By Catherine Cranston
Katy Manning arrives full of warmth and energy, like a small sun she radiates positivity wherever she goes. She’s wearing large sunglasses, her trademark scarf, and high heels.
Manning is back in Australia from her home in the UK to visit family and friends, a near-annual pilgrimage only briefly curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is best known for her time playing companion Jo Grant in Doctor Who in the early 1970s, alongside Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor.
Manning is still playing the role in full-cast audio dramas for Big Finish and returned to Doctor Who on screen as Jo Jones in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2010 and in The Power of the Doctor starring Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor in 2022.
Having spent 20 years in Australia from the early 1980s, Manning has a lot of catching up to do each time she visits, making use of public transport to traverse greater Sydney, from the Blue Mountains to the ocean, and everywhere in between.
We’re sitting inside a bustling cafe tucked between the UTS and TAFE campuses in Ultimo, Sydney, a block from the ABC, which was the Australian home of Doctor Who for 57 years.
Manning has a deep affection for Australia, and it all began out of necessity.
Katy first moved to Sydney, Australia, with her twin children JJ and Georgie for their health in 1982. What was meant to be a short stay for a few months became a 20-year career in Australia as an actor and director.
It was during this time in 1988 that she met Australian actor and entertainer Barry Crocker, her current partner, when they worked on a play together called Mother’s Day.
Early in her new life in Australia, she found that Australian Doctor Who fans were different to those in the UK. At the time, she says in Australia people didn’t like to admit they watched it.
Manning said: “It was really cute, because if you were doing a show, an actor might secretly come up to you and say; ‘Oh, by the way, I’m a massive Doctor Who fan.’ It was almost like a secret over here.”
For Australian fans, Manning was the first real-life Doctor Who star to be living in Australia.
She has links to the early days of the Doctor Who Club of Australia (DWCA) too, and an honorary role as club patron.
The Doctor Who Club of Australia was founded in 1976 after fans protested the dropping of Doctor Who outside the ABC’s Sydney office.
DWCA still hosts regular meet-ups and events across Sydney, publishes a fan magazine (Data Extract) and has a club store that sells Doctor Who-related merchandise.
Today there’s no need to be secretive about your love for Doctor Who, and there’s a mutual love between Katy and her fans.
Joanne Wood, a Doctor Who fan from Sydney, said: “She always just makes you feel like she’s giving you a big hug, like she’s warm and she’s interested in you, and not like cold behind the eyes like a lot of people when you get to see them for their autographs or they’re like ‘yeah, sure, whatever’, but she actually engages with you and it’s wonderful.”
It’s hard to describe the impact Manning has on people. She exudes warmth, kindness, and positivity. For each fan lining up to meet her at a Doctor Who convention, she will give them their moment. There is no hurrying her along; she holds their hands, looks deep into their eyes and listens with interest.
Ashley Tuchin, another Doctor Who fan, said: “Every time I’ve met Katy, four times and counting, she’s been marvellous. She’s always very kind and friendly, and full of that chaotic Katy energy that we all know and love.”
In the mid-90s Manning moved to Los Angeles where she shared a flat with her best friend Liza Minelli. While living in LA she wrote and performed a one-woman-show called Not a Well Woman in which she portrays 26 characters, all with different voices.
Recently Manning has been speaking more about her love for Australia, especially the regional areas where she had toured plays.
“I left my heart in the centre of Australia,” she said. “I didn’t leave it in any of the cities, but where the land is sort of, you know, all those shades of red and brown and the stars come down and literally to the floor like they’re on a black velvet cake.
“I left my heart there, taking theatre to people who’ve never seen this. They said ‘Oh well, we’ve had the Irish dancing and you know we’ve had a few country and western singers, but we’ve never seen anyone talk in lots of voices on stage.’ And you know, they would drive miles – that was meant more to me.
“I know this is slightly out of Doctor Who, but that meant more to me than appearing at the Opera House or in the West End, which I’ve done many times. That’s what I feel theatre is all about.”
Manning continues to contribute to Doctor Who, including writing short stories for the book Doctor Who: Origin stories (released by BBC and Penguin Random House Press) and Ace Jacket: The Inside Story by Sophie Aldred, who played the Seventh Doctor’s companion Ace.
She didn’t grow up watching Doctor Who, she was 16 when it aired and on a Saturday night she went out instead, music and concerts were her life. Today, though, it is different.
“I come in as, as you know, 77 going on 78-year-old fan and I jokingly call myself a gran fan,” Manning said. “Well, maybe not jokingly. I call myself a gran fan because I’ve become this massive fan. However, I hasten to add, I don’t watch anything twice.”
Having recently been put to competitive tender by the BBC, after a two-season run on Disney Plus, the future is uncertain for Doctor Who, but it will live on in audio drama for now.
Regardless of what happens next, Doctor Who will ultimately be kept alive by the fans, including Katy Manning, just as it has always been.
Featured image: Katy Manning (right) and Nicola Bryant at a convention in Los Angeles, 2019. Photo: Catherine Cranston