Calm down dear, it's only a commercial.

[saxy_jag]

Last night, on 'The One Show', Michael Winner expressed (possibly faux) surprise that Wanda Ventham is Benedict Cumberbatch's mother. Am I right in thinking that Wanda Ventham was the actress he actually told to 'calm down dear' in the Esure ad?

[craft1948]

I used to think Wanda Ventham was lovely in the 70's.......she was in something with Ian Hendry.

[marval]

"The Lotus Eaters",

[cully]

saxy, the actress you're probably thinking of is Julia Foster, a contemporary of Wanda's but he did subsequently say the same words to Lorraine Doyle and Vanessa Perry in later ads.

[ABerrant]

...and Julia Foster is mother of Ben Fogle.

[Zeuhl]

I don't think Wanda has done any ad work.
.

[saxy_jag]

Thank you all. I did know about the Julia Foster/Ben Fogle link (you can leave me on an island with Ben anytime), but it wouldn't be the first time I've got Julia's and Wanda's faces mixed up.

It was just the way Michael Winner said to Benedict, "Oh! Wanda Ventham's your mother?". I felt that he ought to have known something like that and wondered if he was just joking, perhaps because he knew Wanda quite well.