Monica Dolan
Dolan in a frame fromOut of Darkness, 2012
Born	Monica Margaret Dolan (1969-03-15)15 March 1969 (age 56) Middlesbrough,North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Awards	BAFTA Award for Best Supporting ActressOlivier Award for Best Supporting Actress

Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress.^[1] She won theBAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playingRosemary West inAppropriate Adult (2011) and theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role forAll About Eve in2019.^[2][3]

Dolan was born inMiddlesbrough, England, to Irish parents, and raised inWoking,Surrey, with three older siblings.^[4] She trained at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama.^[5]

Her credits includeAgatha Christie's Poirot,Dalziel and Pascoe,Tipping the Velvet (withRachael Stirling) andJudge John Deed. She also starred in ITV dramaU Be Dead.^[6][7][8][9] In 2006, she played the futureQueen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the television dramaWallis and Edward.

Her stage appearances include Kate Hardcastle inShe Stoops to Conquer,^[10] Regan inKing Lear^[11] and Masha inThe Seagull,^[12] the latter two withIan McKellen.^[13]

Dolan played British serial killerRosemary West in the ITV dramaAppropriate Adult in 2011, receiving critical acclaim and aBAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[14][15]

On stage, she starred as Loretta inChalet Lines, written by Lee Mattinson, at theBush Theatre.^[16] In 2013, she portrayed twin sisters Meg and Mave Carter in the BBC TV seriesCall the Midwife. She appeared inW1A (a three-series follow-up to BBC2's BAFTA-winning comedy seriesTwenty Twelve), as Senior Communications Officer Tracey Pritchard.^[17]

In 2016, Dolan appeared as Janet McIntyre in the BBC two-part dramaThe Witness for the Prosecution, anAgatha Christie play adapted for television bySarah Phelps.^[18]

In 2017, she made guest appearances inCatastrophe,Death in Paradise andStrike, whilst also writing and starring in her debut one-woman play,The B*easts at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe. The play went on to win an Edinburgh Stage Award.^[19][20]

In 2018, Dolan made a guest appearance in an episode of the fourth series ofInside No 9. Later that year, she portrayedMarion Thorpe in the critically acclaimed miniseriesA Very English Scandal, receiving her secondBAFTA nomination forBest Supporting Actress.^[21][22]The B*easts also transferred for a limited London run at the Bush Theatre.^[23]

In 2019, she portrayed Karen Richards in the stage production ofAll About Eve for which she received aLaurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[24]

June 2020 saw her appearing in the remade television series ofAlan Bennett'sTalking Heads on BBC One. In one of two newly-written episodes, Dolan performed a monologue in "The Shrine". This was one of the episodes staged at London'sBridge Theatre in September 2020, with Dolan reprising her role.^[25]

In 2021, she appeared inThe Dig, playing May Brown, wife of the archaeologist and astronomerBasil Brown, who discovered the Anglo-Saxon treasure atSutton Hoo nearWoodbridge, Suffolk.^[26]

In 2022, Dolan starred as Sister Aloysius inDoubt: A Parable at theChichester Festival Theatre, receiving critical acclaim.^[27] She also appeared alongsideEddie Marsan in the ITV dramaThe Thief, His Wife and the Canoe asAnne Darwin.^[28][29] She has appeared in two episodes ofBlack Mirror: "Smithereens", from Series 5, and, more recently, "Loch Henry", from Series 6.^[30]

In 2023, she played Carmel in six-partChannel 4 comedy dramaThe Change. She also starred inTypist Artist Pirate King, directed byCarol Morley, as British artistAudrey Amiss. The film had its UK premiere at theGlasgow Film Festival in March, and was released in October 2023, to positive reviews.^[31]

In January 2024, she played the role of subpostmistressJo Hamilton inMr Bates vs The Post Office, an acclaimed four-partITV drama based on the true story of theHorizon IT scandal, which saw numerous innocentsubpostmasters prosecuted for fraud. The series ignited considerable public and media interest and was watched by an estimated 13.5 million viewers.^[32][33][34] In August 2024, she appeared as Ann Branson, the mother of a murdered son, in the second series of the BBC TV dramaSherwood.

In March 2025, Dolan was nominated for both performances at theBritish Academy Television Awards, in theBest Actress andBest Supporting Actress categories respectively.^[35][36] She also received a nomination for Leading Actor - Female at theRoyal Television Society Awards forMr Bates vs The Post Office.^[37] In August 2025, it was announced that Dolan would be joining the cast of award-winning BBC sitcomSmoggie Queens.^[38]

Dolan was raised Catholic and has spoken about its lasting influence on her outlook. In a 2020 interview, she remarked, “You never stop being a Catholic really – not culturally. It goes deep.”^[39]

• Monica Dolan at theBritish Film Institute
• Monica Dolan atIMDb

• 1969 births
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Living people
• Actresses from Middlesbrough
• Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners
• English film actresses
• English people of Irish descent
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• Laurence Olivier Award winners

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