctor Who#2005 revival|Doctor Who]]''. This guest role was written especially for her by the programme's chief writer and executive producer [[Russell T. Davies]], with whom she had worked on ''[[Bob and Rose]]'' ([[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], 2001). The character of Jones returned as Prime Minister in the ''Doctor Who'' 2005 Christmas special "[[The Christmas Invasion]]". In the first part of the 2008 series finale, "[[The Stolen Earth]]", she made a final appearance, now as the former Prime Minister who sacrifices herself by extermination by the [[Daleks]] so that [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]]'s companions can contact him.{{cn|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Penelope Wilton & Jim Carter.jpg|thumb|Wilton with ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' co-star [[Jim Carter (actor)|Jim Carter]], 2013]]
Wilton appeared on television as Barbara Poole, the mother of a missing woman, in the BBC television drama series ''[[Five Days (TV series)|Five Days]]'' in 2005; and in ITV's drama ''[[Half Broken Things]]'' (October 2007) and the BBC production of ''The Passion'' (Easter 2008). Beginning in 2010, she appeared as [[List of Downton Abbey characters#Isobel Crawley|Isobel Crawley]] in all six seasons of the hit period drama ''[[Downton Abbey]]''. She was the castaway on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' in April 2008. In December 2012 and February 2013, she was the narrator in Lin Coghlan's dramatisation of [[Elizabeth Jane Howard]]'s ''The Cazalets'', broadcast on BBC Radio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s09jz|title=Episode 1, Confusion, The Cazalets – BBC Radio 4|website=BBC|access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>