Susan Tully

Susan Lorna Tully (born 20 October 1967) is a British actress, television producer and television director from London.^[1][2]

Susan Tully
Born	Susan Lorna Tully (1967-10-20) 20 October 1967 (age 57) London, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)	Actress, television producer, television director
Years active	1981–present

Tully's most prominent television acting roles have been those of rebellious teenager Suzanne Ross in Grange Hill and single mother Michelle Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tully played one of the original EastEnders characters, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985 and remaining central to the series until 1995.

Tully later gave up acting in favour of working behind the camera and since then has directed and produced British television programmes.

Early life

Tully's father was a watch-case maker and her mother a housewife. Tully was brought up on a London council estate.^[3]

While at school in Barnsbury, Islington, Tully took up acting as a hobby and attended the Anna Scher children's theatre, which began a fast track into television work.^[3]

Career

Acting

Aged nine, Tully hosted the television children's programme Our Show and later worked on The Saturday Banana with Bill Oddie.^[4]

Tully was cast in the BBC children's television serial Grange Hill. She played schoolgirl Suzanne Ross for three years (1981–1984).^[5] At the age of 17, Tully secured a major role in the BBC's new soap opera EastEnders. She played Michelle Fowler from the show's inception in 1985 until 1995. During her time on the show, her character became pregnant aged 16 after having an affair with the 39-year-old adulterer Den Watts. In December 2016, EastEnders recast the role of Michelle Fowler to actress Jenna Russell after Tully repeatedly turned down offers to return. The show's executive producer at the time, Sean O'Connor, has said that Tully gave her blessing for the recast to take place.^[6]

Directing and producing

In the late 1990s, Tully began concentrating on directing for television (credited as Sue Tully).

Year	Title	Notes
1998–1999	EastEnders	15 episodes
1999–2004	The Bill	14 episodes. Also credited as producer on episodes 93, 94, 99, 100, 106, 107
2000	Black Cab	5 episodes
2000–2001	London's Burning	4 episodes
2002	The Story of Tracy Beaker	13 episodes
2003	M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team	1 episode: Lambs to the Slaughter
2004	55 Degrees North	2 episodes
2005	Twisted Tales	3 episodes
2005	Funland	4 episodes
2006	Drop Dead Gorgeous	3 episodes
2006	Goldplated	2 episodes
2006–2007	The Chase	5 episodes
2007	Secret Diary of a Call Girl	4 episodes
2008–2011	Silent Witness	6 episodes
2009	Theatre Live!	1 episode: Too Many Cooks
2009	Blue Murder	2 episodes
2009–2011	Lark Rise to Candleford	9 episodes
2012	Stella	4 episodes
2012	Good Cop	2 episodes
2012	The Paradise	2 episodes
2012	Getting On	6 episodes
2013	Truckers	2 episodes
2014	The Mill	2 episodes
2014	Puppy Love	6 episodes
2015	Crossing Lines	4 episodes
2016	The Musketeers	2 episodes
2016–2017	The A Word	4 episodes
2018	Britannia	1 episode: Honor and Betrayals
2019	Tin Star	2 episodes
2019	Line of Duty	2 episodes
2020	Strike: Lethal White	4 episodes
2021	Too Close[7]	3 episodes
2022	Strike: Troubled Blood	4 episodes
2023	Maryland[8]
2024	Strike: The Ink Black Heart	4 episodes

Personal life

Tully is a supporter of the Meningitis Trust and she has also been involved in the Comic Relief fundraising event.^[9] She is a close friend of Letitia Dean, who played her best friend Sharon Watts in EastEnders.^[10] Tully was a bridesmaid at Dean's wedding to Jason Pethers in 2002.^[11]