# Zahra Ahmadi

Zahra Ahmadi (Persian: زهرا احمدی; born 1982) is a British actress from Plymouth, England of Persian descent. She is best known for playing the original Shabnam Masood in EastEnders.

## Career

She is known for her role as Shabnam Masood in the British television series EastEnders from 2007–2008. In 2008, she appeared on an EastEnders-themed episode of The Weakest Link where she was voted off in the seventh round.
She played Sabia in Britz following which she played Nasreen in King of Hearts at the Hampstead Theatre. She appears in the IFC series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and also appeared in the 2010 film Tamara Drewe. In 2013 she appeared in a small role in Doctor Who episode "Nightmare in Silver", and in 2014 she portrayed the role of Gita in the feature-length Christmas special of Black Mirror entitled "White Christmas".
From 2013 to 2017, she played Sinem in all three series of the BBC Two sitcom Count Arthur Strong.
In 2016, she appeared in 5 episodes of Berlin Station. In 2018, she played Sameera in "Bliss" a Sky One comedy drama about a cheating travel writer who tries to balance his two chaotic family lives. Also in 2018, she played Daisy Anderson in season 7, episode 5 of Death in Paradise before taking on the role of DS Esther Williams in the 2023 spin-off series, Beyond Paradise.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Tamara Drewe | Nadia Patel | |
| 2013 | Closed Circuit | Woman on Cellphone | |
| 2018 | A Bad Penny | Card Woman | |
| 2022 | Scale | Eden (voice) | French animated short film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006–2007 | Trial & Retribution | DC Imedla Folks | 2 episodes: "Sins of the Father: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2007 | Britz | Sabia Iqbal | 2-part serial: "Part One: Sohail's Story" and "Part Two: Nasima's Story" |
| 2007–2008 | EastEnders | Shabnam Masood | 64 episodes |
| 2009 | Doctors | Keera Chaudhury | Episode: "The Wall" |
| 2010 | Bellamy's People | Various | 6 episodes |
| 2010–2016 | The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret | Mehtap | 6 episodes |
| 2012 | The Thick of It | Nurse | Episode: "#4.4" |
| 2013 | The Mimic | Police Woman | Episode: "#1.3" |
| 2013 | Love Matters | Priya | Episode: "A Nice Arrangement" |
| 2013 | Doctor Who | Missy | Episode: "Nightmare in Silver" |
| 2013 | The Job Lot | Karen Ellwell | Episode: "#1.4" |
| 2013–2017 | Count Arthur Strong | Sinem | Main role, 20 episodes |
| 2014 | Black Mirror | Gita | Episode: "White Christmas" |
| 2014 | Babylon | Yasmina | Mini-series, Episode: "London" |
| 2016 | Josh | Gemma | Episode: "Bed & Breakfast" |
| 2016 | Berlin Station | Clare Itani | Recurring role (season 1); 5 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Porridge | Dr. Tessa Marsden | 3 episodes: "Porridge", "The Minder" and "The Listener" |
| 2016–2018 | Tracey Ullman's Show | Various | 7 episodes |
| 2017 | Love Youn Be Hota Hay | ? | Mini-series |
| 2017–2018 | Tracey Breaks the News | ? | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Death in Paradise | Daisy Anderson | Episode: "Murder on the Day of the Dead" |
| 2018 | Innocent | DS Mari-Luz Garcia | Mini-series, 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Bliss | Sameera | Episode: "#1.1" |
| 2018 | Sky Comedy Shorts | Diana | Episode: "Kris Marshall's Whodunnit" |
| 2018 | Informer | Naeemah Jones | Episode: "Ruby Tuesday" |
| 2020 | Marcella | Sadie | Episode: "#3.4" |
| 2020–2021 | The Beast Must Die | Saima | 3 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.3" and "#1.5" |
| 2022 | The Bay | Shazia Riaz | Series 3; 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Dodger | Fatima | Episode: "Mummy" |
| 2022 | Kate & Koji | Melanie | Episode: "Lockdown Legends" |
| 2022 | Riches | Parul | Episode: "Wrong and Strong" |
| 2023–present | Beyond Paradise | DS Esther Williams | Main role, 13 episodes |