Plaque unveiled in honour of Wendy Richard

Plaque unveiled in honour of Wendy Richard
Plaque unveiled in honour of Wendy Richard (Image credit: EMPICS)

Stars from EastEnders were among those who turned out to see a memorial plaque to Wendy Richard unveiled on Sunday in London. The plaque, from the Heritage Foundation, is at the Shepherd's Tavern in Mayfair, which was once run by the actress' parents Henry and Beatrice Emerton. It was unveiled by Are You Being Served creator David Croft. Richard, who died in February after a long battle with cancer, sprang to fame as Miss Brahms in the 70s sitcom, before spending 21 years as Pauline Fowler in EastEnders. "Wendy was a great British actress," said the Foundation's president, singer Robin Gibb. "Particularly in America she had a tremendous impact. "Are You Being Served? in particular was on every single night on TV. For 40 years, every night." Among those who attended the ceremony were former EastEnders stars James Alexandrou and Todd Carty, who played Richard's onscreen sons Martin and Mark Fowler. "She meant the world to me, like a second mum, my best friend" Carty said. "She knew me from a very young age. We hit it off from the first minute."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.