Barbara New

English character actress with wonderful comic timing. Her non-plussed expressions were used to great effect in several sketches of The Two Ronnies (1971). Known especially for her recurring roles of Mabel Wheeler in You Rang, M'Lord? (1988) and as Vera Plumtree in Oh Doctor Beeching! (1995) ("My husband was an engine driver you know"). She was equally delightful as boring Eric Olthwaite's (Michael Palin's) mother in Ripping Yarns (1976), whose chief claim to fame was her black pudding ("even the white bits were black").