The character of Grace was controversially killed off in a fire on the 30th September, 1955, the night of the launch independent television in the UK. Churchman suspected she had been killed off by the producers as she had discovered that some of the cast members were not being paid the proper Equity rates and had voiced her concerns regarding this. Churchman would return to The Archers in the following years voicing five other characters – Jennifer Archer, Barbara Drury, Joan Ilverton, Jocelyn Page and most recently Mary Pound. Following her initial departure from the popular radio soap she did not have to wait long for more work. As one source of income dried up another opened with the advent of commercial television in the UK. Churchman found herself in demand for voice over work for adverts and would contribute in this fashion to a vast array of productions over the years.
Churchman tended to concentrate on radio, television and film roles in her career rather than stage work. After her marriage she gave up working on the stage. In an interview with the Birmingham Daily Post in 1967 she commented on this decision “I gave up the stage – which sounds terrible doesn’t it? – because it would not have fitted in with married life…I adore working in radio because it gives one the chance of being something other than oneself. There is no restriction on account of what one looks like. It is far more fun.[1]” Churchman married Tony Pilgrim, chief BBC engineer for the Midlands area.
As mentioned above her television debut came with the BBC play Gallows Glorious though her next role would have to wait until after the Second World War. Spring, 1600 (26th June 1949) was a one-off comedy drama in which Churchman was cast as the unflatteringly named character Grizzly Fox. This was followed by Craven House (21st February 1950), in which Churchman featured as the character Audrey Custard, and the comedy horror play The Poltergeist (1st April 1950) which had previously been filmed as Things Happen at Night (1948). Her film debut came with an unnamed role in Murder in the Cathedral (1951) adapted by T S Elliot from his own stage play. During 1951 she married her husband Tony and the couple would remain lifelong companions celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 2001. Pilgrim was responsible for organising outside broadcasts for the BBC and in this capacity had overseen both the coronation of King George VI in 1945 and the 1948 Olympic Games. He was also instrumental in establishing the Royal Television Society and was awarded an MBE in 1992. He died in 2015.
Ysanne next undertook the role of Ruth in the BBC’s production of The Railway Children appearing in three episodes from July 1951. She then contributed to the first episode of the satirical show The Lighter Side, entitled 'Food' (1st August 1951), as well as supplying the voice of Bianca in a Russian feature film version of Othello (1956). Her final role for the year was in the BBC play Pitfall (27th September 1956) playing the role of Carol Armistead. During 1957 she reprised her role of Ruth in another BBC production of The Railway Children which began transmission from March. Churchman was then absent from screens for a few years as she busied herself with voice and radio roles.
Churchman’s next substantial, and notable role, was supplying the voice of Sara in the BBC children’s puppet series Sara and Hoppity. The programme was created and produced by Roberta Leigh and based on a series of books she had written. Fifty two instalments were produced and broadcast between 27th February 1962 and 26th February 1963. At present only the first episode is preserved in the archives. On screen appearances for Ysanne were still rare. During 1964 Churchman could be seen as Mrs Wallace in the soap opera Crossroads and had a small role as a housewife in 'The Spider’s Web' (4th November 1964), an episode of the county council set BBC drama Swizzlewick. She also took a role in the BBC drama anthology Story Parade playing the fabulously named Loona Bimberton in 'The Unbearable Bassington' (8th April 1965), adapted from a story by Saki. She then had a guest role in two episodes of the football drama United! (7th and 9th March 1966) in the role of Helen Wilkinson. Later in the year she returned to the series as Miss Sharpe for a single episode (19th September 1966). Following this she made her debut in Softly Softly portraying Mrs Robins in 'Sleeping Dogs' (30th November 1966).
Rainbow City was a BBC drama about the working and personal life of a Jamaican born solicitor in the city of Birmingham. Churchman played Ann Lawrence in two episodes – 'Beards and Turbans' (26th July 1967) and 'Always on Sunday' (9th August 1967). After this she made her second appearance in an episode of Softly Softly playing Mrs Wright in the story 'The Good Girl' (15th February 1968). 'Hudson’s Way' (18th and 19th March 1968) was a two-part Z Cars storyline which featured Churchman in the role of a barmaid. The episodes are also notable due to an early appearance by future Doctor Who Tom Baker in a guest role.
Churchman’s next substantial, and notable role, was supplying the voice of Sara in the BBC children’s puppet series Sara and Hoppity. The programme was created and produced by Roberta Leigh and based on a series of books she had written. Fifty two instalments were produced and broadcast between 27th February 1962 and 26th February 1963. At present only the first episode is preserved in the archives. On screen appearances for Ysanne were still rare. During 1964 Churchman could be seen as Mrs Wallace in the soap opera Crossroads and had a small role as a housewife in 'The Spider’s Web' (4th November 1964), an episode of the county council set BBC drama Swizzlewick. She also took a role in the BBC drama anthology Story Parade playing the fabulously named Loona Bimberton in 'The Unbearable Bassington' (8th April 1965), adapted from a story by Saki. She then had a guest role in two episodes of the football drama United! (7th and 9th March 1966) in the role of Helen Wilkinson. Later in the year she returned to the series as Miss Sharpe for a single episode (19th September 1966). Following this she made her debut in Softly Softly portraying Mrs Robins in 'Sleeping Dogs' (30th November 1966).
Having worked with Roberta Leigh on Sarah and Hoppity when production on Space Patrol started Churchman was offered voice work on the puppet series. Churchman voiced the regular characters of Marla and Cassiopeia as well as various supporting voices. A total of 39 episodes were transmitted between April 1963 and July 1968. In front of the cameras Churchman played a nurse in the Boy Meets Girl episode 'Purposes of Love' (22nd November 1968) and appeared as Mrs Bainbridge in the Peter Cushing starring Sherlock Holmes story 'The Solitary Cyclist' (9th December 1968).
She was still much in demand for her voice over and radio work and so screen appearances became very rare over the next few years, often just once or twice each year. She returned to the police drama Softly Softly playing Mrs Smedley in the episode 'One Thing Leads to Another' (16th October 1969) and played Nanny in the Thirty-Minute Theatre production 'Whispers' (4th April 1970). However, this was another voice only role with Churchman providing her dialogue as a disembodied voice over an intercom. For the Omnibus documentary series she also provided voice over work for 'The Passionate Hunter' (23rd May 1971), a profile of the composer Giacomo Puccini. She was seen in front of the cameras for two different roles in two Play For Today productions during the year; playing a hospital nurse, Sister Thompson, in 'When The Bough Breaks' (6th May 1971) and a factory worker in 'Skin Deep' (25th November 1971). For the ITV Sunday Night Theatre production 'Consequences' (18th June 1972) she had a small role as Lady Number 1.
Churchman supplied her vocal talents to a Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who adventure, 'The Curse of Peladon' (29th January – 19th February 1972), when she was cast as the voice of the alien Alpha Centuri, a hermaphrodite hexapod appearing green in skin colour with a single large eye, six arms and a squeaky high pitched voice. Stuntman Stuart Fell wore the actual monster costume on screen. She did appear on screen in the Softly Softly: Task Force episode 'Little Acorns' (31st January 1973) as Mrs Brady before Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who revisited the planet of Peladon in 'The Monster of Peladon' (23rd March – 27th April 1974). Churchman was on hand to once again give the character a voice. She was then called upon to lend her voice to the giant spiders in Pertwee’s final Doctor Who story 'The Planet of the Spiders' (4th May – 8th June 1974).
Her next role was another voice over part supplying a woman’s voice in an episode of Sadie, It’s Cold Outside (26th May 1975), a Thames Television sitcom written by Jack Rosenthal. Back in front of the cameras Churchman could be seen as Heloise in the first episode of a BBC production of Madame Bovary (10th October 1976). As well as her role as Joyce in 'Special Offer' Churchman could also be seen as Mrs Doan in 'Master of Many Parts' (10th December 1976), an episode of the historical drama Brensham People, directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark who had chilled many viewers with his Ghost Story for Christmas productions. She also supplied various voices for the English language dub of the French animated feature film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976).
The next decade saw Churchman take on small roles in a variety of the programmes including Lilly in the biographical drama Amy (2nd January 1984), playing the mouse in the first episode of Barry Lett’s production of Alice in Wonderland (5th January 1986), voice work for the animated drama David Macauley: Pyramid (1988) and being seen as Mrs Grimshaw in the Screenplay production 'Starlings' (28th September 1988). She was also cast as Mrs Atterbow in the final episode of Dennis Potter’s Lipstick on Your Collar (28th March 1993). Churchman officially retired in 1993, though she would still find herself making the occasional return to radio or television. Her penultimate television appearance was a small supporting role as a woman in the street in the first episode of a HTV production of Oliver Twist (28th November 1999).
In 2015 the Radio 4 drama Dead Girls Tell No Tales dramatized the events leading up to the death of Churchman’s character Grace Archer in the radio soap opera The Archers. Her final role to date, at the grand age of 91, has been to return to her Doctor Who character Alpha Centauri for the Peter Capaldi era adventure 'Empress of Mars' (10th June 2017).
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