Nurse Joan Redfern was a widow whose husband had died in the Boer War. She was working as matron in the boy’s boarding school where John Smith came to teach. She and Smith tentatively formed a relationship, she working hard to break through his initial shyness and awkwardness with her. Then just as things seemed to be working, she discovered that John Smith was, in fact, a man from another world, The Doctor, who was fighting a terrible battle against The Family of Blood. In order to save the world she had to lose John Smith, and she knew that she was not in love with The Doctor nor he with her. He asked her to join him in his travels, and suggested that they could ‘begin again’, but she refused him. She correctly pointed out that the deaths that came to the village only occurred because The Doctor came and the Family followed.

Jessica Hynes was born Jessica Stevenson in 1972. She was born in Lewisham, but grew up in Brighton, where she attended Dorothy Stringer school. As a single woman, she went on a date with David Walliams, which she remembers as being "quite boring" She and her husband, Adam, who she met when she was 18, have three children, born in 1998, 2003 and 2006.

As a teenager Jessica was part of the National Youth Theatre company, and made her screen début in 1993 playing the First Midwife in Peter Greenaway's The Baby of Mâcon. For the first fourteen years of her career, she used her maiden name as a stage name.

She teamed up with future Spaced co-star Katy Carmichael in a stage double-act called The Liz Hurleys, then went on to television parts in the nursing drama Staying Alive (1995-1997) and short-lived sketch shows Six Pairs of Pants and Asylum where the Spaced team (Stevenson, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright) first assembled.

In 1998 she was cast in the supporting role of Cheryl in the surprise hit sitcom The Royle Family and then in 1999 co-wrote and starred in Spaced.

In 2004 she played a minor part as Yvonne in horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, again working with Pegg and Wright.

In 2005 Jessica took the lead role in the BBC One sitcom According to Bex (which she thought was so bad that she left her agent for putting her up to it) and had a starring role in British comedy Confetti alongside Jimmy Carr, Stephen Mangan, and Mark Heap.

Jessica Hynes will next work on Learners a comedy drama television movie which she has written and stars in. She will play Bev, a downtrodden wife who's failed her driving test eight times and is increasingly displeased with her husband's teaching techniques. Learners will see Hynes reunited with David Tennant (whom she starred alongside in two episodes of Doctor Who). Filming took place in April 2007 for broadcast later in the year.

Jessica has portrayed Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
In addition to her appearance in Doctor Who Jessica has previously appeared in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor audio adventure Invaders from Mars (which also starred her Spaced colleague Simon Pegg).

Jessica Hynes has won two British Comedy Awards, both for her performances in Spaced: Best Female Comedy Newcomer in 1999 and Best TV Comedy Actress in 2001. She was nominated for a TV BAFTA for her performance in the largely improvised TV feature Tomorrow La Scala (2000), and for an Olivier Award for her work in the play The Night Heron in 2003.

Film and TV

"Doctor Who" .... Joan Redfern (2 episodes, 2007)
- The Family of Blood (2007) TV Episode .... Joan Redfern
- Human Nature (2007) TV Episode .... Joan Redfern

Learners (2007) (TV) (post-production) .... Bev
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) (completed) (voice) .... Mafalda Hopkirk
Magicians (2007) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Linda
Son of Rambow (2007) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Mary
Four Last Songs (2007) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Miranda
The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006) (TV) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Mrs. Peacock
"The Royle Family" .... Cheryl Carroll (6 episodes, 1998-2006)
- The Queen of Sheba (2006) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Cheryl Carroll
- The Royle Family at Christmas (2000) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Cheryl Carroll
- The Christening (2000) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Cheryl Carroll
- Funeral (2000) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Cheryl Carroll
- Christmas with the Royle Family (1999) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Cheryl Carroll
Confetti (2006) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Sam
Pinochet in Suburbia (2006) (TV) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Police Guard
Marple: The Moving Finger (2006) (TV) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Aimee Griffith
"According to Bex" (2005) TV Series .... Rebecca 'Bex' Atwell (unknown episodes)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Magda
Shaun of the Dead (2004) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Yvonne
Pure (2002) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Paramedic
Tomorrow La Scala! (2002) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Victoria
"Black Books" .... Eva (1 episode, 2002)
- Hello Sun (2002) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Eva
Dick Whittington (2002) (TV) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... The Good Fairy
"Comedy Lab" .... Wife (1 episode, 2001)
- Knife & Wife (2001) TV Episode (voice) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Wife
"Bob & Rose" .... Holly Vance (4 episodes, 2001)
"Spaced" .... Daisy Steiner (14 episodes, 1999-2001)
Born Romantic (2000) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Libby
"Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" .... Felia Siderova (2 episodes, 2000)
- Mental Apparition Disorder (2000) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Felia Siderova
- Drop Dead (2000) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Felia Siderova
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything (1999) (TV) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Woman with Black Death Victim
"People Like Us" (1 episode, 1999)
- The Estate Agent (1999) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson)
"Merry-Go-Round" .... Alice, The Ayatollah's Assistant (1 episode, 1998)
- Episode #1.1 (1998) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Alice, The Ayatollah's Assistant
"Unnatural Acts" .... Various (3 episodes, 1998)
"Harry Enfield and Chums" (1 episode, 1997)
- Harry Enfield and His Yule Log Chums (1997) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson)
"Armstrong and Miller" (1997) TV Series .... Various Roles (series 1-2) (unknown episodes)
"Midsomer Murders" .... Judith Lessiter (1 episode, 1997)
- The Killings at Badger's Drift (1997) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Judith Lessiter
"Staying Alive" (1996) TV Series .... Alice Timpson (unknown episodes)
"Asylum" .... Martha (6 episodes, 1996)
"Mash and Peas" (1996) TV Series (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Various Roles
"Crown Prosecutor" .... Jackie South (10 episodes, 1995)
"Tears Before Bedtime" (1995) TV Series (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Maggie
"Six Pairs of Pants" (1995) TV Series (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Various Characters
"The House of Eliott" .... Charlotte Parker (1 episode, 1994)
- Episode #3.1 (1994) TV Episode (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Charlotte Parker
The Baby of Mâcon (1993) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... The First Midwife
Swing Kids (1993) (as Jessica Stevenson) .... Helga