Alison Newman (born 25 January 1968) is an English actress best known for her role in the hit

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

television series '' Footballers' Wives'' as Hazel Bailey, and as DCI Samantha Keeble in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''.

Biography

Alison Newman was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, to David and Jenny Newman. She has one sister called Sarah. Both her parents were schoolteachers who encouraged her to take up acting as a hobby but discouraged her from attending stage school when she was younger, a decision she subsequently agreed was probably sensible. Instead, she joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

when she was sixteen. Her father died in October 2002, while she was filming the second series of '' Footballers' Wives''. The producers allowed her to take time off from filming some of her last scenes in the series finale so she could be with her family. Despite studying drama at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

Alison Newman did not work as an actress for almost ten years after graduating. She says that she hated the experience of being at drama school and lost her confidence. During this time, she worked in a variety of professions, including publishing, catering, barwork and spent a number of years working in the music industry. She returned to acting when she was almost 30 after being offered a part in a play written by

Anthony Neilson Anthony Neilson (born 1967, Edinburgh) is a Scottish playwright and director. He is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. Much of his work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence. Neilson has bee ...

, with whom she had previously worked as an assistant director. This was followed by a role playing a psychotic serial killer in '' Touching Evil III'' (1999) with

Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, singer-songwriter and television presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series '' Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray F ...

(who she would later appear with in '' RocketMan''), and the film ''Butterfly Collectors'' (1999), alongside

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After various stage and minor television appearances, Postlethwaite's first major success arose through the film '' Distant Voices, Still Lives'' ...

''Footballers Wives''

In 2002, Newman was cast in the role of ruthless lesbian football agent, and later club chair, Hazel Bailey in ''Footballers Wives''. Newman was allegedly awarded the role on the strength of a two-episode guest appearance in the series '' Bad Girls'', in which she played Renee Williams who set out to secure revenge on nemesis Top Dog Yvonne Atkins ( Linda Henry). Both programmes were made by Shed Productions. The part of Hazel Bailey required Newman to have her naturally blonde hair dyed red. Newman left the show at the end of series 4, when her character decided to return to sports representation, after becoming romantically involved with a professional tennis player.

Other work

After ''Footballers Wives'', Newman played Diane Scott in '' Rocket Man'' for BBC One in the autumn of 2005. In 2008, she appeared as Lynette Hopkins in ''

Rock Rivals ''Rock Rivals'' is a British television drama series following the lives of two celebrity judges on an '' X Factor'' style show as their marriage falls apart. It was produced by Shed Productions, the company behind '' Footballers' Wives'', '' B ...

'', another Shed Productions drama for ITV1, and later that year she appeared as Detective Inspector Samantha Keeble in several episodes of the BBC soap ''

''. She played the part of a back-street abortionist in an episode of the popular BBC One drama ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...

'', as well as appearing in the short film ''Father'' in 2013. In July 2014 Newman resumed the role of DI Samantha Keeble in ''EastEnders'' when her character was put in charge of the Lucy Beale murder case. She departed the role again in June 2016. She returned to the series once again in January 2022 and departed again in January 2023. Newman has extensive theatre experience, including ''Loveplay'' by

Moira Buffini Moira Buffini (born 29 May 1965) is an English dramatist, director, and actor. Early life Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and attended St Mary's College at Rhos-on-Sea in Wales as a day girl. She studied English and Drama at Gold ...

; ''Luminosity'' by Nick Stafford; ''Night of the Soul'' by David Farr and ''The Big Lie'' by Anthony Neilson, all for the RSC, as well as ''The Censor'' and ''The Lying Kind'', both by Anthony Neilson, for the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

, London. Between 2003 and 2006, she appeared in

Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre. The play explores co ...

, both on tour and in the West End. Her most recent theatre work was in ''Two Women'', by

Martina Cole Eilidh Martina Cole (born 30 March 1959) is a British crime writer. she has released twenty-six novels about crime, most of which examine London's gangster underworld. Four of her novels, ''Dangerous Lady'', ''The Jump (1998 TV series), The Jum ...

, and performed at the

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford East (formerly known as Theatre Royal Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with di ...

between February and March 2010. She co-created the TV series '' Harlots'' with

Personal life

Newman is married to Hugh Williams, a graphic designer. They live in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Filmography

Television

Film

Theatre

References

External links

*
Alison Newman on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Alison English television actresses 1968 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester National Youth Theatre members Actresses from Bournemouth