# Elaine Collins

Margaret Elaine Collins (born 21 April 1958) is a Scottish actress and producer.

## Career

Collins made her acting debut in 1975, appearing in a guest role in the series Lord Peter Wimsey. Her most prominent roles include films such as Soft Top Hard Shoulder (1992), Mrs Brown (1997), The Wyvern Mystery (2000) and television shows City Lights (1984–1987), Selling Hitler (1991), Psychos (1999).
Since the 2000s, Collins prefers to work behind the camera. She was an associate producer on the 2001 drama film Strictly Sinatra. She worked as a script editor on the detective series A Touch of Frost from 2008 to 2010. In 2011, she became a producer and executive producer at ITV Studios, and helped to create the crime mystery Vera. Collins joined BBC Drama in 2014 as a creative director, where she was responsible for developing and producing first three series of the crime drama Shetland.
In 2017, she founded film production company Tod Productions. She produced the thriller Criminal Record for Apple TV+ in collaboration with STV Studios, which premiered in 2024.
Tod's slate of television dramas in the pipeline includes a couple of book adaptations. They F*ck You Up, scripted by Thomas Eccleshare and directed by Collins' husband Peter Capaldi, is based on Sarah Naish's memoir But He Looks So Normal: A Bad-Tempered Parenting Guide for Adopters and Foster Parents. The Jigsaw Murders is about the 1935 murders of Dr Buck Ruxton and based on the true crime book The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics by journalist and author Jeremy Craddock.
In 2024 it was announced that Collins and Tod Productions had optioned Charles Beaumont's espionage novel A Spy Alone.

## Personal life

Collins has been married to the actor Peter Capaldi since 1991. They met in 1983 while working for the Paines Plough Theatre Company. They have a daughter born in 1992 and two grandsons (b. 2021 and 2023). The family lives in Muswell Hill, London.

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Company | Director | Notes |
| 1989 & 1990 | The Guid Sisters | Lisette de Courval | Tron Theatre, Glasgow | Michael Boyd | play by Michel Tremblay, translated into Scots by Bill Findlay & Martin Bowman |

## Filmography
### Actress
#### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Ruby | Uncredited |
| 1992 | Soft Top Hard Shoulder | Yvonne | Nominated — BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress |
| 1993 | Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life | Miss Cicely | Short film; also production assistant |
| 1994 | Seeds | | Short film |
| 1996 | The Empty Mirror | Blonde woman | |
| 1997 | Mrs Brown | Mrs Grant | |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Lord Peter Wimsey | Helen McGregor | 2 episodes: "Five Red Herrings" |
| 1975 | The Hill of the Red Fox | Morag | Episode #1.5 |
| 1976 | Sutherland's Law | Mary Hepburn | Episode: "Blind Jump" |
| 1977 | The Mackinnons | Annie Gillies | Episode: "In the Public Interest" |
| 1978 | The Sunday Drama | Secretary | Episode: "City Sugar" |
| 1979 | Scottish Playbill | Elvira | Episode: "The Day After Yesterday" |
| 1979–1982 | Play for Today | At the pub / Isabel | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | The House with the Green Shutters | Janet Gourlay | Television film |
| 1984–1987 | City Lights | Janice | Series 1 and 2 |
| 1988 | The Comic Strip Presents... | Scots girl | Episode: "Funseekers" |
| 1988–1993 | Rab C. Nesbitt | Dancing woman / Isa Minto | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Snakes and Ladders | TV reporter | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Selling Hitler | Maria Modritsch | |
| 1991 | The Play on One | Eloise | Episode: "And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon" |
| 1992 | Civvies | Sissy | Episode #1.3 |
| 1993 | Strathblair | Anne Jarvis | Episode #2.8 |
| 1993 | The Bill | Jenny Bayliss | Episode: "Give and Take" |
| 1996 | Thief Takers | Mary Donachie | Episode: "Remember Me" |
| 1996–2000 | Taggart | Abigail Stirling / Sheila Maitland | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | EastEnders | Lisa | 2 episodes: "Easter 1997" |
| 1999 | Psychos | Laura Robb | |
| 2000 | The Wyvern Mystery | Dulcie | Television film |
| 2003 | Silent Witness | Janine Burwood | Episode: "Answering Fire: Part 1" |

### Writer

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008–2010 | A Touch of Frost | Script editor | Series 14 and 15 |
| 2009 | Albert's Memorial | Script editor | |
| 2011 | Vera | Script editor | 1 episode |

### Producer

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Strictly Sinatra | Associate producer | |
| 2011–2015 | Vera | Producer / executive producer | 16 episodes |
| 2013–2016 | Shetland | Executive producer | Series 1–3 |
| 2024–present | Criminal Record | Executive producer | |