Tessa Wyatt

Biography

Tessa Wyatt is an English actress best known for her role as Vicky Tripp (née Nicholls) on the ITV sitcom Robin's Nest.

Wyatt was born in Woking, Surrey and attended Elmhurst Ballet School. She was encouraged to act by her maternal grandmother and got her first professional job at the age of 12, appearing in a television programme featuring Richard Hearne's Mr. Pastry character. Soon after, she was represented by an agent.

Wyatt's early television appearances include parts in Z-Cars, The Wednesday Play, Tales of Unease, ('Suspicious Ignorance', episode), Public Eye (in which she played a character with the surname Blackburn - she would later marry Tony Blackburn in 1972), Callan, Dixon of Dock Green, Doctor at Large, Play for Today, and UFO. Her film appearances include Wedding Night (1970), the cult horror film The Beast in the Cellar (1970) and Spy Story (1976). Wyatt claimed during a 2013 interview that while filming England Made Me (1973) opposite Peter Finch and Michael York, as a young actress alone abroad the "pervy director" Peter Duffell tried to coerce her into unnecessarily stripping naked for a scene.

From 1977 to 1981, Wyatt played Vicky Nicholls, later Tripp, in the ITV sitcom Robin's Nest. Her on-screen boyfriend Robin Tripp was played by Richard O'Sullivan. Following Robin's Nest, Wyatt appeared in Return of the Saint, Boon and 2point4 Children.

Wyatt was part of the original cast of the Channel Five soap opera Family Affairs, playing Samantha Cockerill. Since 2000 she has also appeared in Casualty and Doctors. She appeared in the fifth series of Peep Show as Jeremy's mother and was Tom's love interest in an episode of The Old Guys opposite Roger Lloyd-Pack and Clive Swift. In 2013, she joined the cast of EastEnders, playing Betty Spragg. She made a second appearance on the BBC series Doctors on 19 May 2015 alongside George Layton, another sitcom stalwart from the 1970s.

Known For

The Old Guys 2009 ★ 6.5
Peep Show 2003 ★ 8.0
Virtual Murder 1992 ★ 7.0
2Point4 Children 1991 ★ 7.3
Royal Variety Performance 1984 1984
Return of the Saint 1978 ★ 7.0
Robin's Nest 1977 ★ 6.7
Cows 1972 ★ 8.0
The Beast in the Cellar 1971 ★ 4.8
Play for Today 1970 ★ 6.6
UFO 1970 ★ 7.8
Tales of Unease 1970 ★ 7.0
The Main Chance 1969 ★ 8.3
Callan 1967 ★ 7.0
Pride and Prejudice 1967 ★ 8.0
Mystery and Imagination 1966 ★ 5.8
BBC Play of the Month 1965 ★ 5.3
Thirty-Minute Theatre 1965 ★ 4.3
Public Eye 1965 ★ 8.2
Out of the Unknown 1965 ★ 7.1
The Wednesday Play 1964 ★ 5.2
Theatre 625 1964 ★ 7.2
Armchair Theatre 1956 ★ 6.0
Superstitious Ignorance