Bharti Patel

Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera Doctors. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards. In 2024, she portrayed Maya Houssain in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Bharti Patel
Born	Coventry, England[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Television	Doctors

Career

Patel made her professional acting debut as a shop assistant in an episode of the BBC drama series Screenplay.^[2] In 2003, she appeared as a dancer in the feature film What a Girl Wants.^[3] In 2012, she portrayed the roles of Ursula and Verges in a production of Much Ado About Nothing at the World Shakespeare Festival.^[4] In 2015, Bharti began portraying the role of Ruhma Carter in the BBC soap opera Doctors.^[5] The next year, she was nominated for Best Newcomer at The British Soap Awards.^[6] In 2018, she appeared in an episode of the Hulu series Find Me in Paris as Mama Khan, and in 2019, she portrayed the role of Manju in the BBC Two sitcom Don't Forget the Driver.^[7] In 2024, Doctors was cancelled by the BBC and Patel remained in her role as Ruhma until its final episode. Later that year, she played Maya Houssain in fellow BBC soap opera EastEnders.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Bhaji on the Beach	Refuge woman	Film
2003	What a Girl Wants	Dancer	Film
2013	Cursed		Short film
2014	Honeycomb Lodge	Rheeta	Film
2019	Damage	Sarita	Short film
2023	Goldfish	Laxmi Natrajan	Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Dear Manju	Manju	Television film
1991	Screenplay	Shop assistant	1 episode
2001	The Residents	Charan Singh	1 episode
2003	Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness	Tennison's secretary	2 episodes
2015–2024	Doctors	Ruhma Carter	Regular role
2018	Find Me in Paris	Mama Khan	1 episode
2019	Don't Forget the Driver	Manju	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2022	Ten Percent	Amina Feirani	1 episode
2022	The Undeclared War	Yasmin Parvin	Recurring role
2024	EastEnders	Maya Houssain	Recurring role
2024	Storyland	Fatima	Episode: "I'm Yours"

Voice

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2024, 2025	The Archers	Anita, Geraldine, Inspector Norris	Various roles
2024	Torchwood: Monthly Range	Passerby	Episode: "Bad Connection"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2016	The British Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	Doctors	Nominated	[9]
2017	National Television Awards	Newcomer	Doctors	Longlisted	[10]
2017	Inside Soap Awards	Best Daytime Star	Doctors	Longlisted	[11]
2018	Diversity in Media Awards	Best Actor	Doctors	Nominated	[12]
2019	The British Soap Awards	Best Actress	Doctors	Longlisted	[13]
2019	Inside Soap Awards	Best Daytime Star	Doctors	Longlisted	[14]
2020	Inside Soap Awards	Best Daytime Star	Doctors	Nominated	[15]
2020	RTS Midlands Awards	Acting Performance – Female	Doctors	Nominated	[16]
2020	UK Festival Awards	Best Ensemble (with co-stars)	Damage	Won	[17]
2021	Inside Soap Awards	Best Daytime Star	Doctors	Nominated	[18]