1988–1990: Career beginnings After rejection from several
repertory theatre companies, Lancashire was given her first acting role by Howard Lloyd-Lewis, artistic director of the
Manchester Library Theatre Company, which provided her with an
Equity card. Lancashire performed two plays with the company,
Pacific Overtures and
The Beauty Game, which she has stated formed "the start of my career as an actor". She found her first professional acting experience "terrifying" as a result of the live audiences, recalling that, "because I wore a bathing costume in some of the scenes, I got heckled!" Discussing Lancashire's time as a visiting lecturer in acting and characterisation, Ron Cook, Head of the University's School of Media, Music and Performance, said she had made a "significant impact" in the formative stages of the drama department at the university and had also directed student productions. In 1987, Lancashire made a brief appearance in
Coronation Street as Wendy Farmer, a prospective lodger of series regular
Jack Duckworth (
Bill Tarmey). In the late 1980s, she also appeared in an episode of the
children's anthology series Dramarama, In 1990, Lancashire received her "big break" – the role of Linda in a production of
Willy Russell's
Blood Brothers at the
Albery Theatre.
1991–2000: Coronation Street and other series Two weeks after finishing her run in
Blood Brothers, Lancashire auditioned for the role of new
Coronation Street character
Raquel Wolstenhulme, a colleague of supermarket employee
Norman "Curly" Watts (
Kevin Kennedy). Lancashire joined on a three-month contract, continuing to teach at Salford University for another year. Raquel first appeared on 25 January 1991 and departed on 10 May; having moved to London to try to launch a modelling career. Lancashire had initially been reserved about Raquel's characterisation, observing her "acidic side" could have rendered her the "street bitch" had it been embellished. She took care to highlight Raquel's potential, playing against what had been written to make her more comic, evoking audience sympathy. Following Raquel's reintroduction on 30 December 1991, Lancashire committed herself to
Coronation Street full-time. Lancashire departed
Coronation Street in 1996 due to her heavy work schedule and desire to pursue other projects. She had also tired of the fame the role brought her, shying away from personal appearances and interviews with television magazines. Her final scenes attracted 20 million viewers. Lancashire's next role was
district nurse Ruth Goddard in the ITV drama series
Where the Heart Is, which began airing in 1997. Also in 1997 she filmed a
situation comedy for the BBC, ''
Bloomin' Marvellous'', in which she played Liz, one half of an argumentative married couple trying for a baby. However, owing to poor viewing figures and a damning critical response the sitcom was not renewed. Regarding the negative reception to the series, her co-star
Clive Mantle sarcastically remarked "I've seen murderers and rapists get a better press than we did". Lancashire continued to star as Ruth Goddard in
Where the Heart Is for its second and third series in 1998 and 1999. In 1998 she was nominated for her second National Television Award for Most Popular Actress. In February 1999 she made a guest appearance in the
British dark comedy anthology series
Murder Most Horrid alongside comedian
Dawn French. The pair played two yachtswoman whose journey ends with fatal repercussions. In April it was announced that Lancashire would be quitting
Where the Heart Is, despite an offered pay rise. At the time,
Where the Heart is was the third most popular drama on British Television, regularly attracting 12 million viewers. Lancashire's decision was reportedly influenced by the series filming away from home, and a fear that remaining in the series long term would harm her career. In January 2000 she expanded on her decision, stating that Ruth "was too chocolate-boxy, no longer a challenge". On 1 January 2000, Lancashire returned to
Coronation Street for one episode in which Raquel asks Curly for a divorce. Lancashire felt it was an apt time to return, as she was now a more confident actress and wanted to portray Raquel again before she aged significantly. From late January, Lancashire appeared as factory employee Yvonne Kolakowski, a widow with a dysfunctional personal life, in the
BBC One drama series
Clocking Off. Lancashire used her own experiences as a single mother in her characterisation. Lancashire found shooting the drama, which detailed Atkins' decision to quit her acting career in order to set up a care home for abused children, "mentally draining". The series was aired from June 2000. Lancashire's output in 2000 earned her several awards. She was voted best actress at the
TV Quick Awards in September 2000 for her roles in
Clocking Off and
Seeing Red, and in October was voted Most Popular Actress at the
6th National Television Awards for
Seeing Red. In March 2001 she was named Drama Performer of the Year by the
Television and Radio Industries Club, with mention of her work in
Clocking Off and
Seeing Red.
2000–2003: "Golden handcuffs" contract , pictured in 2012 Resulting from Lancashire's ability to connect with a television audience, ITV sought to secure her exclusively to their network in a two-year golden handcuffs deal, which was finalised in July 2000. Lancashire became the first actress to be given such a contract with ITV. The deal, worth £1.3 million, made Lancashire the highest-paid actress in British television. Discussing the exclusive signing ITV controller of drama Nick Elliott identified Lancashire as being someone with "a great range [who] creates a tremendous empathy with an audience". Her last role on BBC One during this period was comedy drama ''Gentleman's Relish
, an adaptation of the Miles Gibson novel Kingdom Swann. Her first role under her new contract with ITV was the six-part drama The Glass
opposite John Thaw. In October Lancashire starred in an adaptation of the Michelle Magorian novel Back Home'' as Peggy Dickinson, a woman adjusting to life in post-war Britain after having been separated from her family during the war. In March 2002, Lancashire received an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Salford University. In April, she starred in two-part psychological thriller
The Cry, which she described as her "most naked role yet". Lancashire drew on her own experiences of
clinical depression in her depiction of her character's mentality. Her performance saw her awarded with a Golden Nymph award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series at the
Monte-Carlo Television Festival. In April, it was reported that Lancashire had been lined up to play the lead role in comedy drama
Life Begins, which creator
Mike Bullen had written with Lancashire in mind. However, by June, Lancashire had exited the drama, unwilling to commit to a potentially long running series. Later that month,
BBC News and newspaper
The Guardian reported that Lancashire had exited her exclusive deal with ITV, which would not be renewed after it expired in the autumn. The decision was reportedly influenced by Lancashire's desire to reduce her workload and to have the freedom to take on other roles. In September 2002, she appeared in a two-part crime drama pilot,
Rose and Maloney, as legal investigator Rose Linden. On 22 December she appeared in the television movie
Birthday Girl as Rachel Jones, who plans a party to celebrate being in remission from a serious illness, only to discover that the disease has returned. Lancashire's final role under her ITV contract was Gertrude Morel in an adaptation of
D.H. Lawrence's 1913 novel
Sons and Lovers, airing in January 2003. The portrayal –her first of a mother with adult children– followed Gertrude's transformation from a young bride into a fifty-something woman ravaged by her life experiences of poverty and domestic abuse. Lancashire re-read the novel several times prior to filming, and identified with the themes of filial and marital relationships she had been unable to appreciate as a
GCSE student. Conversely
Andrew Billen, writing in
New Statesman, wrote that "Sarah Lancashire was no revelation at all", purely because she had "long since proved herself a formidable actress".
2004–2012: Subsequent projects (pictured) in the 2005 television film
Cherished, a dramatisation of the activist's bereavement and subsequent wrongful imprisonment Lancashire's first job after returning to work was her directorial debut on an episode of the BBC One anthology series
The Afternoon Play. For "Viva Las Blackpool", she was given the Best Newcomer Award (sponsored by
BBC Birmingham) at the Birmingham Screen Festival and the Best New Talent Award at the
Royal Television Society (Midlands) awards in 2004. The venture also earned her first
British Academy Television Awards nomination in 2005 for Best new Director of Fiction. Lancashire next filmed three two-part stories for
Rose and Maloney, following on from the pilot episode in 2002. Also in 2005, she appeared in the BBC television film
Cherished as
Angela Cannings, a British woman who was wrongfully convicted of killing her two baby sons. Lancashire was proud to be involved with the project, having greatly admired Cannings' strength of character during her ordeal, and being able to relate to her sense of anguish as a parent. Lancashire was due to stay with the production until March 2006, but due to a severe chest infection made her last appearance on 4 January. In 2006, Lancashire accepted an invitation to write a short autobiographical entry in ''
Who's Who''. Lancashire's only television acting role in 2006 was as house-wife and cake-maker Elaine in the BBC comedy drama
Angel Cake. In November, she presented an episode of the
Five documentary series
Disappearing Britain in which she interviewed people with memories of
Wakes Week holidays in
Blackpool during the early 20th century. In February 2007, she made an appearance in the
E4 teen drama series
Skins. This was followed by a leading role in the BBC Two television drama
Sex, the City and Me as solicitor Ruth Gilbert. In October, Lancashire appeared in her first feature film,
David Nicholls'
And When Did You Last See Your Father? in which she played aunt Beaty. In December, she played the supporting role of Mrs Corney in the BBC's
2007 adaption of
Charles Dickens' 1838 novel
Oliver Twist. Whilst ambivalent about the serial as a whole,
The Daily Mirrors Jane Simon singled Lancashire out for praise stating that she "really sets the tone for the cold, unfeeling world into which orphaned Oliver is born." Between 2008 and 2011, Lancashire narrated the BBC One series
Lark Rise to Candleford, a costume drama based on
Flora Thompson's
memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood in the 1880s. In April, she appeared in
the opening episode of the 2008 series of
Doctor Who, as "an enigmatic and powerful businesswoman" who Lancashire described as a "warped
Mary Poppins". She was amongst a number of high-profile actors the series' executive producer
Russell T Davies secured for the
fourth series of the science-fiction drama as part of his intention to make it "bigger and blowsier". In 2009, Lancashire starred in the BBC One musical drama series
All the Small Things. She played Esther Caddick, a full-time mother who starts a choir after her husband leaves her for a more glamorous woman. In July that year, the actress was made an
honorary Doctor of Letters by the
University of Huddersfield. , where Lancashire originated the role of Joyce Chilvers in
Betty Blue Eyes in 2011 Following this, she reunited with director
Coky Giedroyc, who had directed her in
Oliver Twist, for a
2009 television adaptation of
Emily Brontë's 1847 novel
Wuthering Heights in which she played housekeeper
Nelly Dean. In 2010, Lancashire portrayed Rosemary Nicholls, mother of a murder victim, in the three-part BBC drama
Five Daughters; a depiction of the
Ipswich serial murders from the perspective of the victims and their families. Though the pair never met, Lancashire felt it important to receive Nicholls consent before filming, and was later "humbled" and "relieved" to receive a feedback letter thanking her for her portrayal. Also in 2010, she guest-starred in the police drama series
Inspector George Gently. In March 2011, Lancashire began starring in a new
Cameron Mackintosh musical,
Betty Blue Eyes, at the
Novello Theatre. In the production, a loose adaptation of the 1984 film
A Private Function, she starred as Joyce Chilvers, an aspirational housewife who Lancashire describes as "brittle" and "capricious". Despite positive reviews the musical closed in London on 24 September 2011, after a run of just six months. For her performance Lancashire was nominated for the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2012, she appeared as
lady's maid Miss Whisset in the penultimate episode of the 2010 revival of
Upstairs Downstairs. In September 2012, Lancashire began appearing as Head of Ladieswear Miss Audrey in the six-part series
The Paradise set in a department store in Northern England in the late 19th century. Lancashire described her character as "a true archetypal
spinster" who has long denied herself a romantic life and who begins to feel undermined by a younger colleague. Caroline's
same-sex relationship with a fellow teacher resulted in Lancashire receiving more
fan mail than for any other role, Due to the under-representation of gay characters in television, Lancashire felt it particularly important that Caroline's experience would be depicted accurately. At the 2015
Hay Festival, Lancashire stated that of all the roles she has taken on in her career Caroline is the one she is most proud of, citing the "extraordinary impact" of the character. After airing three full series,
Last Tango in Halifax returned for a fourth series in December 2016, consisting of two episodes which were promoted as "Christmas Specials", and also for a fifth series in 2020. In 2014, Lancashire re-united with
Last Tango in Halifax writer
Sally Wainwright on the crime drama
Happy Valley. Wainwright was keen to write another role for Lancashire after being "blown away" by her performances in
Last Tango in Halifax. Lancashire portrays single-grandparent Catherine Cawood, a police sergeant still dealing with the aftermath of her daughter's rape, and subsequent suicide, eight years earlier. For this role she earned the
TV Choice Award for Best Actress in 2014, and the Royal Television Programme Award for Best Actress in 2015. In September 2014, the
Radio Times listed her as one of the thirty most powerful women in British television and radio. In April 2015, she received her fourth BAFTA television nomination, her first in the
Best Actress category. In June 2015, she was named Best Actress in a Drama Series at the
Monte Carlo Television Festival. Despite Lancashire's concerns regarding the decision to extend the story told in
Happy Valley, Wainwright's "genuine" storytelling and "integrity" convinced her to return for a second series, which aired in 2016. Lancashire stated that she found the second series as "emotionally brutal" Whilst promoting the second series, Lancashire also refuted criticism about the level of violence towards women in the series, stating she "would never condone anything which [she] thought was salacious, titillating, or gratuitous" and that Catherine's experience represented an "absolutely honest portrayal of what a female police officer can be subjected to". and the BAFTA TV award for Best Actress. In March 2015, Lancashire began filming a
television adaptation of
Ronald Harwoods 1980 play
The Dresser. In the drama, which aired in October 2015, Lancashire portrayed stage manager Madge, whose unrequited love for 'Sir' (
Anthony Hopkins), the head of a repertory theatre company, puts her at odds with his dresser and confidant, Norman (
Ian McKellen). Lancashire described
The Dresser as "the greatest piece ever written about actors" and found both working with and observing McKellen and Hopkins – "two of the greatest actors ever" – an extraordinary experience. Lancashire played Mrs Pike in the 2016 feature film ''
Dad's Army, based on the situation comedy series of the same name. In early 2017, she began voicing the character of "Headmonstress" Mrs Twirlyhorn in the animated pre-school series School of Roars'', which airs on
Cbeebies. Lancashire was due to appear opposite
Martin Freeman in
Labour of Love, a political comedy by
James Graham, at the
Noël Coward Theatre in late 2017 but pulled out on 1 September "on doctor's advice" and was replaced by
Tamsin Greig. In 2018, she starred as Miriam – billed as an "experienced, no-nonsense social worker" – in
Kiri, a four-part drama series written by
Jack Thorne, co-produced by
Channel 4 and the American on-demand service
Hulu. The miniseries centres on a black girl living with a white foster couple who is murdered on a visit to her family, putting Miriam and the social services under scrutiny. Having received favourable reviews, the series was renewed in May 2022. In October 2023, it was announced she would be co-starring in the 2024 Netflix series
Black Doves. ==Personal life==