Biography

Known for BBC Five(ish) Doctors Reboot the Doctor Who 50th-anniversary spoof; as Nanny Lyons in Upstairs Downstairs for BBC; most recently on Sky TV's crime comedy Agatha Raisin as Freda. Jemma began acting at the renowned Royal Court Youth Theatre in London in the '70s, working with Danny Boyle, Katrin Cartlidge, Simon Curtis, etc. Trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and left to work on Mai Zeterrling's borstal girl feature film Scrubbers. Jemma was brought up around TV studios or film sets as her parents, Pauline Yates and Donald Churchill were well-known actor/writers. Donald wrote over 30 plays for television in the 60's/70's and Pauline worked extensively and perhaps is best known as Reggie's wife in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin staring Leonard Rossiter. Jemma has worked in all areas of film and television. Most recently appearing in the new series for Sky TV Agatha Raisin. Jemma is best known for her portrayal as Nanny Lyons in Upstairs Downstairs for the BBC. She has many connections with the world of Doctor Who and appears in Peter Davisons' 50th Anniversary Doctor Who spoof for the BBC Five(ish)Doctors Reboot in which she plays herself. Jemma can often be seen on British TV Guesting in series such as Doctors, Holby or Waterloo Road. She enjoys working on independent movies on new writing and has recently worked on Deny Everything, Burn The Clock for Raging Calm Films and Between Places directed by Iain Findlay. She produced and starred in Beached and created Two Tree Island Productions with screenwriter Elizabeth Heery which won the Best Short Fiction Film at The Southend Film Festival 2012. The judging panel included Ray Winston and Perry Benson.