Martha Howe-Douglas

Martha Howe-Douglas (born 19 September 1980) is an English actress and writer.^[2] She is most famous as a member of the Them There collective with which she wrote and starred in productions including Horrible Histories, Yonderland, and Ghosts. She also played receptionist Donna Parmar in the BBC One daytime soap Doctors.^[3]

Martha Howe-Douglas
Howe-Douglas signing Horrible Histories books at Abingdon County Hall Museum in July 2012
Born	Martha Howe (1980-09-19) 19 September 1980 (age 44)[1] Moseley, Birmingham, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

Early life and education

Martha Howe-Douglas was born and raised in Moseley, a suburb of south Birmingham, England. She attended Edgbaston High School.^[4]

Career

Howe-Douglas graduated from RADA in 2003,^[5][6] in the same year she appeared in the Christmas Special of The Office, replacing Dawn as the receptionist at Wernham-Hogg.

From 24 April 2006 until 11 May 2007, Howe-Douglas played receptionist Donna Parmar in the BBC daytime soap opera Doctors. For her role as Donna, Howe-Douglas received nominations for Best Comedy Performance and Best Newcomer at the 2007 British Soap Awards.^[7]

In 2009, she landed one of the main multi-role parts on a new children's TV history sketch show programme, CBBC's Horrible Histories,^[8] where over five years / series, she played numerous characters including the queens Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Boudicea and Victoria — see Horrible Histories for list of characters. In 2011, she appeared in The Proms, in a special live "Horrible Histories Big Prom Party" performance.^[9]

In 2013, she co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in Sky1's series Yonderland, and played lead character Debbie Maddox^[10] in all three series.

Other acting roles have included appearing in The Armstrong & Miller Show on BBC One and playing Flora Dies-Early in the hit radio comedy show Bleak Expectations as well as Lady Anne Woodstock in the radio show The Castle.

In 2018, she appeared in EastEnders as Annie Pritchard.^[11]

From 15 April 2019, Howe-Douglas co-wrote, produced and starred in the BBC sitcom Ghosts, which sees her reunited with the Horrible Histories cast.^[12]

Filmography

Year	Project	Role	Notes
1997	Armstrong and Miller	Various	1 episode
2003	The Office	Mel the receptionist	The Office Christmas specials
2005	All About George	Helen
	Doctors	Ms Larson	2 episodes
2006–2007		Donna Parmar	199 episodes
2007	Freezing	Leon's P.A.
2009	The Armstrong and Miller Show	Various
	Nativity!	Oakmoor Parent
2009–2013	Horrible Histories	Various	46 episodes
2011	The Proms		Prom 20: Horrible Histories Big Prom Party
2012	Shakespeare's Wart	Pavlina	Short
2013–2014	WPC 56	Abigail Fenton	5 episodes
2013–2015	Crackanory	Various	4 episodes
2013–2016	Yonderland	Debbie Maddox	25 episodes; also creator
2014	Psychobitches	Pocahontas	1 episode
2015	Bill	Various
	Doctor Foster	Becky	6 episodes
2016–2017	Noddy, Toyland Detective	Pat Pat	Voice only; 4 episodes
2017	Tracey Breaks the News	Various	1 episode
2018	EastEnders	Annie Pritchard	3 episodes
2019–2023	Ghosts	Lady Fanny Button/Plague Ghost	27 episodes; also creator and writer
2020	Breeders	Amber	1 episode
2021	Motherland	Ashley	1 episode
2022	Friday Night Live	Rebekah Vardy	1 episode