Ysanne Churchman

Ysanne Churchman (born 14 May 1925) is an English actress. She worked as an actress and narrator on British radio, TV and film for over 50 years (1938–1993). She gained prominence as Grace Archer, wife of Phil, in the long-running BBC radio drama series The Archers; the series attracted publicity when Grace died after a fire on the night that ITV launched in 1955.

Ysanne Churchman was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, to Andrew Churchman and Gladys Dale, stage and radio performers in London.

In 1938, Churchman appeared on both BBC Radio Children's Hour and in a BBC Television play, Gallows Glorious. She trained as a dancer at Cone-Ripman College. After learning repertory and theatre, she specialised in radio and voice work for film and television. She played Grace in the long-running radio series The Archers when Grace suffered grievous injuries in a fire on the night of the ITV launch in 1955; the character died in the following day's episode. She strongly suspected the producer was glad to be rid of her at the time as she had discovered that some of her cast members in this regional, Birmingham, production, were not being paid Equity minimum rates and raised the matter. She voiced five other Archers characters over the years, the last being Mary Pound in 1983.

Along with many story-telling and reading roles on the BBC, she also performed as: Sara in the series Sara and Hoppity, Marla and Cassie in Space Patrol, the voice of Alpha Centauri in the series Doctor Who, and Soo the computer in The Flipside of Dominick Hide and its sequel. She was the first actress employed by Capital Radio, reading a serial book.

She married Tony Pilgrim MBE, a senior BBC engineer, in 1951; they celebrated their Diamond Wedding anniversary in 2011. He died in January 2015 after 63 years of marriage. She retired in 1993, but still does occasional voice-over and television appearances, most recently reprising her role as the voice of Delegate Alpha Centauri in the Doctor Who story "Empress of Mars" in 2017, having last voiced the character in 1974.

Selected credits

 * Children's Hour, BBC Radio, 1938
 * Gallows Glorious, BBC TV, 1938
 * Red for Danger, BBC Radio, 1954
 * The Archers, BBC Radio, 1951–1985 – Jennifer Archer, Grace Archer, Barbara Drury, Joan Ilverton, Jocelyn Page, Mary Pound.
 * The Railway Children, BBC TV, 1957 – Ruth
 * Sense and Sensibility, BBC Home Service (Radio 4), 1959/60 – Marianne Dashwood
 * Sara and Hoppity, ITV, 1960, – Sara & other voices
 * Space Patrol, ITV, 1963, – Marla & Cassiopeia
 * Sherlock Holmes, BBC Radio, 1969 – Mary Sutherland
 * Crossroads, ITV 1960s/1970s – four different appearances
 * Doctor Who, 1972, The Curse of Peladon – Voice of Alpha Centauri
 * Doctor Who, 1974, The Monster of Peladon – Voice of Alpha Centauri
 * Doctor Who, 1974, Planet of the Spiders – Spider voices
 * The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, 1976 – Bureaucrat #5, Impedimenta, Bureaucrat #3, English version
 * Beasts, ITV 1976, "Special Offer" – Joyce
 * Softly, Softly, BBC 1970s – four appearances
 * Shoestring, 1979, "Knock For Knock" – Woman's voice
 * A Dance to the Music of Time, 1979 – Milly
 * We, the Accused, TV, 1980 – Edith Hanks
 * The Flipside of Dominick Hide, 1980 – Soo (computer)
 * Another Flip for Dominick, 1982 – Soo (house computer)
 *  Ghost in the Water, 1982, – Mrs. Parkes
 * Amy, TV, 1984 – Lilly
 * Starlings, TV, 1988 – Mrs Grimshaw
 * Pyramid, documentary, 1988 – Voice artist
 * Prostitute, 1991 – Magistrate
 * Lipstick on Your Collar, TV, 1993 – Mrs Atterbow
 * Oliver Twist, TV, 1999 – Woman in street
 * Doctor Who, 2017, "Empress of Mars" – Voice of Alpha Centauri