Scottish actress Joanna Vanderham was the blonde ingenue in several historical productions, then clearly went and did some other things for a few years. Well, she’s back as the most elegant Mitford sister in Outrageous, so let’s take a look back!
Jenny Muirhead in Young James Herriot (2011)
A TV movie about the youth of real-life veterinarian who inspired the series All Creatures Great and Small in the 1930s.
Denise Lovett in The Paradise (2012-13)
A British TV series set in a department store in the 1870s; Vanderham plays the young and naive small-town-girl who comes to work as a salesperson.
Pamela in Dancing on the Edge (2013)
A Black jazz band in the 1930s whose leader’s life intertwines with some of England’s elite.
Ellie in Marple: “Endless Night” (2013)
Obligatory Agatha Christie TV series appearance!
Kitty McVitie in Banished (2015)
A TV series about Australia’s first group of convicts, who arrive in 1788.
Marian Maudsley in The Go-Between (2015)
“An elderly man pieces together his childhood memories after finding his diary from 1900, which he wrote when he was 13 years old,” per IMDB.
Flora Talbot in Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)
A TV movie that intertwines the story of two men in love just after World War II with the modern story of one of their grandson’s.
Penelope Blake in Warrior (2019-23)
A TV series about rival Chinese American gang wars, set in late 1870s San Francisco.
Diana Mitford in Outrageous (2025)
Diana Mitford was an upper-class woman who was known for her beauty and for marrying Britain’s fascist party leader. She’s one of five real-life sisters whose lives are portrayed in the 1930s-set TV series.
Which is your favorite of Joanna Vanderham’s historical performances?
I didn’t realize the same actress was the lead in The Paradise and the society girl in Dancing on the Edge! She has range!
This whole article was worth it for a photograph featuring Ms Vanderham, Myana Buring AND ORLA FREAKIN’ BRADY.
I’ve only seen two of her performances: Dancing on the Edge and The Man in the Orange Shirt. From what I remember, she was good in both roles, although I wasn’t crazy about either of her characters.