Born: 13th May 1957 (as Frances J Brookes)
Episodes Broadcast: 2011

Born in Wolverhampton, Frances Brookes was passionate television viewer during her childhood, which she parlayed into drama studies at the University College of North Wales and Cardiff University. Taking the professional name “Frances Barber”, she enjoyed steady work on the stage, initially gaining notice for her involvement with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the mid-Eighties. Barber's television debut came in a 1982 edition of Play For Today, and she could also be seen in programmes like Reilly: Ace Of Spies, Behaving Badly and The Nightmare Years. She often conveyed a vamp-like persona, which she sent up to great effect in a 1989 episode of the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. Barber also made several appearances in independent British film during the Eighties, including Peter Greenaway's A Zed & Two Noughts, Castaway with Oliver Reed, and Prick Up Your Ears starring Gary Oldman. She had a starring role in 1987's Sammy And Rosie Get Laid, directed by Stephen Frears.

During the Nineties, Barber could be seen in shows like Inspector Morse, Rhodes, The Ice House and Real Women. When the future Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, wrote and starred in the 1992 film Soft Top Hard Shoulder, Barber had a key role. Amongst her other movies during the decade was the rock 'n roll comedy Still Crazy. After the turn of the century, Barber could be seen on television in everything from Having It Off to Trial & Retribution to Funland to The IT Crowd. Film roles included the Michael Caine crime drama Shiner, Evilenko with Malcolm McDowell, and the football movie Goal! and its sequel.

In 2011, Barber played Madame Kovarian, the central villain of Doctor Who's thirty-second season

In 2011, Barber played Madame Kovarian, the central villain of Doctor Who's thirty-second season. She appeared in six stories during the year -- with her cameo role in The Curse Of The Black Spot going uncredited -- and successfully separated companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams from their daughter, before receiving her comeuppance at the hands of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor in The Wedding Of River Song. In 2012, Barber read the Eleventh Doctor adventure Snake Bite, released by AudioGo. The following year, she narrated Tommy Donbavand's novel Shroud Of Sorrow for BBC Audio. Barber then reprised Madame Kovarian for two 2018 installments of the audio range The Diary Of River Song from Big Finish Productions.

Other television during the 2010s included The Spa, two seasons of Silk, Psychobitches and Medici. On the silver screen, Barber was in Mr Holmes with Ian McKellen, the Annette Bening drama Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, and The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer. Her career showed no signs of abating as the Twenties began, with appearances in shows like Semi-Detached, Whitstable Pearl and The Chelsea Detective.