Amanda Drew

Amanda Drew
Born	(1969-12-21) 21 December 1969 (age 55) Boston, England, United Kingdom
Alma mater	King's School Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present

Amanda Drew (born 21 December 1969) ^[1] is a British actress from Boston, England, with extensive credits in theatre, television and film.

Biography

One of four children, Drew was born in Boston. ^{[1] [2]} Drew's mother was a nurse ^[3] and her father was a vicar. ^[4] When her parents moved to Leicestershire for work, Drew was educated at Beauchamp College in Oadby, ^{[5] [6]} where she joined a youth theatre, playing Charity in Sweet Charity . ^[7] She later attended King's School, Ottery St. Mary, when her family moved to Devon.^{[ citation needed ]}

After graduating from RADA in 1992, ^[8] Drew made her name on stage at the Royal Court Theatre and various other West End productions in both drama and comedy roles. In 2001, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. ^[9]

In March 2009 she starred in the UK premiere of Parlour Song at the Almeida Theatre. ^[10] In July 2009 she took the role of Claudia Roe, a fictional amalgamation of female executives of the failed Enron Corporation, in ENRON at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, transferring to Royal Court Theatre in October 2009 and the West End in January 2010. ^[11] She made her Broadway debut in Florian Zeller's play The Height of the Storm in 2019. ^[12]

Her television credits include A Very British Scandal , The Girl Before , Broadchurch , The Last Post , Chernobyl, Wednesday , and the Black Mirror episode "Smithereens". In 2025, Drew starred in The Bombing of Pan Am 103 (also known as Lockerbie ) as a victim's mother. In real life, the incident took place on Drew's 19th birthday. ^[13]

EastEnders

Drew played the part of Dr. May Wright in the BBC One soap opera, EastEnders , between September 2006 and June 2007, and again in June 2008. ^[14] Drew was involved in one of largest storylines of the year, a love triangle between May, her husband Rob Minter (Stuart Laing), and Dawn Swann (Kara Tointon).

The personality of the character has earned her the nickname "Mad May" and "Psycho Doctor" from the media. ^[15] Drew has described the role as "a gift of a role for any actor because of her complexity." ^[16] Of her return to EastEnders, she has stated: "I'm so excited to be playing her again. It'd be a shame to give too much away, but she has changed in many ways." ^[16] Executive producer Diederick Santer has said: "It's great to have Amanda back. May is a hugely popular character. I'm sure viewers will be keen to see what she gets up to and how she's changed." ^[16]

In May 2007, it was decided that the ending of a current storyline featuring characters of May, Dawn and Rob would be substantially rewritten due to the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann. The storyline would have seen May ran off with Dawn and Rob's baby shortly after it had been born. ^[17] The move attracted some criticism as to how it relates directly to the disappearance of the toddler; the BBC said that "In the current circumstances it was felt any storyline that included a child abduction would be inappropriate and could cause distress to our viewers." ^[17] May holds Dawn hostage, intending to steal her baby by performing a caesarean section. May is arrested and Drew left the series.

Trailers for Drew's return to EastEnders, had been shown in the weeks running up to her return on BBC channels; on 6 June 2008. She reprised her role as May, under the assumed name of "Jenny". She was seen smoking a cigarette and drinking alcohol, two new activities for the character. May was killed-off on 18 June 2008 when she causes a gas explosion at the Miller house. ^{[18] [19]}

Awards

Drew won the "Outstanding Newcomer" at the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performance in Eastward Ho! at the Gielgud Theatre. ^[20]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Remember Me?	Woman Police Constable
	Mrs Dalloway	Lucy
1999	This Year's Love	Old Friend
2004	Between Us	Lukas' Mother	Short film
2008	The Other Man	Joy
2010	Jerusalem	Kate Blake	Short film
2012	Elfie Hopkins	Susannah Hopkins
	Anonymous	Helen	Short film
2014	Charity	Mum	Short film
2015	Blue Borsalino	Donna	Short film
2018	A Private War	Amy Bentham
2021	The Hitman and Her	Mrs. Pierce	Short film
2023	Drift	Sonia

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Between the Lines	Angela	Series 1; episode 9: "Watching the Detectives"
1993	Full Stretch	Natasha	Episode 1: "Ivory Tower"
	Performance	Daisy	Series 3; episode 2: "The Maitlands"
	Paul Calf's Video Diary	Emma	Television film
1994	The Bill	Mrs. Sanders	Series 10; episode 26: "Business as Usual"
	Soldier Soldier	Nurse Siobhan Mitchell	Series 4; episodes 3 & 4: "Damage" & "Second Sight"
1995	The Bill	Heather Carney	Series 11; episode 86: "Presumed Guilty"
	Degrees of Error	Cordell Hospital Nurse	(unknown episodes)
1998	The Bill	Kay Richards	Series 14; episode 72: "Stop"
	Men Behaving Badly	Wendy	Series 7; episodes 1–3: "Performance", "Gary in Love" & "Delivery"
2002	Spooks	BBC Woman	Series 1; episode 5: "The Rose Bed Memoirs". Uncredited role
	Tough Love	WDC Jilly Barnes	Television film
2003	M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team	Ruth Taylor	Series 1; episode 6: "Lambs to the Slaughter"
	The Bill	Annabelle Jameson	Series 19; episodes 81 & 82: "Antecedent" & "Fatality"
2004	No Angels	Dr. Jane Salter	Series 1; episode 5
2005	The Golden Hour	Peta Larkinson	Mini-series; episode 3
2006–2008	EastEnders	Dr. May Wright	Regular role; 97 episodes
2008	HolbyBlue	Judy Burrows	Series 2; episodes 4–6
2011	Britain's Fattest Man	Herself - Narrator	Television film
	Midsomer Murders	Liz Gerrard	Series 13; episode 7: "Not in My Back Yard"
2012	When Paddy Met Sally	Herself - Narrator	Television film
	Switch	Janet	Episodes 1, 2, 4 & 5
	Paddy and Sally's Excellent Gypsy Adventure	Herself - Narrator	Episodes 1–4: "Spain", "Hungary", "Ireland" & "Borneo"
2013	Silent Witness	DI Reed	Series 16; episodes 3 & 4: "Trust: Parts 1 & 2"
	Life of Crime	Beverley Reid	Mini-series; episodes 1–3: "1985", "1997" & "2013"
	New Tricks	Laura Highsmith	Series 10; episode 1: "The Rock: Part One"
	Southcliffe	Jacqui Whitehead	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
2013–2015	Broadchurch	Cate Gillespie	Series 1; episode 6, & series 2; episode 1 & 3–6
2014	The Passing Bells	Annie Edwards	Mini-series; episodes 1–5
	Horizon	Herself - Narrator	Series 51; episodes 8 & 13: "Where Is Flight MH370?" & "Inside the Dark Web"
2017	The Last Post	Mary Markham	Mini-series; episodes 1–6
2018	Trust	Belinda	6 episodes
2019	Father Brown	Miss Cynthia Rosewood	Series 7; episode 4: "The Demise of the Debutante"
	Chernobyl	Kremlin Aide Female	Mini-series; episodes 2 & 3: "Please Remain Calm" & "Open Wide, O Earth"
	Black Mirror	Hayley	Series 5; episode 2: "Smithereens"
	Master Moley: By Royal Invitation	Tracey / Signora Maria / Melanie (voice)	Television short film
2019–2020	The Trial of Christine Keeler	Julie Ellen Payne	Episodes 2–6
2020	Criminal: UK	Alex's Solicitor	Series 2; episode 2: "Alex"
2020–2025	Gangs of London	Miss Kane	Series 1–3; 6 episodes
2021	Doctor Who	Voice of the Mouri (voice)	Series 13: episode 3: "Flux: Chapter Three - Once, Upon Time"
	The Girl Before	Carol Younsen (Psychotherapist)	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
	A Very British Scandal	Yvonne MacPherson	Mini-series; episodes 1–3
2021–2024	The Outlaws	Ruth	Series 1–3; 11 episodes
2022	Vampire Academy	Diane	5 episodes
	The Peripheral	Mrs. West	Episode 3: "Haptic Drift"
	Wednesday	Esther Sinclair	Season 1; episode 5: "You Reap What You Woe"
2023	The Power	Mrs. Elms	Episode 3: "A New Organ"
	Wolf	Supt. Harper Driscoll	Mini-series; episodes 1 & 5: "Watching" & "Death Roll"
	The Lazarus Project	Dr. Harrison	Series 2; episode 6
2023–2024	The Gold	CS/Asst. Commissioner Cath McLean	Series 1; episodes 1–6, & series 2; episode 1 [21]
2024	Eric	Caroline	Mini-series; episodes 4 & 5
	Ellis	DCI Cotton	Series 1; episode 3: "Brindleton"
2025	A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story	Bertha Neilson	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
	The Bombing of Pan Am 103	Linda Burman	Mini-series; episodes 1–6 [22]
	Lynley	Valerie	Episode 1. Post-production
	Bookish	Nerina Bean	Episodes 3 & 4: "Deadly Nitrate: Parts 1 & 2". In production

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Hitman 2	Nancy Burnwood (voice)

Selected stage appearances

• The Memory of Water
• The Man of Mode (1994)
• The Way of the World (1995)
• John Gabriel Borkman (1996)
• Taking Sides (1997)
• The School of Night (1999)
• The House of Bernarda Alba (1999)
• Top Girls (2000)
• Jubilee (2001)
• Eastward Ho! (2002)
• The Island Princess (2002)
• Blithe Spirit (2004)
• Otherwise Engaged (2005)
• Parlour Song (2009)
• ENRON (2009–2010)
• House of Games (2010)
• Butley (2011)
• Twelfth Night (2011)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (2012)
• Three Days in the Country (2015)

References

1. Paddock, Terri (10 September 2007). "20 Questions with ... Amanda Drew". whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2008. Date & place of birth Born 21 December 1969 in Boston, Lincolnshire.
2. "The Big Interview: Amanda Drew". Official London Theatre. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
3. "Amanda Drew's doctor dream". FemaleFirst.com. 6 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
4. "EE: Amanda Drew Interview - The People". Digital Spy. 15 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
5. Garrett, Lee (11 February 2023). "Cast for BBC One's The Gold includes Leicestershire star". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
6. Garrett, Lee (20 December 2021). "Leicestershire actors star in BBC thriller The Girl Before". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
7. Dessau, Bruce (28 June 2023). "The strong whiff of success". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 29 June 2023.
8. Fabrique. "Amanda Drew — RADA". www.rada.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
9. "Amanda Drew | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
10. Billington, Michael (27 March 2009). "Parlour Song". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 29 June 2023.
11. Hoyle, Ben (29 June 2023). "Play about Enron scandal fails to win transatlantic acclaim". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 29 June 2023.
12. Soltes, John (30 October 2019). "INTERVIEW: Amanda Drew finds herself at the 'Height of the Storm'". Hollywood Soapbox. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
13. Jeffery, Morgan (5 June 2019). "Black Mirror season 5 'Smithereens' ending explained". Digital Spy . Retrieved 21 March 2025.
14. "Amanda Drew". BBC EastEnders. profile.
15. "Amanda: I've never felt broody". Metro . 30 May 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
16. "May's mad comeback!". Inside Soap . England. 22 April 2008. p. 11.
17. "'EastEnders' axe baby abduction plot". Digital Spy . 22 May 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
18. "'Mad May' returns to EastEnders". Digital Spy . 14 April 2008.
19. "May's on her way back". BBC EastEnders. 15 April 2008.
20. "Theatre Awards 2003 shortlist". Evening Standard. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
21. "First Look images and further casting announced for upcoming BBC Drama The Gold". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
22. Szalai, Georg (5 March 2024). "'Suits' Star Patrick J. Adams, Connor Swindells, Merritt Wever Cast in Netflix, BBC Series 'Lockerbie'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

External links

• Amanda Drew at IMDb