Kenny Doughty

Kenny Doughty (born 27 March 1975) is an English actor and director, known for playing DS Aiden Healy on ITV's Crime Drama Vera^[1] and as Sean in Stella.^[2]

Kenny Doughty
Doughty in 2012
Born	(1975-03-27) 27 March 1975 (age 50) Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation(s)	Actor, director
Years active	1998–present
Known for	Coronation Street Stella Vera
Spouses	Caroline Carver (2006-2017) Ashley Jensen (m. 2023)

Early life

Doughty was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. He attended Charter School, which became the Kingstone School on Broadway Barnsley, where he performed a leading role in Grease. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career

Doughty's career began with minor appearances in films and television series, including I Want You (1998), Dinnerladies (1998), and he appeared in the 1998 film Elizabeth as Sir Thomas Elyot.

In 2009, Doughty appeared in 9 episodes of Coronation Street as Jake Harman.^[3]

From 2012 to 2013, Doughty appeared as Sean McGaskill in the Ruth Jones-penned comedy drama series Stella.^[4]

From 2015 to 2023,^[5] Doughty starred as DS Aiden Healy alongside Brenda Blethyn in ITV's Vera.^[6]

Doughty completed a UK tour of Simon Beaufoy's stage play The Full Monty in 2013.^[7] The play, in which Doughty played Gaz, was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2014.^[8]

In March 2023, Doughty revealed he had stepped down from working on Vera, writing online, " I can confirm I am leaving Vera. I want to thank everyone who’s made this amazing time so joyous, ITV, Silverprint, all the brilliant cast and crew BUT of course my buddy & inspiration Brenda Blethyn. The perfect leading star who I owe so much to. I feel lucky to have you as a friend, you make me howl with laughter & have been a rock for me over the years. I can’t thank you enough. Precious times."^[9][10]

Personal life

In 2006, Doughty married actress Caroline Carver. The couple separated in 2017.^[11][12]

In 2023, Doughty married actress Ashley Jensen.^[13]

Filmography

As actor

Year	Title	Character	Notes
1998	I Want You	Smokey's Friend
	Heartbeat	Barry Hadfield	Series 8 episode 9: Pat-A-Cake
	Anorak of Fire	Gus Gascoigne
	Dinnerladies	Clint	1 episode: Scandal
1999	Titus	Quintus
	A Christmas Carol	Young Ebenezer Scrooge
	Love in the 21st Century	Billy	Series 1 episode 1: Reproduction
	Elizabeth	Sir Thomas Elyot
2000	Lover's Prayer	Denis
	City Central	Grant Allen	Series 3 episode 2: Half Man Half Cup
2001	Crush	Jed Willis
2002	Wire in the Blood	Jason	2 episodes
	Sunday	Para 027
2003	Gifted	Jamie Gilliam
	The Canterbury Tales	Danny Abolson	Series 1 episode 1: The Miller's Tale
	Servants	William Forrest	6 episodes
	The Second Coming	PC Simon Lincoln	2 episodes
2004	The Aryan Couple	Hans Vassman
	Primevil	Nick
2005	Funland	Liam Woolf
	The Great Raid	Pitt
2006	My First Wedding	Nick
	Goldplated	Col
	Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!	Joe Orton
2007	Fairy Tales	Jake
2008	Shameless	Mark	1 episode; series 5 episode 10
	Outlaws or The Crew	Ratter
2009	Paradox	Gerry Mortimer	1 episode
	New Tricks	Billy	1 episode
	Coronation Street	Jake Harman	9 episodes
2010	Irreversi	David
	City Rats	Olly
2011	Asylum Blackout	Max
	i Against i	Drake
2012–2013	Stella	Sean	15 episodes
2013	Peterman	Jim
	Snowpiercer	Adam
2015	Black Work	DS Ryan Gillespie	1 episode
2015–2023	Vera	DS Aiden Healy	34 episodes
2017	Love, Lies and Records	Rick	6 episodes
2025	The Au Pair	Chris Dalton	4 episodes

As director

Year	Title	Notes
2008	You Me and Captain Longbridge	Short film
2013	Vengeance Waits[14]