Former Casualty star Suzanne Packer, who played Nurse Tess Bateman in the long-running BBC medical drama for over 11 years, has been a familiar face on screens since she played Josie Johnson in Brookside in 1990. However, she isn’t the only famous member of her family.
Her younger brother is none other than Colin Jackson, the former sprint and hurdling athlete. The siblings grew up in Wales where they pursued their ambitions.
Suzanne honed her craft at the Wales National Youth Theatre. Meanwhile, Colin joined a local athletics club Birchgrove Harriers and, although he also showed promise as a cricketer, he decided to focus on athletics after he and four team-mates were invited to trials for the Welsh national cricket team but he was passed over.
Colin gained fame when he won an Olympic silver medal in 1988, two years before his big sister got her TV break. His impressive list of career accomplishments saw him become world champion twice and world indoor champion once.
He was undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and was twice Commonwealth champion. He also held the world record of 12.91 seconds for the 110 m hurdles for over 10 years and his 60 metres hurdles world record stood for nearly 27 years.
Since retiring from sport he has followed his sister into showbusiness working as a broadcaster for the BBC.
He also appeared on Dancing on Ice back in 2021 finishing in an impressive third place after being partnered with Klabera Komini.
The siblings have only graced screens together once. They appeared on a celebrity special of the Alexander Armstrong hosted BBC quiz Pointless. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the first round.
While they may not appear on screen together they regularly share the airwaves and had their own BBC Radio Wales show Sunday Morning with Colin Jackson and Suzanne Packer.
Colin gave an insight into their sweet relationship in a 2021 Instagram post from the studio. Beside a picture of the pair of them peeking out the door, he wrote: ” Double trouble.. sister Suzanne Packer, and myself after one of our radio shows.. I always behave when my big sister is around..”
No doubt Colin wil be tuning in tonight to watch Suzanne in her latest role. She plays Rosa in Channel 5’s tense new drama The Night Caller.
The intense thriller follows Tony, (played by Robert Glenister) a former respected teacher from Liverpool who has seen better days, having lost his job, confidence, and marriage.
His world now revolves around Rosa who becomes the object of his growing affection, and the voice of Lawrence, a late-night radio talk-show host played by Sean Pertwee of You and Gotham fame, whose show becomes Tony’s nightly companion.
The Night Caller runs for four consecutive nights on Channel 5 from 9m on Sunday July 7.
Source link
