RIP Stephanie Cole, British actress

Cafe Society
1

I first noticed Stephanie Cole as Diana Trent in Waiting for God, about a couple of hilarious old characters in a retirement home. She was tough, a retired photojournalist, and the guy in the next unit was a goofy wise guy. Great writing, and she inhabited that part. Later she was Doc Martin’s aunt in Doc Martin. She appeared all over the place, mostly on TV but also a few movies; she may have done stage work too, I only know what I can read on IMDb. You may not know the name, but I can just about guarantee that you’ve seen her on something, if you watch any British TV at all.

She always played older, I think, but it surprised me that she was only 84 when she died. I’m sorry to see her go, she gave me a lot of pleasure over the years.

2

She did indeed. Here she is in Open All Hours circa 1980, still in her 30s.

3

This morning I checked my list of regular TV shows and came up with shows to watch for today. One of them is Doc Martin. The next thing I did was come here and I saw this. So, today’s watching will be different than I planned on.

I don’t think I know anything else she has been in, but I love “Aunty Joan” in Doc Martin.

4

She was great as Doc Martin’s aunt, which is the last role I saw her in. Great actress!

5

I remember her as Dr Mason from Tenko.

6

Radio, too. She was excellent as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey in the brilliant BBC comedy Cabin Pressure.

7

Back in my BBS days, I had a good-size collection of tag lines. One favorite was “Graduate of the Diana Trent School of Diplomacy”, since I did enjoy “Waiting for God”.

8

I just texted a friend:

The perfect Pissed-Off Pensioner. (Stephanie Cole) is no longer “Waiting for God”.
I’m upset that now we’ll never get a Cabin Pressure reunion.

(Here she is with Roger Allam and Anthony Head - also RIP)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvNtxmcqyFc

9

That’s one I never saw, I’ll have to see if I can dig up some episodes.

10

This was a surprise to me. I loved her in Doc Martin, but I thought she was replaced because she had died. I guess I conflated Aunt Joan’s death with Stephanie Cole’s.

11

I remember really liking that show. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it re-aired, although it’s probably streaming somewhere. I wonder if it holds up to my memory of it.

12

As I recall, she left simply because she thought four seasons was enough.

13

My favorite scene of hers from Doc Martin was when, in Martin’s dream, Aunt Joan was getting railed by a young handyman (?) on her kitchen counter. She turns and looks over her shoulder, sees Martin’s horrified expression, and gives him a huge shit-eating grin.

14

Yes, he was a painter/artist she met when he was doing some work for Martin. She then hired him to come by and do her place, and got diddled herself. :smirking_face:

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(273) Tenko Full Episodes - YouTube

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It wasn’t a dream; he actually walked in on them while they were doing the deed. He just couldn’t get it out of his head afterwards. (I wouldn’t be able to either!)

17

I’d thought something similar (if not passed away then quite ill). I’m glad she got so many additional years!

Waiting for God still holds up–still relevant, interesting, and funny. It would be nice to see it shown again.

18

Oh, shoot. I mostly know her from Cabin Pressure, the BBC radio comedy, along with a pre-Sherlock Benedict Cumberbatch. Anthony Head, who played her love interest, also died recently. So sad.