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Julia Davis (born 25 August 1966) is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She wrote and starred in comedies including Human Remains (2000), Nighty Night (2004–2005), Hunderby (2012–2015), Camping (2016), and Sally4Ever (2018). She is known for her Dark humor.
She is a nine-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won Best Comedy Writing for Hunderby in 2013 and the 2018 British Academy Television Award for Best Scripted Comedy for Sally4Ever. She has also received two RTS Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In addition to acting in her own works, she has appeared in a variety of other British television comedies, most notably portraying Dawn Sutcliffe in Gavin & Stacey (2007–2009, 2019, 2024). Her film roles include Love Actually (2003), Cemetery Junction (2010), Four Lions (2010), Phantom Thread (2017), and The Toxic Avenger (2023).
Davis sang in various Folk music bands as a teenager. Her first band was called "Hand-Knitted Air Rifles".
After studying for a degree in English and Drama at the College of Ripon and York St John, she returned to Bath because she became ill ("something between glandular fever and ME...some unknown viral..."). She began working "dead-end jobs", including teaching, nannying, bartending, cleaning and selling "massive mobile phones".
She joined a local drama group in Bath, where she met Jane Roth. Davis and Roth left the group and they started a comedy double-act The Sisters of Percy. They did around six shows around Bath and Glastonbury. When Davis was around 25/26, her and Roth both joined an improv troupe, which included with Welsh radio DJ (now actor and comedian) Rob Brydon and comedian and actress Ruth Jones. The group also included actor Tom Longworth and his then-girlfriend radio producer Liz Ansty. Ansty was making a show called Five Squeezy Pieces for BBC Radio 4, which she got Davis involved with. The series was an all-female sketch comedy show, with Meera Syal, Arabella Weir, Maria McErlane, and Claire Calman.
Davis first appeared on television in the BBC sketch show Comedy Nation (1998). Rubella Weir introduced Davis to Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan who placed her as a regular cast member in the television sketch show Big Train (1998) with Chris Morris. Chris Morris then cast her for his 1997–1999 radio series Blue Jam, its successor March–April 2000 TV show Jam, and Brass Eye. As a result of her introductions to various people in television and sending videotapes of her sketches to the BBC, in 1988, her agent sent a tape of various characters to Steve Coogan, he invited her to write for and participate in his shows during his 1998 national tour.
Davis went on to appear in many comedy television shows including Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible (2001), I'm Alan Partridge (2002), I Am Not an Animal (2004), Ideal (2005) and Nathan Barley (2005).
The series consisted of six fake documentaries (across six episodes), where Brydon and Davis played six different couples talking to camera about their unusual relationships. The scripts were mostly written through improvisation.
Davis won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance for the series.
The character of Jill was inspired by a mixture of things, including: the character Beverly from Human Remains; and Davis' job in the Finance department of Bath University. She said that "Most of Jill is an amalgam of women I've seen or worked with in the West Country". Ruth Jones' character, Linda, was also a development of one of her characters in Human Remains. The character of Don was originally offered to Colin Firth, who did not respond to the offer.
The show was produced by Alison MacPhail, who had also produced Human Remains. The first series took three years to write. Davis' approach to writing is to writing scenes, rather than an overarching story. Jill's costume was created by Claire Finlay.
Davis was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance, and a British Comedy Award for Best Actress, and won a Royal Society of Television Award for Best Comedy Writer.
Davis was not happy with the second series, saying that "it was too ridiculous". However, she has said she has had ideas for a third series.
Davis has said that commissioning has changed significantly since Nighty Night, and she doubts it would have been commissioned in today's climate.
In 2006, Davis appeared on Little Britain Abroad as a sexy Russian mail-order bride called Ivanka.
In 2009, Davis appeared, in the guise of Steve Coogan's personal assistant Debbie Bidwoden, in the TV film Steve Coogan – The Inside Story.
In 2009, Davis starred in a short film with Richard Ayoade for See Africa Differently, a campaign to showcase the under-reported progress from Africa.
The pilot received no publicity around its transmission, and, Vice says, the "BBC buried it in a graveyard slot". It was considered even darker than Davis's previous work. The Guardian described it as saying "it makes Nighty Night look like The Wind in the Willows and is perhaps the most challenging comedy Davis has written." Despite a Facebook campaign, the BBC did not commission a series. Davis was disappointed about this. The Guardian said that the pilot was "beautifully observed", "brave and hilarious" and its "familiarity...makes it both so painful and so funny".
In 2010, Julia Davis and Jessica Hynes performed as their characters from Lizzie and Sarah for the "Angina Monologues", a British comedy show featuring Victoria Wood about women's heart disease.
In 2006, Davis starred in the television film Fear of Fanny, in which she played the celebrity chef Fanny Cradock. It was directed by Coky Giedroyc. Davis was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor for her performance.
In December 2011, Davis appeared in "Fifteen Million Merits", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror, as Judge Charity on the fictional talent show Hot Shot.
On 22 December 2011, she appeared as Anne Yeaman in the Christmas special and finale of the BBC Three comedy How Not to Live Your Life.
On 26 August 2012, Davis appeared in the pilot episode of Bad Sugar on Channel 4. A full series was set to air in 2013, but was cancelled due to availability of the cast and writers.
In 2013, Davis played various characters in BBC sketch show It's Kevin and in Psychobitches (Part of Playhouse Presents) on Sky Arts. She appeared in the Inside No. 9 episode "The Understudy" (Series 1; Episode 5) as a stage manager.
In 2014, Davis starred as an eccentric mother alongside Al Roberts ( Stath Lets Flats) in the comedy short film The Bird, co-directed by Ben Target and Joe Parham.
In 2014, Davis co-wrote (with Nick Mohammed) and starred in a pilot for Channel 4 called Morning Has Broken, about a self-centred daytime TV host. It was inspired by daytime TV, particularly Lorraine Kelly's presenting. The pilot starred, alongside Davis and Mohammed: Georgie Glen, Seb Cardinal ( Cardinal Burns), Jamie Demetriou and Asim Chaudhry. A full series of Morning Has Broken was commissioned but was not made. It was meant to star David Schwimmer as a US producer, alongside Davis.
In 2015, Davis and Marc Wootton created and starred in BBC Radio 4 comedy series Couples, about couples in therapy.
The work was scripted, not improvised. When talking about Hunderby and Sally4Ever, Alex Macqueen said that, for Davis, "if you're not on the verge of corpsing, it's not good enough".
For Hunderby, Davis won the BAFTA TV Craft Award for Writing – Comedy. The series was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy at the 2013 BAFTA TV Awards and Davis was nominated for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme. It won the awards for Best New Comedy and Best Sitcom at the 2012 British Comedy Awards.
The series is a dark comedy about a group of couples who go camping for someone's 50th birthday, and, Davis says, "One guy unexpectedly arrives with his new girlfriend, which messes up the whole holiday and it descends into a nightmare by the end."
At the 2017 BAFTA TV Awards, Camping was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy and Davis for Best Comedy Writer. The Guardian described it as "craftily observed, beautifully performed, as well as typically, gloriously, boldly bleak."
In 2018, the series was adapted for American audiences to create a series of the same name by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. It was originally released on HBO in America, and subsequently on Sky Atlantic in the UK. However, it did not receive good reviews either in the US or UK. The Guardian said that, whilst some of the performances were good, "The reworking deviates from the darkness and dread that made the original black comedy so perfect".
At the 2019 BAFTA awards Sally4Ever won the award for Best Scripted Comedy and Davis was nominated for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme.
Davis and Pepperdine published a book on the back of the podcast, Why He Turns Away: Dos and Don'ts From Dating to Death.
In 2022, Davis appeared in two episodes of The Outlaws, as Rita.
Davis has said she always starts writing with the characters, rather than the plot. She said that "I always try to plan the overall story of a series first, but usually I get impatient and have to start writing scenes to reassure myself that there is something tangible that’s going to work, as for me the comedy tends to come from characters more than situations." She also uses improvisation as a tool for writing.
Davis is known by her fellow actors for regularly corpsing on set. Although, she says Catherine Shepherd is worse than her.
Davis is influenced by Harold Pinter. She also says she loves the film Force Majeure, the Danish series Klovn, the work of filmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (particularly Phantom Thread, which she stars in), all of the work in the Dogme movement, and the work of director Yorgos Lanthimos (particularly Dogtooth). In terms of comedy, she loves the films Bridesmaids and Step Brothers; the series One Mississippi, Flight of the Conchords, Eastbound & Down, Strangers with Candy and "anything with Jennifer Saunders or Dawn French." She also loves comedians Jamie Demetriou, Ellie White, Katy Wix and Cardinal Burns.
The Gentlewoman said that: "Davis’s strand of funny is demented, lunatic and unhinged, one that repeatedly kicks at the shins of received suburban manners. She often deals in the tricky currency of female cruelty and appears to have identified a new microcosm of the British class system somewhere between working and middle that is in a permanent argument with itself about why life looks the way it does"
Davis has experienced depression in the past, and describes herself as "riddled with anxiety". She does not do many interviews as herself (rather than in character), because of her anxiety and not wanting to be in the limelight. Whilst Davis writes dark comedy, it is commonly observed that she is shy, cautious and warm.
| +Key | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Cleaner | Short film | ||||
| Insinuating Wife | |||||
| Moira | |||||
| (voice) | Short film | ||||
| Nancy, the Caterer | Cameo | ||||
| News Reporter (voice) | Uncredited role | ||||
| Shelley | |||||
| Alison | Short film | ||||
| Match Point | Julie | Woody Allen | |||
| Marriage counsellor | |||||
| Mother (voice) | Short film | ||||
| Elizabeth Elliot | |||||
| Dee | |||||
| Vera Cleghorn | Short film | ||||
| Mrs Taylor | Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant | ||||
| Alice | |||||
| UNFITA OPS (voice) | Animation | ||||
| Narrator | Short film | ||||
| Mother | Ben Target, Joe Parham | Short film | |||
| Livy | |||||
| Lady Baltimore | |||||
| Daphne | |||||
| Deb | Short film | ||||
| Linda Le Bon (voice) | |||||
| 2022 | Nude Tuesday | ArmaÄŸan Ballantyne | Writer | ||
| Gail (Nightshift Nurse) | |||||
| Kissy Sturnevan | |||||
| Tracy | Short film | ||||
| 2025 | The Fairy Moon | The Operator | Craig Williams | Short film | |
| The Toxic Avenger Unrated | Kissy Sturnevan | Macon Blair | |||
| Or Something Like It (working title) | Jamie Adams |
| Comedy Nation | Various (Episodes 1, 3, 4) | Series 1 | ||||
| 1999 | Steve Coogan: The Man Who Thinks He’s It | Recording of live performance at The Palace Theatre, Manchester | ||||
| Coming Soon | Channel 4 | Kim | Television film | |||
| Harry Enfield Special: Songs of Praise From St. Albions | ITV1 | Jenny Phillips | ||||
| Big Train | BBC Two | Various | Series 1 & 2 (7 episodes) | |||
| 1999 | Lisa Bell | Series 1; Episode 1: "The Managing Director" | ||||
| Horse Jockey | Special | |||||
| Jam | Various | Mini-series; Episodes 1–6 | ||||
| Human Remains | BBC Two | Various | Mini-series; Episodes 1–6. Also | |||
| Brass Eye | Channel 4 | Ensemble Actor | Series 2; Episode: "Paedogeddon!" | |||
| Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible | Stephanie Wise | Episode 4: "And Now the Fearing..." | ||||
| 2002 | Kate Fitzgerald | Series 2; Episode 6: "Alan Wide Shut" | ||||
| Ella and the Mothers | BBC One | Nicola | Television film | |||
| The Office | Gillian (voice) | Series 3; Episode 2: "Christmas Special: Part 2" (heard on the phone as the voice of a woman from a dating agency in conversation with David Brent) | ||||
| Appointment with Dr. Terrible | Herself | Documentary about the series | ||||
| Dose | BBC One Wales | Mrs Harris | ||||
| The Alan Clark Diaries | Jenny Easterbrook | Episodes 1 & 2: "The March of the Grey Men" and "The Lady" | ||||
| I Am Not an Animal | Clair the Rat (voice) | Episodes 1–6 | ||||
| BBC Three | Ruth | Television film | ||||
| Nighty Night | Jill Tyrell | Series 1 & 2 (all 12 episodes). | ||||
| Nathan Barley (working title Box of Slice) | Honda Poppet, weather girl | Episode 5 | ||||
| 2006 | Little Britain Abroad | Ivanka | Parts 1 & 2 | |||
| Fear of Fanny | BBC Four | Fanny Cradock | Television film, Dir. Coky Giedroyc | |||
| Born Equal | BBC Films | Sally | Television film, Dir. Dominic Savage | |||
| The Secret Policeman’s Ball: The Ball in the Hall | Herself | Recording of a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall | ||||
| Gavin & Stacey | Dawn Sutcliffe | Series 1–3 & 2 Specials (10 episodes) | ||||
| Ideal | Dawn | Series 4; Episode 8: "The Future" | ||||
| 10 Minute Tales | Overbearing Midwife | Episode 3: "Ding Dong" | ||||
| Steve Coogan: The Inside Story | Various | Spoof documentary about Steve Coogan | ||||
| Lizzie / Faith | Pilot | |||||
| Chekkov: Comedy Shorts | Popova | Episode 2: "The Bear" | ||||
| Little Crackers | Susan Johnways | Series 1; Episode 10: "Julia Davis's Little Cracker: The Kiss" | ||||
| The Mighty Boosh: Journey of the Childmen | Herself | Documentary | ||||
| The Angina Monologues | Sky One | Lizzie / Faith, Herself | Film of the live performance | |||
| Black Mirror | Judge Charity | Series 1; Episode 2: "Fifteen Million Merits" | ||||
| How Not to Live Your Life | Anne Yeaman | Series 4; Episode: "It's a Don-derful Life" | ||||
| Steve Coogan Lie: The Man Who Thinks He's It | Comedy Central | Ensemble Actor | Writer | |||
| Uncle Wormsley's Christmas | Mrs. Goodington | Television film | ||||
| Bad Sugar | Daphne Cauldwell | Pilot | ||||
| Herself | Series 9, Episode 9 | |||||
| Hunderby | Dorothy | Series 1 & 2 (10 episodes) | ||||
| It's Kevin | Ensemble Actor | Episodes 1–4 | ||||
| Psychobitches | Sky Arts | Mini-series; Series 1; Episodes 1–5 | ||||
| Inside No. 9 | Felicity | Series 1; Episode 5: "The Understudy" | ||||
| Morning Has Broken | Gail Sinclair | Creator, Writer, Director, Executive Producer | Pilot | |||
| 2015 | Channel 4 | Herself | Series 15, Episode 13 | |||
| Camping | Fay | Mini-series; Episodes 1–6 | ||||
| Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams | Sally Morris | Episode 4: "Crazy Diamond" | ||||
| Sally4Ever | Emma | Creator, Writer, Director, Executive Producer | All episodes | |||
| The Shivering Truth | Various | Series 2, Episode 6: "The Holeways" | ||||
| Stath Lets Flats | Kris Collins | Series 3, Episode 3: "A Drink Because of Friendship" | ||||
| A Very British Scandal: The Duchess of Argyll | Maureen Guinness | 3-part mini-series | ||||
| Stand Up & Deliver | Channel 4 | Narrator | Episodes 1 and 2 | |||
| The Outlaws | Rita | Series 2; Episode 2 | ||||
| My Massive C**k | Narrator | Documentary | ||||
| Corpse Talk | YouTube | Mary Shelley (Voice) | Online animation; Halloween Special | |||
| Love Me | Kel | Mini-series; Series 2, Episode 1: "Sluta håll med" | ||||
| Safe Home | Caitlyn | Episode 3 | ||||
| The Regime | Marina | Mini-series; Episode 5: "All Ye Faithful" | ||||
| Person of Interest | Dr. Kate Shelley | Television short film | ||||
| Gavin & Stacey: The Making of the Finale | BBC | Herself | Documentary | |||
| Educators | Catherine | Recurring role. Series 4 | ||||
| Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell | BBC | Herself | Documentary | |||
| 2026 | Living The Dream | Netflix | Various (Voice) | Animation |
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