Morven Christie

Morven Christie
Christie in Ordeal by Innocence , 2018
Born	(1981-09-01) 1 September 1981 (age 43) Helensburgh, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Years active	2004–present
Spouse	Scott Graham (2012–2015) [1]
Partner	Iain Cook [1]

Morven Christie is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her roles as Alison Hughes in the BBC drama The A Word, Amanda Hopkins in the ITV drama Grantchester , and Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong in ITV crime series The Bay.

Early life and education

Christie was born in Helensburgh and raised in Glasgow. ^[1] She left school at 15. She studied method acting at the Drama Centre London, ^[1] under Reuven Adiv, an associate of Lee Strasberg. ^[2] Her family spent holidays in Aviemore, where Christie learned to ski by the age of five. ^[1]

Career

Theatre

Christie has multiple stage credits, spanning over a decade, including plays by Jack Thorne and Tom Stoppard alongside a classical canon. In 2006, Christie starred in the William Shakespeare plays Romeo & Juliet (as Juliet), Much Ado About Nothing (as Hero), and King John (as Blanche) for the Royal Shakespeare Company in their star-studded Complete Works season. ^[3]

In 2009, Christie played Anya in the Anton Chekhov play The Cherry Orchard and Perdita in the Shakespeare play The Winter's Tale , ^[4] for Sam Mendes' "Bridge Project", both at Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York and at The Old Vic, London, alongside Simon Russell Beale, Ethan Hawke and Rebecca Hall. ^{[5] [6]} She played Isa in the National Theatre, Glasgow, production of Men Should Weep , directed by Josie Rourke. ^[7]

Television and film

In 2014, Christie played Amanda Hopkins in the ITV drama Grantchester for its first three seasons with James Norton and Robson Green. ^[1] In 2017, she played Ellen Rooney in the BBC drama The Replacement , alongside Vicky McClure, and Dougray Scott. ^[8] This role gained Christie her first BAFTA Scotland nomination. ^[6]

From 2016–2020, she played Alison Hughes, the mother of an autistic child, in the BBC drama The A Word , ^[1] for which she was again nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Award. In 2018 she also played Kirsten Lindstrom in Sarah Phelps' production of Agatha Christie's Ordeal by Innocence . ^[9]

Christie starred as DS Lisa Armstrong, the lead role in the ITV crime drama series The Bay , filmed through the latter months of 2018, and aired on ITV from 20 March 2019. ^[10] She received her third consecutive BAFTA Scotland nomination for her performance. It was announced on 16 February 2021 that Christie had quit the drama, which had just completed a second series. ^[11]

She has since completed two independent films and the Joe Cornish eight-part drama Lockwood & Co. for Netflix. ^[12]

In 2023, she led a six-part drama Payback , for Jed Mercurio’s HTM label, opposite Peter Mullan, airing on ITV and internationally. ^[13]

Personal life

Christie lives in Glasgow with her partner, musician Iain Cook. ^[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Flying Scotsman	Katie
2009	The Young Victoria	Watson
2011	Gee Gee	Peaches	Short film
2011	Hollow	Alice	Short film
2012	Shell	Young Mother
2014	Lilting	Margaret
2014	Between Places	Liv	Short film
2022	The Road Dance	Mairi Macleod
2022	Floodlights	Jean Woodward

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Quite Ugly One Morning	DS Jenny Dunlop	Television film
2006	The Family Man	Joanne
2007	Oliver Twist	Rose Maylie	Miniseries
2008	Lost in Austen	Jane Bennet	Miniseries
2009	Monday Monday	Sally Newman
2010	The Sinking of the Laconia	Laura Ferguson
2011	Case Histories	Michelle Moore	1 episode
2012	Twenty Twelve	Fi Healey
2012	Hunted	Zoe
2013	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Elsie Clayton	Episode: "The Labours of Hercules"
2014	From There to Here	Louise
2014	Death in Paradise	Sally Goodman	2 episodes
2014	Silent Witness	DS Sally Kirchner	1 episode
2014–2017	Grantchester	Amanda Kendall
2015	Doctor Who	O'Donnell	2 episodes: "Under the Lake" and "Before the Flood" [15]
2016–2020	The A Word	Alison Hughes
2017	The Replacement	Ellen Rooney	[8]
2018	Ordeal by Innocence	Kirsten Lindstrom	[9]
2019–2021	The Bay	DS Lisa Armstrong
2023	Lockwood & Co.	Penelope Fittes	3 episodes
2023	Payback	Lexie Noble	6 episodes

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Theatre Company
2005	Festen	Pia	Lyric Theatre, London
2005	When You Cure Me	Rachel	Bush Theatre, London
2006	Romeo & Juliet	Juliet	Royal Shakespeare Company [7]
2006–2007	Much Ado About Nothing	Hero
2006	King John	Blanche
2009	The Cherry Orchard	Anya	New York, London and international tour [5] [6]
2009	The Winter's Tale	Perdita	[4] [5]
2010–2011	Men Should Weep	Isa Morrison	Royal National Theatre, London [7]
2015	The Driver's Seat	Lise	National Theatre of Scotland [1] [6]

Audio

Radio

• When You Cure Me (2006, radio play) as Rachel
• An Inspector Calls as Sheila Birling
• Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You as Molly Naylor
• A Farewell to Arms (2011, BBC Radio 4) as Catherine Barkley ^[16]
• Austerlitz (December 2012, BBC Radio 3) as Agata

Audiobooks

• Code Name Verity (2012) as Queenie/Verity (Co-read with Lucy Gaskell)
• Burial Rites (2013)

References

1. Jamieson, Teddy (7 June 2015). "Morven Christie: I think it's kind of heartbreaking that women have never seen a reflection of themselves in film or on television". heraldscotland.com.
2. "Morven Christie". talentedbritishactors.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
3. "Romeo And Juliet, Royal Shakespeare Theatre". The Independent. 20 April 2006. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008.
4. "UK - "The Winters Tale" Performance in London". gettyimages.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
5. "Theatre review: The Bridge Project at the Old Vic". theguardian.com. 14 June 2009.
6. "Morven Christier". nationaltheatrescotland.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
7. "Morven Christie". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
8. Doran, Sarah (15 March 2017). "The Replacement: who's who in BBC maternity drama - Morven Christie, Vicky McClure, Dougray Scott, Richard and Rankin". Radio Times . Retrieved 26 May 2017.
9. Billen, Andrew (31 March 2018). "Ordeal by Innocence: the Christie Mystery that almost got away". The Times. No. 72497. Saturday Review. pp. 4–5. ISSN   0140-0460.
10. Sutton, Megan (28 March 2019). "The Bay on ITV: Everything you need to know". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
11. Jamie Lopez (16 December 2021). "ITV's The Bay series 3 release date confirmed". lancs.live. Retrieved 6 January 2022..
12. White, Peter (16 March 2022). "'Bridgerton's Ruby Stokes Set As Lead Of Netflix's 'Lockwood & Co.' Series Adaptation". Deadline.
13. Crosby, Eve (1 September 2022). "Line of Duty creator teams up with Morven Christie for new thriller - and we can't wait". hellomagazine.com.
14. Doran, Sarah (15 March 2017). "The Bay cast: How old is Morven Christie and who is her famous boyfriend?". Radio Times . Retrieved 26 May 2017.
15. The Doctor Who Team (14 January 2015). "Filming Begins on Doctor Who, Series 9". Doctor Who. BBC One . Retrieved 14 January 2015.
16. BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour Drama. Bbc.co.uk (2011-08-05). Retrieved on 2012-07-03.

External links

• Morven Christie at IMDb
• "Nancy Meckler 2006 Production". Romeo and Juliet. RSC. See Christie as Juliet in the Production and Rehearsal Gallery (images)