Shobna Gulati

Acting

Shobna Gulati

Born

1966-08-07 (60)

Place of birth

Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

57 titles

Shobna Gulati (born 7 August 1966) is a British actress, writer, and dancer. Gulati is a soap star best known for playing Anita in Victoria Wood's dinnerladies, Sunita Alahan in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street from 2001 to 2006, a role to which she returned at the end of 2009 and departed again in 2013, and Farah Khurana in River City from 2017 to 2018. From 13 March 2013 to 30 May 2014, Gulati appeared as a panellist on the lunchtime chatshow Loose Women. Gulati is also one of very few actors to have appeared on both Coronation Street and its rival series EastEnders in 2000. Gulati was born in Oldham, Lancashire to parents of Hindu Indian descent. She has a degree in Arabic …

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 7 titles

Everybody's Talking About Jamie poster
6.2

Jamie New is 16 and doesn’t quite fit in—instead of pursuing a "real" career he dreams of becoming a drag queen. Uncertain about his future, Jamie knows one thing for sure: he is going to be a sensation. Supported by his loving mom and his amazing friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

2021

My Name Is Leon poster
3.7

Leon, a mixed-race boy, and Jake, his white baby brother, are separated after their mother has a breakdown. Leon is determined to find him and gets unexpected support along the way.

My Name Is Leon

2022

National Theatre at Home: A Tupperware of Ashes poster
NR

An ambitious Michelin-Star chef, Queenie is used to having the last word. But when her children notice gaps in her memory and her grip on reality loosening, they are faced with an impossible choice. As Raj, Gopal and Kamala battle to reconcile their life-long duty to their mother, the ramifications of their decision take on a heartbreaking permanence.

National Theatre at Home: A Tupperware of Ashes

2025

The Royle Family - Down the Back of the Sofa poster
NR

A refreshed version of the 2010 documentary, this 2023 programme features new interviews from celebrity fans to link in with the 25th anniversary of the sitcom.

The Royle Family - Down the Back of the Sofa

2023

This Fortress Built By Nature poster
NR

At the height of the global lockdown, two journalists unravel the web of shady deals and frightening incompetence behind their government's response to the pandemic.

This Fortress Built By Nature

2020

Incompatible poster
7.0

A childless woman is told that her longed for unborn baby is incompatible with life. Alone, with her conscience and unable to openly discuss her situation because of society’s stigma surrounding termination and the self- silencing of women concerning reproduction, she painfully decides the best way forward.

Incompatible

2022

Scandalous: Phone Hacking on Trial poster
NR

Candid and exclusive testimony from Sienna Miller, Hugh Grant, Steve Coogan, Heather Mills and others on claims of unlawful information gathering at some of UK's biggest papers. The documentary unpicks the evidence and examines the claims now emerging out of the civil courts in unprecedented detail, via celebrities who claim they were targeted unlawfully by the papers, as well as private individuals who were caught up in the news.

Scandalous: Phone Hacking on Trial

2023

2010s · 5 titles

East Street poster
NR

EastEnders hit the cobbles of Coronation Street and Rovers regulars turn up on Albert Square to discuss and celebrate the concept of twinning the boroughs of Walford in East London and Weatherfield in Greater Manchester.

East Street

2010

Everybody's Talking About Jamie poster
8.4

Jamie is 16 and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn't quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. Jamie is going to be a sensation. Supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. Sixteen: the edge of possibility. Time to make your dreams come true.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

2018

Richard II poster
NR

Beset by problems at home and abroad, a capricious king is forced to relinquish his ‘hollow crown’. As his supporters abandon him and his power trickles away, Richard reflects with startling eloquence on the disintegration of his status and identity. Adjoa Andoh and Lynette Linton direct the first ever company of women of colour in a Shakespeare play on a major UK stage, in a post-Empire reflection on what it means to be British in the light of the Windrush anniversary and as we leave the European Union.

Richard II

2019

Junkhearts poster
4.6

Frank is an ex-soldier, haunted by a violent past. He lives alone, drowning his nightmares with alcohol. Christine - smart and successful... on the surface, tackles life as a single working mother by immersing herself in drugs, parties and sex. Lynette, a young rough sleeper watches Christine stumble out of a club whilst she sits in the cold waiting for loose change to fall on her lap; her luck seems to change when she meets Frank who despite his misgivings, offers her a place to stay.

Junkhearts

2011

Finding Fatimah poster
4.3

Shahid struggles to find love in the Asian community due to the stigma of his divorce, several years prior.

Finding Fatimah

2017

2000s · 4 titles

Series credits

Coronation Street poster
5.3

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.

Coronation Street

1960

Doctor Who poster
7.6

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

Doctor Who

2005

Midsomer Murders poster
7.5

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Midsomer Murders

1997

EastEnders poster
4.3

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

EastEnders

1985

Ready, Steady, Cook poster
8.0

Talented chefs battle it out against the clock, creating delicious dishes in 20 minutes

Ready, Steady, Cook

1994

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986

Loose Women poster
3.4

A panel of four women discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs to celebrity gossip.

Loose Women

1999

Have I Got News for You poster
7.1

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

Have I Got News for You

1990

GMTV poster
5.8

GMTV is the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end. The final edition of GMTV was broadcast on 3 September 2010.

GMTV

1993

Vera poster
7.4

A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and blackmail. Vera is obsessive about her work and faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.

Vera

2011

Celebrity Juice poster
6.7

The outrageous comedy panel show hosted by the irrepressible Keith Lemon. Each episode sees top celebrities going head to head in a series of hilarious rounds unlike any other panel show.

Celebrity Juice

2008

Doctors poster
4.8

Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, this soap opera follows the staff and families of a doctor's surgery.

Doctors

2000

Doctors poster
4.8

Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, this soap opera follows the staff and families of a doctor's surgery.

Doctors

2000

No artwork available
4.5

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 and currently airs on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" theme with many of the shows' segments focusing on fashion, health, nature, cookery and animals.

The Alan Titchmarsh Show

2007

Inside No. 9 poster
8.1

An anthology of darkly comic twisted tales, each one taking place behind a door marked 'number 9'.

Inside No. 9

2014

RuPaul's Drag Race UK poster
7.1

RuPaul has made the trip across the pond in search of a queen with the most charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent in all the land.

RuPaul's Drag Race UK

2019

House of Games poster
6.1

Each week a group of four famous faces go toe to toe in testing their general knowledge skills in a variety of entertaining games.

House of Games

2017

Celebrity Masterchef poster
6.1

Celebrities scramble to compete in the kitchen. What culinary triumphs will they whisk up?

Celebrity Masterchef

2006

Brassic poster
8.3

A group of working-class friends finding unconventional ways to win at life in suburban northern England. These lads have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence, but now, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them and a whole load of trouble is heading their way.

Brassic

2019

Moving On poster
7.3

Moving On is a British television series set in contemporary Britain consisting of standalone dramas all sharing the theme of someone going through some kind of change in their life and moving on.

Moving On

2009

The Weakest Link poster
6.0

Romesh Ranganathan takes charge of the back-stabbing big money game show. Can the contestants create a chain of answers and avoid the boot?

The Weakest Link

2021

Where the Heart Is poster
7.7

In the small, fictional Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite is an engaging story of life, love, family and people’s ever-changing fortunes in rural England. Set against the rugged landscape of Yorkshire, it follows the busy professional and family lives of District Nurses, as they bring nursing and emotional care to young and old alike. The first four series concentrates on the lives of district health nurses Peggy Snow and Ruth Goddard. The story expands to focus on the lives of more Skelthwhaite residents, particularly those related to the nurses as well as those employed in a local toilet tissue factory.

Where the Heart Is

1997

dinnerladies poster
7.5

Dinnerladies is a BBC sitcom written by and starring Victoria Wood that chronicles the antics of a group of workers in a canteen in the north of England. Bren tries to maintain a semblance of order in amongst the chaos, while dealing with the canteen supervisor, slightly sex-obsessed cancer sufferer Tony. Dolly and Jean are the bickering menopausal older women, always at odds but best friends beneath it all. Then there's thick-as-two-short-planks Anita, and the terminally uninterested Twinkle, more concerned with having a good time than anything else. Making up the motley crew are military man handyman Stan, all rules and regulations, and ditzy Philippa, who never seems to get anything right.

dinnerladies

1998

New Street Law poster
6.6

Follows two rival barristers' chambers in Manchester, England, contrasting defence Jack Roper's struggling firm with his former mentor, prosecutor Laurence Scammel's more established chambers, and exploring their personal and professional rivalry through complex legal cases.

New Street Law

2006

Coming Up poster
5.7

Coming Up is a British Channel 4 television series of films made for television by new directors and writers. The first series was in 2006, and each year's series comprises seven or eight films. Series 6 was shown from July to September 2011. A reviewer in The Independent wrote: "Thank goodness for Coming Up ... it's a genuinely interesting display of possibilities".

Coming Up

2003

Murder, They Hope poster
7.1

After their trip to Middlesbrough turned a little more explosive than they thought, Gemma and Terry finally decide to pack up the smouldering remains of their coach tour business and set out on a new adventure as fully-fledged private detectives.

Murder, They Hope

2021

This Morning poster
5.2

This Morning features a variety of news, as well as show business, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, home and garden, food, tech, live phone-ins, and competitions.

This Morning

1988

Comedy Connections poster
6.5

Comedy Connections was a BBC One documentary series produced by BBC Scotland that aired from 2003 to 2008. The show looked at the stories behind the production of some of Britain's comedy television programmes, showing how they tied in with the production of other comedy shows. The show featured interviews with some of the cast and crew of the subject programme, as well as footage from the series. Comedy Connections mostly documented BBC comedies and sitcoms, although two programmes have been from ITV and two from Channel 4. The first series consisted of six episodes, however the rest of the series consist of eight episodes each, the first two series were narrated by Julia Sawalha, however the rest of the series were narrated by Doon Mackichan.

Comedy Connections

2003

On the Edge poster
3.0

Drama anthology championing new film-making talent that serves up a raw slice of real life in modern Britain.

On the Edge

2018

In the Club poster
6.3

In The Club follows six pregnant women and their partners as they get ready for the arrival of their babies at the local parenting class. Housewife Diane, schoolgirl Rosie, newlywed Jasmin, businesswoman Roanna, midwife Vicky and writer and teaching assistant Kim all have their own issues to deal with.

In the Club

2014

Mr Bigstuff poster
6.8

Glen and his fiancée share a perfect, perfectly mundane life together. Sure, Glen's got crippling erectile dysfunction and Kirsty has a secret shoplifting habit, but they're happy. That is until his brother Lee comes crashing into their lives, whilst on the run from a past that's quickly catching up with him. The trio are forced together: a perfectionist, a fantasist and an anarchist all living under the same roof in an Essex cul-de-sac. It's not long before their 'perfect' lives start to unravel faster than a cheap carpet.

Mr Bigstuff

2024

No artwork available
NR

A look at endangered species in the regions around the UK

Saving Planet Earth UK

2007

The Serial Killer's Wife poster
5.9

Beth and Tom Fairchild seem to have it all. However, when a string of murders is traced back to Tom, Beth is forced to ask herself whether she has ignored signs of her husband’s violence all along.

The Serial Killer's Wife

2023

Hullraisers poster
6.9

British sitcom adapted from the Israeli sitcom Little Mom. It follows the ups and downs of life, friendship and family for three women living in Hull - self-described actress Toni, her sister Paula and best friend Rana.

Hullraisers

2022

River City poster
6.1

River City is a television soap opera, first broadcast in Scotland on BBC Scotland on 24 September 2002. River City storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch in Glasgow. The series primarily centres around the residents of Shieldinch, their houses, flats and apartments and its neighbouring streets, namely Montego Street and which encompasses a pub, bistro, community centre, café and various small businesses, in addition to a subway station and basketball court. The series was originally screened as two half-hour episodes per week. Today, one hour-long episode is broadcast each week - usually Tuesday evenings on BBC One Scotland, repeated Sunday afternoons on either BBC One Scotland or BBC Two Scotland. In Australia, River City is screened 11:00am weekdays on Seven's British-oriented multichannel 7TWO.

River City

2002

Hold the Sunset poster
6.4

Edith's dreams of retirement to the sun with her long-term suitor Phil are shattered when her 50-year-old son Roger arrives home, seeking to recapture his boyhood happiness.

Hold the Sunset

2018

Celebrity Best Home Cook poster
NR

Ten famous faces are challenged to serve up tasty home-cooked food.

Celebrity Best Home Cook

2021

No artwork available
7.0

Soapstar Superstar is a British reality singing competition produced by Granada Productions which first aired on British television station ITV in 2006. In the competition, ten soap opera actors perform in front of a celebrity panel, which included Cilla Black, Billy Sammeth and Chris Cowey. The contestants are judged on their singing ability, in a format similar to Pop Idol and The X Factor. However in this show, the audience decided which song contestants would sing in the next round. The two with the fewest votes were then put up for the public vote, and the one with the fewest votes from that round was eliminated from the competition. However, the eliminated contestant did get the honour of being part of the judging panel for that show and they got to save one contestant and decide which song they got to sing. Series one was presented by Fern Britton and Ben Shephard, with the ITV2 coverage presented by Jayne Middlemiss and Duncan James. The Voice Over was provided by Peter Dickson

Soapstar Superstar

2006

Dinnerladies Diaries poster
9.0

In 1998 Victoria Wood put pen to paper and wrote her multi-award-winning comedy, dinnerladies. Twenty years on this documentary takes a look back at what it was like working on this well-loved sitcom.

Dinnerladies Diaries

2018

No artwork available
NR

Love on A Saturday Night was a London Weekend Television produced game show that aired on ITV between 7 February and 22 May 2004. It was a replacement show for Blind Date, and lasted only one and a half series before being axed.

Love on a Saturday Night

2004