Zienia Merton

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Zienia Merton
Born(1945-12-11)11 December 1945
Actress
  • author
    • Years active1962–2018
    TelevisionSpace: 1999
    Doctor Who

    Zienia Merton (11 December 1945 – 14 September 2018)

    Sandra Benes in Space: 1999.[5][6][7]

    Early career

    Merton was the daughter of Minny and Cecil Burton. Her mother was

    Burmese, and her father was a half-English, half-French merchant. She was raised in Singapore, Portugal and England. She was educated at first in Portugal, but was later sent to Arts Educational school (today the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts) in Hertfordshire.[5] Her first stage performance was as a dancer (playing a rat) in a Christmas 1957 production of The Nutcracker ballet at the Royal Festival Hall.[5]

    Merton's first significant science-fiction credit was as Ping-Cho in the 1964

    The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Jason King (1971). She was a lead actress as Christina in the 1971 Dennis Potter TV adaptation of Casanova with Frank Finlay,[8] and appeared on The Benny Hill Show in 1972, playing the wife of Hill's Chow Mein character. Her film roles included a brief appearance as an Asian high priestess in the Beatles' film Help! (1965), as Ting Ling in the film The Chairman (1969) with Gregory Peck, and The Adventurers
    (1970).

    Space: 1999

    Probably her most notable role is that of

    Sandra Benes in Space: 1999, the science fiction series produced by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson between 1973 and 1976, with Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse and Catherine Schell. In 1999, Merton reprised this role in the short film Message from Moonbase Alpha, written by series writer Johnny Byrne. Its debut was at the closing ceremony of the Breakaway 1999 convention[9] in Los Angeles, California, US on 13 September 1999; the date on which the moon is blasted out of Earth orbit in the pilot episode
    of the original series.

    Other performances

    Following Space: 1999, Merton appeared in many popular television series including

    Dempsey & Makepeace (1985),[2] Lovejoy (1986),[2] Crime Traveller (1997), Doctors (2001),[2] Dinotopia (2002), Casualty (1986–2002),[2] EastEnders (1998–2003),[2] The Bill (1999–2005),[2] Judge John Deed (2006), Coronation Street (2008)[2] and Wire in the Blood
    (2008).

    In December 2008, Merton filmed a guest role for the eighth episode ("Samaritan") of the ITV drama Law & Order: UK. Although the series premiered on 23 February 2009, some episodes were held over for broadcast as "Series Two". "Samaritan" was first transmitted on ITV1 on 11 January 2010.

    In May 2009, Merton returned to the world of Doctor Who, 45 years after her appearance in Marco Polo, to record a special episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures in the two-part episode The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, broadcast on BBC One on 29 and 30 October 2009.

    In 2018, Merton narrated BBC Audio's release of the novelisation of Marco Polo. This turned out to be her final professional engagement.

    Death

    Merton was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017, and died 14 September 2018.[5]

    Books

    Zienia Merton; Robert E. Wood (2005). Anecdotes & Armadillos. self-published.

    ISBN 1411634845
    .

    Filmography

    Film

    Year Title Role Notes
    1962 Masters of Venus Marla
    1965 Catch Us If You Can Allison Uncredited
    Help! High Priestess Uncredited
    1969 The Chairman Ting Ling
    1970 The Adventurers Dax's Sister Uncredited
    When You're With Me Princess Tamani West German film
    1972 Henry VIII and His Six Wives Annette (scenes deleted)
    1977 Kosmetikkrevolusjonen Lucy Ferner Norwegian film

    Television

    Year Title Role Notes
    1964 Doctor Who: Marco Polo Ping-Cho Season 1: (7 episodes)
    The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling Kashmiri girl Season 1, Episode 7: "Mark of the Beast"
    1969 The Troubleshooters Liane Season 5, Episode 23: "It's a Very Bad Day for Travelling"
    Thirty-Minute Theatre Rachel Season 5, Episode 6: "Trespassers"
    Omnibus
         		Noel Season 3, Episode 9: "F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Dream Divided"
    Strange Report Zeba Hameed Season 1, Episode 7: "Report 3424: Epidemic - A Most Curious Crime"
    The Root of All Evil? Medeline Season 2, Episode 5:"Floating Man"
    1970
    The Six Wives of Henry VIII
         		Annette TV mini-series
    W. Somerset Maugham Malay girl Season 2, Episode 8: "The Door of Opportunity"
    ITV Playhouse
         		Leila Season 3, Episode 10: "The High Game"
    1971 Casanova Christina 6 part BBC serial
    1972 The Benny Hill Show Mrs. Chow Mein Season 3, Episode 4: "Down Memory Lane"
    Jason King Zenia Season 1, Episode 24: "Zenia"
    Crime of Passion Nicole Martine Season 3, Episode 3: "Modeste"
    1973 Madigan Natalia Season 1, Episode 4: "The Lisbon Beat"
    Ego Hugo Guernsey Maid TV movie
    Beryl's Lot Katy Papademitropoullos Season 1, Episode 1: "Getting Up"
    1975–1977 Space: 1999 Sandra Benes Season 1: (24 episodes)
    Season 2: (11 episodes)
    1976 Journey Through the Black Sun Sandra Benes TV movie
    Alien Attack Sandra Benes TV movie
    1978 Destination Moonbase-Alpha Sandra Benes TV movie
    Wilde Alliance Dolores Season 1, Episode 7: "Well Enough Alone"
    Return of the Saint Mila Season 1, Episode 2: "The Nightmare Man"
    Thank You, Comrades Olga TV movie
    1979 The Other Side Kieu Season 1, Episode 5: "Contacts"
    1980 Escape Unknown Season 1, Episode 2: "Hijack to Mogadishu"
    1981 The History Man Miss Ho TV mini-series
    1982 Cosmic Princess Sandra Benes TV movie
    1983 Bergerac Cora Season 2, Episode 7: "A Miracle Every Week"
    Angels Sister Davis Season 9, Episode 25
    1984
    The Brief
         		Mrs. Francis Season 1, Episode 8: "Terry"
    Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense Nurse Lee Parquet Season 1, Episode 5: "The Late Nancy Irving"
    Tenko Nun Season 3, Episode 9
    1985 Dempsey and Makepeace Lei Shan Season 1, Episode 7: "Make Peace Not War"
    Grange Hill Mrs. Wallace Season 8, Episode 15
    1986 Lovejoy Miss Taylor Season 1, Episode 2: "The Axeman Cometh"
    1986–2002 Casualty Manson / Dr Helen Billington / Dr. Helen Billington / Hotel Receptionist 4 episodes
    1989 Capital City Melinda Lau Season 1, Episode 5: "Pension Fund"
    1994–2005 The Bill Registrar / Dr. Morgan / Magistrate / Surgeon 4 episodes
    1995 Chiller Maria Monsanto Season 1, Episode 1: "Prophecy"
    1997 Crime Traveller Receptionist Season 1, Episode 7: "The Lottery Experiment"
    1998 Peak Practice Jennifer Kemp Season 6, Episode 5: "Another Day of Life"
    Heaven on Earth Barbara Tucker TV movie
    1998–2003 EastEnders Receptionist / Dr. Stokeley Season 1: (6 episodes)
    1999 The Lakes Guest 2 Season 2, Episode 9
    2000 Family Affairs Doctor Morrisey Unknown
    2001–2011 Doctors Helen Waterman / Dr. Sarah Reed / Ms. Reed 3 episodes
    2002 Dinotopia Teacher TV mini-series
    2006 Judge John Deed Dr. Dolores Bleach Season 5, Episode 5: "One Angry Man"
    2008 Coronation Street Doctor Season 1: (3 episodes)
    Wire in the Blood Magistrate Season 6: (2 episodes)
    2009 Law & Order: UK Judge Katerina Rose Season 2, Episode 1: "Samaritan"
    The Sarah Jane Adventures Registrar Season 3: (2 episodes)
    2013
    Wizards vs. Aliens
         		Tseringma Season 2: (2 episodes)

    References

    1. ^ Hadoke, Toby (18 September 2018). "Zienia Merton obituary". The Guardian.
    2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Zienia Merton 1945 - 2018". The Doctor Who News Page. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
    3. ^ "E' morta Zienia Merton, la Sandra Benes di Spazio 1999 - Universal Movies". Universalmovies.it (in Italian). 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
    4. ^ "Zienia Merton dead at 72". Hollywood.com. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
    5. ^ a b c d Hadoke, Toby. "Zienia Merton obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
    6. ^ Khorsandi, Peyvand. "Zienia Merton: actor who played Sandra Benes in Space: 1999". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
    7. ^ Pollock, David. "Obituary - Zienia Merton, actress known for Space: 1999". The Herald. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
    8. ^ a b "Zienia Merton - the Doctor Who Cuttings Archive".
    9. ^ Willey, Martin. "Breakaway: 1999 Convention Report". The Catacombs: International Guide. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-17.

    External links

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