Anna Maxwell Martin

Anna Maxwell Martin
Born	Anna Charlotte Martin (1977-05-27) 27 May 1977 Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Spouse	Roger Michell ​ ​ (m. 2002; sep. 2020)​
Children	2

Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977), sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is a British actress. She has won two British Academy Television Awards, for her portrayals of Esther Summerson in the BBC's 2005 adaptation of Bleak House and "N" in Channel 4's 2008 adaptation of Poppy Shakespeare. She is also known for her roles as DCS Patricia Carmichael in BBC One crime drama Line of Duty (2019–present) and as Kelly Major in Code 404 (2020–present). From 2016 to 2021, Maxwell Martin played the lead role in BBC TV comedy Motherland for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

Her theatre work includes the role of Lyra Belacqua in the production of His Dark Materials (2003–2004) at the National Theatre.

Early life and education

Anna Charlotte Martin was born in Beverley on 27 May 1977 to Rosalind (née Lugassy) and Ivan Martin. Her father was managing director of a pharmaceutical company and her mother was a research scientist. Her mother gave up her job to bring up Anna and her elder brother Adam. She attended Beverley High School where she appeared in school plays. After she left school, Maxwell Martin studied history at Liverpool University.

Maxwell Martin joined the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) after completing her studies at Liverpool. She added the name Maxwell (her grandfather's name) to her surname to distinguish her from another member with the same name when she joined Equity.

Career

Maxwell Martin first came to prominence on the London stage playing the leading role of Lyra in the National Theatre's production of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. She was then cast in the part of Bessie Higgins in the BBC television adaptation Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South in 2004, and made a guest appearance in the 2005 series of Doctor Who. She played Esther Summerson, the central character in the 2005 BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens's Bleak House, for which she won the Best Actress BAFTA Television Award in 2006.

In January 2006, Maxwell Martin took part in a reading of The Entertainer at the Royal Court Theatre, and in February and March she appeared in Laura Wade's Other Hands, directed by Bijan Sheibani at the Soho Theatre. She is the narrator of the CD version of The Foreshadowing, a children's book about the First World War by Marcus Sedgwick, which was published in May 2006. In the same year she worked on I Really Hate My Job, directed by Oliver Parker and, from October 2006 to April 2007, played Sally Bowles in Bill Kenwright and Rufus Norris's West End production of Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre.

She played Cassandra Austen in Becoming Jane, a 2007 film about the early life of the novelist Jane Austen, starring American actress Anne Hathaway in the title role. At the end of the year she played the gaoler's daughter in Lee Hall's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, a multimillion-pound production by Box TV for BBC One, and was the joint narrator (with Anton Lesser) of the CD version of Tamar, a children's book about the Second World War by Mal Peet, which was published in December 2007.

In 2008, she starred in the BBC Two drama White Girl and with Naomie Harris in Channel 4's adaptation of Poppy Shakespeare, for which she won her second Best Actress BAFTA Television Award in 2009.

From July to October of that year, she appeared with Dame Eileen Atkins in The Female of the Species at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. She also appeared in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel Crooked House. In July 2009 she appeared in the BBC Two drama Freefall, and played Neil Armstrong's wife, Janet, in Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, an ITV1 drama documentary to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

In February 2010, she played freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke in On Expenses, a BBC Four satirical drama, and later played Isabella in Shakespeare's Measure For Measure at the Almeida Theatre.

In February 2011, she played Sarah Burton in a three-part BBC adaptation of Winifred Holtby's novel South Riding. On 12 July 2011, she played Kay Langrish in a BBC Two dramatisation of The Night Watch. Beginning in September 2012, she starred in the drama mini-series The Bletchley Circle (2012–2014). On 4 September 2012, she appeared in Jimmy McGovern's Accused.

In December 2013 she returned to the world of Jane Austen, starring as Elizabeth Darcy in the BBC Christmas season drama Death Comes to Pemberley, a three-part television adaptation of the P. D. James novel of the same name which continues the events of Austen's Pride and Prejudice six years after Darcy and Elizabeth's marriage, with a murder mystery plot involving the same characters.

In 2015, she played Mary Shelley in ITV drama series The Frankenstein Chronicles. She also starred in the BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None as Ethel Rogers.

In 2017, she played the lead role in sitcom Motherland. The show returned for a second series in 2019 and another in May 2021.

In 2019, she played Beelzebub, leader of the denizens of Hell, in the Amazon Prime TV serial Good Omens, based on the book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. In the same year she joined the cast of Line of Duty during its fifth series playing DCS Patricia Carmichael, a role she reprised in series six.

In 2021, she played the co-lead role in Hollington Drive an ITV television drama series that began broadcasting on 29 September 2021. Created and written by Sophie Petzal, the series follows two sisters, Theresa (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Helen (Rachael Stirling), and their families as they grapple with the potential crime of their children.

Personal life

Maxwell Martin was married to film director Roger Michell after his divorce from Kate Buffery. The couple have two daughters. In April 2020, Maxwell Martin announced that the couple had separated. Michell died in September 2021.

Filmography

Television and film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2002	Midsomer Murders	Arabella Heywood	TV series (1 episode: "Murder on St. Malley's Day")
	Eddie Loves Mary	Interviewee	Short
2004	Enduring Love	Penny	Film
	North & South	Bessie Higgins	TV mini-series
2005	Doctor Who	Suki Macrae Cantrell	TV series (1 episode: "The Long Game")
	Bleak House	Esther Summerson	BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress
2006	The Other Man	Christine	Short
	The Wind in the Willows	Gaoler's Daughter	TV film
2007	I Really Hate My Job	Madonna	Film
	Becoming Jane	Cassandra Austen	Film
2008	White Girl	Debbie	TV film
	Poppy Shakespeare	N	BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress
2009	Free Agents	Sophie	TV series (3 episodes)
	Freefall	Mandy Potter	TV film
	Moonshot	Janet Armstrong	TV film
2010	On Expenses	Heather Brooke	TV film
2011	South Riding	Sarah Burton	Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress
	CBeebies Bedtime Stories	Herself	TV series (5 episodes)
	The Night Watch	Kay Langrish	TV film
2012	Accused	Tina Dhakin	TV series (1 episode: "Tina's Story")
2012–2014	The Bletchley Circle	Susan Gray	TV series (5 episodes)
2013	Death Comes to Pemberley	Elizabeth Darcy	TV mini-series
	Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa	ACC Janet Whitehead	Film
	Philomena	Jane	Film
2014	The Life of Rock with Brian Pern	Jess Hunt	TV mini-series
	The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies	Janine	TV 2-part mini-series
2015	And Then There Were None	Ethel Rogers	TV 3 part mini-series
	Midwinter of the Spirit	Reverend Merrily Watkins	TV 3 part mini-series
	The Frankenstein Chronicles	Mary Shelley	TV series (4 episodes)
2016	Reg	Sally Keys	TV film
	Chubby Funny	Sally	Film
	Motherland	Julia	TV pilot
2017	Tracey Ullman's Show	Herself	TV series (1 episode)
2017–2021	Motherland	Julia	Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance
2018	Urban Myths	Agatha Christie	TV series (1 episode: "Agatha Christie")
	Mother's Day	Wendy Parry	TV film
2019	Good Omens	Beelzebub	TV series
	Ilkley	DCI Brough	Main role
2019–present	Line of Duty	DCS Patricia Carmichael	TV series
2019	The Personal History of David Copperfield	Mrs Strong	Film
2020–present	Code 404	Kelly Major	TV series
2020	The Duke	Ms. Gowling
2021	The Irregulars	Edith Dubois	TV Series
	Hollington Drive	Theresa	ITV drama series
2022	Mandy	Eva	Comedy series (1 Episode: "SpaceMandy")
	Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway	Herself (Star Guest Announcer)	Series 18, Episode 5
	Who Do You Think You Are?	Herself	Series 19, Episode 4
TBC	A Spy Among Friends		TV series; In post-production

Radio

• The Tall One as Samantha (BBC Radio 4, 1 to 5 September 2003)
• The Raj Quartet as Daphne Manners (BBC Radio 4, 10 April to 5 June 2005)
• The Ante Natal Clinic as Ros (BBC Radio 4, 19 January 2006)
• The Sea as Rose (BBC Radio 4, 15 April 2006)
• Great Expectations as Estella (BBC Radio 4, 6 and 13 August 2006)
• The Invention of Childhood as one of several readers (BBC Radio 4, 25 September to 3 November 2006)
• Berlin – Soundz Decadent as herself (BBC Radio 2, 2 January 2007)
• Crooked House as Sophia Leonides (BBC Radio 4, 8 to 29 February 2008)
• Words and Music: The Soft Machine as one of two poetry readers (BBC Radio 3, 1 June 2008)
• The Portrait of a Lady as Isabel Archer (BBC Radio 4, 13 to 27 July 2008)
• Villette as Lucy Snowe (BBC Radio 4, 3 to 7 and 10 to 14 August 2009)
• Au Pairs as Dorika (BBC Radio 4, 7 to 11 September 2009)
• Chekhov's Seven and a Half Years as Olga in Three Sisters (BBC Radio 3, 24 January 2010)
• The New Radio 2 Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman as herself (BBC Radio 2, 15 March 2010)
• Words and Music: Malady as one of two readers (BBC Radio 3, 11 April 2010)
• The Wings of the Dove as Milly Theale (BBC Radio 4, 1, 8 and 15 August 2010)
• The White Devil as Vittoria (BBC Radio 3, 15 August 2010)
• Faust as Gretchen (BBC Radio 3, 19 September 2010)
• Juvenile Jane as the extract reader (BBC Radio 4, 23 November 2010)

Audiobooks

• Peet, Mal & Lesser, Anton (narrator) & Martin, Anna Maxwell (narrator) (December 2007). Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal. Walker Books Ltd.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
• Sedgwick, Marcus & Martin, Anna Maxwell (narrator) (May 2006). The Foreshadowing. Orion Publishing Group Limited.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
• Agatha Christie, Anna Maxwell Martin (narrator), Rory Kinnear (narrator) (September 2010) Crooked House. BBC Audio
• Henry James, Rachel Joyce (dramatisation), Anna Maxwell Martin (narrator), Haydn Gwynne (narrator), Robert Bathurst (narrator), Gayle Hunnicutt (narrator), (May 2013) Portrait of a Lady

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Theatre	Notes
2001	The Little Foxes	Alexandra	Donmar Warehouse
2001–2	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	Lucy	RSC at the Sadler's Wells Theatre
2002	The Coast of Utopia	Alexandra/Maria/Tata	Royal National Theatre
2003	Honour	Sophie	Royal National Theatre
2003	Three Sisters	Irina	Royal National Theatre
2003–4	His Dark Materials	Lyra	Royal National Theatre
2004	Dumb Show	Liz	Royal Court Theatre, West End
2006	Other Hands	Hayley	Soho Theatre
2006–7	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Lyric Theatre, West End
2008	The Female of the Species	Molly Rivers	Vaudeville Theatre, West End
2010	Measure for Measure	Isabella	Almeida Theatre
2013	Di and Viv and Rose	Rose	Hampstead Theatre
2014	King Lear	Regan	Royal National Theatre
2015–6	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth	Young Vic
2017	Consent	Kitty	Royal National Theatre
2021	Constellations	Arlene	Vaudeville Theatre, West End

Readings and benefits

• The Lady of Larkspur Lotion (rehearsed reading) as Mrs Hardwicke-Moore at the National Theatre (21 October 2002)
• Hello from Bertha (rehearsed reading) as Goldie at the National Theatre (22 October 2002)
• Collateral Damage II (poetry) at the National Theatre (14 March 2003)
• Songs of Innocence and Experience (poetry) at the National Theatre (18 February 2004)
• The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (poetry) at the National Theatre (25 February 2004)
• Will and Lyra as herself (interview) at the National Theatre (26 March 2004)
• After the Fire (rehearsed reading) at the National Theatre (7 March 2005)
• The Black Glove (rehearsed reading) at the National Theatre (15 March 2005)
• Snowbound (showcase) at the Royal National Theatre Studio (October 2005)
• The Entertainer (rehearsed reading) as Jean at the Royal Court Theatre (16 January 2006)
• Top Girls (reading) as Pope Joan at the Royal Court Theatre (19 September 2008)
• Pencil (10-minute play in the 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala) at the Old Vic (1 November 2009)

Awards

• Nominated for Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2005 for role of Lyra in His Dark Materials (Clare Higgins won)
• Third in BBC Drama Poll for Best Actress in 2006 for role of Esther Summerson in Bleak House (Billie Piper won, Gillian Anderson second)
• Nominated for Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress in 2006 for role of Esther Summerson in Bleak House (Gillian Anderson won)
• Won British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2006 for role of Esther Summerson in Bleak House
• Nominated for Royal Television Society Programme Award for Best Actor (Female) in 2009 for role of N in Poppy Shakespeare (Andrea Riseborough won)
• Won British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2009 for role of N in Poppy Shakespeare
• Nominated for British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2011 for role of Sarah Burton in South Riding (Vicky McClure won)
• Nominated for British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2018 for role of Julia in Motherland (Daisy May Cooper won)

Further reading

Sophie Heawood (26 August 2018), "Interview—Anna Maxwell Martin", The Observer.

External links

• Anna Maxwell Martin at IMDb
• Anna in His Dark Materials
• Article on HisDarkMaterials.org