Stage Horrocks has appeared on stage in
Ask for the Moon (Hampstead, 1986), ''A Collier's Friday Night
(Greenwich, 1987), Valued Friends
(Hampstead, 1989), and The Debutante Ball
(Hampstead, 1989). She appeared in Our Own Kind
(Bush, 1991); Deadly Advice (Fletcher, 1993); Cabaret (Donmar Warehouse 1994); Macbeth (Greenwich Theatre, 1995); and Absurd Person Singular'' (Garrick Theatre, 2007). While working on
Road, a play directed by
Jim Cartwright, Horrocks warmed up by doing singing impressions of
Judy Garland,
Shirley Bassey and
Ethel Merman. Cartwright was so impressed with her mimicry he wrote
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for her. She was nominated for the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress at the
1993 Laurence Olivier Awards for her performance in the 1992
West End production, directed by her then-boyfriend
Sam Mendes. Her last West End appearance was in
Sweet Panic, the 2003
Stephen Poliakoff drama in which she portrayed a neurotic mother locked in a battle of wills with her disturbed son's psychologist. She starred in
Richard Jones's critically acclaimed production of
The Good Soul of Szechuan at the
Young Vic in 2008. She was reunited with Jones in a new musical production of
Annie Get Your Gun, which opened at the
Young Vic in October 2009. At London's Young Vic, in 2016's
If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Horrocks revisited the songs of her youth to sing versions of tracks by the likes of
Joy Division,
The Smiths,
Buzzcocks, and
The Human League. In October 2014, Horrocks played Ella Khan in the London revival of
East Is East at
Trafalgar Studios as part of
Jamie Lloyd's Trafalgar Transformed season. In 2024, Horrocks joined the cast of the British premiere production of play
Nachtland at the
Young Vic theatre, directed by
Patrick Marber. In August 2024, Horrocks starred as Meg in
Harold Pinter's
The Birthday Party at the
Ustinov Studio.
Screen She appeared in
Catherine Cookson's
The Fifteen Streets, alongside
Sean Bean and
Owen Teale and portrayed Pattern, the housemaid, in Stuart Orme's
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Both films were released in 1989. She drew critical notice for her performance in the film
Life Is Sweet (1990). She also portrayed Miss Irvine, the mistreated assistant of
Eva Ernst / The Grand High Witch in
Nicolas Roeg's
The Witches (1990). Horrocks became well known on screen for her role as Bubble and Katy Grin in the sitcom
Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2016). She reprised her stage role in the 1998 screen adaptation,
Little Voice, which earned nominations for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the
56th Golden Globe Awards, the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the
52nd British Academy Film Awards, the
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the
3rd Golden Satellite Awards, the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture at the
5th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the
British Independent Film Award for Best Actress. For 10 years, Horrocks appeared with
Prunella Scales in commercials for the UK supermarket chain
Tesco. She narrated BBC Two's television series
The Speaker in April 2009. In 2009, Horrocks took the lead in the BBC TV production
Gracie!, a drama portraying the life of
Gracie Fields during World War II and her relationship with the Italian-born director
Monty Banks (played by
Tom Hollander). Other television credits include
Absolutely Fabulous,
Victoria Wood - ''We'd Quite Like to Apologise
, Bad Girl
, Boon
, Heartland, Hunting Venus
, La Nonna
, Leaving Home
, Never Mind the Horrocks, Nightlife
, Wyrd Sisters, Foxbusters, Jericho, Red Dwarf, Some Kind of Life
, Suffer the Little Children
, The Storyteller, The Garden
, Fifi & the Flowertots, Little Princess (the voice of the princess) and Welcome to the Times''. She was the subject of an episode of the
genealogy series
Who Do You Think You Are? in 2006. That year, she played the title role of Ros Pritchard in
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, a drama about a woman elected prime minister. On Tuesday 14 January 2014, Horrocks appeared as a contestant on
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off on
BBC Two— the celebrity version of
The Great British Bake Off—hosted by
Jo Brand and broadcast to help raise money for the charity
Sport Relief. The other contestants were TV and radio presenter
Kirsty Young, choreographer
Jason Gardiner, and Olympic athlete
Greg Rutherford. On 9 May 2015, she gave a reading at
VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in
Horse Guards Parade, London that was broadcast live on
BBC1. In 2015, she supplied the voice of the Tubby Phone in the reboot of the popular British children's television series
Teletubbies. In 2021, she began starring in the
Sky comedy series
Bloods.
Audio Horrocks' voiceovers have been used on the films
Chicken Run,
Christmas Carol: The Movie,
Corpse Bride,
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, and
Tinker Bell. She also did the voiceover of Fenchurch on radio and in the audio adaptation of
Douglas Adams' science fiction series ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' for BBC Radio 4. She has voiced Donner in all three
Robbie the Reindeer films in aid of
Comic Relief. In 2000, Horrocks made the CD
Further Adventures of Little Voice, again singing in the style of favourite divas. The recording includes duets with
Ewan McGregor,
Robbie Williams and
Dean Martin. Horrocks collaborated once more with Robbie Williams the following year, for a cover of the
Bobby Darin song "Things" on Williams' album ''
Swing When You're Winning''. == Personal life ==