Lorraine Ashbourne

Acting

Born January 7, 1961, Manchester, England, UK

Lorraine Ashbourne (born 1961 in Manchester) is an English stage, film and television actress. She attended Wilbraham High School, when living in Fallowfield. She joined Stretford Children's Theatre. She took part in the University of Manchester Stage Society and Manchester Youth Theatre. She joined the Webber Drama School on 19 April 1982. Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: Playing the Field (1998), Unforgotten (2017), Grantchester (2017), Maigret in Montmartre (2017), Midsomer Murders (2018), The Street, and Jericho. As a stage actor, Lorraine regularly appeared at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, portraying roles such as Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Emilia in Othello, acting in both of these alongside her husband Andy Serkis. In 2019, she starred as Barbara Castle in The Crown (2019), and from 2020, she starred as Mrs. Varley in Bridgerton. She played Joan Nuthall in Alma's Not Normal (2020), and was Daphne Sparrow in Sherwood (2022). She played Karen in I Hate Suzie (2024), and appeared in After the Flood (2024)

Filmography

• Riot Women — Jess
• After the Flood — Molly Marshall
• 2024Hitpig! — Big Bertha (voice)
• 2024National Theatre Live: Till The Stars Come Down — Aunty Carol
• 2024The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim — Olwyn (voice)
• 2023Allelujah — Mrs Earnshaw
• 2022I Hate Suzie Too — Karen
• 2022I Used to Be Famous — Cheryl
• Sherwood — Daphne Sparrow
• 2020A Christmas Carol — Mrs Cratchit (voice)
• Alma's Not Normal — Joan
• Bridgerton — Mrs. Varley
• I Hate Suzie — Karen
• 2020No Masks
• 2019Blinded by the Light — Kathy
• Cheat — Angela Shadley
• 2019The Bind — Ruth
• 2018The Queen and I — Violet
• 2017Breathe — First Woman
• 2016A Street Cat Named Bob — Local Housing Officer
• 2016Adult Life Skills — Marion
• 2016Bunny and Clive — Bunny
• Jericho — Lace Polly
• The Crown — Barbara Castle
• 2015Child 44 — Anna
• London Spy — Mrs. Turner
• The Interceptor — Valerie
• Unforgotten — DI Tessa Nixon
• 2014Emotional Fusebox — Marion
• Happy Birthday BBC Two — Narrator
• Inside No. 9 — Carol
• 2013The Selfish Giant — Mary
• Public Enemies — Marion Sharmer
• Vera — Barbara Tullman
• Little Crackers — Miss Meadowcroft
• 2010Oranges and Sunshine — Nicky
• Thorne — Ruth Brigstocke
• 2010Thorne: Scaredycat — Ruth Brigstocke
• Law & Order: UK
• Moving On — Treena
• Murderland — Rachel
• 2009Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
• 2009Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays — Athlete
• 2008A Bunch of Amateurs — Jane Jarvis
• Lark Rise to Candleford
• True Dare Kiss — Beth Sweeney
• 2006Housewife, 49 — Dot
• Jane Eyre — Mrs. Fairfax
• Thin Ice — Eileen
• 2005King Kong — Theatre Actor
• New Tricks — Moira Wright
• 2001The Martins — Lil
• 2000A Christmas Carol — Sue Cratchett
• City Central
• Playing the Field — Geraldine Powell
• 1997Fever Pitch — Paul's Mum
• Midsomer Murders — Daniella Bellini
• Silent Witness — Michelle Lafferty
• Chiller — Susan Taylor
• 1995Jack & Sarah — Jackie
• 1995Number Six — Susan Taylor
• Pie in the Sky — Maeve Cormack
• 1993Fighting for Gemma
• Mr. Wroe's Virgins — Anne
• Peak Practice — Tina Greaves
• In Suspicious Circumstances — Ann Bailey
• Rich Tea and Sympathy — Karen Rudge
• 1989Resurrected — Reeva
• 1988Distant Voices, Still Lives — Maisie
• 1988The Dressmaker — Factory Girl
• Rafferty's Rules — Woman No. 1
• Casualty — Sandy
• The Bill
• Twenty — Dianna