Katherine Parkinson

Katherine Parkinson (born 1977 or 1978^[1]) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in Channel 4's The IT Crowd comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, winning in 2014.^[3] Parkinson studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has appeared on stage in the plays The Seagull (2007), Cock (2009), and Home, I'm Darling (2018), for which she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Katherine Parkinson
Parkinson in 2016
Born	Katherine Parkinson 1977 or 1978 (age 46–47)[1] Hounslow, London, England
Education	St Hilda's College, Oxford London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Spouse	Harry Peacock ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2[2]

Parkinson was also a main cast member of the series Doc Martin for three series (2005–2009). She co-starred in all three series of Humans, a science-fiction drama on AMC/Channel 4, which aired from 2015 until 2018. She has also appeared in the films The Boat That Rocked (2009) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018).

Early life

Parkinson was born in Hounslow, London, to an English mother and Northern Irish father, the historian Alan Parkinson.^[1] She grew up in Tolworth and Surbiton,^[4] and studied at Tiffin Girls' School^[5] before reading classics at St Hilda's College, Oxford.^[6][7] She then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, although she left before graduating in order to star in the play The Age of Consent, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2001.^[8]

Career

From 2005 until 2009, Parkinson played Pauline Lamb, a doctor's receptionist and later phlebotomist, in series two to four of the long-running ITV comedy-drama series Doc Martin.

While working on Doc Martin, she was asked by her LAMDA^{[further explanation needed]} friend Chris O'Dowd to audition for the comedy series The IT Crowd as the show was having trouble casting a female lead.^[7] In an interview with The Independent, Parkinson said that the show's creator Graham Linehan originally wanted Jen to be "likeable" but that "I know what he wanted now – he wanted her to be the more normal person people could relate to." The IT Crowd premiered in 2006 and ran for four series, ending in 2014. While the character served as a straight man to the two main male characters, Parkinson's performance was well received by critics and audiences, with her being nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2011. She went on to win the award in 2014.^[3]

In 2007, she appeared in a new production of Chekhov's The Seagull at London's Royal Court Theatre, alongside Kristin Scott Thomas and Mackenzie Crook, for which she received positive reviews.^[9]

She also contributed sketch characters to Katy Brand's ITV2 show Katy Brand's Big Ass Show (2007-2009), having been friends with Brand since their time at university.^[10] At the end of 2009, she appeared in the Olivier award winning^[11] play Cock at the Royal Court Theatre with Ben Whishaw and Andrew Scott.

She has performed several times on BBC Radio 4, including on Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking; Mouth Trap,^[12] which she also co-wrote with Brand; and The Odd Half Hour.^[13] She also featured in television advertisements for Maltesers alongside fellow actress and comedian Amanda Abbington.

Parkinson played Sophie, one of the lead roles along with Mark Heap in BBC Four's three-part comedy series The Great Outdoors (2010).^[14] In 2010 and 2011, she appeared in two plays: Season's Greetings at the National Theatre; and as Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal at the Barbican Centre. That same year, she appeared in The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, which premiered on BBC Two in 2011; and in 2012 she made a guest appearance as Kitty Riley in "The Reichenbach Fall", the second series finale of the series Sherlock.

In 2012 and 2013, she played the roles of Diana in Absent Friends at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and Laura in Before the Party at the Almeida Theatre, respectively. In 2014, Parkinson appeared in "Sardines", the first episode of the anthology series Inside No. 9, alongside Ben Willbond, as well as the miniseries The Honourable Woman, which aired in the UK on BBC Two and in the USA on SundanceTV.

In 2015, she starred in the BBC One comedy series The Kennedys, written by Emma Kennedy about growing up on a Stevenage estate in the 1970s.^[15] She also played one of the lead roles in all three series of the British-American science fiction series Humans, which aired on Channel 4 and AMC between 2015 and 2018.

In 2016, Parkinson performed in the stage play Dead Funny at the Vaudeville Theatre. In 2018 and 2019, she performed in Home, I'm Darling, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award,^[16] as well as in Defending the Guilty, a legal sitcom which aired for one series on BBC Two and was subsequently renewed for a second,^[17] before being cancelled due to coronavirus.^[18]

She played Emma Jeanne Desfosses in Marjane Satrapi's film adaptation of Lauren Redniss's Radioactive in 2019, detailing the life of Marie Curie.

In 2019, Parkinson's debut work as a playwright, Sitting, had its London premiere, following a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe.^[19] The play was well reviewed, with The Guardian^[20] writing "Parkinson delicately reveals connections that, by the end, give the play a wistful emotional weight." Parkinson adapted the play for BBC Four in early 2021.^[21]

Parkinson appeared in series 10 of Taskmaster in 2020.^[22] Parkinson won the second episode but was behind in total points for the majority of the series, and ended up in last place.^[23]

In 2022, Katherine played Nell Taylor in the film The Nan Movie.

Personal life

Parkinson is married to actor Harry Peacock,^[24] and is the daughter-in-law of the late Trevor Peacock.^[25] She has two daughters.^[2]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Hard to Swallow	Katie	Short film
2008	Easy Virtue	Marion Whittaker
	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	PR Woman
2009	The Boat That Rocked	Felicity
	St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold	Physics Teacher
2010	Cooked	Lucy (voice)	Short films
2011	The Bride of Vernon	Mary Mae (voice)
2014	Off the Page: Britain Isn't Eating	Marion / Sarah
2016	The Complete Walk: Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice
2018	The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society	Isola Pribby
2019	Radioactive	Emma Jeanne Desfosses
	How to Fake a War	Kate Hemmings
2021	Paul Dood's Deadly Lunch Break	Clemmie
2022	The Nan Movie	Nell Taylor
2024	That Christmas †	Mrs. Forrest (voice)	Upcoming animated fantasy comedy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Ahead of the Class	Vicky Foley	Television film
	Casualty	Helen Gibbons	Episode: "The Long Goodbye" (uncredited role)
	Extras	Woman in Queue	Episode: "Ross Kemp & Vinnie Jones"
2005–2009	Doc Martin	Pauline Lamb	Series 2-4 & Christmas special, 24 episodes
2006	Comedy Lab	Various roles	Episode: "Slap"
2006–2010, 2013	The IT Crowd	Jen Barber	British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress[26] Nominated – BAFTA for Best Female Comedy Performance[27] Winner of BAFTA award Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme 2014[3]
2007	Fear, Stress & Anger	Gemma	5 episodes
	Love Triangle	Patty (voice)	Television short film
	Christmas at the Riviera	Vanessa	Television film
2007–2009	Katy Brand's Big Ass Show	Various characters	18 episodes
2009	Jonathan Creek	Nicola	Episode: "The Grinning Man"
2009–2010	The Old Guys	Amber	8 episodes
2010	The Great Outdoors	Sophie	3 episodes
	Whites	Caroline[28]	6 episodes
2011	Psychoville	Fiona	Episode: "The Hunt"
	Comedy Showcase	Pip	Episode: "Coma Girl"
2011–2012	The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff	Conceptiva	4 episodes
2011, 2015	Would I Lie to You?	Herself - Panellist	Series 5, Episode 3 Series 9, Episode 2
2012	Sherlock	Kitty Riley[29]	Episode: "The Reichenbach Fall"
2013	Love Matters	Jo Pepper	Episode: "Officially Special"
2014	Cardinal Burns	Super Computer (voice)	Series 2, Episode 4
	The Honourable Woman	Rachel Stein	Mini-series; 8 episodes
	Inside No. 9	Rebecca	Episode: "Sardines"
	Crackanory	Herself - Storyteller	Series 2, Episode 3: "The Crisis Plan"
2014–2016	In the Club	Kim Hall	12 episodes
2015	Horizon	Herself - Narrator	Episode: "Which Universe Are We In?"
	The Kennedys	Brenda Kennedy	Lead role; 6 episodes
2015–2018	Humans	Laura Hawkins	Lead role; 24 episodes
2017	Urban Myths	Ange	Episode: "Bob Dylan: Knockin' on Dave's Door"
2018	Hang Ups	Karen Muller	6 episodes
2018–2019	Defending the Guilty	Caroline Bratt	Lead role; 7 episodes
2020	Unprecedented	Liz	Series 1, Episode 3
	Taskmaster	Herself - Contestant	Series 10, 10 episodes
	Pandemonium	Rachel Jessop	One-off BBC One comedy (pilot episode of Here We Go)[30]
2021	Sitting	Mary	TV adaption of Parkinson's 2018 stage play for BBC Four[21]
	Spreadsheet	Lauren	Lead role; 8 episodes
	Hitmen	Kat Gaitskill	5 episodes
2022	Travel Man	Herself	Travel documentary[31]
2022–present	Here We Go	Rachel Jessop	Lead role; 13 episodes[32]
2023	Significant Other	Anna	6 episodes
2024	Inside No. 9	Herself	Series 9, Episode: "Plodding On"
	Rivals	Lizzie Vereker	8 episodes[33]

Radio

Year	Title	Role
2004	A Certain Smile	Catherine
	Good Times Role	Patient
2008	The Odd Half Hour
	Mouth Trap	Writer, performer
2010	Sarah Millican's Support Group	Kim
2011	The Lost Weekend
	The Drover of Clissold Common
	The One and Only	Layla
	Souvenirs	Samantha
2011–2015	Don't Start	Kim
2012	Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully	Katrina
	Diary of a Nobody	Carrie Pooter
	The Bat Man	Colette
	The Lady from the Sea	Bolette
2013	Start/Stop	Alice
2019	Date Night	Maddy

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Age of Consent[34]	Stephanie	Pleasance Edinburgh Edinburgh Festival
2002	The Age of Consent[35]	Stephanie	Bush Theatre
	Frame 312[36]	Maggie / Doris / Marie	Donmar Warehouse
	Deep Throat Live on Stage[37]	Linda Lovelace	Assembly Rooms Edinburgh Festival Fat Bloke Productions
2003	Camille[38]	Olympe	Lyric Hammersmith
	The Increased Difficulty of Concentration	Anna Balcar	The Gate (London)
	The Riot Act[39]	Antigone	The Gate (London)
2004	The Unthinkable[40]	Fran	Sheffield Crucible
	Cigarettes and Chocolate[41]	Gail	King's Head Theatre
	Flush[42]	Lily	Soho Theatre
2006	Other Hands[43]	Lydia	Soho Theatre
2006–2007	The Lightning Play[44]	Imogen Cumberbatch	Almeida Theatre
2007	The Seagull[9]	Masha	Royal Court Theatre
2009	Cock[45]	W	Royal Court Theatre
2010	Season's Greetings[46]	Pattie	Royal National Theatre
2011	The School for Scandal[47]	Lady Teazle	Barbican Theatre
	66 Books[48]	Jo	Bush Theatre
2012	Absent Friends[49]	Diana	Harold Pinter Theatre
2013	Before the Party[50][51]	Laura	Almeida Theatre
2016–2017	Dead Funny	Eleanor	Vaudeville Theatre
2018–2019	Home, I'm Darling[52]	Judy	Theatr Clwyd and Royal National Theatre Co-Production Nominated – Olivier Award for Best Actress
2019	Uncle Vanya[53]	Sonya	Theatre Royal Bath
2020	Shoe Lady[54]	Viv	Royal Court Theatre
2022	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice	Lyttelton Theatre

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Worms Clan Wars	Ms. Tara Pinkle	Narrator
2014	Worms Battlegrounds

References

1. "Katherine Parkinson interview: Sherlock actress on likeability and". Independent.co.uk. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
2. Youngs, Ian (27 June 2018). "IT Crowd star Katherine Parkinson on the 'responsibility' to be a working mum". BBC News. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
3. "Winner Katherine Parkinson – The IT Crowd". BAFTA Television Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
4. "Katherine Parkinson: interview". The Telegraph. 29 March 2013.
5. Bruce Dessau (28 December 2007). "Big in 2008: Comedy". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
6. "Katherine Parkinson – Classics, 1996". St Hilda's College University of Oxford. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
7. "Katherine Parkinson Interview". Channel 4. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
8. "Controversy of consent". 8 August 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
9. Michael Billington (26 January 2007). "The Seagull, Royal Court, London". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
10. Harries, Rhiannon (20 December 2009). "How We Met: Katherine Parkinson & Katy Brand". The Independent. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
11. "The Royal Court's Olivier award-winning play Cock by Mike Bartlett to open off-Broadway Spring 2012". Royal Court. 7 October 2011.
12. "Mouth trap". BBC Radio 4. 20 May 2008.
13. "The Odd Half Hour". BBC Radio 4.
14. "The Great Outdoors". BBC Four.
15. "BBC One announces the cast for brand new family comedy The Kennedys". BBC. 6 March 2015.
16. Haynes, Natalie (4 July 2018). "Home, I'm Darling review – cupcakes, cocktails and fetishising wifeliness". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
17. "BBC Two commissions Defending the Guilty for a second series". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
18. "Defending the Guilty's second series cancelled because of coronavirus - News". British Comedy Guide. 30 March 2021.
19. Paskett, Zoe (14 March 2019). "Katherine Parkinson's debut play Sitting will have London premiere at the Arcola Theatre". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
20. Fisher, Mark (8 August 2018). "Sitting review – art models reveal all in Katherine Parkinson's smart debut". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
21. Richardson, Jay (21 February 2021). "Katherine Parkinson creates BBC Four comedy drama Sitting". www.comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
22. Griffin, Louise (29 October 2020). "Taskmaster's Katherine Parkinson descends into madness in bizarre shoe task". Metro. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
23. "Dog Meat Trifle". Taskmaster. Season 10. 17 December 2020. Channel 4.
24. Belotti, Alex (14 March 2013). "Hollywood's lure doesn't work on laughter-loving Katherine Parkinson". Hampstead & Highgate Express. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
25. "Soundtrack Of My Life: Katherine Parkinson". NME. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
26. "The Winners – 2009". British Comedy Awards. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
27. "Female Performance in a Comedy Programme 2010". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
28. "Whites". BBC Two.
29. "Sherlock". BBC One.
30. "Pandemonium". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
31. "Travel Man". channel4.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
32. "Here We Go: Meet the cast of the new BBC comedy series". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
33. "Victoria Smurfit and Aidan Turner star in adaptation of racy Jilly Cooper novel". Independent.ie. 21 March 2023.
34. Gibbons, Fiachra (7 August 2001). "The Age of Consent". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
35. "Age of Consent". UK Theatre Archive. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
36. "Frame 312 (Play) archive". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
37. Johann Hari (12 August 2002). "Edinburgh festival – Sex and violence". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
38. "Archive for Camille at Lyric Theatre Hammersmith". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
39. "The Riot Act (play) archive". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
40. John Highfield (1 November 2004). "The Unthinkable". The Stage. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
41. "Archive for Cigarettes and Chocolate/Hang up at the Kings Head Theatre". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
42. Aleks Sierz (26 April 2004). "Flush". The Stage. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
43. Michael Billington (20 February 2006). "Other Hands, Soho Theatre, London". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
44. "The Lightning Play". Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
45. "Cock at the Royal Court". Royal Court. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
46. Ian Shuttleworth (13 December 2010). "Season's Greetings, National Theatre (Lyttelton), London". Theatre and Dance. FT.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
47. "The School for Scandal". Barbican Centre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
48. "66 – Sixty Six Books". Bush Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
49. Charles Spencer (10 February 2012). "Absent Friends, Harold Pinter Theatre, Review". The Telegraph.
50. "Before the Party – cast". Almeida Theatre. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
51. Dominic Cavendish (29 March 2013). "Before the Party, Almeida Theatre, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
52. "Home Im Darling | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. 11 April 2018.
53. Akbar, Arifa (31 July 2019). "Uncle Vanya review – Rupert Everett is flamboyant in Hare's comic Chekhov". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
54. "Shoe Lady". Royal Court.

External links

• Katherine Parkinson at IMDb
• Dan Collacott & Imran Mirza (22 August 2010). "Interview with comedy siren Katherine Parkinson". liberationfrequency.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
• "Agency profile: Katherine Parkinson". curtisbrown.co.uk.
• "Katherine Parkinson Interview". The IT Crowd. Channel 4. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
• "Katherine Parkinson". United Agents. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2014.