Lorraine Ashbourne

Acting

Lorraine Ashbourne

Born

1961-01-07 (65)

Place of birth

Manchester, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

75 titles

Lorraine Ashbourne (born 1961 in Manchester) is an English stage, film and television actress. She attended Wilbraham High School, when living in Fallowfield. She joined Stretford Children's Theatre. She took part in the University of Manchester Stage Society and Manchester Youth Theatre. She joined the Webber Drama School on 19 April 1982. Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: Playing the Field (1998), Unforgotten (2017), Grantchester (2017), Maigret in Montmartre (2017), Midsomer Murders (2018), The Street, and Jericho. As a stage actor, Lorraine regularly appeared at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, portraying roles such as Kate Hardcastle i…

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 8 titles

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim poster
6.5

A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and traitorous lord of Rohan seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

2024

I Used to Be Famous poster
6.9

A former boy band star unexpectedly gets a second shot at success when he forms a bond with a gifted young drummer.

I Used to Be Famous

2022

Hitpig! poster
6.7

A porcine bounty hunter accepts his next hit: Pickles, a naive, ebullient elephant. Though he initially sets out to capture the perky pachyderm, the unlikely pair find themselves crisscrossing the globe on an adventure that brings out the best in both of them.

Hitpig!

2024

Allelujah poster
5.4

When news of the closure of a small hospital's geriatric ward begins to reach the community, the hospital invites a local news crew to document their planning of a concert in honor of the hospital's most celebrated nurse. But there might be something more threatening to the hospital itself, more deadly than the politicians ready to shut down the place at a moment's notice.

Allelujah

2023

A Christmas Carol poster
7.5

The radical new take on Dickens’ classic seeks both to exhume the original story’s gritty commentary on social inequality and the corrupting influence of greed, and to breathe new life into the lyricism of the original text by setting its scenes to extraordinary tableaux of modern dance.

A Christmas Carol

2020

I Hate Suzie Too poster
NR

I Hate Suzie Too, the three-part anti-Christmas special, written by Lucy Prebble (Secret Diary of a Call Girl, The Effect, Succession) and Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Yerma, Rare Beasts), follows former child star Suzie Pickles, also played by Piper, as she attempts to rebuild her public image after losing her marriage, her agent and primary custody of her son in the wake of the photo-hacking scandal. Desperate for redemption, Suzie signs on to the chaotic reality dance competition Dance Crazee Xmas, where every performance becomes another battle for public approval.

I Hate Suzie Too

2022

National Theatre Live: Till The Stars Come Down poster
10.0

It's Sylvia and Marek's wedding and you are all invited. Over the course of a hot summer's day, a family gathers to welcome a newcomer into their midst. But as the vodka flows and dances are shared, passions boil over and the limits of love are tested. What happens when the happiest day of your life opens the door to a new, frightening and uncertain future?

National Theatre Live: Till The Stars Come Down

2024

No Masks poster
NR

No Masks from Theatre Royal Stratford East and Moonshine Features present a new work based on the real-life experiences and testimonies of key workers from East London.

No Masks

2020

2010s · 12 titles

Child 44 poster
6.3

Set in Stalin-era Soviet Union, a disgraced MGB agent is dispatched to investigate a series of child murders -- a case that begins to connect with the very top of party leadership.

Child 44

2015

A Street Cat Named Bob poster
7.9

James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.

A Street Cat Named Bob

2016

Blinded by the Light poster
6.9

In 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family, and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Blinded by the Light

2019

Breathe poster
7.4

Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.

Breathe

2017

The Selfish Giant poster
7.2

A hyperactive boy and his best friend, a slow-witted youth with an affinity for horses, start collecting scrap metal for a shady dealer.

The Selfish Giant

2013

Oranges and Sunshine poster
6.9

The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

Oranges and Sunshine

2010

Adult Life Skills poster
6.2

Anna is stuck: she’s approaching 30 and has just moved back to her rural home-town, and into a shed in her mother’s backyard. She spends her time working a menial job at a local boating center and hides in the depths of her imagination, making movies with her thumbs. Irritated by her childish behavior, Anna's mother insists that she move out of her shed and on with her life. When a troubled young boy starts hanging around, the two form an unlikely bond. Through their strange yet mutually beneficial friendship, Anna slowly begins to confront her perpetual state of arrested development.

Adult Life Skills

2016

The Queen and I poster
6.3

A new republican prime minister strips the British monarch and her family of their money and assets, and forces them to live on a rundown council estate.

The Queen and I

2018

Thorne: Scaredycat poster
6.2

Two women have been murdered within hours of one another near St. Pancras station, but in quite different ways. When a connection is made with two other murders which occurred months before, but also on the same day, DI Thorne realizes two serial killers may be at work in a macabre partnership

Thorne: Scaredycat

2010

Emotional Fusebox poster
6.6

Anna lives a hermit's life in her Mum's garden shed, making videos starring her thumbs. She wants to stay there but her Mum has other plans.

Emotional Fusebox

2014

Bunny and Clive poster
NR

News of a new girlfriend disrupts mother-and-son crime duo, Bunny and Clive.

Bunny and Clive

2016

The Bind poster
NR

When Ruth's son Jamie discovers his father has left the family farm to his brother Sam, he is enraged. Jamie has worked on the farm for twenty years, and to him this is the very worst kind of betrayal. In the middle of the night, a shotgun in hand, Jamie drags his daughter across to his parents' house to confront them. It falls to Ruth to talk herself and her family out of a life-threatening hostage situation in which one false move could cost her everything.

The Bind

2019

2000s · 7 titles

King Kong poster
6.9

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

King Kong

2005

Housewife, 49 poster
6.0

Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops - provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.

Housewife, 49

2006

A Bunch of Amateurs poster
5.8

Jefferson Steel, a washed-up Hollywood action star, is desperate to revive his flagging career. When his sleazy agent signs him up for what he believes is a high-profile Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear at Stratford upon Avon, Steel thinks he has finally landed the plum role he has been waiting for. However, he soon discovers that he has been tricked into joining an amateur dramatics group for a charity production.

A Bunch of Amateurs

2008

The Martins poster
5.3

Out of work, scrounger Robert Martin lives with his dysfunctional family - long suffering wife accident prone son and pregnant teenage daughter in a shabby house next door to a giant shopping center in the London suburbs. The Martins are the family from hell! Robert dreams if winning a dream holiday for his family, and when he fails to win yet another competition he flips, out tracks down the elderly winners, ties them up in the cellar and steals their tickets!

The Martins

2001

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas poster
4.0

This is the time of year when friends and family gather round the television to exchange the traditional greeting -“Don’t bother, there’s nothing on”. Well this Christmas join Victoria Wood for her ‘Mid Life Christmas’ featuring highlights from the Mid Life Olympics 2009, with the most unlikely sporting events and a dance number that brings together the killer combo of midriff bulge. Victoria then dons a bonnet and corset, for the popular costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford, and revel in the further adventures of soap star Bo Beaumont played by long term collaborator Julie Walters. DVD extras include the searing in-depth documentary (!) ‘What larks!’

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas

2009

A Christmas Carol poster
6.5

Loan shark Eddie Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

A Christmas Carol

2000

No artwork available
6.0

Victoria Wood delves into the making of her Mid-Life Christmas, with behind the scenes footage from sketches including Lark Pies to Cranchesterford and the Midlife Olympics. The making of Victoria Wood's Mid-Life Christmas.

Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays

2009

1990s · 4 titles

Series credits

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

Bridgerton poster
8.0

Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.

Bridgerton

2020

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

The Crown poster
8.2

The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.

The Crown

2016

Silent Witness poster
7.6

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

Silent Witness

1996

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

Peak Practice poster
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993

The Bill poster
6.8

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The Bill

1984

New Tricks poster
7.3

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.

New Tricks

2004

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

Unforgotten poster
7.6

London police detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan investigate historic cold cases involving missing persons, murder and long-hidden secrets.

Unforgotten

2015

Law & Order: UK poster
7.0

Adapted from the hit US series, Law & Order: UK follows a team of police detectives and prosecutors representing the public interest in the criminal justice system.

Law & Order: UK

2009

Pie in the Sky poster
8.3

Pie in the Sky is a British offbeat police comedy drama programme starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997 as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series departs slightly from other police dramas in that the protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty policeman, is also the head chef of the title restaurant set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.

Pie in the Sky

1994

Rafferty's Rules poster
8.0

Rafferty's Rules was an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1990 on the Seven Network. Rafferty's Rules was one of the first programs undertaken by the Seven Network's then new in-house drama unit, going into production in May 1985 as "a 15-part courtroom drama". The program had started out as a pilot episode, recorded in early 1984 with the actor Chris Haywood in the lead role. When the pilot episode was remounted later in 1984, Chris Haywood wasn't available and the lead role was re-cast to John Wood. This second recording was eventually broadcast as the program's first episode.

Rafferty's Rules

1987

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

Lark Rise to Candleford poster
8.4

Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance.

Lark Rise to Candleford

2008

Sherwood poster
6.9

Old grudges, new rivalries. A tangled web of murder and revenge spirals in a fractured Nottinghamshire mining community. Powerful drama with Lesley Manville and David Morrissey.

Sherwood

2022

In Suspicious Circumstances poster
6.5

Introduced by renowned English actor Edward Woodward, In Suspicious Circumstances is an anthology of reenactments depicting real-life murder mysteries, some famous and some obscure, exploring cases with elements of miscarriage of justice, unsolved mysteries, and unusual circumstances, often spanning different historical periods.

In Suspicious Circumstances

1991

Jane Eyre poster
7.6

Charlotte Bronte's classic about an orphan girl who grows up to become a governess in a gloomy manor in Yorkshire, where she falls in love with the mysterious Edward Rochester.

Jane Eyre

2006

Little Crackers poster
6.8

Little Crackers is a series of Christmas short films featuring stars of British and Irish comedy.

Little Crackers

2010

London Spy poster
7.0

A chance romance between two men from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess, leads into mystery after one of them suddenly disappears.

London Spy

2015

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

After the Flood poster
7.0

Joanna finds an unidentified man dead in a lift in a underground car park after a devastating flood, police assumes that he became trapped as the waters rose, but she is obsessed with discovering what happened to him.

After the Flood

2024

Thorne poster
6.4

DI Tom Thorne finds himself dragged back into the nightmares of his past as he races against time to find a serial killer who carries out unusual attacks on young women.

Thorne

2010

Jericho poster
6.3

In the Yorkshire Dales in the 1870s, the shantytown of Jericho is the home of a community that will live, thrive and die in the shadow of the viaduct they've been brought together to build.

Jericho

2016

City Central poster
NR

The everyday public and private lives of the detectives, policemen and policewomen who work at the inner-city Christmas Street police station in Manchester.

City Central

1998

Playing the Field poster
5.3

The on-the-field trials and tribulations and the off-the-field lives, loves and infidelities of 'The Castlefield Blues', an under funded, badly managed ladies football team from South Yorkshire in the north of England whose loyalty to the team, the game and each other far exceeds their chances of ever winning the championship.

Playing the Field

1998

Alma's Not Normal poster
7.2

Big dreams, no qualifications and always herself. Mum’s been sectioned, Gran’s too busy, but after a messy break-up, wild child Alma aims to break free in Bolton.

Alma's Not Normal

2020

The Interceptor poster
5.8

A gripping eight-part series about a state-of-the-art law enforcement team whose unswerving mission is to hunt down some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals. The Interceptor delves into the adventures of a dedicated surveillance team known as the UNIT. Keeping their quarries under ultra-tight surveillance, they take us into the real world inhabited by the criminals of today. And it’s easy to recognize because it’s the same world the rest of us inhabit.

The Interceptor

2015

Chiller poster
6.2

Chiller is a five-part British horror anthology television series, produced by Yorkshire Television, broadcast on ITV from 9 March to 27 April 1995. Described by The Guardian as ITV's 'answer to The X Files', the series is inspired by, but unconnected to, the 1991 Channel 4 thriller Gray Cray Dolls, which broadcast under the Chiller banner. The series featured writing contributions from renowned playwrights Stephen Gallagher, Glenn Chandler and Anthony Horowitz.

Chiller

1995

I Hate Suzie poster
6.6

Suzie Pickles, a star on the wane, has her whole life upended when her phone is hacked and a photo of her emerges in an extremely compromising position.

I Hate Suzie

2020

Cheat poster
6.3

University lecturer Dr Leah Dale has always prided herself on her academic integrity so when final year student Rose, submits a suspiciously top-grade essay, Leah is quick to call her out. But there’s more going on than meets the eye as Rose takes the challenge as a personal affront, and what begins as a seemingly open and shut case of academic deception soon spirals out of control.

Cheat

2019

True Dare Kiss poster
7.0

True Dare Kiss is a British television drama produced for BBC One. It is written by Debbie Horsfield and produced by Marcus Wilson and features Dervla Kirwan, David Bradley and Lorraine Ashbourne. It concerns the reunion of four sisters and a brother following the death of their estranged father, uncovering the truth, hiding secrets, and a cataclysmic event in the past. The series, set in the city of Manchester in the North-West of England, was aired in six parts from 28 June 2007. Filming for the series began on 8 January 2007.

True Dare Kiss

2007

Mr. Wroe's Virgins poster
5.6

Prophet John Wroe preaches of the coming Apocalypse and appeals for seven virgins to 'serve' him in his home. This series is their story. Based on the novel by Jane Rogers.

Mr. Wroe's Virgins

1993

Riot Women poster
7.6

Five women along with two riotous backing singers come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest, but in writing their first original song, soon discover that they have a lot to say - and this is their way to say it.

Riot Women

2025

Murderland poster
5.8

Murderland is a 2009 British television drama miniseries created by David Pirie and directed by Catherine Morshead. The three-part serial concerns the points of view of a mystery surrounding a traumatic murder, as seen from the perspective of the three primary characters: Carrie, the daughter of the murdered woman; Douglas Hain, the detective in charge of the investigation; and Sally, the murder victim, all have their story to tell. Haunted by her mother's murder when she was a child, Carrie seeks to uncover the truth so that she can move on with her life. As the investigation unfolds, Carrie's yearning to discover who murdered her mother grows more intense, bringing her closer to the detective working the case.

Murderland

2009

No artwork available
6.0

Divorced single mother Julia Merrygrove works as a local councillor whilst also holding down a job in a biscuit factory. She begins an affair with George Rudge, her opposite number on the council.

Rich Tea and Sympathy

1991

No artwork available
6.0

Thin Ice was a British comedy television show on BBC Two starring Marc Wootton and Nina Wadia. All the episodes were written by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp. It began on 28 February 2006 and ran for six 30 minute episodes until 4 April 2006. It was based around an ice rink in Derby, revolving around the intense rivalry which exists between an amateur ice-skating trainer and her nemesis. The programme was filmed, however, at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, and around the town of Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, which are mentioned as to where the British Championships would be held in the series. The programme ran for one series, but was not renewed by the BBC.

Thin Ice

2006

Public Enemies poster
6.6

Public Enemies explores the relationship between 28-year-old Eddie, recently released on life licence from prison after serving 10 years, and his probation officer, Paula, returning from suspension following a shocking crime committed by an offender under her supervision.

Public Enemies

2012

No artwork available
NR

First transmitted in 2004 to commemorate the channel's 40th birthday, stars and programme makers come together to look back at the story of BBC Two.

Happy Birthday BBC Two

2014