Jemima Rebecca "Jemma" Redgrave (born 14 January 1965) is an English actress, and a member of the Redgrave family. She is best known for playing Dr Eleanor Bramwell in Bramwell (1995–1998), Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who (2012–2015, 2021–2025) and its spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea (2025), and Bernie Wolfe in Holby City (2016–2018, 2021–2022). As well as television, she has appeared on stage and film, starring as Evie Wilcox in Howards End.
Early life Redgrave was born in London on 14 January 1965, she is the daughter of actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, Deirdre Hamilton-Hill, a former fashion model. They divorced when Jemma was nine. As a child, she attended the Godolphin and Latymer school in Hammersmith. She then enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art at the age of 18.
Career
Stage
After graduation, Redgrave landed a succession of stage acting roles: in the 1988 stage production of Strindberg's Easter; in Lady Windermere's Fan in Belfast, Northern Ireland; as Emily in Thornton Wilder's Our Town; as Irina in a 1990 revival of Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters in London's West End with her aunts Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave; in 1993 in Alexander Griboyedov's Chatsky at the Almeida Theatre, London; and in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2001 at the Albery Theatre, later the Noël Coward Theatre, London, playing Titania.
In 2010, she appeared in New York's Public Theater in The Great Game: Afghanistan which featured seven hours of on-stage acting. Redgrave appeared in four of the twelve plays.Actress Jemma Redgrave hits the New York stage In 2012, she appeared alongside Ben Chaplin in Roger Michell's production of Farewell to the Theatre at the Hampstead Theatre, followed by starring roles in Donkeys' Years (2014) and An Ideal Husband (2016).
In 2018, Redgrave appeared in another Roger Michell production, appearing again alongside Ben Chaplin, this time in Joe Penhall's Mood Music at The Old Vic.
Television
She has appeared in many roles on British television, including leading actor roles as the eponymous Dr Eleanor Bramwell in four series of ITV's Bramwell and as D.S. Eve Granger in Cold Blood. Redgrave also appeared as Eleanor in Roger Michell's The Buddha of Suburbia: a four-part adaptation of the novel of the same name by Hanif Kureishi and with a soundtrack written and performed specifically for the production by David Bowie.
Other prominent roles have included Francesca Rochester in Judge John Deed and Dee Stanton in Like Father, Like Son. In 2007, she portrayed Lady Bertram in Mansfield Park and Sophie Wall in Waking the Dead, followed by a 2009 appearance in the series, Unforgiven, written by Sally Wainwright. In 2013, she also appeared as Doctor Zoe Evans in the BBC One drama series Frankie.
From 2016 to 2018, Redgrave played former RAMC surgeon Major Berenice Wolfe in the popular BBC medical drama Holby City. In 2019, she joined the cast of ITV's Grantchester as Amelia, the mother of the show's lead character, the Rev. Will Davenport.
On 31 August 2021, she made a surprise return to Holby City as Bernie Wolfe.
Doctor Who In 2012, Redgrave was cast in the long-running science-fiction programme Doctor Who as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, daughter of recurring character Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who featured in the series' original 1963–1989 run. First appearing in "The Power of Three" (2012) with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), Kate is the commander-in-chief of the fictional military organisation UNIT, a role previously occupied by her father before his retirement. The character returned in the fiftieth anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor" (2013), which was simulcast on television and in cinemas across the world in 94 countries, earning a Guinness World Record for the world's largest ever simulcast of a TV drama.
Kate would go on to become a recurring character in Doctor Who, with Redgrave reprising the role in episodes with the Twelfth (Peter Capaldi), Thirteenth (Jodie Whittaker), Fourteenth (David Tennant) and Fifteenth (Ncuti Gatwa) Doctors, as well as the 2025 spin-off series, The War Between the Land and the Sea.
Additionally, Redgrave began headlining the Big Finish audio drama spin-off UNIT: The New Series as Kate alongside Ingrid Oliver as Osgood, whom Redgrave appeared on-screen with multiple times in Doctor Who, and would go on to play Kate in other spin-off audio plays. Regrave also featured as Kate in a promo video for Doctor Who: Time Fracture, an immersive experience that began running in London in April 2021.
Personal life
Redgrave married Tim Owen, a barrister at Matrix Chambers, in 1992. They had a son, Gabriel, in 1994. The couple separated from 1997 to October 1998. They reconciled, however, and had another son, Alfie, in 2000. They have since divorced. She has a brother, Luke Redgrave, who is a camera operator, and two half-brothers, Arden and Harvey Redgrave. Her mother died in 1997 and her father died in 2010.
She is the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, niece of actresses Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave, and cousin of Joely Richardson, Carlo Nero, and Natasha Richardson. Her step-mother is the actress Kika Markham.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Director Notes 1988 Dream Demon Diana Harley Cokeliss 1992 Howards End Evie Wilcox James Ivory1994 One Night Stand Kate Bill Britten Short film Power and Lovers Emily Aldo Lado 1998 Jenny Paul McGuigan 2003 I'll Be There Rebecca Edmonds Craig Ferguson 2005 Lassie Daisy Charles Sturridge 2007 Mansfield Park Lady Bertram Iain B. MacDonald 2016 Love & Friendship Lady DeCourcy Whit Stillman 2016 Chubby Funny Bereaved Woman Harry Michell 2021 Barnes' People Dr. Rosa Hamilton Peter Barnes 2023 Red, White & Royal Blue Narration (voice) Matthew López 2024 The Beekeeper President Jessica Danforth David Ayer 2027 The Beekeeper 2 Timo Tjahjanto
Television Year Title Role Notes1988Tales of the UnexpectedViolette CharbonneauEpisode: "A Time to Die"1990Pamela DysartMiniseries1991All Good ThingsElaine WilsonMiniseriesPerformanceCaroline CoonEpisode: "The Trials of Oz"1993Diana: Her True StoryCarolyn BartholomewTV filmEleanor1 episode1995–1998BramwellDr. Eleanor BramwellMain role (27 episodes)1998MosleyCimmie CurzonRecurring role (4 episodes)2000Blue MurderGaleTV filmCry WolfDr. Jocelyn Wolf1 episodeFishJoanna MorganMain role (6 episodes)Bramwell VDr. Eleanor Bramwell2001High StakesAnna FosterEpisode: "The Do-Gooders"Judge John DeedFrancesca Rochester2 episodes2002Episode: "Nobody's Fool"The SwapJen Forrester2 episodesMy FamilyDr. ConnorEpisode: "Shrink Rap"2004AmnesiaJenna Dean2 episodesGrace FinneganEpisode: "If Wishes Were Horses"MI6 Agent Emily TuthillTV miniseries2005Tom Brown's SchooldaysMary ArnoldTV filmLike Father Like SonDee Stanton2 episodesCold BloodEve GrangerTV film2006LewisTrudi GriffonTV film2007Waking the DeadSophie Wall2 episodesCold Blood 2Eve GrangerTV filmMansfield ParkLady BertramTV filmJean McFarlaneTV film2007–2008Cold BloodEve Granger3 episodes2008Agatha Christie's Marple: Murder Is EasyJessie HumblebyTV film2009UnforgivenRachel BelcombeMain roleHeston's FeastsHerselfHeston's Victorian Feast2010Law & Order: UKHelena MarsdenEpisode: "Shaken"2012–2015, 2021–2025Doctor WhoKate Lethbridge-StewartRecurring role (16 episodes)2013FrankieDr. Zoe EvansMain role (6 episodes)2014DraculaMinerva Westenra2 episodesInspector George GentlyJennifer BingEpisode: "Gently With Honour"2015Churchill: 100 Days That Saved BritainClementine Churchill2016–2018, 2021–2022Holby CityBernie WolfeMain role (67 episodes)2018Midsomer MurdersDr Juno Starling Episode “Drawing Dead”2019–2020GrantchesterAmelia DavenportRecurring role (5 episodes)2020, 2022–2023Silent WitnessDI Jill Raymond 5 episodes2025The War Between the Land and the SeaKate Lethbridge-StewartLead role; 5 episodes
Theatre credits
Theatre Year Title Role Theatre Director1986Lady Windermere's FanLady WindermereLyric Theatre, BelfastRichard Digby DayWhat the Butler SawGeraldineLyric Theatre, BelfastRichard Digby DayMiss JulieMiss JulieUK TourLaurence Boswell1988EasterEleanoraHaymarket Theatre (Leicester)David LeveauxPanoramaGeraldineKing's Head TheatrePenny ChurnsSchool for ScandalLady TeazleBristol Old VicLes WatersAn Enemy of the PeoplePetraPlayhouse TheatreDavid Thacker1990Seven YearsClarissa Royal Court Theatre Three SistersIrina Queen's TheatreRobert Sturua1991Our TownEmily Shaftesbury Theatre Robert AckermanAs You Like ItRosalind Greenwich Theatre Robert Carson1992Cyrano de BergeracRoxanne Greenwich Theatre Matthew Francis1993ChatskySophie Almeida Theatre & UK Tour Jonathan Kent1998Major BarbaraMajor Barbara Piccadilly TheatrePeter Hall2001A Midsummer Night's DreamTitania Noël Coward TheatreMatthew Francis2004MisconceptionsLinda UK TourTim Carroll2008The Cherry OrchardVarya Chichester Festival Theatre Phillip Franks2009–2010The Great Game: AfghanistanVarious roles Tricycle Theatre & Washington/Broadway Indhu Rubasingham2012Farewell to the TheatreDorothy Hampstead TheatreRoger Michell2014Donkeys' YearsLady Driver Rose Theatre, Kingston Lisa SpirlingAn Ideal HusbandMrs. Cheveley Chichester Festival Theatre Rachel Kavanaugh2018Mood MusicVanessa The Old Vic Roger Michell2019Weimar ConnectionsPoesie Cadogan Hall with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra2020Hansard (rehearsed reading)Diana Stephen Joseph Theatre Paul Robinson2023OctopolisGeorge Hampstead Theatre Ed Madden2026 Springwood Eleanor Roosevelt Hampstead Theatre Richard Nelson
References
External links
https://www.conwayvangeldergrant.com/sites/default/files/cv/Jemma%20Redgrave%20Theatrical%20CV.pdf "Jemma Redgrave: 'Grief is like a tsunami'", Kate Kellaway, The Guardian, 11 July 2010 "My Perfect Weekend: Jemma Redgrave", The Telegraph, 31 May 2008 I Was Terrified of Being on my Own, The Telegraph, 2001