Catherine Tate

As Donna Noble with David Tennant as the Doctor in "The Runaway Bride."

Catherine Tate née Ford (born 12th May 1968) played Donna Noble in the closing moments of Doomsday and the following Christmas special The Runaway Bride before returning as a full time companion for Series 4. She is an English comedienne and actress best known for the BBC Two sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show.

Early life

Tate was born in Bloomsbury, London and brought up in the Brunswick Centre. Her mother was a florist. Tate attended St Joseph's, Macklin Street, a local Catholic primary school; followed by Notre Dame High School, Southwark, a south London convent secondary school. She studied for A-levels in the sixth form of Salesian College, Battersea, another south London secondary school, before going on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

Television

Tate began her acting career with roles in serial dramas such as Casualty. In 2001 she played Smeraldina in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Servant to Two Masters. She appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show, Big Train, Wild West, Attention Scum and That Peter Kay Thing before being given her own programme that she co-wrote with Derren Litten.

The Catherine Tate Show

Tate co-wrote and starred in her very own comedy sketch programme called The Catherine Tate Show. Despite speculation that the third series would be the last, Tate and the BBC have not ruled out further series or episodes. In an interview on The Paul O'Grady Show on 18th December 2006 Tate indicated that a fourth series was unlikely but hoped to film a one-off special episode in 2007.

In March, 2005, she made an appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly. In November 2005, as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon, Tate appeared in an EastEnders sketch, under the guise of Lauren. The sketch saw Lauren arrive in Walford in search of revenge on Stacey, who had apparently stolen her boyfriend. After arguing with Peggy, Lauren eventually left The Queen Victoria pub after uttering some famous lines from the soap, including "Hello Princess" and "Rickaay!", along with her usual catchphrase, "Bovvered?". Also in November, Tate was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and once again appeared in the guise of Lauren, accompanied by her friends Ryan and Liese. During the sketch, Tate, as her character Lauren, looked up at the Royal Box and asked the Queen; "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?" [1].

Other television roles

At the end of 2005 she appeared in the award-winning BBC television adaptation of Bleak House.

She has been commissioned to write a TV drama for the BBC's forthcoming Decades project.[2] She also has a role in the forthcoming television adaptation of the novel The Bad Mother's Handbook.

Doctor Who

In 2006, Tate made an appearance in the closing few moments of Doomsday, appearing as a character referred to in the closing credits simply as "The Bride"; according to David Tennant in his DVD commentary for the episode, extreme secrecy was maintained for her cameo (due to her star status in the UK, although the impact was lost on American and Canadian viewers unfamiliar with her); according to Tennant only he and a few others knew she would be appearing, and her scene was shot while the rest of the cast and crew were attending the wrap party for the season. Tate's cameo led into the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride in which Tate returned, her character now being given the name Donna Noble. This appearance was originally intended was a one-off. Tate commented on her role: "I was holding out for a summer season at Wigan rep but as a summer job, this'll do." [3]

A few months later, Tate and Tennant appeared together in a sketch for Comedy Relief in which Tate played her signature character, Lauren Cooper, and Tennant played a substitute schoolteacher who turns out to be the Doctor in disguise. After enduring Lauren-style taunting about his accent and whether or not he "fancied Billie Piper", the "Doctor" proceeds to change Lauren into a Rose Tyler action figure with his sonic screwdriver.

Tate's appearance in The Runaway Bride garnered mixed reviews from fans and critics, but when Freema Agyeman announced she was leaving Doctor Who following the end of the 2007 series, the producers returned to Tate and announced that Donna Noble would return for Series 4, to be broadcast in 2008. The announcement that Tate was returning resulted in substantial negative feedback from vocal fans who did not want "Lauren" in the TARDIS. Donna returned to the series in Partners in Crime in April 2008, and within a few episodes had won over many of her critics, with many fans now acclaiming her character. During the course of the season, Tate acted alongside both of her predecessors, Billie Piper and Freema Agyeman, as well as John Barrowman's Jack Harkness and Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith. Her character departed the show with Journey's End, though the possibility of the character returning to the series in the future has not been ruled out.

Tate's popularity on the show is illustrated by the warm response she received when she introduced a portion of the July 2008 BBC Proms concert dedicated to Doctor Who. In October 2008, Tennant and Tate were nominated in the same category at the National Television Awards for Outstanding Drama Performance. Tennant won, but as he was unable to be present due to his theatre commitments, and having just announced his intention to leave the series, he asked Tate to receive the award on his behalf, joking with Tate that she should have won it.

Although she has left the series, Tate continues her involvement with the franchise, to date recording two original audio adventures for BBC Audio: The Forever Trap, released in the fall of 2008, and The Nemonite Invasion, scheduled for release in early 2009.

Film and theatre

Tate had roles in three films in 2006. These films included; Starter for Ten, Sixty Six and Scenes of a Sexual Nature. She appears in the forthcoming films: Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution, in which she plays the title character, and Love and Other Disasters.

Tate has also had a role in theatre. In 2005, Tate played a role in the West End play Some Girl(s), alongside Friends star David Schwimmer, Sara Powell, Lesley Manville and Saffron Burrows. In an interview Tate commented that she could not look Schwimmer in the eye during her time with him, leading to speculation that the pair did not get on. Tate immediately denied the rumours, explaining that she was joking about her attempts to act "cool" around the actor who she described as "a very funny, personable man, and easy to get along with".

Awards

• In 2004, Tate won a British Comedy Award for "Best comedy newcomer" for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show.
• In 2006 on 13th December, Tate won a British Comedy Award for "Best British Comedy Actress" for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show.

Personal life

Tate's partner is stage manager Twig Clark. They have one child, a girl called Erin (born 2003). The family have a home in Fulham, London.

External links

• BBC Comedy - Catherine Tate
• BBC Comedy Guide - The Catherine Tate Show
• Catherine Tate at the Internet Movie Database
• CatherineTateShow.co.uk - a fansite
• Catherine Tate - a fansite
• Doctor Who