Debra Stephenson
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Deborah Lee Duffield (' Stephenson; born 4 June 1972), known professionally as Debra Stephenson, is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in '' Playing the Field'' (1999–2000), Shell Dockley in '' Bad Girls'' (1999–2001, 2003) and as Frankie Baldwin in ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'' (2004–2006). Between 2009 and 2011, she co-starred with
Jon Culshaw Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000. Culshaw has voiced ...
in '' The Impressions Show'', a comedy sketch show with impressions of top celebrities. Stephenson has voiced a number of characters for sketch shows such as '' Dead Ringers'' (2014–present) and '' Newzoids'' (2015–2016). She was also a regular team captain on the panel show ''
The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American biographical film, biographical thriller film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore (writer), Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The ...
'' (2018) and appeared in the medical soap opera '' Doctors'' (2019).


Early life

Deborah Lee Stephenson was born on 4 June 1972 in Hull,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, as an only child. Her parents live in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Stephenson attended South Hunsley School in Melton,
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...
, from the age of 11, and during these years she appeared in a number of national television talent shows doing impressions. In 1996, Stephenson graduated in drama from the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre.


Career

At the age of 14, Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's '' Opportunity Knocks'', winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...
. Around the same time she appeared on '' Blue Peter'' doing impressions. She would later appear in other
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programmes such as ''The Friday Zone'' (in which she was a regular presenter) and was a backing singer on Chris Jarvis's 1997 charity single "Glasses". In 1995 she sang vocals on musician and writer John Robb project Sensuround. She also sang in rave band Rhythm Quest, touring rave venues. After graduating as an actor from The Manchester Metropolitan University, Stephenson was cast in various television roles, first appearing in ITV drama Reckless, starring Francesca Annis and Robson Green. In 1998 (for three series) she became one of the main characters in Kay Mellor's comedy drama about women's football, '' Playing the Field.'' Stephenson also appeared in the last two episodes of ITV's adaptation of Catherine Cookson's ''A Dinner of Herbs'', in which she played the adult Kate Roystan, who fell in love with the son of the woman who murdered her grandfather. In 1999, Stephenson played the prominent role of Shell Dockley in the ITV prison drama '' Bad Girls''. Her performance as the psychotic Dockley earned her consecutive nominations for Best Actress at the
National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...
in 1999 and 2000. After three years playing one of the show's most popular characters, Stephenson left in 2001, the same year she appeared on numerous TV light entertainment shows including as '' The Frank Skinner Show'', '' The Alan Titchmarsh Show'', '' The Sharon Osbourne Show'', '' Today with Des and Mel'', as well as taking part in '' Lily Savage's Blankety Blank''; She returned to ''Bad Girls'' for four episodes of the fifth series in 2003. As well as doing stand-up comedy at venues including
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's
Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Com ...
and The 100 Club Stephenson has played several roles as a comic actress on radio and television. These include Hosanna in the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
comedy '' At Home with the Snails'' (2002), and BBC1
sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
'' TV to Go'' in 2000 with Hugh Dennis, Martin Freeman, Mckenzie Crook and Pauline McLynn. Stephenson was also part of '' The Friday Night Project'', interviewing the public and going undercover with disguises such as 'Debbo' and 'Sister Mary'. From June 2004 to December 2006, Stephenson starred in British soap opera ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'' playing Frankie Baldwin. She received nominations for "Best Newcomer" at various TV and soap awards shows. On 14 May 2006, producers announced that Stephenson would be leaving the soap at the end of that year. Her final scenes aired on 31 December 2006. In 2005, Stephenson took part in '' Comic Relief Does Fame Academy'', a singing competition involving celebrities, to raise money for charity, and finished fifth. Among her performances was a rendition of " Cry Me a River" which was called "blemishless". Her participation on the show led to a
recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...
and she released her debut album, ''In The Sunshine'' including
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of the songs she sang on the show. Stephenson was a reporter for
GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...
throughout 2007 as part of '' The Richard Arnold Show''. Stephenson appeared on ''
Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
'' weekly, presenting her 10-week bikini diet plan. This involved demonstrating recipes in the studio kitchen. Stephenson appeared on Channel Virgin 1's immersive style documentary ''The Prisoner:X'' in December 2008. Here she was locked up for four days in a high security prison in America, where she spent a night in segregation and was treated as though she was an actual prisoner doing time in that prison. Stephenson has performed in many pantomimes. Roles have included Aladdin, Peter Pan and Jack (Jack and the Beanstalk) at venues including the Regent Theatre in
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, Nottingham Theatre Royal, Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre and Poole Lighthouse. '' The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson'', led by Stephenson and
Jon Culshaw Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000. Culshaw has voiced ...
, began recording in August 2009. Eight episodes were commissioned by 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 ...
; the first aired on Saturday 31 October 2009. The show was recommissioned for a second series in 2010 and then again for a third series of six episodes which started on 26 October 2011. As of October 2011, only the first series has currently been released on to DVD. In March 2010, Stephenson took part in '' Let's Dance for Sport Relief'' and reached the final after a rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". The judges chose to put her through to the final as she had received some of the highest viewer votes. The final was live on 13 March and she performed the same routine. She was also a contestant on the 2011 ''
Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'' Christmas special. She danced the American Smooth with partner Ian Waite. Stephenson was a guest for four episodes as Naomi Scotcher in '' Waterloo Road''. In October 2012, Stephenson played the television cook, Fanny Cradock in ''Fanny and Friends'' on More4. In 2015 she appeared as mentor alongside Ray Quinn in ITV's talent show '' Get Your Act Together''. Since 2015, she has voiced a number of characters in the ITV puppet sketch show '' Newzoids'' alongside
Jon Culshaw Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000. Culshaw has voiced ...
. A second series aired in 2016. Stephenson has appeared in guest roles on series including ''
Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...
'', '' Spooks'' and '' Where the Heart Is'', as well as '' Doctors'' and ''
Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...
''. She also appeared in the one-off BBC comedy drama '' Young Hyacinth''. Between 2017 and 2018, Stephenson appeared alongside
Diana Vickers Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She was a semi-finalist on ''The X Factor (British series 5), The X Factor'' in 2008, finishing in fourth place. Vickers signed a record deal with RCA Records and, ...
in the stage musical Son of a Preacher Man, in a tour of UK number one theatres. Stephenson has for several years toured UK theatres with her own one woman cabaret show "Night of 100 Voices". She has also performed on board cruise ships such as P&O Aurora and Ventura and also took part in the TV cook show ''Battlechefs'', hosted by Marco Pierre White. In 2018, Stephenson was a regular team captain opposite Rory Bremner on ITV1 panel show The Imitation Game, hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In September 2019, she appeared as Jane in ''Midlife Cowboy'', a new musical at the Pleasance Theatre written by
Tony Hawks Antony Gordon Hawksworth Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 27 February 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Gr ...
. She was the voice of Melania Trump as well as Lady Margaret in the animated movie The Queen's Corgi, released in cinemas in 2019. Stephenson also voices several characters in the ongoing CBBC animated series ''Scream Street''. In December 2020, Stephenson voiced several characters on Spitting Image for the Britbox streaming service. She also voiced deepfake version of the
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
's Alternative Christmas Message on
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on
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.


Personal life

Stephenson married builder James Duffield in June 1999, and they have two children; Max, born in November 2002 and Zoe, born in January 2007.


Filmography

;Television ;Additional credits * ''Coronation Street: Pantomime'' (2005) – Cinderella * ''The Prisoner:X'' (2008) – Herself, contestant * ''Davina McCall: A Comedy Roast'' (2010) –
Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
* '' Comic Relief: The Million Pound Drop'' (2011) –
Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
* '' Tipping Point: Lucky Stars'' (2013) – Herself, contestant * '' Big Star's Little Star'' (2016) – Herself, contestant * ''Pointless Celebrities'' (2021) – Herself, contestant


References


External links

* *
Debra Stephenson
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
*
MMU Alumni website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Debra 1972 births Alumni of the Manchester School of Theatre Comedians from Kingston upon Hull English television actresses English radio actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English voice actresses English women comedians English impressionists (entertainers) Living people Actresses from Kingston upon Hull English expatriate actresses in the United States 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women