42 Facts About Siobhan Finneran

Siobhan Margaret Finneran was born on 27 April 1966 and is an English actress.

Siobhan Finneran 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, Clocking Off and The Amazing Mrs Pritchard.

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, Siobhan Finneran appeared as Janice Garvey, a leading character in the first seven series of ITV sitcom Benidorm.

Siobhan Finneran was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, then in Lancashire, to Irish parents.

Siobhan Finneran moved with her family to Saddleworth as a young child, and has lived in the area ever since.

Siobhan Finneran was cast in her first major role, as Rita in the 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too.

Between August 1989 and March 1990, Siobhan Finneran appeared as factory employee Josie Phillips, in the long running ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street.

Siobhan Finneran has appeared regularly on UK television, making guest appearances in numerous drama series including Heartbeat, Peak Practice, Out of the Blue, Where The Heart Is, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Emmerdale as Heather Hutchinson and The Cops.

Siobhan Finneran established herself in comedic roles including episodes of Josie, Cannon and Ball's Playhouse and as a regularly appearing cast member in ITV1's production of The Russ Abbot Show.

Between 2000 and 2002, Siobhan Finneran appeared as Julie O'Neill in three series of the BBC One drama series Clocking Off.

In 2005, Siobhan Finneran appeared as the female lead, Alice Holmes, in the original stage production of On the Shore of the Wide World at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.

Siobhan Finneran's performance earned her the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In 2006, Siobhan Finneran was cast as a series regular in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard.

Siobhan Finneran's character, Beverley Clarke, is an established partner in a law firm who is inspired to launch a career in politics by her experience of the titular Ros Pritchard, and ultimately becomes an MP.

In 2007 Finneran appeared as Kelly in the British Independent film Boy A Also, in 2007, Finneran appeared as part of the original regular cast in the British sitcom Benidorm which details the experiences of holidaymakers and employees at the fictional Solana hotel in Benidorm, Spain.

Siobhan Finneran described her character Janice Garvey as "feisty, foul-mouthed and quite fantastic".

Siobhan Finneran felt that the contrasting summer setting and typical winter air date provided a form of escapism for the UK audience.

Siobhan Finneran found filming her last scenes "heartbreaking" noting she was in "a terrible state" upon bidding farewell to co-stars and crew with whom she had forged a close relationship.

Alongside her role in Benidorm, Siobhan Finneran continued to star in original drama series.

In 2009, Siobhan Finneran appeared as a main cast member in the three part ITV1 thriller Unforgiven as Izzie Ingram, a family lawyer who aids convicted murder Ruth Slater track down her long lost sister.

In 2010, it was announced that Siobhan Finneran had been cast in Downton Abbey, a period drama depicting the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants.

In 2012, Siobhan Finneran stated that she enjoyed the response to the character noting that viewers "love that she's a nasty piece of work" and "love to dislike her".

In 2013, Siobhan Finneran starred in the second series of The Syndicate on BBC One, portraying Mandy, a hospital worker and domestic abuse victim who wins the national lottery with her colleagues.

Siobhan Finneran was attracted to the role because of the suspense of her character's storyline, and the challenge of keeping the abuse scenes as true-to-life as possible.

Also in 2013, Siobhan Finneran portrayed Mrs Swift in The Selfish Giant an independent film inspired by both Oscar Wilde's short story of the same name and screenwriter and director Clio Barnard's personal experiences of the socially fragmented northern English underclass.

Siobhan Finneran's character is a troubled yet loving mother, who she describes as "not quite the full shilling".

In spite of the tough subject matter of the film Siobhan Finneran enjoyed the filming process noting that she felt "safe and secure" in the hands of Barnard, who she felt to be a calmer director than any other she had worked with.

In 2014, Siobhan Finneran appeared in the French-Language film Un Illustre Inconnu.

In spite of the series' subject matter, Siobhan Finneran claimed that as an inept cook, she found having to peel carrots and act simultaneously the hardest part of filming.

Siobhan Finneran was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category in 2017.

Between December 2014 and February 2015, Siobhan Finneran appeared in the stage drama 3 Winters at the Royal National Theatre in London.

Siobhan Finneran was keen to star in the series after reading the first three scripts and finding both her character and the small community setting intriguing, in addition to the prospect of working with a former Downton Abbey director and Laura Fraser, whose acting she had long admired.

Siobhan Finneran based herself in Glasgow during the filming shoot and enjoyed "the buzz, the architecture, the social life", describing the city as "one of my favourite places to ever work".

In 2018, Siobhan Finneran played Becka Savage in the Doctor Who episode "The Witchfinders".

In 2019, Siobhan Finneran played Sally Newell in The Widow episode "Poteza".

In 2020, Siobhan Finneran reprised her role as Marilyn in the comedy series The Other One, played Detective Sergeant Johanna Griffin in Netflix original mystery thriller The Stranger, and narrated the ITV documentary series Inside Britain's Food Factories.

Siobhan Finneran played Beryl in The Reckoning, a mini-series about the life of Jimmy Savile.

Towards the end of the year, Siobhan Finneran starred as Marie-Louise Dell, a prison chaplain, in the second series of Time, alongside Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance and Bella Ramsey.

In May 2024 Siobhan Finneran appeared in the first episode of the final series of Inside No 9.

Siobhan Finneran plays the lead role as DI Liz Nyles in the ITV crime drama Protection.

In 2023, Siobhan Finneran became patron for Manchester based charity Contact Hostel, an organisation that provides support and accommodation for teenage girls facing homelessness.