Nicola Walker
Walker in 2012
Born	Nicola Jane Walker (1970-05-15)15 May 1970 (age 54) London, England
Education	New Hall, Cambridge (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Barnaby Kay
Children	1

Nicola Jane Walker^[1] (born 15 May 1970) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that ofRuth Evershed in the spy dramaSpooks (2003–2006 and 2009–2011), DCI Cassie Stuart inUnforgotten (2015–2021) and Hannah Stern inThe Split (2018–2024). She has also worked in theatre, radio and film. She won the 2013Olivier Award forBest Supporting Actress for the playThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was twice nominated for theBAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for theBBC dramaLast Tango in Halifax.

Her voice roles includeDoctor Who companionLiv Chenka in variousBig Finish audio plays (2011–present) and Eleanor Peck inThe Lovecraft Investigations (2019–2023).

Walker was born inStepney in theEast End of London and has an older brother. She attendedSaint Nicholas School atOld Harlow inEssex, andForest School, Walthamstow. She undertook acting classes from the age of 12 in order to speak to boys.^[2] Interviewed in 2014 byThe Daily Telegraph, she said, "I was really encouraged by my mother. My dad thought it was a ridiculous thing to do."^[3]

Walker studied English atNew Hall, Cambridge, becoming the first member of her family to go to university.^[4] She started her acting career with theCambridge Footlights. Her contemporaries includedSpooks writerDavid Wolstencroft and comedianSue Perkins, who were all part of the 1990 national tour.^[5]

Perkins, then an older undergraduate, was assigned to be her "college mother". Walker later said: "She was the worst college mother I could have had. They're meant to hold your hand. She asked to borrow my bike, got drunk, and I never saw it again." Walker acted with Perkins, and they reunited when Perkins gave Walker a role inHeading Out.^[3]

Offered a place at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art on graduation from Cambridge, Walker already had some roles and an agent, so she decided to pursue her acting career. Based in London, she shared a flat with Perkins,Sarah Phelps, andEmma Kennedy. She acted at theEdinburgh Festival and theLondon Festival Fringe.^[2]

Walker's first major television roles were in 1997, as Gypsy Jones in Channel 4's adaptation ofA Dance to the Music of Time, and as English teacher Suzy Travis in two series ofSteven Moffat's school-based sitcomChalk.^[6] She has also appeared in guest roles in episodes of series such asDalziel and Pascoe,Jonathan Creek,Pie in the Sky, andBroken News.

She played the leading part of DI Susan Taylor in theITV thriller serialTouching Evil in 1997, co-starring oppositeRobson Green. She also appeared in its two sequel serials in 1998 and 1999. Also in 1999, she took the lead role in thepost-apocalyptic drama serialThe Last Train, also screened on ITV (and written by futureSpooks writerMatthew Graham). Also in 2003, Walker playedMolly Millions in the BBC Radio adaptation ofNeuromancer byWilliam Gibson.

In 2003, with the production team ofKudos Television looking to replace the character played byJenny Agutter in Series 1 ofSpooks, the part ofRuth Evershed was specially written for Walker from Series 2.^[2] She remained with the show until the fifth series, during the production of which it was announced she was expecting her first child and would be leaving. She returned in 2009 and continued until the series ended in 2011. Benji Wilson ofThe Daily Telegraph praised Walker's performance, stating: "an actress who has squeezed every drop out of TV’s greatest ever largely dumbstruck doormat for the best part of a decade. Her scenes withPeter Firth, another fine player, have become self-contained little bubbles ofweltschmerz within every recent episode".^[7]

In 2007, Walker had a prominent supporting role as a child snatcher in the ITV1 drama serialTorn and appeared in the BBC adaptation ofOliver Twist.

In 2009, she appeared as a maid ina new BBC adaptation ofHenry James'The Turn of the Screw, which also starredMichelle Dockery andSue Johnston. In 2010, Walker appeared as a beleaguered wife (Linda Shand) of a murderer in an episode of the BBC1 crime thrillerLuther.^[8]

In February 2011, she appeared as nervous social worker Wendy in the BBC TV seriesBeing Human.^[9] In February 2012, she played a major character in the one off BBC crime dramaInside Men.

From 2012 to 2020, she appeared as Gillian Greenwood (née Buttershaw) alongsideDerek Jacobi,Anne Reid andSarah Lancashire in five series of theBBC original dramaLast Tango in Halifax. Walker was twice nominated (2014, 2017) for a Television BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for this role.^[10][11]

In February and March 2013, Walker reunited with her formerCambridge Footlights colleagueSue Perkins in the BBC comedyHeading Out. She then appeared in the second series ofPrisoners' Wives and the third series ofScott & Bailey playing Helen Bartlett.

In 2015, she appeared as Jackie "Stevie" Stevenson, the colleague ofDI John River played byStellan Skarsgård, in the BBC drama seriesRiver.^[12][13]

Walker starred, alongside actorSanjeev Bhaskar, in series one through four (2015–2021) of the ITV drama seriesUnforgotten as DCI Cassie Stuart.^[14]

From 2018 to 2022, Walker starred as Hannah Defoe Stern, a divorce lawyer, in all three series of the BBC drama seriesThe Split.^[15][16] Also in 2018, she played Reverend Jane Oliver in the BBC2 serialCollateral.^[17]

Walker was number 10 on the "Radio TimesTV 100" list for 2018, a list said to be determined by television executives and broadcasting veterans.^[18]

In 2021, she starred in the Britishcrime drama television seriesAnnika, based on theBBC Radio 4dramaAnnika Stranded, with Walker reprising the title role.^[19][20] Produced byBlack Camel Pictures forAlibi andAll3Media,^[21] the first episode aired on 17 August 2021.^[22][23] This is the eighth different police officer or detective role she has played on British TV. In August 2022, it was announced that a second series ofAnnika had been commissioned.^[24] On 20 May 2023, the first series ofAnnika began airing onBBC One.^[25][26]

In 2022, Walker appeared inStefan Golaszewski's drama,Marriage alongsideSean Bean.^[27][28][29] The series received mixed reviews from both critics and viewers.^[30][31][32]

In 2024, Walker appeared in the Sky Atlantic TV seriesMary & George asLady Elizabeth Hatton.^[33]

Walker won anOlivier Award in 2013 for Best Supporting Actress in her role as Judy, the main character Christopher's mother, inThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The play won seven Olivier Awards, equallingMatilda the Musical's record win in 2012.^[34]

In 2014, she starred alongsideMark Strong andPhoebe Fox inArthur Miller's playA View from the Bridge, at theYoung Vic theatre. The play received extremely positive reviews from critics^[35] and transferred toWyndham's Theatre in London'sWest End in 2015 and to theLyceum Theatre onBroadway.

In 2022 she starred as Miss Lily Moffat in theNational Theatre revival in London ofThe Corn is Green, the 1938 autobiographical play byEmlyn Williams.^[36]

In film, Walker's roles have tended to be smaller supporting parts. Her most prominent role was as one half of the folk duo inFour Weddings and a Funeral (1994), who sing "Can't Smile Without You" during the first church service and "Stand By Your Man" at the reception. She also appeared in the feature film adaptation of the television seriesThunderbirds (2004).

In 2005, she portrayed a British journalist caught up in theRwandan genocide inShooting Dogs.

In 2002, Walker co-starred in the BBC radio production ofWilliam Gibson's cyberpunk novelNeuromancer.

In July 2011, she played the significant supporting role of MedtechLiv Chenka in theBig Finish ProductionsDoctor Who audio dramaRobophobia, oppositeSylvester McCoy as theSeventh Doctor. The Chenka character proved popular both with producers and listeners, and in February 2014 Walker returned to the role, this time as a foil forPaul McGann'sEighth Doctor inDark Eyes 2. The character was sustained throughoutDark Eyes 3 andDark Eyes 4, at the end of which it was revealed that Chenka was to continue as the Doctor's established travelling companion. Walker returned to the role in the follow-up four-volumeDoom Coalition,Ravenous andStranded. Walker reprised the role of Chenka in 2022 inThe Eighth Doctor Adventures: What Lies Inside? andThe Eighth Doctor Adventures: Connections. She also played the role in an 18-part series titledThe Robots, starring alongsideClaire Rushbrook. In 2017, she starred in the company's adaptation of theH. G. Wells novelThe Shape of Things to Come.

Since 2013, Walker has voiced the Norwegian detective Annika Strandhed in the BBC Radio 4 drama seriesAnnika Stranded by Nick Walker.^[37][38] From 2018 to 2023 she played the role of Dr. Eleanor Peck in the BBC Radio 4 productionThe Lovecraft Investigations^[39] alongside her husbandBarnaby Kay.

Walker met actorBarnaby Kay when they worked together with theOut of Joint Theatre Company, in a 1994 touring production ofThe Man of Mode andThe Libertine;^[40] they married in 2006, and have a son, Harry, together.^[41]

• Relocated –Royal Court Theatre London (2008)
• Gethsemane –National Theatre London (2008/9)
• Season's Greetings –National Theatre London (2010/11)
• Di and Viv and Rose –Hampstead Theatre (Downstairs) London (2011)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time –National Theatre London (2012) for which she won the 2013Olivier Award in the categoryBest Actress in a Supporting Role
• A View from the Bridge –Young Vic/Wyndham's Theatre (West End) London (2014/15),Lyceum Theatre on Broadway (2015/16)
• The Corn is Green –National Theatre London (2022)

• Nicola Walker atIMDb
• Nicola Walker at UK Theatre Web
• Nicola Walker at theInternet Broadway Database
• Nicola Walker atPlaybill Vault
• Nicola Walker profile on theSpooks website atBBC Online.

• 1970 births
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from London
• Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge
• English film actresses
• English radio actresses
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English video game actresses
• Laurence Olivier Award winners
• Living people
• People educated at Forest School, Walthamstow
• Actors from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
• People from Stepney

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use British English from December 2014
• Use dmy dates from August 2020
• Articles with hCards
• Internet Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata
• Playbill person ID same as Wikidata