Anna Acton

Anna Acton (born 29 January 1977) is an English actress who is best known for her roles as Rochelle Barratt, the wife of a borough commander, in the ITV television series The Bill, and DC Emma Summerhayes in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.^[1]

Anna Acton
Born	(1977-01-29) 29 January 1977 (age 48) Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2000–present
Known for	Geri Evans in Family Affairs (2002–2005) Rochelle Barratt in The Bill (2005) DC Emma Summerhayes in EastEnders (2014–2015)
Spouse	Ben Hull

Career

Prior to appearing in The Bill, Acton played the long-suffering yet bubbly Geri Evans in the soap opera Family Affairs for three and a half years.^[2]

Acton also appeared in two episodes of Doctors as Rachel Cook (April 2006) and later as Keira Chesterton (February 2008) and Hollyoaks (October 2006) as DC Mullins. In May 2007, she starred as Louise Martin in two episodes of HolbyBlue for the BBC. In August 2008 she appeared with Paul Nicholls in Harley Street (ITV) and was also seen as Dorothy in the CGI Sketch Show for BBC The Wrong Door.

From 2013 to 2015, Acton played the role of Joy in the CBeebies programme Topsy and Tim. From 21 April 2014 to 2 January 2015, she portrayed DC Emma Summerhayes, the police officer investigating Lucy Beale's (Hetti Bywater) murder, in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.^[3]

From 2015 to 2016, Acton appeared in the BBC One medical soap Casualty as Nikki Chisom.^[4] In 2018, she appeared in Birches, a UK-based feature based on the novel Silver Birches published in 2009 by Adrian Plass. Birches was turned into a film directed by Randall Stevens, with screenplay by Mark Freiburger. It starred Natasha Little and Todd Carty.^[5][6] In May 2021, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Vicki.^[7]

In 2022, Acton appeared in an advertisement for No7.

Personal life

Acton is married to actor and former Family Affairs co-star Ben Hull. The couple reside in Buckinghamshire and have two daughters, Grace and Lana.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	The Killers	Danielle
2010	Little Deaths	Annabel
2018	Degenerates	Susan Moore
2019	Mapped	Izzy	Short film
	Birches	Jessica
2020	Shapes	Ms Roberts
2021	Smudged Smmile	Laura	Short film
TBA	Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die	TBA	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	EastEnders	Jane Madden	2 episodes
2002–2005	Family Affairs	Geri Evans	Series regular
2005	The Bill	Rochelle Barratt	Series regular; 20 episodes
2006	Doctors	Rachel Cook	Episode: "Home from Home"
	Hollyoaks	D.C. Mullins	2 episodes
2007	HolbyBlue	Louise Martin	2 episodes
2008	Harley Street	Claudia	Series 1: Episode 6
	The Wrong Door	Various roles	Episode: "The Wizard of Office"
	Doctors	Kira Chesterton	Episode: "Hopelessly Devoted"
2010	The Little House	Ruth's Mother	Series 1: Episode 1
2011	Casualty	Alex Scotton	Episode: "The Ties That Bind"
2012	Crime Stories	Polly Andrews	Series 1: Episode 17
2013	Doctors	Dorothy Bale	Episode: "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
2013–2015	Topsy and Tim	Joy O’Dell	Series regular; 57 episodes
2014–2015	EastEnders	Emma Summerhayes	Series regular; 50 episodes
2015–2016	Casualty	Nikki Chisom	3 episodes
2016	Doctors	Colette Pendleton	Episode: "Cold Facts"
2018		Joanne Webber	Episode: "Playtime"
2019	Brassic	Lydia McCann	Series 1: Episode 6
2020	Roadkill	Stella Faber	Series 1: Episode 2
2021	Doctors	Vicki	Episode: "This is Not a Pipe"
2023	Casualty	Piper Fulley	Episode: "The Ostrich Effect"
TBA	† Rivals	Mary	Upcoming series

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2000	Cor, Blimey!	Sally	Watford Palace Theatre, Watford
2007	Noises Off	Brooke Ashton	Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool
2009	The Hokey Cokey Man	Jenny/Eileen	New End Theatre, London
2018	The Gulf	Betty	Tristan Bates Theatre, London
2019	The Permanent Way	Investment Banker/Second Bereaved Mother	The Vaults, London

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2002	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Female	Family Affairs	Nominated	[9]
2003		Best Actress		Nominated	[10]