Tessa Wyatt

Tessa Wyatt (born 23 April 1948) is an English actress known for her role as Vicky Tripp (née Nicholls) in the ITV sitcom Robin's Nest.

Wyatt was born in Woking, Surrey, in 1948 and attended Elmhurst Ballet School and was encouraged to act by her maternal grandmother. She got her first professional job, aged 12, in a television programme featuring Richard Hearne's Mr Pastry character and soon after she gained an agent.

Wyatt's early television appearances included parts in Z-Cars, The Wednesday Play, Public Eye, Callan, Dixon of Dock Green, Doctor at Large, Play for Today, UFO and The Goodies. Her film appearances included Wedding Night (1970), the cult horror film The Beast in the Cellar (1970), England Made Me (1973) opposite Peter Finch, and Spy Story (1976).

From 1977 to 1981, Tessa Wyatt played Vicky Nicholls, later Tripp, in the ITV sitcom Robin's Nest, a spin-off from the successful sitcom Man About the House. Her on-screen boyfriend and later husband Robin Tripp was played by Richard O'Sullivan. Following Robin's Nest, Wyatt appeared in Return of the Saint, Boon and 2point4 Children.

Wyatt was part of the original cast of the Channel Five soap opera Family Affairs playing Samantha Cockerill. Since 2000 she has also appeared in Casualty and Doctors. She appeared in the fifth series of Peep Show as Jeremy's mother and recently was Tom's love interest in one episode of The Old Guys opposite Roger Lloyd-Pack and Clive Swift. In 2013, she joined the cast of EastEnders, playing Betty Spragg. She made a second appearance in the BBC series Doctors on 19 May 2015 alongside George Layton, another sitcom stalwart from the 1970s.

In 1972 Tessa Wyatt married Tony Blackburn, the radio DJ; the couple divorced in 1977 after five years, having had a son. For seven years from 1978, Wyatt was in a relationship with her Robin's Nest co-star O'Sullivan, with whom she had also had a son. She married property developer Bill Harkness at Hammersmith register office in 1986, and they have two children.