Biography

Known for BBC Five(ish) Doctors Reboot the Doctor Who 50th-anniversary spoof; as Nanny Lyons in Upstairs Downstairs for BBC; most recently on Sky TV's crime comedy Agatha Raisin as Freda. Jemma began acting at the renowned Royal Court Youth Theatre in London in the '70s, working with Danny Boyle, Katrin Cartlidge, Simon Curtis, etc. Trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and left to work on Mai Zeterrling's borstal girl feature film Scrubbers. Jemma was brought up around TV studios or film sets as her parents, Pauline Yates and Donald Churchill were well-known actor/writers. Donald wrote over 30 plays for television in the 60's/70's and Pauline worked extensively and perhaps is best known as Reggie's wife in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin staring Leonard Rossiter.