Joanna Scanlan

ActorProductionProducerWriter Oct 27 (age 64) West Kirby, Merseyside, England, UK 1987–2025 (38 year career)

6.6 avg rating

Biography

Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress and writer. On television, she is known for her roles in The Thick of It (2005–2012), Big School (2013–2014), Puppy Love (2014), No Offence (2015–2018), Requiem (2018), and The Larkins (2021). She was nominated for three BAFTA TV Awards for Getting On (2009–2012), including two for Best Writing. Scanlan's film appearances include Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), Notes on a Scandal (2006), The Invisible Woman (2013), and Bridget …

Known For

Film

Stardust

Mormo

Film

The Other Boleyn Girl

Midwife

Film

Bridget Jones's Baby

Cathy - Make Up Lady

Film

Notes on a Scandal

Sue Hodge

Film

Testament of Youth

Aunt Belle

Film

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Tanneke

Film

Dracula

Mother Superior

Film

In the Loop

Roz

Filmography

Acting (106)

Movies (46)

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

2025

as Cathy

6.4

Rhubarb Rhubarb

2025

Wicked Little Letters

as Ann

Joy

as Gladys May

Tabby McTat

as Pat (voice)

The Rising of the Sap

2024

as Elizabeth

This Is Christmas

as Linda

Don vs Lightning

as Maggie

After Love

as Mary/Fahima

Ropey

How to Build a Girl

as Mrs. Belling

Wild Honey Pie!

as Janet

Pin Cushion

as Lyn

Tulip Fever

as Mrs. Overvalt

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

2017

as Marion, Enn’s Mother

6.0

Bridget Jones's Baby

2016

as Cathy - Make Up Lady

6.4

Dylan's Room

2016

as Penny

Testament of Youth

2015

as Aunt Belle

7.3

The Bad Education Movie

as Susan Poulter

Fungus The Bogeyman

Get Santa

as Ruth

The Invisible Woman

as Catherine Dickens

40 Year Old Virgins

as Herself

Hot Hot Hot

as Mary-Ann

The Angina Monologues

2010

as Herself

The Calling

2010

as Sister Kevin

In the Loop

2009

as Roz

7.0

The Other Boleyn Girl

as Midwife

Stardust

as Mormo

Grow Your Own

as Barbara

The Moon and the Stars

as Daisy Burke

Spinners and Losers

as Terri Coverly

Maxwell

as Jennings

The Rise of the Nutters

as Terri Coverley

Notes on a Scandal

as Sue Hodge

Kinky Boots

as Trish

A Little Trip to Heaven

2005

as Josie

5.4

Girl with a Pearl Earring

as Tanneke

The Deal

as Sue Nye

The Announcement

as Debbie

Coming Soon

1999

as Claudia

A Rather English Marriage

as Sister

Jane Eyre

as Bessie

Anxious People

Poe

as Friend (Voice)

The Arrival

Television (60)

Riot Women

as Beth

A Very Royal Scandal

as Amanda Thirsk

Killed Without A Trace

as Presenter

Boat Story

as Pat Tooh

Secrets of the Aquarium

2023

as Narrator

Slow Horses

2022

as Moira Tregorian

8.0

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

2022

as Self

2.8

The Light in the Hall

2022

as Sharon Roberts

5.6

How the BBC Began

2022

as Self - Narrator (voice)

The Larkins

as Ma Larkin

McDonald & Dodds

as Kelly Mulcreevy

Dracula

as Mother Superior

Dracula

as Mother Superior

Avenue 5

as Johanna

The Accident

as Angela Griffiths

Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly

as Narrator

Requiem

as Janice Gray

The Woman in White

as Mrs. Vesey

Sally4Ever

as Stella

Hold the Sunset

as Sandra

Dinnerladies Diaries

as Self

Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

as Su

Hooten & The Lady

No Offence

as Vivienne Deering

Fungus the Bogeyman

as Mildrew

Puppy Love

as Nana V

Getting On

as Sister Den Flixter

6.3

Psychobitches

2013

as Barbara Woodhouse

6.8

Death Comes to Pemberley

as Mrs. Reynolds

Big School

as Mrs Klebb

Big School

as Mrs Klebb

Heading Out

as Torla

Playhouse Presents

as Barbara Woodhouse

Stella

Getting On

as Sister Den Flixter

Home Time

as Mrs Pitman

Would I Lie to You?

as Self

Jekyll

as Nurse

The Thick of It

as Terri Coverley

Doctors and Nurses

as Stumpy Yates

Little Britain

as Lou's Girlfriend Anya

7.1

Murder in Mind

2001

as Diana Spearman

8.4

Fun at the Funeral Parlour

2001

7.0

Terri McIntyre - Classy Bitch

My Family

as Dental Assistant

Human Remains

as Nana

Cry Wolf

as Julie

Spaced

as Tina

Coming Soon

Vanity Fair

as Lady Crawley

Vanity Fair

as Lady Crawley

Midsomer Murders

as Clara Trout

Room 101

as Self

Peak Practice

as Midwife

Murder Most Horrid

as Iris Wood-Newton

Have I Got News for You

1990

as Self

7.1

One Foot in the Grave

1990

as Gillian

7.6

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

1987

as Audrey Barker

6.3

Have I Got a Bit More News for You

as Herself - Panellist

7.0

Missed Call

Crew (4)

Television (4)

No Offence

Associate Producer

Getting On

Executive Producer

Getting On

Writer

My Parents Are Aliens

1999

Writer

6.6