# Mandana Jones

Jane Mandana Jones (born 26 February 1967) is a British-Iranian actress. She is known for her role as prisoner Nikki Wade in the series Bad Girls.

## Early life

From West London, Jones was born on 26 February 1967 to a Welsh father and an Iranian mother. She is the youngest of three, having two older brothers. She graduated from the Drama Centre London.

## Career

Jones's TV work includes the regional soap London Bridge (shown in certain ITV regions in the UK in the mid-1990s) and the BBC daytime soap Doctors as Ria Ford. For her role as Ria, she received a nomination for Villain of the Year at the 2005 British Soap Awards. Probably her most high-profile role is as lesbian lifer Nikki Wade on Bad Girls, in which her on-screen love interest, Helen Stewart, was played by another former cast member of London Bridge, Simone Lahbib.
Her second largest role was in the 2004 BBC TV children's show Powers, where she played Dr. Mary Holland for the duration of the 13-episode series.
Between Bad Girls and Powers, she had a small role in the short, Occasional, Strong (2002). Other work during this time includes the aforementioned Doctors, where she played Sandra Underwood (2003), BBC's Afternoon Play, Coming Up For Air (2003), Holby City (1 episode, 2003), Born and Bred (1 episode, 2004). She returned to Doctors in 2005, playing a different character (Ria Ford, 6 episodes), for which she was nominated for Villain of the Year at the British Soap Awards. She then had a small stint as a marriage counsellor Anna Price in EastEnders.
Jones also played a character named Nancy Randall in The Bill during December 2008.
She played a character named Charlotte Thornhill in Casualty on 7 November 2010.
In 2012, she played Dr Broadwood in an episode of Silent Witness.
In April 2016, Jones worked on Emmerdale as Aaron's solicitor in a case against Aaron's father.

## Personal life

Jones has a son, Enzo (born 27 October 2005).

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | London Bridge | Sam Haynes | (13 episodes) |
| 1997 | The New Adventures of Robin Hood | Woman Henchbeast | Season 1 (guest, “A Price on His Soul”) |
| 1999–2001 | Bad Girls | Nikki Wade | Season 1–3 (main, 33 episodes) |
| 2002 | Occasional, Strong | Cathy | Short film |
| 2003 | The Afternoon Play | Sarah | Season 1 (guest, “Coming Up for Air”) |
| 2003 | Doctors | Sandra Underwood | Season 5 (guest, “Loose Ends”) |
| 2003 | Holby City | Geri Sanders | Season 5 (guest, “House of Cards”) |
| 2004 | Born and Bred | Janet Gough | Season 3 (guest, “A Small Flourish”) |
| 2004 | Powers | Dr Mary Holland | Season 1 (main, all 13 episodes) |
| 2005 | Doctors | Ria Ford | Season 6–7 (recurring, 6 episodes) |
| 2006 | Random Quest | BBC Newsreader | TV movie |
| 2007 | EastEnders | Anna Price | (Guest, 2 episodes) |
| 2008 | The Bill | Nancy Randall | Season 24 (guest, “Too Hot to Handle” Parts 1–3) |
| 2010 | Casualty | Charlotte Thornhill | Season 25 (guest, “Hands On”) |
| 2012 | Silent Witness | Dr. Broadwood | Season 15 (guest, “Fear” Parts 1 & 2) |
| 2014 | Law & Order: UK | Dr. Antonia Carey | Season 8 (guest, “Safe from Harm”) |
| 2016 | Emmerdale | Prosecution Barrister | (Guest, 2 episodes) |
| 2016 | Line of Duty | Summers | Season 3 (guest, “The List”) |
| 2016 | New Blood | Nasreen Sayyad | Season 1 (recurring, 4 episodes) |
| 2017 | Liar | Dr. Rachael Kyle | Season 1 (guest, “Check Mate”) |
| 2018 | Doctors | Linda Klute | Season 19 (guest, “A Happy Medium”) |
| 2020 | Strike | Dr. Kamila Muhammad | Season 4 (guest, “Lethal White” Parts 3 & 4) |