Adjoa Andoh

Adjoa Andoh
Born	Adjoa Aiboom Helen Andoh 14 January 1963 Bristol, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984 - Present

Adjoa Andoh (born 14 January 1963) is a British film, television, stage and radio actress. She is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television (notably in two series of Doctor Who as companion Martha's mother Francine Jones, 90 episodes of the BBC's long-running medical drama Casualty as Staff Nurse (later Sister) Colette Griffiths and a year in the BBC's EastEnders). Andoh is the voice of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency; she won "Audio Book of the Year" for Tea Time for the Traditionally Built.

She made her Hollywood debut in Autumn 2009 starring as Nelson Mandela's Chief of Staff Brenda Mazibuko alongside Morgan Freeman as Mandela in Clint Eastwood's Invictus.

Career

Andoh's television credits include Casualty (she played Colette Griffiths (née Kierney) from 2000 until 2003), Jonathan Creek, EastEnders (where she played jazz singer Karen, the lodger of Rachel Kominski in 1991), and The Tomorrow People (where she played Amanda James in the story The Rameses Connection in 1995).

She has appeared in Doctor Who a number of times: in 2006 as Sister Jatt in series 2 episode "New Earth" and as Nurse Albertine in the audio drama Year of the Pig. In 2007, she appeared in several episodes of the third series ("Smith and Jones", "The Lazarus Experiment", "42", "The Sound of Drums", and "Last of the Time Lords") as Francine Jones, the mother of Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman). She reprised her role in the finale of series 4 ("The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End").

Andoh's other television work includes playing the head of M.I.9 in Series 3 to Series 5 of M.I. High and D.C.I. Ford in Missing.

She is also known for narrating the audio book versions of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of detective novels and Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch Series trilogy (although not all of the US editions), as well as Julia Jarman's children's books, The Jessame Stories and More Jessame Stories. Her career in audio dramas has included the Voice of Planet B in Planet B on BBC Radio 7. In 2004, she was cast in the video game Fable.

Andoh also appeared in Noel Clarke's 2008 film Adulthood as the mother of Clarke's character, Sam Peel.

She can be seen in cinemas as Chief of Staff Brenda Maziubo opposite Morgan Freeman's Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood's Invictus.^[1] The film tells of how Mandela brought the Afrikaner population on side for Project Rainbow Nation through his support and inspiration for the 1995 World Cup-winning South African Springbok rugby union team, and his moving relationship with team captain Francois Pienaar, played by Matt Damon. Andoh describes the filming experience as extremely positive, saying that it was unlike any set she had ever filmed on.^[2]

Theatrical work

Andoh has worked extensively in the theatre. Her credits include His Dark Materials, Stuff Happens and The Revenger's Tragedy at the National Theatre; A Streetcar Named Desire (National Theatre Studio); Tamburlaine and The Odyssey (RSC); Sugar Mummies and Breath Boom (Royal Court); Blood Wedding (Almeida); Nights at the Circus, The Dispute and Pericles (Lyric Hammersmith); Purgatorio (Arcola); The Vagina Monologues (Criterion); Starstruck (Tricycle) and In The Red and Brown Water (Young Vic).

Personal life

In October 2009 Andoh was licensed as a Reader (a lay preacher) in the Church of England.^[3][4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1991	London South West	Marion
1995	What My Mother Told Me	Jesse
2004	Every Time You Look at Me	Mrs. Berry
2007	The Shadow in the North	Jessie Saxon
2008	Adulthood	Mrs Peel
2009	Invictus	Brenda Mazibuko

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	EastEnders	Karen	1 episode, dated 14 November 1991
1992-2004	The Bill	Mrs. Hughes, Diana Holt, Mrs. Baptiste	3 episodes: "A Blind Eye", "Grey Area", "236"
1992	Waiting for God	Dr. Angela Avery	1 episode: "Sleeping Pills"
1993, 2000-2003	Casualty	Maggie (1 episode, 1993), Colette Griffiths	73 episodes
1994	The Brittas Empire	Reporter	1 episode: "High Noon"
1995	Health and Efficiency	Sister Beth Williams	2 episodes: "The Old Dope Peddler", "Five Have Plenty of Fun"
	The Tomorrow People	Amanda Jones	3 episodes
1996	Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...	Defence Counsel	1 episode: "Twelve Angry Men"
	Testament: The Bible in Animation	Ruth	1 episode (Voice)
1997	Peak Practice	Dr. Nixon	2 episodes: "Letting Go", "The Price"
1998	Close Relations	April	Mini-Series
	A Rather English Marriage	Mandy Hulme	TV movie
1999	Jonathan Creek	Anthea Spacey	1 episode: "The Curious Tale of Mr. Spearfish"
2006	Doctor Who	Sister Jatt	1 episode: "New Earth"
2007-2008	Doctor Who	Francine Jones	7 episodes: "Smith and Jones", "The Lazarus Experiment", "42", "The Sound of Drums", "Last of the Time Lords", "The Stolen Earth", "Journey's End"
2007	Wire in the Blood	Celeste Davies	1 episode: "The Colour of Amber"
2009-2011	M.I. High	Head of MI9	Recurring character
2009	Missing	DCI Lauren Ford	Recurring character, 3 episodes
2011	Scott & Bailey	Janice	Guest star
	Law & Order: UK	Pathologist	Recurring character, 3 episode
2012	Julius Caesar	Portia	TV movie. Made by the Royal Shakespeare Company for the BBC.
2014	Wizards vs. Aliens	Old Bethesta	The two-part story "Daughters of Stone".
2015	Broadchurch	Julie	Recurring character, 1 episode (to date)
2015	Cucumber	Marie	Recurring character, 2 episodes (to date)
2015-present	Thunderbirds Are Go	Colonel Casey	Recurring character, 7 episodes

Selected radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	The Blade of the Poisoner	Dorina	Carver's target
2009	Planet B	Voice of Planet B	Narrator of the series

References

1. Kellaway, Kate (24 January 2010). "Adjoa Andoh on her star role in Invictus". The Observer. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
2. "Invictus: Interview - Adjoa Andoh". Trailer Addict.
3. "New Readers admitted and licensed" (PDF). The Bridge. Anglican Diocese of Southwark. November 2009.
4. "Combining two very different worlds" (PDF). The Bridge. Anglican Diocese of Southwark. November 2010.

External links

• Adjoa Andoh at the Internet Movie Database