LAURA SADLER - one of Britain's hottest
young actressesMany Grange Hill actors are relative unknowns when they come into the series. But in 1997 Grange Hill pulled off a major coup when it signed up a talented 15-year old to play the demanding role of Judi Jeffreys. That actress was Laura Sadler, who had already had a movie with Julie Walters and a couple of TV roles to her name. And being in Grange Hill has led to Laura being much in demand, as you will see. So where has this girl, Laura Sadler, come from?
Laura Sadler trained at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. Sylvia Young has provided many of Grange Hill's actors and also takes the credit for other celebs such as Billie Piper, Spice girl Emma Bunton and All Saints. Many youngsters try and fail to win a place at Sylvia Young's each year, so it was clear that Laura had the exceptional talent needed to gain a place.
Her first big break was as Sebina in "Inspector Morse", a non-speaking role involving an elephant ride! The first time I saw Laura on TV was in 1995, when she appeared as Gabby Goggle in Goggle Vision, a series about a TV-mad family marking 40 years of Children's ITV. Sadly the only clip of Laura I have from that series is the background shot below, from a CITV continuity link.
Laura left Goggle Vision and in 1996 moved onto the big screen, in the movie Intimate Relations starring Rupert Graves and Julie Walters. She played Walters' teenage daughter who has an illicit relationship with her mum's handsome lodger, and carried off the role beautifully. Back in TV land, Goggle Vision continued with Gabby now played by Melanie Martinez, who has not been heard of since.
Then came the role we're bonkers about. In 1996, while taking her GCSEs, Laura Sadler won the role of Judi Jeffreys in Series 20 of Grange Hill. It was a role Laura was to make her own and she played the part with great skill and emotion. Judi was a caring but put-upon Year 9 pupil who struggled to combine normal teenage life with looking after her mum who suffered from MS. She also had to look after her little brothers. Judi worried constantly that social services would find out about her home life and take them into care. Inevitably social services did find out, but Judi needn't have worried - they merely provided a home help.
There were some powerful scenes in that series, especially when a rift developed between Judi and best mate Sarah-Jane, and I would think many people cheered when Judi told Mrs Holmes where to get off!
Laura's second series of GRANGE HILL, shown in 1998, was one which tested her acting ability as Judi's face was mistakenly slashed by knife-wielding Sean Pearce. Judi was left with a permanent scar, and Laura movingly showed Judi's pain as she attempted to come to terms with her disfigurement. Sean (Iain Robertson) struck up a friendship with Judi and, trusting as ever, she couldn't see he was trying to cover his tracks. Eventually Judi twigged and was stunned to find the knife in Sean's coat pocket, but through the ordeal she became closer to boyfriend Wayne.
Just when you thought Judi's fortunes had turned the corner, viewers were proved horrifically wrong in the 1999 series. Alec, excluded from Grange Hill and living on the streets, was desperate to talk to Judi and sneaked into school. He cornered Judi in a store-room, and they were locked in. Alec's smoking and some spilt white spirit started a fire, and while he managed to jump clear from the window the terrified Judi fell to her death in a jaw-dropping scene.
Click here to see Judi's fatal fall. Young children may find this clip distressing. (RealPlayer 8.5 required)
That may have been the last we saw of Laura in Grange Hill, but in October last year, Laura played the part of Skirty Marm in a new BBC1 children's comedy, Belfry Witches. Skirty Marm was a teenage witch banished to earth from Witch Island with her pal Old Noshie (Lucy Davis). The pair settled in a sleepy village where they caused mayhem!
And now, the biggest role so far and one that's making Laura a household name. She plays a young nurse, Sandy Harper, in the third series of the hugely popular Casualty spin-off, Holby City. For Laura it meant a return to Elstree where Grange Hill is filmed, but sadly the prospect of Judi returning to Grange Hill remains an impossibility.
So what now for this sought-after actress? The sky could be the limit, but we'll have to see!
LAURA SADLER'S BIOGRAPHY I wrote to Laura Sadler and was fortunate enough to receive a reply and signed photo. She was very appreciative of my praise for her work on Grange Hill and told me a bit about herself. Go to STARFILE for some facts and figures about Laura, including a rundown of her TV roles.
All images come from the Webmaster's video archive
