About the Character: Mrs. Pumphrey is an affluent widow and regular client of Farnon’s veterinary practice. She lives in a mansion with her Pekingese, Tricki Woo, the dog she spoils rotten with luxuries like Egyptian cotton sheets and beef Wellington.

Where You’ve Seen Her Before: Observant MASTERPIECE viewers may recall Dame Patricia Hodge’s appearance in Roadkill or her role as Bertie Pelham’s mother in Downton Abbey Season 6. Her career spans TV, theater, and film. She’s known for her role as Penny on the British sit-com Miranda, and as Ursula Thorpe, formidable mother to MP Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant) in A Very British Scandal. Hodge has won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award and been nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award.

Fun Fact: She’s a natural redhead and hated that fact as a child. She tells The Guardian, “I have incredibly pale coloring. My eyelashes are white and my skin burns like mad. Nowadays, people love having red hair, but when I was young, I felt like an alien being.”

Related Content:Hodge reveals thoughts about her character’s backstory, cricket, and Tricki Woo in our exclusive Season 2 interview. Read more about Hodge’s joining the cast in Season 2 and listen to how she made the character of Mrs. Pumphrey her own in a new MASTERPIECE Studio podcast episode.