Joanna Scanlan

Joanna Scanlan
Born	27 October 1961 West Kirby, Cheshire, England
Occupation	Actress, screenwriter
Years active	1997–present

Joanna Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is an English actress and screenwriter. She is best known for her roles in various British comedy series, such as The Thick of It,^[1] Doctors and Nurses, Getting On and Big School.

Early life

Scanlan was born in West Kirby, Cheshire.^[2] The daughter of hoteliers, she moved to Wales with her parents at the age of three, where her parents later bought the Ruthin Castle hotel.^[3] She was educated in Denbigh, and then studied history at Queens' College, Cambridge. She then joined the Cambridge Footlights, where she became friends with Tilda Swinton.^[4]

Career

Early career

After graduation, Scanlan joined the academic staff of Leicester Polytechnic lecturing in drama for five years, before she undertook a similar role at the Arts Council of Great Britain for three years.^[5]

After the Arts Council of Great Britain broke up in 1994, at age 34 Scanlan decided to try her hand at professional acting, quickly gaining the role as a nurse in ITV1's Peak Practice. This formed some what of a theme in her early career, then playing a midwife in The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, before playing a nurse again alongside Ade Edmondson's doctor in ill-fated Doctors and Nurses, and latterly Dr Diana Dibbs in Doc Martin with Martin Clunes.^[6]

Getting On

Getting On is co-written by and stars Scanlan, Jo Brand and Vicki Pepperdine. Its first series received high praise from television critics across the board in the UK, with praise for the actors' performances, and for the realistic portrayal of an NHS hospital.^[7][8]

All three writers were nominated for the 2009 Royal Television Society Award for Best Writing in Comedy.^[9]

Both Scanlan and Brand were nominated for the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role.^[10]

Selected credits

Film

Year	Title	Role
2003	Girl with a Pearl Earring	Tanneke
2005	A Little Trip to Heaven	Josie
2005	Kinky Boots	Trish
2006	Notes on a Scandal	Sue Hodge
2007	Stardust	Mormo
2007	Grow Your Own	Barbara
2008	The Other Boleyn Girl	Mary's Midwife
2009	In the Loop	Roz
2011	Hot Hot Hot	Mary-Ann
2013	The Invisible Woman	Catherine Dickens
2014	Get Santa	Ruth
2014	Testament of Youth	Aunt Belle
2015	The Bad Education Movie	Susan Poulter
2016	How to Talk to Girls at Parties	Filming
2016	Bridget Jones' Baby	Cathy

Television

Year	Title	Role
1997	Jane Eyre	Bessie
2000	Spaced	Tina
2000	Coming Soon	Claudia
2001	My Family	Dental Assistant
2005–2012	The Thick of It	Terri Coverley
2009	Home Time	Mrs Pitman
2009–2012	Getting On	Sister Den Flixster
2011	Doc Martin	Dr Diana Dibbs
2012	Stella	Nancy
2013	Heading Out	Toria
2013–14	Big School	Mrs Janine Klebb
2013	Death Comes To Pemberley	Mrs Reynolds
2014	Puppy Love	Nana V
2014	The Killings of Copenhagen	Clara Trout
2014	Rev.	Jill Mallory
2014	Mapp and Lucia	Ursula "Ursy" Pillson
2015	No Offence	DI Vivienne Deering
2015	Fungus the Bogeyman	Mildrew

References

1. BBC Comedy Blog: The Thick of It's Joanna Scanlan on playing Terri
4. Saner, Emine (2014-01-27). "Joanna Scanlan: 'Depression was like turning around a liner across the ocean'". theguardian.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
5. Veronica Lee (10 February 2013). "Joanna Scanlan: From bumbling Whitehall press officer in The Thick of It to lifestyle coach in Heading Out". The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
7. "'Getting On' In The Press...". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
8. Banks-Smith, Nancy (9 July 2009). "Last night's TV: Getting On, Taking the Flak". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
9. "RTS Programme Awards 2009". Royal Television Society. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
10. "Television Awards Winners in 2010". BAFTA. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.

External links

• Joanna Scanlan at the Internet Movie Database