Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who
- Publication: Acton Gazette
- Date: 1968-05-02
- Author:
- Page: 22
- Language: English
WENDY PADBURY is one of the Peter Pans of show-business — although she's 20 they won't let her grow up.
She's petite and pretty with lovely dark blue eyes. gut. probably because she stands just under five feet tall in her stocking feet, she has never played an adult role in her life.
The mischievous, pixie grin belongs to a gay teenager brimming with life and energy. Perhaps that's another reason the she always get the juvenile parts. But actress Wendy has queued for the dole along with the rest.
"Oh, I've no qualms about going on the dole," said the lovely brunette at her modern Holland Park bed-sitter, with one of the latest oblong telephones, red fitted carpet and olde worlde oil lamp.
"In this business you're out of work as much as you're working. And you've got to live. So why be ashamed to collect your dole money."
Computer
But Wendy is not worrying about that right now. She is working hard as "the brains behind Dr. Who." For Wendy is playing the part of Zoe, the 17-year-old human computer on the new Dr. Who series on BBC TV.
When she was offered the role, she also had the chance of appearing in the film version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," but chose Dr. Who instead.
"This is one of the oldest parts I've had and Zoe is a very young 17," she said a little wistfully. But with a shrug of her shoulders and a quick smile she added that she didn't really mind.
Chaperones
"Being small doesn't worry me any more," she laughed. "I enjoy my work and I get bored when I'm not working."
One of the things Wendy loves about the Dr. Who programme is the clothes.
"I love wearing those futuristic clothes," she enthused. "You feel so free in them and they look really super."
Wendy, who comes from Stratford - on - Avon, left for London at 15 to train with the Ada Foster Stage School.
'Of course, then I had to live with a family and we all had chaperones while we travelled about working," she explained.
Wendy played the part of a ten-year-old boy in the Tony Newley musical, "The Smell of the Greasepaint, the Roar of the Crowd," when she was 16.
"I went along to the interview looking quite feminine, without realising they were looking for a boy," she giggled. "But they still picked me for the part. I can't think why."
Wendy confessed that she had a crush on Tony Newley at the time. "But we all did. He was such a marvellous director.
Flat feet
"But it wasn't for long because the show flopped. I suppose it was too sophisticated. It was even more way out than Stop the World.
When she was a child it was Wendy's ambition to be a ballerina.
"I trained with the Royal Ballet School for a year and then they told me I had flat feet," she said. "I was terribly disappointed. But now I prefer modern ballet to classical anyway, and I love acting."
True to her origins, she would love to play Shakespeare.
"But there are few parts for young girls in Shakespeare," she said regretfully. "I'll have to wait until my face looks bit older and then perhaps I'll get some adult parts.
The two Shakespeare roles she would most love to play are Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Ophelia in Hamlet.
Spelling correction: The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd
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- APA 6th ed.: (1968-05-02). Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who. Acton Gazette p. 22.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who." Acton Gazette [add city] 1968-05-02, 22. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who." Acton Gazette, edition, sec., 1968-05-02
- Turabian: "Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who." Acton Gazette, 1968-05-02, section, 22 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Peter_Pan_girl_Wendy_is_the_brains_behind_Dr._Who | work=Acton Gazette | pages=22 | date=1968-05-02 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 December 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Peter Pan girl Wendy is the brains behind Dr. Who | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Peter_Pan_girl_Wendy_is_the_brains_behind_Dr._Who | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 December 2024}}</ref>
