Ruth Gemmell

Ruth Gemmell (born 1967) is an English actress, known for her role in the 1997 film Fever Pitch. She is also known for her work on the television show Utopia as Jen Dugdale.

Ruth Gemmell
Born	1967 (age 52–53) Bristol,[1] England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Known for	Utopia Home Fires EastEnders
Spouse(s)	Ray Stevenson ​ ( m. 1997; div. 2005)

In 1996, Gemmell appeared in eight episodes of the television show Silent Witness as Detective Constable Kerry Cox, then as other characters in single episodes in 2006 and 2014.

Gemmell has also guest starred in several shows, including Casualty during 2014 and an episode of Midsomer Murders in 2015. She has been a leading character in the ITV series Home Fires, playing the role of cleric's wife Sarah Collingbourne.

Early life

Ruth Gemmell was born in Bristol but grew up in County Durham,[1] England, where she attended an all-girls' school in Darlington called Polam Hall School.[2] She has three brothers.[2] Her parents divorced when she was a child and she moved with her mother to Darlington from Barnard Castle. Later she moved to London, to live with her father and to pursue her acting dream. She states; "I moved to London because I assumed you had to go to drama school there...I didn't know any better. Having not lived with my dad before I thought it was an ideal opportunity, which is crazy now!"[3]

She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Personal life

Gemmell was married in Westminster, London, in 1997 to actor Ray Stevenson, whom she met in 1995 during the filming of TV drama Band of Gold. The couple divorced in 2005.[4]

Career

Gemmell has played a variety of roles mainly in theatres plus TV dramas. She played the leading female role Fever Pitch, based on Nick Hornby's novel of the same name, starring opposite Colin Firth[5] and had another leading role in the comedy/drama 2 January (2006).

In 2004 she starred in Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me as the mother of the title character, who abandoned her when she was a baby, leading her to spend life in a children's home.

From January 2009 she became a recurring character in EastEnders as Debra Dean, the mother of a teenage girl who, identically to her role in Tracy Beaker's Movie of Me, abandoned her daughter when she was an infant.

In August 2009, she starred as Rebecca Sands in two episodes of The Bill.[6]

Gemmell has appeared three times in the BBC's police drama Waking the Dead, playing two different characters. Her first appearance was in 2002 in the episode Special Relationships as DI Jess Worral, a former lover of DSI Boyd. She next appeared in the episode Sins of seventh season in 2008 as Linda Cummings, an exceptionally intelligent serial killer. Gemmell reprised the role of Cummings in Endgame, the fourth episode of the eighth season of the show. The storyline had Cummings manipulating Boyd and revealed that Cummings' accomplice was responsible for the drugs overdose that killed Boyd's son Luke. The role reprisal of Cummings is a first in the show's history.

Gemmell's ex-husband Ray Stevenson has also appeared in the show as consultant child abductor in the episode Fugue State.

Gemmell starred in Episode 8 of Jimmy McGovern's BBC drama Moving On playing the role of Joanne, in November 2010.[7]

In November 2011, Gemmell played Lady Shonagon in the adaptation for BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour of "The Pillow Book", by Robert Forrest. She appeared as Jen, the wife of an adulterous civil servant, in Channel 4 drama Utopia, in early 2013.

In 2015, Gemmell appeared in five episodes of the television series Penny Dreadful as Octavia Putney.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Who Needs a Heart	Abigail
1997	Fever Pitch	Sarah Hughes
1997	The Perfect Blue	Jo
2004	Tracy Beaker: The Movie of Me	Carly Beaker
2006	January 2nd	Claire
2008	Good	Elisabeth
2010	F	Sarah Balham
2012	Storage 24	Sarah
2012	Offender	Cassie
2019	Cliffs of Freedom	Varvara Vakrinos

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	The Bill	Sue Latham	"Woman of Substance"
1995	Band of Gold	Gina Dickson	"Sold"
1996	Kavanagh QC	Jenny Norris	"Men of Substance"
1996	Short Sharp Shocks	Kate	"Everywhere"
1996	Silent Witness	Kerry Cox	Regular role (series 1)
1997	Peak Practice	Christine Higson	"Home Truths"
1998	Macbeth	Lady Macduff	TV film
1999	The Bill	Jane Joyce	"Sex, Lies and Videotape"
1999	The Alchemists	Julia Bannerman	TV film
1999	Four Fathers	Nicola Yallop	"1.1", "1.2", "1.3"
2001	Holby City	Diana Calder	"Extra Time"
2002	Dalziel and Pascoe	Rachel Waller	"For Love Nor Money"
2002	Waking the Dead	DI Jess Worrall	"Special Relationship: Parts 1 & 2"
2003	The Bill	Carol Evans	"144: Power Trip", "145: Ride the Tiger", "146: The Law of the Jungle"
2003	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries	Jeannie Waring	"Playing for the Ashes"
2003	Murder in Mind	Liz Willis	"Landlord"
2003	Spooks	Miranda	"2.6"
2004	Blue Dove	Jenny Page	TV miniseries
2005	Midsomer Murders	Anne Merrick	"The House in the Woods"
2006	The Afternoon Play	Rachel	"Are You Jim's Wife?"
2006	A Touch of Frost	Christine Harris	"Endangered Species"
2006	Silent Witness	DI Beth Ashdown	"Terminus: Part 2"
2007	Five Days	Dr. Tobolska	"Day 28", "Day 33", "Day 79"
2008	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Miss Sweetiman	"Mrs. McGinty's Dead"
2008	Summerhill	Rose	TV film
2008–2009	Waking the Dead	Linda Cummings	Guest role (series 7–8)
2009	Trial & Retribution	Kay Satchell	"Shooter: Part 1"
2009	Primeval	Katherine Kavanagh	"3.3", "3.4"
2009	EastEnders	Debra Dean	Recurring role
2009	The Bill	Rebecca Sands	"Psychiatric Help", "Reaching Out"
2010	Lewis	Robyn Strong	"Your Sudden Death Question"
2010	Casualty	Kate Margolin	"No Place Like Home"
2010	Law & Order: UK	Mel Garvey	"Confession"
2010	Moving On	Joanne	"Losing My Religion"
2011	The Fades	Alice	TV miniseries
2012	Inside Men	Rebecca	TV miniseries
2013	Father Brown	Martha Quinton	"The Wrong Shape"
2013	Dancing on the Edge	Lady Winnet	"1.2"
2013	Holby City	Amanda Layton	"Only Human", "The More Deceived"
2013	Coming Up	Lynn	"Big Girl"
2013–2014	Utopia	Jen Dugdale	Recurring role
2014	Silent Witness	Ellie Brooke	"Undertone: Parts 1 & 2"
2014	Inspector George Gently	Irene Seddon	"Gently Between the Lines"
2014	Casualty	DC Monica Darling	"Deadfall"
2015	Midsomer Murders	Diana Carnarvon	"A Vintage Murder"
2015	Penny Dreadful	Octavia Putney	Guest role (series 2)
2015–2016	Home Fires	Sarah Collingborne	Main role
2017	Ransom	Laurie	"Girl on a Train"
2018	Doctors	DCI Gail Hargreaves	"Gone: Parts 1 & 2"
2020	Bridgerton	Lady Violet Bridgerton	Series regular

Theatre

Title	Role	Notes
Betrayal
The Weir
Nabokov's Gloves
The Turn of the Screw
Othello
Measure for Measure
Uncle Vanya
An Ideal Husband
The Winter's Tale
The Second Mrs Tanqueray
The Importance of Being Earnest
A Tale of Two Cities
Death and the Maiden
Coram Boy
Macbeth		Royal Shakespeare Company, 2004–2005
King Lear		Royal Shakespeare Company, 2004–2005

Radio

Date	Title	Role	Station
11 August 2008 – 15 August 2008	The Pillow Book[8]	Shōnagon	BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
8 June 2009 – 12 June 2009	The Pillow Book (series 2)[9]	Shōnagon	BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
30 October 2010	The Vanishing[10]	Lieneke	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
26 May 2011 – 30 May 2011	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold[11]	Liz Gold	BBC Radio 4
15 November 2010 – 19 November 2010	The Pillow Book (series 3)[12]	Shōnagon	BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
31 October 2011 – 4 November 2011	The Pillow Book (series 4)[13]	Shōnagon	BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama

References

1. Gibb, Bill "Home Fires star Ruth Gemmell shares an embarrassing encounter". The Sunday Post (7 April 2016). Retrieved 15 March 2017.
2. Hardwick, Viv (14 October 2004). "Magic MacBeth". thenorthernecho.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
3. Macbeth 2004 interview with Ruth Gemmell – dead link
4. Koncienzcy, Rebecca (10 December 2017). "Where is the cast of Band Of Gold now?". Liverpool Echo. Reach Plc. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
5. Fever Pitch Cast discuss film
6. Ruth Gemmell to guest in The Bill
7. BBC Press Office Week 45
8. BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book
9. BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 2)
10. BBC – Saturday Play – The Vanishing
11. BBC – The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
12. BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 3)
13. BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – The Pillow Book (series 4)

External links

• Ruth Gemmell on IMDb
• Interview with Ruth Gemmell – dead link