Fenella Woolgar (born 4 August 1969) is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in films including Bright Young Things, Swallows and Amazons and Victoria and Abdul and for TV shows including Doctor Who, as crime novelist Agatha Christie, Inside Number 9, Call the Midwife and The Buccaneers.

Early life

Woolgar was born in London. Her mother is of Irish descent and she has joint UK and Irish citizenship. Woolgar's early years were spent in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA. She was educated at Mayfield School, Durham University, and then Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). At university, along with acting she directed Murder in the Cathedral in Durham Cathedral and wrote and performed comedy in The Durham Revue.

Career

Following Woolgar's graduation from RADA she worked in rep at The Royal Exchange, Manchester, York Theatre Royal, Sheffield Crucible and for the BBC in both television and radio. She was cast as Agatha in Stephen Fry's film Bright Young Things for which she was nominated for a number of awards. She subsequently went on to work with Mike Leigh in Vera Drake and Mr. Turner, and Woody Allen in Scoop and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Other notable films include Victoria and Abdul and Swallows and Amazons. Woolgar's recent TV work includes series 1 and 2 of The Buccaneers for Apple TV, The Deal for Bande Apart films and as Margaret Thatcher in The Reckoning for the BBC. She did two series as Alison Scotlock in Home Fires. She joined Call the Midwife as Sister Hilda for 4 series. She played Agatha Christie in Doctor Who. Woolgar has most recently worked in theatre at the Royal Court, the Donmar, the National Theatre, the Old Vic and in the West End. She worked with Conor McPherson in The Veil at the National Theatre. She won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Brian Friel’s adaptation of Hedda Gabler. She won the Sunday Times Culture Award for Stage Performance of the Year for playing Margaret Thatcher in Handbagged in the West End. She is regularly heard on BBC radio and was nominated for Best Actress on the radio for An American Rose in which she played Rosemary Kennedy. Roles include Mrs Dalloway for BBC Radio 4 and Edith Wharton in both The Jinx Element and Ethan Frome. She starred in the titular role in BBC Radio 4 comedy Dot, written by Ed Harris. She has narrated many audiobooks and was nominated for Audio Book of the Year for Life after Life by Kate Atkinson. She also paints portraits in oils and won Celebrity Portrait Artist of the Year.

Awards and award nominations

Woolgar has been nominated for several awards, including:

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Radio

Includes:

Audio

Includes: