Product Code Database
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 No. 9, Call the Midwife and The Buccaneers.
At university, along with acting she directed Murder in the Cathedral in Durham Cathedral and wrote and performed comedy in the Durham Revue.
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.
Woolgar has been nominated for several awards, including:
| Nominated - Empire Award for Best Newcomer Nominated - London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actress of the Year Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated - Evening Standard Film Awards Best Newcomer |
| 2000 | Poirot | Ellis | Episode: "Lord Edgware Dies" |
| 2001 | People Like Us | Episode: "The Bank Manager" | |
| The Way We Live Now | Lady Julia Monogram | Mini-Series | |
| Mr Charity | Lady Sophie | Series Regular | |
| 2003 | Eroica | Princess Marie Lobkowitz | TV film |
| 2004 | He Knew He Was Right | Arabella French | Mini-series |
| 2006 | Mr. Loveday's Little Outing | Angela Moping | TV film |
| 2007 | Jekyll | Min | Series regular |
| 2008 | Freezing | Heidi | 1 episode |
| Doctor Who | Agatha Christie | Episode: "The Unicorn and the Wasp" | |
| 2010 | Agatha Christie’s Poirot | Miss Whittaker | Episode: "Hallowe'en Party" |
| 2011 | Silk | Wendy Ford | TV series, 1 episode |
| Case Histories | Amelia Land | Part 1 & 2 "Case Histories" | |
| 2013 | Spies of Warsaw | Lady Angela Hope | TV Mini-series, 4 episodes |
| 2015-2016 | Home Fires | Alison Scotlock | Series regular |
| 2016 | War & Peace | Catiche Kuragina | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | The Halcyon | Lady Ashworth | 1 episode |
| Harlots | Lady Repton | 4 episodes | |
| Quacks | Lady Campbell | 2 episodes | |
| 2018-2022, 2025 | Call the Midwife | Sister Hilda | Series regular |
| 2018 | Inside No. 9 | June | Episode: "And the Winner Is....." |
| Midsomer Murders | Hazel Webster | Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part" | |
| 2019 | Plebs | Jocasta | Episode: "The Grumbrella" |
| 2020 | Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre from a State of Isolation | Tara | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Dalgliesh | Sister Mavis Gearing | 2 episodes: "Shroud for a Nightingale" |
| 2023 | The Reckoning | Margaret Thatcher | 1 episode |
| 2023-2024 | The Buccaneers | Lady Brightlingsea | Main role |
| 2024 | The Deal | Margaret Davies | Main role |
|
|
