Vanity Fair (1987 TV serial) Vanity Fair (1987 TV serial) Vanity Fair was a BBC Pebble Mill Production consisting of 16 half-hour episodes. Shot on location and in studio. Locations included Winchester and Thetford. Virtually all the interiors were shot in Studio A at Pebble Mill. The series starring Eve Matheson as Rebecca Sharp, Rebecca Saire as Amelia Sedley, Simon Dormandy as William Dobbin, Jack Klaff as Rawdon Crawley, David Swift as Mr. Sedley, James Saxon as Joseph 'Jos' Sedley, Gillian Raine as Mrs. Sedley, Benedict Taylor as George Osborne, Shaughan Seymour as Pitt Crawley, Philippa Urquhart as Miss Briggs and Freddie Jones as Sir
Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester grandfather of Charles Darwin. Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, Countess of Portmore (21 December 1657 – 26 October 1717), daughter of Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, was the mistress of King James II and VII both before and after he came to the throne. Catherine was noted not for beauty but for her celebrated wittiness and sharp tongue. Catherine was the only legitimate child of the Restoration poet Sir Charles Sedley. Her mother was Lady Catherine Savage, daughter of John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers. She grew up "notoriously plain" (brunette and thin rather than plump