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Dame Penelope Alice Wilton is an English actress. She is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–89); playing Homily in The Borrowers (1992) and The Return of the Borrowers (1993); and for her role as the widowed Isobel Crawley in the ITV drama Downton Abbey (2010–15). She also played the recurring role of Harriet Jones in Doctor Who (2005–08).
Birth Name
Penelope Alice Wilton
Born
Monday, 03 June 1946
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Dead Hot | Francine | 2024 |
| Murder Is Easy | Miss Pinkerton | 2023 |
| The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry | Maureen / Maureen Fry | 2023 |
| Downton Abbey: A New Era | Isobel Merton | 2022 |
| Operation Mincemeat | Hester Leggett | 2021 |
| The Noughties | Ruth | 2020 |
| Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh | Self | 2020 |
| Summerland | Older Alice | 2020 |
| Eternal Beauty | Vivian | 2019 |
| Downton Abbey | Isobel Merton | 2019 |
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Dead Hot | Francine | 2024 |
| Murder Is Easy | Miss Pinkerton | 2023 |
| The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry | Maureen / Maureen Fry | 2023 |
| Downton Abbey: A New Era | Isobel Merton | 2022 |
| Operation Mincemeat | Hester Leggett | 2021 |
| The Noughties | Ruth | 2020 |
| Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh | Self | 2020 |
| Summerland | Older Alice | 2020 |
| Eternal Beauty | Vivian | 2019 |
| Downton Abbey | Isobel Merton | 2019 |
| After Life | Anne Pearson / Anne | 2019 |
| Zoo | Denise Austin | 2018 |
| Hollywood Insider | Self | 2018 |
| The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Amelia Maugery | 2018 |
| Zoe Ball on ... | Self - Guest | 2018 |
| Our Friend Victoria | Performer | 2017 |
| Brief Encounters | Pauline | 2016 |
| The BFG | The Queen | 2016 |
| The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Jean Ainslie | 2015 |
| Bafta Celebrates Downton Abbey | Self | 2015 |
| Belle: The History Behind the Painting | Lady Mary Murray | 2014 |
| Belle: The Story | Lady Mary Murray | 2014 |
| Fifty Years on Stage | Delia / Self / Delia (segment "Bedroom Farce") | 2013 |
| Belle | Lady Mary Murray | 2013 |
| Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited | Harriet Jones | 2013 |
| The Girl | Peggy Robertson | 2012 |
| The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Jean Ainslie | 2012 |
| CBS This Morning | Self - Guest | 2012 |
| Downton Abbey: Behind the Drama | Self | 2011 |
| South Riding | Mrs Beddows | 2011 |
| Downton Abbey | Isobel Crawley | 2010 |
| The Many Faces of... | Ruth | 2009 |
| Margot | B.Q. / B.Q | 2009 |
| Doctor Who Greatest Moments | Harriet Jones | 2009 |
| The Passion | Mary | 2008 |
| Half Broken Things | Jean | 2007 |
| Celebration | Julie | 2007 |
| Five Days | Barbara Poole | 2007 |
| The History Boys | Mrs. Bibby | 2006 |
| Match Point | Eleanor Hewett | 2005 |
| Made in Hollywood | Self | 2005 |
| Pride & Prejudice | Mrs. Gardiner | 2005 |
| Doctor Who | Harriet Jones | 2005 |
| Falling | Daisy Languish / Daisy Langrish | 2005 |
| Marple | Carrie Louise Serrocold | 2004 |
| Who Do You Think You Are? | Ruth | 2004 |
| Shaun of the Dead | Barbara | 2004 |
| Calendar Girls | Ruth | 2003 |
| Comedy Connections | Self | 2003 |
| Iris | Janet Stone | 2002 |
| Bob & Rose | Monica Gossage | 2001 |
| The Whistle-Blower | Heather Graham | 2001 |
| Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings | Mrs. Cratchit | 2000 |
| My Family | Rosemary | 2000 |
| Wives and Daughters | Mrs. Hamley | 1999 |
| Loose Women | Herself | 1999 |
| Tom's Midnight Garden | Aunt Melbourne | 1999 |
| The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka: The Mystery of Chopin | Delfina / Paulina | 1999 |
| Alice Through the Looking Glass | White Queen | 1998 |
| Classified X | Self | 1998 |
| This Could Be the Last Time | Marjorie | 1998 |
| Carrington | Lady Ottoline Morrell | 1995 |
| Kavanagh QC | Barbara Watkins | 1995 |
| Ken Dodd: An Audience with Ken Dodd | Self - Audience Member | 1994 |
| The Return of the Borrowers | Homily | 1993 |
| The Secret Rapture | Marion French | 1993 |
| The Borrowers | Homily | 1992 |
| Blame It on the Bellboy | Patricia Fulford | 1992 |
| Performance | Beth / Hester Collyer | 1991 |
| 4 Play | Julia | 1989 |
| Cry Freedom | Wendy Woods | 1987 |
| The Monocled Mutineer | Lady Angela Forbes | 1986 |
| Clockwise | Pat / Pat Garden | 1986 |
| Singleton's Pluck | Alice Singleton | 1985 |
| C.A.T.S. Eyes | Angela Lane | 1985 |
| Ever Decreasing Circles | Ann Bryce | 1984 |
| All the World's a Stage | Excerpt from Man & Superman | 1984 |
| Othello | Desdemona | 1981 |
| The French Lieutenant's Woman | Sonia | 1981 |
| The Norman Conquests | Annie | 1977 |
| Joseph Andrews | Mrs. Wilton / Mrs. Wilson | 1977 |
| Arena | Self - Narrator / Herself / Herself - Narrator / Various Characters | 1975 |
| Country Matters | Rachel Sullens | 1972 |
| Play for Today | Virginia Carlion / Helen | 1970 |
| BBC Play of the Month | Regan | 1965 |
| Thirty-Minute Theatre | Lucy / The Editor's Secretary | 1965 |
| This Is Your Life | Self | 1955 |
