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Wendi Louise Peters (born 29 February 1968) is an English actress. She is known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and has worked extensively on stage, appearing in both plays and musicals, including works with Sir Jonathan Miller, Matthew Warchus and John Godber.[1]

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Wendi Peters
Born	(1968-02-29) 29 February 1968 (age 54) Blackburn, Lancashire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1996–present
Television	'Bad Girls (2001) Coronation Street (2003–2007, 2014) Celebrity MasterChef (2009)
Spouse	Kenny Linden ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	1

Career

Television

In 2001, Peters played Pamela Jolly in the ITV series Bad Girls for two episodes. In 2009, Peters was a finalist on Celebrity Masterchef. Her love of baking and cooking has led her to appearances on many cookery programmes including Market Kitchen, Christmas Cooks, This Morning, and The F Word in 2008 with chef Gordon Ramsay. In 2006, Peters appeared on BBC's Celebrity Mastermind where she finished runner up to Paul Ross. She also appeared on Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? with Jamie Theakston. In December 2006, Peters spent a week with resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, in Dictionary Corner on Countdown.

In 2008, Peters appeared on Adrenaline Junkie with Jack Osborne jumping out of a helicopter at 9,000 feet over Table Mountain. She also competed on ITV's Soapstar Superstar raising £35,000 for her chosen charities.

In 2012, she appeared in an episode of Crime Stories as Marion Jackson. On 21 October 2014, Peters won a Children in Need episode of The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC Two. In 2015, she took part in Flockstars for ITV. In March 2021, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Nicky Connelly[2] and also played Lynda Babbage in the "Midsomer Murders" episode "The Sting of Death".

Coronation Street

In 2003, Peters began portraying the role of Cilla Battersby-Brown in ITV soap opera Coronation Street. On 18 January 2007, it was confirmed that Peters would be leaving Coronation Street after four successful years of playing Cilla Battersby-Brown. In the programme, Cilla left her son Chesney behind to go to Las Vegas. On Children in Need, she jokingly explained that she was returning from Las Vegas to give Chesney more money as he was 'down to his last tenner'. In November 2008, Cilla returned in a straight-to-DVD special called Out of Africa which saw her reunited with her son Chesney, daughter Fiz and her then-boyfriend Kirk.[3] On 22 October 2014, Peters reprised the role of Cilla for six weeks after a seven-year absence from the show.

Stage

Peters' varied stage career began in 1987 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. In 2010, Peters was the lead in Northern Broadsides production of The Game by Harold Brighouse. The play had not been performed in 100 years and was directed by and starred Barrie Rutter the Artistic Director and founder of Northern Broadsides. Peters played the protagonist, Mrs Metheral. Her performance garnered critical acclaim, dubbed "simply magnificent" by Michael Billington of The Guardian, and "an instant comic classic" by The Observer.

Dominic Cavendish of The Daily Telegraph said "Ma was played with hilarious gruffness and rolling pin obduracy by Wendi Peters. Her performance alone is worth the price of admission".[4][5][6]

In 2011, Peters returned to Hull Truck Theatre Company to play Bet in John Godbers two-hander, April in Paris, directed by Godber himself. Peters again received high praise from the press in this successful revival.[7]

In 2009, Peters toured Ireland with a one-woman play Mrs Whippy, written by Cecelia Ahern whose novel Ps I love You was a number-one best-seller all over Europe and was made into a film starring Hilary Swank.[8] Peters received rave notices throughout the tour.[9]

Peters toured the UK with Jenny Eclair and Susie Blake in Grumpy Old Women Live 2 – Chin Up Britain showing her comedic skills once again. This production returned for a season at the Novello Theatre in London's West End in 2010.

Peters' other theatre roles have included Bedroom Farce (1996), Noises Off (1997) Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods (1992), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1991), Follies in Concert, London Palladium (2007), and Guys and Dolls (1991) which was reviewed by Michael Schmidt who said, "Among the hot box girls, one in particular kept catching my eye: Wendi Peters as the grumpy chorus girl is a delightfully outsize killjoy whose brilliant comic dancing should have earned her a curtain call all of her own".

Peters appeared as Princess Puffer in Aria Entertainment's London revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a musical comedy by Rupert Holmes, based on Charles Dickens' unfinished novel. The production ran at the Landor Theatre in April/May, and transferred to the Arts Theatre, West End for a limited run from 18 May 2012.[10]

Peters starred in White Christmas at the Lowry at Salford Quays with Dallas Star Ken Kercheval and Brookside and Loose Women star Claire Sweeney from November 2012 until January 2013

In 2013, Sir Jonathan Miller directed Githa Sowerby's Rutherford and Son, last performed by the Royal National Theatre in 1994. Peters starred as Mrs Henderson, to great critical acclaim.[11] Libby Purves of The Times offered "Wendi Peters has a fabulous cameo as a whining petitioner, unsentimentally illustrating the company's workforce challenges".[11] Other press went on to add she was "unforgettable"[12] and her scene was "formidable".[13]

Peters again took the Ethel Merman role of Martha in the West End production of White Christmas at London's Dominion Theatre in the winter of 2014. She was highly praised by the theatre critics for her "stunning performance".

Olivier Award winning and highly acclaimed British theatre director Terry Johnston cast Peters in his 2015 production of Joan Littlewood's musical Oh, What a Lovely War!. It toured nationally and co-starred Ian Reddington and Christopher Villiers.[14] The production was a huge critical success.

In 2015 Peters played the lead role in the new play Hatched 'n' Dispatched at The Park Theatre, London. She received rave reviews for her portrayal of Dorothy Needham, the family matriarch. Michael Coveney of WhatsOnStage offered that "there are pleasures to be had, notably from a leather-lunged Wendi Peters (aka Cilla Battersby-Brown in Coronation Street) as the straight-talking materfamilias".^{[citation needed]} Fiona Mountford of the Evening Standard wrote "there is wonderfully domineering work from Wendi Peters as a gorgon mother-in-law".^{[citation needed]} These compiled in Peters being nominated for an Off West End Award for Best Female Performance of 2015.^{[citation needed]}

For the 2015/2016 (27 November 2015 to 24 January 2016) Pantomime Season, Peters played the evil Carabosse, in Sleeping Beauty at the Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage, Hertfordshire. For 2016/2017, Peters played the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, alongside Damian Williams and Phil Gallagher at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. In 2017/2018, she appeared as Big Chief Squatting Cow, Mrs Darling and the Mermaid in Peter Pan at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.

Peters played the Queen of Hearts in the UK tour of Frank Wildhorn's Wonderland throughout 2017.

In 2018, Peters took on the role of Cissy Robson in the UK tour of Quartet, alongside Jeff Rawle, Paul Nicholas and Sue Holderness.

Peters starred in Salad Days in which was touring throughout the UK during 2018.

In 2019 Peters played the role of Sylvie in the Off-West End run of Call Me Vicky.[15] She also appeared in Big The Musical for nine weeks.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	In Love and War	Emily Rahn
2001	Bad Girls	"Podger" Pam Jolly	2 Episodes
2003–2007, 2014	Coronation Street	Cilla Battersby-Brown	Regular Role
2006	Soapstar Superstar	Herself	Contestant; 6th place
	Celebrity Mastermind		1 Episode
	Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?		1 Episode
	Countdown		1 Episode
2008	Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie		1 Episode
	Coronation Street: Out of Africa	Cilla Battersby-Brown	Coronation Street Spin-Off film
2009	Celebrity Masterchef	Herself	Contestant, Finalist
2012	Crime Stories	Marion Jackson	1 Episode
2012–2014	Britain's Best Bakery	Herself/Narrator	Daytime TV Series
2014	The Great British Sewing Bee	Herself	Contestant, Winner
2015–2017	Hetty Feather	Cook Jenkins	Guest: 3 Episodes (s. 1 and 2) Main Cast (s. 3)
2015	Flockstars	Herself, Participant	Series 1
2021	Doctors	Nicky Connelly	Episode: "Menpause"
2022	Happy Campers The Caravan Park	Herself/Narrator	Series 2

References

External links

• Wendi Peters at IMDb

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