Grace Jacqueline Hill (17 December 1929 – 18 February 1993) was a British actress known for her role as Barbara Wright in the BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who. As the history teacher of Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, Barbara was the first Doctor Who companion to appear on-screen in 1963, with Hill speaking the series' first words. She played the role for nearly two years.
Hill returned to Doctor Who in 1980 for an appearance in the serial Meglos, as the Tigellan priestess Lexa.
Biography
Hill was orphaned as a toddler and brought up by her grandparents. She was taken out of school at the age of 14 to enable her younger brother to continue. She then worked at Cadbury's, which had an amateur dramatics society. She was encouraged to apply for, and was awarded, a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and entered RADA at the age of 19. Hill graduated in 1951.
Hill made her stage debut in London's West End in The Shrike. In 1958 she married the director Alvin Rakoff, having the previous year appeared in his BBC adaptation of Rod Serling's American TV play Requiem For A Heavyweight. This production featured former bit-part actor Sean Connery; Hill had recommended that Rakoff cast him, because she believed Connery would be popular with female viewers.
Hill preferred the historical Doctor Who stories; her favourite serials were The Aztecs and The Crusade. Shortly after leaving the series in 1965 she gave up acting in order to raise a family,
Death
Jacqueline Hill died of breast cancer in 1993, aged 63.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1953
|The Blue Parrot
|Maureen Maguire
|
|-
|1964
|The Comedy Man
|Sandy Lavery
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Episode(s)
!Role
!Network
!Archive status
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|1953
|The Rose and the Ring
|Mini-series
|Fairy Blackstick
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|-
|1954
|The Vise
|Series 1, Episode 5: Death Pays No Dividends
|Barmaid (uncredited)
|ABC
|Exists
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="2" |1955
|BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
|Series 6, Episode 23: The Legend of Pepito
|Jeannie
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|Three Empty Rooms
|TV Movie
|Louise Shoemaker
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="2" |1956
|BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
|Series 7, Episode 16: The Seat of the Scornful
|Cynthia Lee
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|ITV Television Playhouse
|Series 1, Episode 44: Martine
|Jeanne
|ITV (Rediffusion)
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="2" |1957
|BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
|Series 8, Episode 13: Requiem for a Heavyweight
|Grace Carney
|BBC Television Service
|Audio recording survives
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|Joyous Errand
|All 6 episodes
|Trooper
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="3" |1958
|Armchair Theatre
|Series 2, Episode 18: Man in the Corner
|Florence Miller
|ITV (ABC)
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|ITV Television Playhouse
|Series 3, Episode 39: Poet's Corner
|Unknown
|ITV (Rediffusion)
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|ITV Play of the Week
|Series 3, Episode 48: The Curious Savage
|Miss Willie
|ITV
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="2" |1959
|BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
|Series 10, Episode 47: The Velvet Alley
|Pat Pandish
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|-
|The Flying Doctor
|Episode 24: Brainstorm
|Ellen Ferguson
|ITV
|Exists
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="2" |1960
|Saturday Playhouse
|Episode 51: The Man Who Came to Dinner
|Maggie Cutler
|BBC Television Service
|Missing
|-
|BBC Sunday-Night Play
|Episode 5: The Chopping Block
|Jane
|BBC Television
|Exists
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="3" |1961
|The Watching Cat
|TV Movie
|Catherine Ellis
|BBC Television
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|Drama '61
|Series 1, Episode 4: The Executioners
|Mrs. Lander
|ITV (ATV)
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|The Men from Room 13
|Series 2, Episodes 11-13: The Men Who Made Trouble Pts. 1-3
|Miss Angel
|BBC Television
|Missing
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| rowspan="4" |1962
|The Six Proud Walkers
|Six episodes
|Sally Walker
|BBC Television
|Missing
|-
|No Hiding Place
|Series 4, Episode 11: The Bank Job
|Sonya Gardener
|ITV (Rediffusion)
|Partial
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|Out of This World
|Episode 6: Medicine Show
|Lil Harmon
|ITV (ABC)
|Missing
|-
|Maigret
|Series 3, Episode 12: The Trap
|Mme. Helen Moncin
|BBC Television
|Exists
|-
| rowspan="2" |1963
|ITV Play of the Week
|Series 9, Episode 7: The Fixers
|Helen Harrison
|ITV
|Exists
|-
| rowspan="4" |Doctor Who
| rowspan="2" |Series 1, 40 episodes
| rowspan="4" |Barbara Wright
|BBC Television
| rowspan="2" |Partial (9 episodes missing)
|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
| rowspan="3" |BBC One
|-
| rowspan="2" |Series 2, 34 episodes
| rowspan="2" |Partial (2 episodes missing)
|-
|1965
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|1966
|No Hiding Place
|Series 9, Episode 4: You Never Can Tell Till You Try
|Sarah Peterson
|ITV (Rediffusion)
|Missing
|-
| rowspan="2" |1978
|Crown Court
|Series 7, Episodes 71-72: A Man With Everything Pts. 2 & 3
|Margaret Eden
|ITV (Granada)
| rowspan="8" |All programmes exist from this point.
|-
|BBC Television Shakespeare
|Series 1, Episode 1: Romeo & Juliet
|Lady Capulet
|BBC Two
|-
|1980
|Doctor Who
|Series 18: Meglos (4 episodes)
|Lexa
|BBC One
|-
|1982
|Angels
|Series 8, Episode 27
|Mrs. Muirhead
|BBC One
|-
|1983
| rowspan="2" |Tales of the Unexpected
|Series 6, Episode 10: The Luncheon
|Melanie Litmayer
| rowspan="2" |ITV (Anglia)
|-
|1984
|Series 7, Episode 12: Accidental Death
|Mrs. Milvain
|-
| rowspan="2" |1986
|ScreenPlay
|Series 1, Episode 1: All Together Now
|Jenny
|BBC Two
|-
|Paradise Postponed
|5 episodes
|Mrs. Mallard-Greene
|ITV (Thames)
|}