Jessica Regan (born 24 February 1982) is an Irish actress, known for portraying the role of Niamh Donoghue in the BBC soap opera Doctors. For her portrayal of that role, she won the award for Best Female Acting Performance at the 2014 RTS Midlands Awards, as well as the award for Best Newcomer at the 2015 British Soap Awards. Following her departure from Doctors, she starred in the BBC series Ill Behaviour.
Early life Regan was born on 24 February 1982 in Kilkenny, and grew up in County Tipperary. She attended University College Cork (UCC), since the majority of her family live in Cork. At UCC, she studied English and History.
Career In 2004, at the age of 22, Regan made her stage debut as Charlotte in a one-woman production of The Yellow Wallpaper. She described the show as the "catalyst" for her motivation to begin acting professionally, stating: "I wasn't sure if I had the ability or the stomach for acting and The Yellow Wallpaper helped me to figure that out". Afterwards, she told her parents that she wanted to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, to which she stated that they were "not surprised". She then borrowed the money for the train fare to Dublin from her parents in order to audition for a place at RADA, to which she was accepted.
Regan made her television debut in the Channel 4 television film Ladies and Gentlemen in 2007, after graduating from RADA. In 2007, she made a guest appearance in an episode of the BBC daytime soap opera Doctors. Then in 2008, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Laura. In 2013, she appeared in another episode of Doctors. The following year, she was cast as a regular character in the soap, Dr. Niamh Donoghue. On the casting process, Regan expressed her shock at the casting call, since they wanted an Irish actress aged 30 to 33, which she found to be rare in her experience, especially with the role being regular.
For her portrayal of the role of Dr. Donoghue, she won the award for the Best Female Acting Performance at the 2014 RTS Midlands Awards, as well as the award for Best Newcomer at the 2015 British Soap Awards. Her other nominations include the British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best On-Screen Partnership, alongside co-star Ian Midlane. In 2016, after two years on the soap, Regan announced her departure from the role. She confirmed that the decision was her own, and her character departed from the series in April 2016 after being fired from her job.
In 2017, she starred in the BBC comedy-drama series Ill Behaviour, and appeared in an episode of the BBC drama Casualty the following year.
Shortly before leaving Doctors Jessica was cast as Cathleen in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night directed by Richard Eyre and starring Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville at Bristol Old Vic IN 2016. The production transferred to the West End and toured to BAM in New York and the Wallis Annenberg in Los Angeles.
In 2017, she starred in Alison Spittle’s sitcom Nowhere Fast for RTE, and Call the Midwife.
Jessica originated the role of Victorian boxer Matilda Blackwell in Joy Wilkinson’s play The Sweet Science of Bruising at the Southwark Playhouse and subsequently Wilton’s Music Hall. Jessica has appeared in two subsequent shorts written and directed by Joy Wilkinson, as Queen Victoria in ‘Ma’am’ (2019) and as Holly in ‘The Everlasting Club’ (2020).
In 2018 Jessica appeared on BBC’s Celebrity Mastermind. Her specialist subject were the films of Quentin Tarantino. Her research for the subject with friend and collaborator Tom Salinsky led to the idea of starting a film podcast. They enlisted actor and Big Finish writer John Dorney and created Best Pick, a podcast by The Spontaneity Shop in which they would research, watch and discuss every Best Picture winner in no particular order. In July 2020, Best Pick won the Bronze award in the Best Arts and Culture category at the British Podcast Awards and at the 2021 Lovie Awards for Best Arts and Entertainment Podcast.
She is a regular contributor to The Guilty Feminist podcast and co-founded ‘Big Speeches’ with Deborah Frances-White to make public speaking training affordable and accessible for all.
In 2022 the book ‘Best Pick: A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards’ co- authored by Jessica was released, published by Rowan and Littlefield.
In 2023 Jessica again appeared at Southwark Playhouse in Strike! by Tracey Ryan directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward. The play gives an account of the Dunnes Stores Anti-Apartheid Strike which took place in Dublin from 1984 to 1987. Jessica played real-life striker and humanitarian Karen Gearon.
In 2024 Jessica brought her debut solo show ’16 Postcodes’ to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show sold out multiple performances and was a critical success with The Scotsman rating it four stars and calling it ‘A delightful hour of theatre’ and Lyn Gardner describing Jessica as ‘a born storyteller’. The show transferred to the Kings Head Theatre London in 2026
Jessica is a prolific audio artist, appearing in multiple video game franchises including ‘Baldur’s Gate III’, Witcher III: Wild Hunt and Assassins Creed Valhalla. She has appeared several audios for Big Finish.
Jessica narrates audiobooks regularly, most notably for Irish authors Andrea Mara (All Her Fault, Such a Nice Girl) and Liz Nugent (Strange Sally Diamond, The Truth About Ruby Cooper).
Stage Year Title Role Venue 2004–2005 The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Mall Arts Centre 2009 The Flags Ursula Royal Court 2010 Blood and Gifts Cal Foster National Theatre 2011 The Cherry Orchard Ensemble National Theatre 2012 The Kitchen Cynthia National Theatre 2012 Stars in the Morning Sky Anna Belgrade Theatre 2012 Coalition Claudia Hood Pleasance 2013 Liolà Tuzza Azzara National Theatre 2016 Henry V Montjoy Regent's Park Open Air Theatre 2017 Long Day's Journey into Night Cathleen Wyndham's Theatre 2019 The Sweet Science of Bruising Matilda Blackwell Southwark Playhouse 2020 The Year of the Monkey Various Chelsea Physic Garden 2023 Strike! Karen Gearon Southwark Playhouse 2024-2026 16 Postcodes Herself Pleasance Theatre and King’s Head Theatre
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2007 Ladies and Gentlemen Susanna Television film 2007 Doctors Lisa Geary Episode: "Post Mortem" 2008 Peep Show Actress in Play Episode: "Burgling" 2008 EastEnders Laura 1 episode 2009 The Wrong Door Various 3 episodes 2009 No Signal! 3 episodes 2010 Silent Witness PC Justine Gould 2 episodes 2012 Execution Molly Childers 2013 Doctors Philomena Caffrey Episode: "Child Proof" 2014–2016 Doctors Niamh Donoghue Series regular 2014 This Morning Herself Guest 2017 Call the Midwife Nurse Leonard 1 episode 2017 Halloween Comedy Shorts Caroline Episode: "It Should Have Been Me" 2017 Nowhere Fast Yvonne Main role 2017 Ill Behaviour Tess Main role 2018 Celebrity Mastermind Herself Contestant 2018 Casualty Maxine O'Boyle 1 episode 2020 Ma'am Queen Victoria Short film 2021 The Everlasting Club Holly Short film 2026 A Tidy Town Betty Feature film
Audio Year Title Role Platform 2010 The Cider Queens Martina Beausang RTÉ Radio 1 2011 A Time to Dance Jill Gladstone BBC Radio 4 2013 Soul Sacrifice Various Video game 2016 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine Sarah Godley Video game 2017 Nioh Saoirse Video game 2017 The Guilty Feminist Herself Podcast 2020 Assassin's Creed Valhalla Various Video game 2023No One Saw A Thing Various Audio Book 2023 Baldur’s Gate 3 Zethino Video game 2023-2024 New Worldsin's Grace O’Malley Video game 2024Someone in the Attic Various Audio Book 2024 Jenny The Doctor’s Daughter Florence O’Connor Big Finish Audio Drama 2025The Wowen on Platform Two Various Audio Book 2025The Girl on the Cliff Various Audio Book 2026Friday Slattery as Herself Various Audio Book 2026The Truth about Ruby Cooper Various Audio Book 2026Everything She Didn’t Say Various Audio Book 2026Such a Nice Girl Various Audio Book
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2014 RTS Midlands Awards Best Acting Performance – Female Doctors 2015 The British Soap Awards Best Actress Doctors 2015 The British Soap Awards Best Newcomer Doctors 2015 The British Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (with Ian Midlane) Doctors 2015 Inside Soap Awards Best Daytime Star Doctors 2021 British Podcast Awards Best Arts and Culture Podcast Best Pick Bronze
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