🌟 LINDA REGAN BIOGRAPHY
👶 Early Life
Linda Regan was born Linda Mary Drinkwater on 5 November 1949 in Brixton, London. She is the daughter of entertainer, bandleader, comedy magician and agent Peter Regan, and her older sister is actress and writer Carol Drinkwater. The family later moved to Rochester and then Bromley.
🎪 Linda was surrounded by entertainment from childhood. She helped her father with various aspects of his work, including Punch and Judy and balloon modelling.
This early exposure to performing helped point her towards a career in show business.
🎭 BEGINNING HER ACTING CAREER
After leaving school, Linda briefly worked in club comedy before concentrating on acting.
She entered repertory theatre, where she gained experience performing a wide range of parts, from:
🎭 Shakespeare
😂 Farce
🎬 Comedy
🎭 Drama
Her theatre work eventually took her to London's West End, where she appeared in Tom Stoppard's Dirty Linen.
She also worked with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, demonstrating that her career was not restricted to television comedy.
🚌⭐ LINDA REGAN AND ON THE BUSES
One of the most interesting parts of Linda Regan's early career is her connection with On the Buses.
🎄 1970 – “Christmas Duty”
Linda appeared in the On the Buses Christmas episode:
📺 Programme: On the Buses
🎄 Episode: “Christmas Duty”
👩 Character: Edna
📅 Broadcast: 25 December 1970
Her appearance was a small/uncredited part.
🚌 1971 – On the Buses FILM
Linda returned for the hugely successful 1971 On the Buses feature film.
🎬 Film: On the Buses
👩 Role: Pretty Girl on Bus
📅 Year: 1971
⭐ Credit: Uncredited
This means Linda appeared in both the television series and the original feature film.
🚌 Her complete On the Buses appearances
📅🚌 Production👩 Role1970On the Buses – “Christmas Duty”Edna1971On the Buses – filmPretty Girl on Bus
⭐ Although these were small roles, they are an important part of Linda's early career and are particularly interesting to On the Buses collectors.
📺 1970s – BUILDING A TELEVISION CAREER
Following her early On the Buses appearances, Linda became a familiar face in British television.
She appeared in programmes including:
📺 Z Cars
📺 Doctor at Large
📺 Softly, Softly: Task Force
📺 Doctor in Charge
📺 Villains
📺 Special Branch
📺 Dixon of Dock Green
She also continued to appear in feature films.
🎬 FILM CAREER
Linda's film work during the 1970s included several well-known British productions.
🎬 Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall – 1973
👩 Role: Girl at Dance
🎬 Keep It Up, Jack! – 1974
👩 Role: Gloria
🎬 A Private Enterprise – 1974
👩 Role: Eve
🎬 The Hiding Place – 1975
👩 Role: Prostitute
🎬 Confessions of a Pop Performer – 1975
👩 Role: Brenda Climax
🎬 Carry On England – 1976
👩 Role: A.T.S. Private Taylor
🎬 Adventures of a Private Eye – 1977
👩 Role: Clarissa
🎬 Hardcore – 1977
👩 Role: Secretary
🎸 Quadrophenia – 1979
👩 Role: Chief Rocker Girl
Her filmography also includes later productions such as The Hit, Janice Beard, The Last Horror Movie, Run for Your Wife and The Vampire of Soho.
📺 1976–1977 – GENERAL HOSPITAL
Linda became part of the cast of the ITV daytime soap General Hospital.
👩 Character: Susan
📅 Period: 1976–1977
This was an important step because it gave her experience in continuing television drama rather than simply one-off guest appearances.
🕵️ 1979 – MINDER
Linda appeared in the very first series of the classic comedy-drama Minder.
📺 Programme: Minder
👩 Character: Liz
🎬 Episode: “Gunfight at the O.K. Laundrette”
📅 Year: 1979
The series starred George Cole as Arthur Daley and Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann.
⭐ Linda's appearance therefore places her right at the beginning of one of British television's most successful crime-comedy series.
🎸 1979 – QUADROPHENIA
Linda also appeared in Franc Roddam's Quadrophenia.
🎬 Film: Quadrophenia
👩 Role: Chief Rocker Girl
📅 Year: 1979
The film became a major British cult classic, built around the world of the Mods and Rockers and featuring music by The Who.
📺 1980s – TELEVISION SUCCESS
During the 1980s Linda continued appearing in British television drama and comedy.
Her credits included:
📺 The Gentle Touch
📺 Bergerac
📺 Dempsey and Makepeace
📺 C.A.T.S. Eyes
📺 The Bill
📺 Comic Relief
🏕️⭐ 1984–1988 – HI-DE-HI!
Linda's most famous television role arrived in the 1980s.
🏕️ APRIL WINGATE
📺 Programme: Hi-de-Hi!
👩 Character: April Wingate
🏕️ Job: Yellowcoat at Maplin's Holiday Camp
📅 Period: 1984–1988
🎬 Episodes: 24
Linda became a regular member of the Hi-de-Hi! ensemble and worked alongside stars including:
⭐ Paul Shane
⭐ Ruth Madoc
⭐ Jeffrey Holland
⭐ Su Pollard
⭐ Barry Howard
⭐ Nikki Kelly
IMDb lists 24 episodes for Linda as April.
April Wingate became the role for which Linda was particularly well remembered by television audiences.
📺 1984 – BERGERAC
Linda appeared in the popular Jersey-set detective drama.
📺 Programme: Bergerac
👩 Character: Gudrun Olfsberg
📅 Year: 1984
🎬 1984 – THE HIT
Linda appeared in the acclaimed crime film The Hit.
🎬 Film: The Hit
👩 Role: Madame Isabella
⭐ Stars: John Hurt, Terence Stamp and Tim Roth
📺 1985–1986 – DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE
👩 Role: Gloria
📺 Dempsey and Makepeace
She also appeared in C.A.T.S. Eyes in different roles.
📺 1988 – THE BILL
Linda appeared in the long-running police drama:
👩 Role: Burnside's Girlfriend
🎬 Episode: “Snout”
She would return to The Bill in later years in additional roles.
📺 1990s – CONTINUING TELEVISION WORK
Linda remained active throughout the 1990s.
Her television appearances included:
🚓 The Bill
🪶 Birds of a Feather
📺 Framed
🚔 The Knock
😂 The Detectives
📺 Hale and Pace
She appeared in Birds of a Feather in the episode “We'll Always Have Majorca.”
🎬 1999 – JANICE BEARD
Linda appeared in the film:
🎬 Janice Beard 45 WPM
📅 1999
She also appeared in the television production Holding On, playing Pru.
📺⭐ 1999–2003 – HARRY AND COSH
Linda took another regular television role in the comedy series Harry and Cosh.
👩 Character: Harry's Mother
📺 Series: Harry and Cosh
📅 1999–2003
🎬 Episodes: 18 listed by IMDb
IMDb identifies Harry and Cosh as one of her principal television credits.
📺 2000s – LATER TELEVISION WORK
Linda continued working in television, appearing in programmes including:
🔥 London's Burning
👨⚕️ Doctors
🏥 Holby City
Her Doctors appearances included:
👩 Noreen Topper
👩 Hilary Cavendish
IMDb lists two Doctors episodes.
🎬 2003 – THE LAST HORROR MOVIE
🎬 Film: The Last Horror Movie
👩 Role: Terri
📅 2003
This was a departure from the light comedy for which many viewers knew her.
🎬 2012 – RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
Linda appeared in the British comedy film:
🎬 Film: Run for Your Wife
👩 Role: Allotment Woman
📅 2012
🎬 2016 – AFTER HOURS
🎬 Short film: After Hours
👩 Role: Shirley
📅 2016
🎬 2018 – THE VAMPIRE OF SOHO
🎬 Film: The Vampire of Soho
👩 Role: Beryl
📅 2018
🎙️ LATER CAREER
Linda has also worked in radio and audio entertainment, alongside her continuing involvement in acting and writing.
Her later career demonstrates how she has moved between:
🎭 Theatre
📺 Television
🎬 Film
🎙️ Radio/audio
📚 Writing
📚 CRIME NOVELIST
Linda Regan is also an established crime novelist.
She has written eight crime novels, including:
📖 Behind You!
📖 Passion Killers
📖 Dead Like Her
📖 Brotherhood of Blades
📖 Street Girls
📖 Guts for Garters
📖 Sister Hoods
📖 The Terror Within
Her writing provides another major dimension to her career alongside acting. IMDb's biography notes her eight crime novels.
❤️ LINDA REGAN AND BRIAN MURPHY
Linda was married to actor Brian Murphy, best known for George Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.
❤️ Linda and Brian married on 14 March 1995.
They had also worked together professionally, including in the stage/television comedy world.
Brian Murphy died on 2 February 2025, aged 92. Linda was with him at his home at the time of his death.
Their marriage lasted almost 30 years.
🎭 LINDA REGAN – THEATRE CAREER
Although television made Linda widely recognisable, theatre remained an important part of her career.
Her stage work included:
🎭 Dirty Linen – Tom Stoppard
🎭 Macbeth – Lady Macduff
🎭 Henry IV – Lady Percy
🎭 Once a Catholic – Mary McGinty
🎭 The Legend – Marilyn Monroe
🎭 Dirty Linen – Maddie Go-to-Bed
🎭 Steaming – Rosie
🎭 Veronica's Room – The Girl
She also performed in comedy and farce, including productions such as Noises Off.
⭐ LINDA REGAN – CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
👧 Childhood Helped father with entertainment work
🎭 Early career Repertory theatre
🎭 1970s West End and Royal Shakespeare Company
🚌 1970 On the Buses – Edna
🚌 1971 On the Buses film – Pretty Girl on Bus
🎬 1976Carry On England
🎸 1979Quadrophenia
🕵️ 1979Minder
🏕️ 1984–88⭐ Hi-de-Hi! – April Wingate
📺 1980s–90sBergerac, Dempsey and Makepeace, The Bill
📺 1999–2003Harry and Cosh
📚 Later careerCrime novelist
🎙️ Later careerRadio/audio work
🎭 2020sContinued involvement in entertainment
🚌🏆 LINDA REGAN'S ON THE BUSES LEGACY
For On the Buses fans, Linda Regan has a particularly interesting place in the show's history.
She appeared during the original television era and then returned for the first feature film.
🚌 Television
“Christmas Duty” – 25 December 1970
👩 Edna
🎬 Cinema
On the Buses – 1971
👩 Pretty Girl on Bus
These appearances came during the period when On the Buses was at the height of its popularity, with Reg Varney, Doris Hare, Michael Robbins, Anna Karen, Stephen Lewis and Bob Grant forming the familiar central cast.
⭐ Linda subsequently went on to become much better known nationally as April Wingate in Hi-de-Hi! — giving her a fascinating connection between two of Britain's great holiday/camp and transport sitcoms.
🌟 LEGACY
Linda Regan's career has lasted for more than five decades and encompasses an unusually broad range of entertainment.
🚌 On the Buses
🏕️ Hi-de-Hi!
🎬 Carry On England
🎸 Quadrophenia
🕵️ Minder
🚔 The Bill
📺 Bergerac
🎭 West End & Royal Shakespeare Company
🎙️ Radio and audio
📚 Crime novelist
She is perhaps best remembered by the general public as April Wingate, but for classic British sitcom enthusiasts, her early appearances in On the Buses make her career especially interesting.
Linda Regan remains an important link between the classic British comedy of the 1970s and the sitcoms of the 1980s and beyond. ⭐🚌🏕️
In short: Linda Regan's two On the Buses appearances were Edna in the 1970 Christmas episode “Christmas Duty” and the Pretty Girl on Bus in the 1971 film. Her later career reached a much larger audience through April Wingate in Hi-de-Hi!, for which IMDb records 24 episodes.
Linda answers questions from the fan club
Q. How did you get started in the business?
A. I got started in business because i grew up in it, and worked with my father from an early age, who was a comedy magician and also had a comedy band, and things progressed from there into television and repertory theatre.
Q. Did you meet your husband Brian when you were both working in theatre?
A. Brian and i met playing husband and wife in Wife Begins at Forty. A comedy play adapted by Ray Cooney. It wasn't love at first sight, it started as a working relationship and grew into a close friendship. After the show finished i missed him, so I drove over to see him at the theatre in Stratford East where he was rehearsing a new play, and I invited him to tea, some time. He arrived on my doorstep that afternoon, at tea time, and hasn't left. We were married within a year, and have had, so far, nearly twenty years of happiness. We both are living proof that true love exists.
Q. How do you decide what job offers to take?
A. I decide whether or not to take on a role if I like the project, because then no matter how small my part in it is, i want to be part of it. i am very proud i got the opportunity to work with those wonderful performers in On the Buses. i worked with many of them again over the years, and the talent in that show was outstanding.
Q. Do you prefer working as a writer or an actress?
Crime writing is very different to all those fun comedy shows that I have appeared in, although I have done many television dramas too. I guess I just wanted to write crime. It's fun in its own way- anyone you don't like in real life, you can kill off in fiction.
I hope I will always be offered acting roles, I know I can carry on writing books, and then sell them- but acting you have to be offered a part. I love acting- it is in my core and I do want to carry on doing it forever- I just hope people keep asking me. (CONTINUE BELOW)
LINDA'S CRIME BOOKS ARE SET AROUND THE WORLD OF THEATRE AND YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE OR ORDER A COPY BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW
Q. Do you prefer tv or theatre work ?
A. I now prefer filming and television to the theatre although I have loved theatre previously, for many many years
Q. What have been some of your favourite roles you played?
A. Favourite roles include Marilyn Monroe in the stage play about her, and my role as April in Hi De Hi will always hold special memories. And I loved playing Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth- i always wanted to play that one.(Maybe that's what made me want to write crime).
Q. What was it like working on another of my favourites HI DE HI and was it as much fun as it looked working with the cast
A. Hi-De-Hi was always fun. Rather like On The Buses, it was full of performers who had worked in variety, who were also actors, and we laughed all the time. My late father (Peter Regan), worked in variety. He also worked the holiday camps whenI was a child, so I was fascinated by the endless stories from the cast about holiday camp days. I am really glad I had that chance to be part of the success of Hi-De-Hi.
I loved listening to Lesley Dwyer's stories, and of course Kenny Connor(who I had also been in Carry On England with). And Jan Hardy(who guested in HiDeHi, as the ticket inspector), and was a close friend of my Dad's; also Billy Burden, another very funny man(played the pig farmer) Those people I mentioned are in in the big theatre in the sky now- and I am so glad I had the opportunity to spend time with them. I am convinced, now that wonderful Felix Bowness has, only this week, joined them, that the angels will be hugely entertained.
May they all rest with laughter, and peace
Q. What do you remember about working ON THE BUSES?
A. My memories of the tiny part I contributed to two On The Buses(both uncredited), are getting the giggles- kissing Reg Varney was fun, he kept tickling me and we giggled a lot. The tiny role of girl at the bus stop has made me quite famous- I was once nominated for the rear of the year- in something(I can't remember what)
Thanks to Linda for taking time out to answer the questions
CLICK HERE ****** for Linda's own web site