Stephanie Cole, who has died aged 84, was a skilful actor with a powerful voice. She was also an exemplar of the strong, no-nonsense characters that she played with layers of vulnerability, humour and kindness.
She made her television debut in a 1968 episode of Z Cars and maintained a solid screen career before coming to prominence as a leading member of a strong female ensemble in the BBC series Tenko (1981-84, and Tenko Reunion, 1985), as the stoic Dr Beatrice Mason, doing her best to maintain the health of her fellow internees in a Japanese prison camp during the second world war.
