3. Sister Ulrica

It is a strange fact but an elderly starchy dutch nun, with big feet, became a household name in the 1980s POW series Tenko. Played by Patricia Lawrence, Sister Ulrica was separated from her convent and teamed up with the motley group of British prisoners, acting as their conscience and counsellor.......she gave up her habit in series three and was forced to wear an old night dress by the filthy Japs......hey ho

4: Sister Mary Clarence

Do Nuns actually wear this sort of box-on-head habit?.Anyhow I absolutely love Sister Act. A ropey choir that needs plucky maverick "nun" Goldberg to kick some ass is this camp classic of the early 1990s. Great to see the musical stage version opens in the West End in a month or so.........

5: Sister Philippa

Black Narcissus again, and the somber,wise and ever so melancholy performance by Flora Robson as Sister Philippa is one of the most memorable things in this Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger classic. She is the gardening loving oldest nun of the small 5 strong group of missionaries battling faith,natives, and the strange atmosphere of the Himalayas.
Robson's quiet sadness, I always think is incredibly moving

6. Sister Angela

I have always loved Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) A Sexy, decent and blue collar Marine Robert Mitchum is shipwrecked with an Irish Nun on a pacific island overrun by the Japanese during World War 2............will they survive? and not a stain on her white habit too!!!!

7. Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds

Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds (Eric Idle ) has one of the best lines as an unlikely comedy nun in Nuns on the Run.......when introducing himself to the mother superior ( he is a petty criminal hiding in a convent as a nun like you do!), he utters the unforgettable line

"My name is Sister Euphemia of the Five Wounds ........five wounds for short!!!"

8: The singing Sister Ruth

Cross-eyed Stewardess Karen Black is flying the jumbo jet all alone after a mid air collision in Airport 1975 . The passengers are revolting (literally) and it is up to progressive camp-as-Christmas nun (Helen Reddy) to get her plucky guitar out and calm everyone down with a little ditty about about best friends......arhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

9: Sister Mitya

Conspiracy of Hearts (1960) Has everything but the kitchen sink thrown into it!. A Wartime Italian convent (with fellow nominees outwardly Hard but deep down sweetie Sister Gerta (Yvonne Mitchell) and the motherly Sister Constance (Megs Jenkins), Nasty Germans trying to kill Jewish Children, Brave nuns trying to help , a murdered priest and a mother superior with false eyelashes............not a dry eye in the house!

Sister Mitya (Sylvia Syms at her most virginal) is the novice that almost gets herself shot whilst protecting those little kiddies!!!

10 Bad Nuns: Sister Ruth and Sister Aloysius Beauvier

In joint 10th position comes two of the"rotten apples" in the barrel.
Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) is one of the most memorable sex crazed would-be-killer nuns in cinema history.
With her red vampire eyes and slash of scarlet lipstick, I was frightened silly (as a ten year old child) when she tried to fling the virtuous Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) from the Himalayan Bell Tower in Black Narcissus
Sister Aloysius Beauvier (The pig eyed Meryl Streep) was one of those old fashioned and bitterly strict school nuns that existed ( and probably still do) in every catholic school .
When she stalked down the aisles of the church, smacking chattering school boys sharply over the back of the head, she was more frightening than any movie baddie