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Siobhan Finneran

Siobhan Finneran

Acting

Biography

Siobhan Margaret Finneran is an English television and film actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film Rita, Sue and Bob Too, and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in Coronation Street (1989–1990), Clocking Off (2000–2002) and The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006). In 2005, Finneran originated the lead female role in the stage play On the Shore of the Wide World and was awarded the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Also a comedy performer, Finneran appeared as Janice Garvey, a leading character in the first seven series of ITV sitcom Benidorm (2007–2015). Later television roles include portraying a lawyer in the mini-series Unforgiven (2009), an embittered servant in the first three series of the costume drama Downton Abbey (2010–2012) and a recovering addict in Happy Valley (2014–2023), for which she was nominated for the 2017 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress. Later film credits include Mrs Swift in the 2013 film release The Selfish Giant, which earned her a British Independent Film Award nomination. Finneran is also a prolific television documentary narrator. Finneran was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, then in Lancashire, to Irish parents. She moved with her family to Saddleworth as a young child, and has lived in the area ever since. During childhood Finneran was always drawn to the performing arts and was a fan of the celebrated English comedian Eric Morecambe, recalling that "as a little girl I wanted to be Eric Morecambe. Not to be like him but to actually be him". She completed a theatre studies course. In 2023, Finneran became patron for Manchester based charity Contact Hostel, an organisation that provides support and accommodation for teenage girls facing homelessness.

Known For

Doctor Who
7.6

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

Doctor Who

2005
Death in Paradise
7.5

A brilliant but idiosyncratic British detective and his resourceful local team solve baffling murder mysteries on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie.

Death in Paradise

2011
Casualty
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986
Downton Abbey
8.1

A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

Downton Abbey

2010
Heartbeat
7.2

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992
Peak Practice
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993
Inside No. 9
8.1

An anthology of darkly comic twisted tales, each one taking place behind a door marked 'number 9'.

Inside No. 9

2014
Benidorm
7.5

Set in the Solana all-inclusive Resort, Benidorm follows the antics of regulars and first-time holiday makers on their journeys abroad.

Benidorm

2007
Unchosen
6.8

When a young mother from a sheltered cult crosses paths with a mysterious stranger, she embarks on a risky affair that awakens desires and dark secrets.

Unchosen

2026
Happy Valley
7.9

Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.

Happy Valley

2014
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
7.3

Instead of spending her golden years lying down, the indomitable Hetty Wainthropp found her calling late in life. Combining common sense, her husband, and her pocketbook, this senior sleuth takes on all the cases the police deem too minor.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates

1996
Timeshift
7.0

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Timeshift

2002
Blue Murder
6.7

Blue Murder is a British crime drama television series based in Manchester. Shown on ITV from 2003 until 2009 when it was cancelled by the network, it starred Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis.

Blue Murder

2003
The Stranger
7.2

When a stranger makes a shocking claim about his wife, Adam Price's life upends as he becomes entangled in a web of secrets.

The Stranger

2020
Wire in the Blood
7.9

Clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill's uncanny ability to see into the minds of murderers means he finds it difficult to distance himself from disturbing cases.

Wire in the Blood

2002
Time
7.6

Guilt, violence and impossible choices – what does it take to survive? Tense, gritty and heartbreaking – Jimmy McGovern's award-winning prison drama, with an all-star cast.

Time

2021
Clocking Off
7.6

Clocking Off is a British television drama series broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced by Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. Effectively an anthology programme that followed the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the private life of a different character. How much do you know about the person working next to you? From the outside, life at Mackintosh Textiles appears to run smoothly, but in a community with so many secrets to hide, things are far from straightforward. In six powerful, self-contained dramas, everyday life is fractured by tumultuous marriages, snatched passions, disappearing spouses, and gang harassment.

Clocking Off

2000
The Syndicate
7.5

A drama exploring how winning the lottery transforms the lives of ordinary people.

The Syndicate

2012
The Widow
6.8

A woman's search to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of her husband leads her to the Congo, where she's forced to seek the truth about what happened to the man she loved.

The Widow

2019
The Damned
5.9

A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.

The Damned

2025