# Siân Brooke

Siân Brooke (born Siân Elizabeth Phillips; 1980) is an English actress. Her television work includes Cape Wrath (2007), Sherlock (2017), Doctor Foster (2017), Good Omens (2019), Guilt (2019), Trying (2020–), House of the Dragon (2022), and Blue Lights (2023-).

## Early life and education

Siân Elizabeth Phillips was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, in 1980 and is the youngest of three siblings. She took on a stage name to avoid confusion with Welsh actress Siân Phillips, choosing Brooke after an English Civil War general Lord Brooke who was killed at Lichfield. She is the daughter of a police officer and a teacher. Her parents are Welsh. Brooke's early education was at The Friary School in Lichfield. She initially joined the Lichfield Youth Theatre at the age of 11 before becoming a member of the National Youth Theatre and subsequently training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), from where she graduated in 2002.

## Career

Her acting debut was as Krista in television series Dinotopia in 2002. Brooke's television credits include A Touch of Frost, Hotel Babylon, Foyle's War, and The Fixer. As a child, she was featured in Strangers in Utah with Adrian Dunbar and Phyllida Law. She also played the lead roles of Laura in All About George and Lori Marcuse in Cape Wrath.
Brooke has lent her voice to the radio dramas Murder on the Homefront, A Pin to See the Peepshow, and Dreaming in Africa.
Brooke's theatre work includes Harvest, Dying City, Dido Queen of Carthage, In The Club, The Birthday Party, “I’m Not Running” and Absolutely Perhaps. She has also appeared in productions of Poor Beck, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet, with the Royal Shakespeare Company. From July to August 2008, Brooke played Dorothy Gale in the musical The Wizard of Oz at the Southbank Centre. The production was directed by Jude Kelly. During 2011 at the Almeida Theatre, London, she appeared in Stephen Poliakoff's My City and Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty. From August to October 2015, Brooke played Ophelia alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in the Barbican's production of Hamlet.
In 2017, Brooke starred in the fourth series of the television crime drama Sherlock as Sherlock Holmes' secret sister, Eurus. She initially auditioned for several characters in the show before the showrunners told Brooke that all the characters were one, Eurus, who would be a master of disguise. Michael Hogan writing for The Daily Telegraph in his review of the third episode of the series commented that the role was "a star-making turn from Siân Brooke". Later in the year, she appeared with Sheridan Smith and Gemma Whelan in the BBC miniseries The Moorside, based on the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews. She starred as Karen in the first two series of Apple TV series Trying, which has been renewed for a third series
Her lead role performance in the 2023-24 BBC series Blue Lights as Grace Ellis, a mother of a teenager who made the decision in her 40s to leave her job as a social worker to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has been critically acclaimed.

## Personal life

Brooke is married and has two children. She is an ambassador for the climate change adaptation charity The Glacier Trust.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002–2003 | Dinotopia | Krista | 5 episodes |
| 2005 | All About George | Laura | 6 episodes |
| 2005 | Under the Greenwood Tree | Susan Dewy | Television film |
| 2006 | A Touch of Frost | Carol Haymarsh | Episode: "Endangered Species" |
| 2006 | Housewife, 49 | Evelyn Edwards | Television film |
| 2007 | Foyle's War | Phyllis Law | Episode: "Bleak Midwinter" |
| 2007 | Hotel Babylon | Lisa | 1 episode |
| 2007 | Cape Wrath | Lori Marcuse | Main cast |
| 2008 | The Fixer | Melrose Cassidy | 1 episode |
| 2008 | Midsomer Murders | Christine Turner | Episode: "The Magician's Nephew" |
| 2008 | The Commander | DC Marian Randall | Television film |
| 2009 | Doc Martin | Claire | 1 episode |
| 2010 | Vexed | Suzie Miller | 1 episode |
| 2010 | New Tricks | Eileen Harrison | Episode: "Dark Chocolate" |
| 2011 | Garrow's Law | Ann Hadfield | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Silk | Annie Laidlaw | 1 episode |
| 2013 | Man Down | Daisy | 1 episode |
| 2014 | Lewis | Jennie Brightway | Episode: "The Lions of Nemea" |
| 2015 | Not Safe for Work | Martine McCutcheon | Main cast |
| 2017 | Sherlock | Eurus Holmes | Main cast (Series 4) |
| 2017 | The Moorside | Natalie Brown | Miniseries |
| 2017 | Doctor Foster | Sian Lambert | Main cast (Series 2) |
| 2018 | The Terror | Sophia Cracroft | Supporting role (Season 1) |
| 2019 | Good Omens | Deirdre Young | Main cast |
| 2019 | Guilt | Claire | Main cast (Series 1) |
| 2019 | The Cure | Julie Bailey | Television film |
| 2020–present | Trying | Karen | Main cast |
| 2021 | Stephen | Cressida Dick | Miniseries |
| 2022 | No Return | Megan McGee | Miniseries |
| 2022-2024 | House of the Dragon | Queen Aemma Arryn | Episode: "The Heirs of the Dragon", "Smallfolk" |
| 2023-present | Blue Lights | Constable Grace Ellis | Lead role |
| 2024 | Supacell | Victoria Kesh | Television series |

### Film

| Year(s) | Title | Role | Ref(s) |
| 2019 | Radioactive | Bronia Sklodowska | |
| 2020 | Body of water | Stephanie | |

### Stage

| Year(s) | Title | Role | Theatre | Notes |
| 2002 | Just a Bloke | Lisa | Royal Court Theatre | 7 November – 23 November |
| 2002 | The One with the Oven | Sarah | Royal Court Theatre | 7 November – 23 November |
| 2003 | Absolutely! (Perhaps) | Dina | Wyndham's Theatre | 7 May – 13 September |
| 2004–2005 | Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | Royal Shakespeare Theatre Noël Coward Theatre | 25 March 2004 – 8 October 2004 16 December 2004 – 8 January 2005 |
| 2004–2005 | King Lear | Cordelia | Royal Shakespeare Theatre Theatre Royal, Newcastle Noël Coward Theatre | 17 June 2004 – 14 October 2004 16 November 2004 – 20 November 2004 13 January 2005 – 5 February 2005 |
| 2004–2005 | Poor Beck | Myrrha | The Other Place Soho Theatre | 29 September 2004 – 7 October 2004 11 March 2005 – 16 March 2005 |
| 2005 | Harvest | Laura | Royal Court Theatre | 2 September – 1 October |
| 2006 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Hermia | Theatre Royal, Nottingham Hackney Empire St David's Hall | 11 February 12 February 25 March |
| 2006 | Dying City | Kelly | Royal Court Theatre | 12 May – 10 June |
| 2007–2008 | In the Club | Sasha | Hampstead Theatre Richmond Theatre Festival Theatre, Malvern Wycombe Swan Theatre Royal, Brighton Belgrade Theatre New Theatre, Cardiff | 25 July 2007 – 25 August 2007 12 February 2008 – 16 February 2008 18 February 2008 – 23 February 2008 25 February 2008 – 1 March 2008 3 March 2008 – 8 March 2008 10 March 2008 – 15 March 2008 18 March 2008 – 22 March 2008 |
| 2008 | The Birthday Party | Lulu | Lyric Theatre | 8 May – 24 May |
| 2008 | The Wizard of Oz | Dorothy | Royal Festival Hall | 23 July – 31 August |
| 2009 | Dido, Queen of Carthage | Anna | Royal National Theatre | 17 March – 7 May |
| 2009 | Article 19 | | Royal Court Theatre | 3 July – 4 July |
| 2010 | Wanderlust | Clare Walsh | Royal Court Theatre | 9 September – 9 October |
| 2010 | Joseph K | Various | Gate Theatre | 11 November – 18 December |
| 2011 | Ecstasy | Jean | Hampstead Theatre Duchess Theatre | 10 March – 9 April 12 April – 28 May |
| 2011 | My City | Julie | Almeida Theatre | 8 September – 5 November |
| 2011–2012 | Reasons to Be Pretty | Steph | Almeida Theatre | 10 November 2011 – 14 January 2012 |
| 2013 | Tartuffe | Elmire | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | 1 November – 16 November |
| 2015 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Barbican Centre | 5 August – 31 October |
| 2018 | I'm Not Running | Pauline | National Theatre | |