Sara Powell (born 23 June 1968) is a British actress and audiobook narrator. Her regular television roles include crown prosecutor Rachel Barker in the BBC's police procedural drama HolbyBlue (2007–2008), driver Sally Reid in ITV's firefighting drama London's Burning (1993–1994) and psychologist Cass in Channel 4's sitcom Damned (2016–2018).
She also played historical figure Mary Seacole in the thirteenth series of the BBC One long-running science fiction series Doctor Who (2021), as well as a number of other characters in its spin-off audio dramas, produced by Big Finish Productions.
Early life and education Powell was born on 23 June 1968 in Jamaica. She loved acting from a very young age, making up little shows together with her brother and forcing her father and any guests at home to watch them. Sara studied Commerce (B.Com) at Birmingham University from 1986 to 1989. She studied acting at London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Television Powell's television debut happened in 1992, in an episode of the BAFTA-winning BBC police drama Between the Lines. From 1993 to 1994, she appeared in her first regular role in both the sixth and seventh series of the ITV firefighting drama London's Burning, playing Sally Reid, the watch's first female driver. In 2007, she joined the main cast of the BBC police procedural drama HolbyBlue (2007–2008), playing senior crown prosecutor Rachel Barker throughout the first and second series.
From 2016 to 2018, Powell appeared as psychologist Cass in both series of the Channel 4 sitcom Damned (2016–2018), starring comedians Jo Brand, Alan Davies and Kevin Eldon. Her other television highlights include the ITV crime dramas The Ice Cream Girls (2013), Little Boy Blue (2017) and Unforgotten (2018), comedy thriller You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), medical drama The Family Man (2006), situation comedy Ghosts (2021) and the film My Zinc Bed (2008), starring Uma Thurman.
In 2021, she played historical figure Mary Seacole in the episode "War of the Sontarans" of the BBC's long-running science fiction series Doctor Who, featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. Fans of the classic Doctor Who series, broadcast from 1963 to 1989, may also be familiar with Powell's voice, as she has portrayed more than ten other characters in several Doctor Who audio drama spin-offs from Big Finish Productions, featuring the First, Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors.
Stage work Since 1995, she has appeared on stage as often as on television, taking part in about thirty productions at the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Bush Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Arcola Theatre, Crucible Theatre, Birmingham Rep and more. Powell played various Shakespearean roles, such as Andromache in Troilus and Cressida (1999), Lady Macduff in Macbeth (2005) and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III (2017). Her other classical credits include playing Cariola in John Webster's revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (2000–2001) for the Royal Shakespeare Company's touring production, directed by Gale Edwards. In 2005, Powell starred opposite Friends star David Schwimmer in Neil LaBute's original West End production of Some Girl(s) at the Gielgud Theatre. The cast also included Catherine Tate, Lesley Manville and Saffron Burrows.
In April 2003, Powell made her debut as a theatre director with Come Out Eli, a play based on the events of the Hackney siege, Britain's longest police siege. The play opened at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London only four months after the siege ended. The story was told through recounting interviews taken from eyewitnesses and local residents during the incident. Powell dismissed accusations that the production was exploiting a tragedy, "This [is] not exploitative to me because we are re-telling people's stories. We are not using the stories in any way because we are telling them in the way they told us during the interviews. It is a different method of storytelling to your usual theatre experience. It is technically quite difficult but it does capture the nuances of tone and speech in a very real way."
In 2019, she got a small part in the romantic comedy film Last Christmas, written by Emma Thompson and starring Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke. Three years later, Powell joined Clarke in her West End debut, Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Jamie Lloyd. It was broadcast in cinemas worldwide as part of the National Theatre Live programme, just like Powell's other theatrical production, The Madness of George III (2018), with Mark Gatiss as the lead. Two more plays starring Powell, Mapping the Edge (2001) and Albert Camus's The Plague (2017), have been broadcast on BBC Radio.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes1992The Golden YearsTecuichpoTelevision film1994One Night StandAnnaShort film1996The OfficeJoanTelevision film2008My Zinc BedMaxineTelevision film2016DenialJacqueline Thomas2019RuthRuthShort film; lead roleLast ChristmasCasting Director2023The Red BallMotherShort film69EricaShort film. Post-production
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1992Between the LinesSchool TeacherEpisode: "The Chill Factor"1993The BillHostel GirlEpisode: "Rainy Days and Mondays"1993–1994London's BurningSally ReidRegular role in series 6–7; 21 episodes1994Desmond'sJwoinikaEpisode: "Judgement Day"1995RumbleGeorgy6 episodes1996Murder Most HorridStaff Nurse JaneEpisode: "A Life or Death Operation"The BillNinaEpisode: "Animal"1997CasualtyJustine LeonardEpisodes: "Monday Bloody Monday" & "Perfect Blue"1998Vanity FairMiss SwartzMini-series; episodes 1 & 32001DoctorsSgt. Susy MartinEpisode: "Stan Loves Cara"2002Silent WitnessDS Esther LindenEpisodes: "Tell No Tales: Parts 1 & 2"Holby CityLouise WhelanEpisode: "Hearts and Minds"EastEndersSheena Brady1 episodeDoctorsWPCEpisode: "Bottled"2003DinotopiaIntern #1Episodes: "The Cure: Part 2" & "Crossroads"2004DoctorsVenetta WarnerEpisode: "A Recipe for Disaster"2005Judge John DeedKerry RamsayEpisode: "Lost and Found"2006The Family ManJaneMain role; 3 episodes2007The WhistleblowersPam JamesEpisode: "No Child Left Behind"2007–2008HolbyBlueRachel BarkerMain role in series 1–2; 16 episodes2009The BillMiriam Sissoulu3 episodesDoctorsSandra JohnsonEpisode: "Ladies Man"2010–2011Florrie's DragonsSplish-Splash (voice)52 episodes2011Sadie JTraciEpisodes: "Girltastic: Parts 1 & 2"Law & Order: UKAnnetta TrewEpisode: "Deal"2012Public EnemiesDawn CloughMini-series; episode 3CasualtyKerry FitzgeraldEpisode: "Confidences"DoctorsDeanna RyanEpisode: "A Bracing Walk"2013The Ice Cream GirlsFez GorringeMini-series; all 3 episodesLove and MarriageEmmaEpisode: "The Elephant in the Room"2014DCI BanksHead TeacherEpisode: "Wednesday's Child: Part 1"Holby CityRebecca FarnumEpisode: "One Small Step"2015You, Me and the ApocalypseNaomiMini-series; 3 episodes2016–2018DamnedCass8 episodes2017Midsomer MurdersMaxine LockstonEpisode: "Crime and Punishment"Little Boy BlueACC Pat GallanMini-series; all 4 episodes2018Silent WitnessTilly MaddoxEpisodes: "One Day: Parts 1 & 2"UnforgottenArbiter3 episodes2019Death in ParadiseJosephine PorterEpisode: "Frappe Death Day"2021GhostsJacquiEpisode: "I Love Lucy"Doctor WhoMary SeacoleEpisode: "War of the Sontarans"2022Murder in ProvenceCosette FaraudEpisode: #1.2The House Across the StreetJoanneMini-series; all 4 episodes2023The Killing KindBelinda Grey5 episodesVeraKatherine WillmoreEpisode: "The Rising Tide"2024Too Good to Be TrueSimone4 episodesDalglieshPaula RiceEpisode: "Cover Her Face: Part 1"2025 In the RoomKathy MacintyreMini-series; 4 episodesLynleyReverend Ulrike KarlssonEpisode: "With No One as a Witness"
Audio Full-cast audio dramas YearTitleRoleProductionNotes2014Blake's 7Dr. Cara PetrusBig Finish ProductionsEpisode: "Drones"The Early AdventuresAudrey NewmanEpisode: "An Ordinary Life"2015Pathfinder LegendsDeka-An-Keret / ZizziraEpisode: "Shifting Sands"2016The Diary of River SongThe PAEpisode: "World Enough and Time"2016–2017The PrisonerNumber 9 / Number 90Series 1–22017Blake's 7RokonEpisode: "Liberation"2018The Early AdventuresJacklyn KarnaEpisode: "The Dalek Occupation of Winter"The Seventh Doctor: The New AdventuresContessaEpisode: "Vanguard"2021The Fourth Doctor AdventuresEmma FremantleEpisode: "The World Traders"TorchwoodMo SimisterEpisode: "The Five People You Kill in Middlesbrough"Jenny: The Doctor's DaughterAndros Fax / Bar PersonEpisode: "Inside the Maldovarium"2022PeladonQueen MinarisEpisode: "The Death of Peladon"The War MasterBlythe / Confederation Official2 episodes2023The Fourth Doctor AdventuresMoira TenakaEpisode: "The Wizard of Time"
Audiobook narration The Cellar (2015) by Minette Walters When I Was Invisible (2016) by Dorothy Koomson All Men Want to Know (2020) by Nina Bouraoui, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins Bernard and the Cloth Monkey (2021) by Judith Bryan The Sex Lives of African Women (2021) by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (2021) by Simon Schama Assassin's Orbit (2021) by John Appel Sankofa (2021) by Chibundu Onuzo Island Songs (2021) by Alex Wheatle What Is History, Now? (2021) by Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb In Every Mirror She's Black (2021) by Lola Akinmade Åkerström Evelyn Dove: Britain's Black Cabaret Queen (2022) by Stephen Bourne The Wordhord (2022) by Hana Videen Blood to Poison (2022) by Mary Watson The Blunder (2022) by Mutt-Lon, translated by Amy B. Reid The Racial Code: Tales of Resistance and Survival (2022) by Nicola Rollock The Day I Fell Off My Island (2022) by Yvonne Bailey-Smith
Video games The Secret World (2012) Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) Dragon Age: Inquisition – Trespasser (2015) Red Solstice 2: Survivors (2021) Dying Light 2: Stay Human (2022)
Theatre YearTitleRoleVenue1995The House of Bernarda AlbaMagdalenaThe Brix TheatreOur Country's GoodDabbyTheatr Clwyd1996Golden GirlsDorcas AblemanMercury Theatre 1998The Basset TableLady LucyBristol Old Vic1999Troilus and CressidaAndromacheNational TheatreThe Darker Face of the EarthScylla1999–2000Honk! The Ugly DucklingMaureen2000The Villain's OperaMardelle2000–2001The Duchess of MalfiCariolaRoyal Shakespeare Company2001Mapping the EdgeNadiaCrucible Theatre2003Racing DemonStella MarrBirmingham Repertory TheatreMurmuring JudgesIrina PlattThe Absence of WarMary Housego2003–2004World MusicPaulette JonesCrucible Theatre / Donmar Warehouse2004Stuff HappensForeign Office officialNational Theatre2005MacbethLady MacduffAlmeida TheatreSome Girl(s)TylerGielgud Theatre2011A Walk On PartActressSoho Theatre2013DisgracedJoryBush Theatre2015The CrucibleTitubaBristol Old Vic2017Richard IIIQueen ElizabethArcola TheatreThe PlagueDr. Rieux2018The Madness of George IIILady PembrokeNottingham Playhouse2019Keith?VeenaArcola TheatreCyranoRoxaneBristol Old Vic2021–2022Vanya and Sonia and Masha and SpikeCassandraCharing Cross Theatre2022The SeagullPolina AndryevnaHarold Pinter Theatre
References
External links
Sara Powell at British Comedy Guide