Leslie Ash

Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Biography

Leslie Ash is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Deborah Burton in the BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly, Vanessa Lytton in the BBC medical drama Holby City from 2009 to 2010 and Karen Buckley in the ITV drama Where the Heart Is from 2000 to 2003. Her book My Life Behaving Badly: The Autobiography was published in 2007. Ash appeared in BBC Radio 4's comic radio series, Vent (2007), alongside Neil Pearson, Fiona Allen and Josie Lawrence. In May 2008, Ash worked with Transparent Television to make a documentary about the unregulated cosmetic beauty industry whilst exploring her own experiences. The programme, Leslie Ash: Face to Face was broadcast on ITV on 23 September 2008. In 2009 it was announced that Ash would join the cast of BBC medical drama, Holby City from October 2009, playing the role of executive Vanessa Lytton. In 2009, Ash appeared on daytime TV panel programme Loose Women to discuss her new role in Holby City and her previous health problems. Leslie reappeared on Loose Women on 17 February 2012 where she discussed her new on stage tour of All the Single Ladies where she stars alongside Brooke Kinsella and Tara Flynn. In 2014, Leslie appeared and was a contestant on the BBC programme, Celebrity Masterchef.

Movies

Judge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove as the barrister Jo Mills, frequently the object of Deed's desire. A pilot episode was broadcast on 9 January 2001, followed by the first full series on 26 November 2001. The sixth and last series concluded on 18 January 2007. The programme then went on an indefinite break after Shaw became involved in another television programme, and he and Seagrove expressed a wish for the format of the series to change before they filmed new episodes. By 2009, the series had officially been cancelled. The six series produced make it the longest-running BBC legal drama. The factual accuracy of the series is often criticised by legal professionals and journalists; many of the decisions taken by Deed are unlikely to happen in a real court. The romanticised vision of the court system created by Newman caused a judge to issue a warning to a jury not to let the series influence their view of trials—referring to an episode where Deed flouts rules when called up for jury duty. Another episode led to complaints about biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine, leading the BBC to ban repeats of it in its original form. All six series have been released on DVD in the UK.

More info
Judge John Deed
2001