Suzanne Packer

 ( 1962 Births ) 

Suzanne Packer (born Suzanne Jackson on 26 November 1962) is a Welsh actress, known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the BBC One medical drama Casualty from September 2003 to August 2015. She later returned to the series as a guest for the 30th-anniversary episodes in 2016. Since departing from Casualty, she has appeared in various television series including Bang, In My Skin and The Pembrokeshire Murders.

---

Early life Packer is the daughter of and immigrant parents who moved to Abergavenny, Wales, where her mother Angela worked as a nurse. She is the older sister of the hurdler Colin Jackson.

While studying at Llanedeyrn High School in Cardiff, she showed an interest in acting, playing the lead in school plays including Oklahoma and The King and I. Packer attended the National Youth Theatre of Wales before earning a BA in theatre and drama at the University of Warwick. She then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.Hayward 1996, p. 193. Prior to acting professionally, Packer worked as a drama supply teacher, having earned a PGCE. After working at one particular school for three months, she was offered a permanent contract, which she declined due to wanting to pursue acting full-time.

---

Career In 1991, Packer co-founded BiBi Crew, Britain's first comedy theatre troupe made up entirely of Black women.

Nicola Abram (2026). 9783030514594, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer. ISBN 9783030514594

After she gained an audition for the BBC One drama Casualty and was cast as Tess Bateman, she began appearing onscreen from September 2003. On 22 August 2015, she announced her decision to leave Casualty after playing the character of Tess for over 11 years.

Packer appeared with her brother Colin on the first series of Pointless on 6 July 2011. They were eliminated in the first round. In 2018, she began portraying the role of Nurse Digby in the BBC Three series In My Skin. On 4 November 2018, Packer played Eve Cicero in the Doctor Who episode, "The Tsuranga Conundrum". In 2021, she starred in the ITV miniseries The Pembrokeshire Murders.

In 2021, Packer co-edited with Suzzette Llewellyn the essay collection titled, Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism - 100 Ways to Change the Narrative, published by HarperCollins. In addition to the editors' own essays, the book also included contributions from other prominent Black British individuals in a variety of different fields, including MPs David Lammy and Dawn Butler, actor Sharon D. Clarke, and singer Beverley Knight. In 2025, Packer and Llywellyn launched their podcast Verandah Talk, where they reconnect with contributors of their book and continue the discussions of racism in Britain.

---

Personal life Packer met American actor Jesse Newman while on a tour in Europe, and the pair later married, and had a son together. The pair divorced.

---

Filmography

1990–1993, 2000	Brookside	Josie Johnson/Brooks	Channel 4	Recurring roles
1992	Crime Story	Barbara Pilkington	ITV	Episode: "All Good Friends"
1994	The Lifeboat	Helen Mitchell	Unknown	Episode: "Shadow of Doubt"
1995	Grange Hill	Miss Foster	BBC	2 episodes
1995	Some Kind of Life	Dr. Judson	Unknown
1996	Wales Playhouse	Veronica	BBC Wales	Episode: "Strangers in the Night"
1996	Porkpie	Trish	Channel 4	Episode: "Fatal Distraction"
1996	Casualty	Candice Francis	BBC1	Episode “Trapped”
1997	Tiger Bay	Marie	Unknown	4 episodes
1998	Brothers and Sisters	Siobhan Etienne	Unknown
1999	The Bill	Katherine Adams	ITV	Episode: "Treading Water"
2000	Dirty Work	Rhiannon	Unknown	6 episodes
2002	Third Watch	Dr. Sharon Reid	NBC	Episode: "The Greater Good"
2003–2015, 2016, 2021	Casualty	Tess Bateman	BBC	Series regular
2004–2005	Holby City			2 episodes
2005	Casualty @ Holby City			3 episodes
2014	Under Milk Wood	Mrs. Beynon		Television film
2015	Doctors	Rose Blair		Episode: "The Heart of England"
2016	Stella	Carol	Sky 1	Series 5
2016	The Level	Teresa Devlin	ITV	Recurring role
2017	Vera	Sophia		Episode: "Natural Selection"
2017	Bang	Layla	S4C/BBC	Main role
2017, 2019, 2021	Un Bore Mercher / Keeping Faith	Delyth Lloyd		Main role
2018	Death in Paradise	Maya Oprey	BBC	1 episode
2018	Hold the Sunset	Mrs. Pool		Episode: "Roger the Carer"
2018	Doctor Who	Eve Cicero		Episode: "The Tsuranga Conundrum"
2018	3 episodes
2018–2021	In My Skin	Nurse Digby	BBC Three	Recurring role
2020	Cyswllt (Mewn COVID)	Ruth	S4C
2021	The Pembrokeshire Murders	Chief Constable Tyler	ITV1	Miniseries
2023	Silent Witness	Miriam Harper	BBC1	s26 Southbay pt1&2
2024	Midsomer Murders	Olivia Dent	ITV	Episode: "Dressed to Kill"
2024	The Night Caller	Rosa	Channel 5	4 episodes
2024	The Bay	Anne Jackson	ITV	Series 5

Packer featured in the 2024 documentary Colin Jackson: Resilience, talking about her upbringing with her brother and his athletics career.

---

Awards and honours

+ !Year !Award !Category !Work !Result
2006	Screen Nation Awards	Female Performance in television	As Tess Bateman in Casualty
2025	Black British Theatre Awards	Best Female Lead in a Play	As Annie in The Women of Llanrumney at Stratford East and Sherman Theatre

---

Bibliography

• Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism – 100 Ways to Change the Narrative (co-edited with Suzette Llywellyn). London: HarperCollins, 2021.

---

External links

Categories: 1962 Births, 20th-century Welsh Actresses, 21st-century Welsh Actresses, Living People, Actors From Abergavenny, Actresses From Cardiff, Actresses From Monmouthshire, Alumni Of Goldsmiths, University Of London, Alumni Of The University Of Warwick, Alumni Of The Webber Douglas Academy Of Dramatic Art, Black British Actresses, Black British Schoolteachers, People Of Jamaican Maroon Descent, Welsh People Of Jamaican Descent, Welsh People Of Panamanian Descent, Welsh People Of Scottish Descent, Welsh Schoolteachers, Welsh Soap Opera Actresses, Welsh Television Actresses

Post Comment