# Lorna Laidlaw

Lorna Laidlaw (born 1 February 1963) is an English actress. She has appeared on television as Mrs Tembe in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors from 2009 to 2019 and as Aggie Bailey in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street between 2019 and 2023. Laidlaw won the Royal Television Society award for Best Actress and Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards for her role in Doctors. She was also in The Good Ship Murder

## Career

Laidlaw began her television career in 1994, with various guest appearances in series such as Blue Heaven, Playing the Field, Emmerdale and The Afternoon Play. In 2009, Laidlaw began portraying the recurring role of Miss Smiley in the CBeebies series Grandpa in My Pocket. Laidlaw left the series in 2014. Alongside these acting roles, she was also a co-presenter on the BBC children's series Tikkabilla from 2002 to 2007. From 2011 to 2019, Laidlaw portrayed the role of Mrs Tembe in the BBC soap opera Doctors. She was nominated for several awards for this role; including Best Actress for three years at The British Soap Awards. She also won the Royal Television Society award for Best Actress in 2012, as well as the award for Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards in 2017. In 2016, Laidlaw made her directorial debut when she directed three episodes of Doctors. On 8 January 2019, it was announced that she had left the role of Mrs Tembe. She explained: "the character was just fantastic but I think I'd done as much as I possibly could with her at that moment". In April 2019, it was announced that Laidlaw would be joining the cast of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She made her first appearance as Aggie Bailey on 12 June 2019. Her character made an unannounced final appearance in 2023, with Laidlaw confirming a year later that she had quit the role.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Blue Heaven | Ursula | |
| 2002 | Playing the Field | Receiver | |
| 2002–2007 | Tikkabilla | Herself | Co-presenter |
| 2004 | Emmerdale | Gaynor Hayes | Episode #3743 |
| 2006 | The Afternoon Play | Nurse | 1 episode |
| 2009–2014 | Grandpa in My Pocket | Miss Smiley | Recurring role |
| 2009 | Doctors | Gloria Dixon | Episode: "Bad Hair Day" |
| 2011–2019 | Doctors | Mrs Tembe | Series regular |
| 2017 | Rambling On | Leonie | Short film |
| 2017 | Brokenhead | Stella | Film |
| 2019–2023 | Coronation Street | Aggie Bailey | Series regular (257 episodes) |
| 2020 | Fortune Cookie | Mum | Voice role |
| 2021 | Hair Ties | Granny Rose | Film |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2012 | RTS Midlands Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Won |
| 2013 | Black International Film Festival and Screen Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Won |
| 2013 | The British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2013 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Daytime Star | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2014 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Daytime Star | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2014 | The British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2015 | The British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2015 | The British Soap Awards | Best Dramatic Performance | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2015 | Screen Nation Film and Television Awards | Favourite Female TV Star | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2015 | Screen Nation Film and Television Awards | Female Performance in TV | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2016 | National Television Awards | Serial Drama Performance | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2016 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Daytime Star | Doctors | Nominated |
| 2016 | The British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2017 | The British Soap Awards | Best Actress | Doctors | Longlisted |
| 2017 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Daytime Star | Doctors | Won |
| 2017 | RTS Midlands Awards | Best Acting Performance of the Year | Doctors | Nominated |