Cast & creator
Penny Downie
Best known for Agatha Christie's Poirot, The Crown, Vera
Penny Downie is an Australian actress known for her stage and television appearances in the United Kingdom. From 2017 until 2021 she played Ellen in the British TV sitcom Back. She plays the US ambassador’s house manager Frances Munning in the 2023 Netflix political thriller series The Diplomat.
24
film credits
36
television credits
60
1979–2026 · acting roles
6.9
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (60)
Showing 60 of 60 credits
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Frances Cloade
1989
The Crown
Duchess of Gloucester
2016
Vera
Veronica
2011
Father Brown
Rev. Mother Augustine
2013
Downton Abbey
Lady Sinderby
2010
Minder
Dee Rogers
1979
Spooks
Prosecution QC
2002
Waking the Dead
Bonnie Yorke
2001
The Diplomat
Frances Munning
2023
Inspector Morse
Nurse Wendy Hazlitt
1987
Ripper Street
Flora Gable
2012
Absentia
Valerie Chandris
2017
The Chelsea Detective
Hilary Carmichael
2022
Timewatch
Caecilia
1982
Silk
Helen Guthrie
2011
Screen One
Sheila
1989
Kavanagh Q.C.
Mrs. Rosalind McEnery
1995
Dalgliesh
Kate Miskin
1983
Houdini & Doyle
Mrs. Sulzbach
2016
London Has Fallen
Home Secretary Rose Kenter
2016
Whitstable Pearl
Izzy
2021
New Street Law
Honor Scammel
2006
Murder in Suburbia
Zenith
2004
Invictus
Mrs. Pienaar
2009
Breathe
Tid
2017
Siblings
Dr Barker
2014
Jackie
Janet Lee
2016
All About George
Evelyn
2005
Back
Ellen
2017
The Cazalets
Sid
2001
Trust
Anita Matteo
2003
A Taste for Death
Kate Miskin
1988
Madson
Anderton
1996
Stanley and the Women
Susan Duke
1991
A Certain Justice
Venetia Aldridge
1998
The House of Mirth
Judy Trenor
2000
W.E.
Dr. Vargas
2011
The Ice House
Phoebe Maybury
1997Stages
Linda
1994Campaign
Sarah Copeland
1988
The Girl in the Café
Ruth
2005
Underbelly
Barbara Manning
1992
Byron
Lady Judith Milbanke
2003
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking
Judith Massingham
2004
Lionheart
Madelaine
1987
Boss Cat
Doris
2026
Hamlet
Gertrude
2009
The Jester from Transylvania
Mrs. Pennington
2024
Food of Love
Mary
1997
Crime and Punishment
Katerina
1998
Wetherby
Chrissie
1985
Byron
Lady Judith Milbanke
2003
Vivian Stanshall: The Canyons of his Mind
Self - Narrator
2003
Crosstalk
Cindy
1982
Paradise
Linda
1994
Lost for Words
Aileen Longden
1999
Ex
Sheila
1991
Falling
Hazel Kent
2005
Murder in Rome
Caecilia
2005Doobie and a Lil Cup of Coffee
Iris (voice)