Manjinder Virk is a British actress, director and writer. She has appeared in the television series '' Holby City'' (1999), '' Doctors'' (2000), ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' (2004), '' The Ghost Squad'' (2005), ''

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'' (2009), '' Skins'' (2010), '' Monroe'' (2011), '' Hunted'' (2012) and ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'' (2016 –2018). She has also written and directed the short films ''Forgive'' (2008) and ''Out of Darkness'' (2013), the latter of which she won Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

Early life

Virk was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

, England. Her mother's name is Jasvir. She comes from a family of three children. She began acting at the Belgrade Youth Theatre in Coventry and went on to become artistic director of Pangram Dance Theatre with her brother, Hardish. She went on to earn a degree in contemporary dance at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ta ...

in Leicester.

Career

In 1999, Virk started off on the British TV series '' Holby City'', which was just the beginning of her television career. She later appeared in three separate episodes of the TV soap opera '' Doctors'', first in 2000 as Karen Slater, again in 2004 as Laila Khalid and in 2007 playing Harpit Jindal. She played Nasima Wahid in 2007's '' Britz'' and portrayed Lorraine Dunbar in the 2010 documentary '' The Arbor''. For the latter, she earned three nominations: Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the BIFA Awards. She also had a small recurring role on the British medical drama show '' Monroe'', recently appeared on the new

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

show '' Hunted'' and has a recurring role on ''

.'' In 2003, she wrote a play for a show for touring company Theatre Centre titled ''Glow''. In 2008, Virk wrote and directed the short film ''Forgive'' starring Sacha Dhawan and Abdi Gouhad. In 2012, she wrote and directed another short called ''Out of Darkness'' starring Tom Hiddleston, Monica Dolan, Andrew Gower, Jimmy Akingbola, Christine Bottomley and

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. In 2022 she appeared as DI Samira Desai in the thriller series

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alongside Vicky McClure

Personal life

She met husband Neil Biswas on the set of the TV drama '' Bradford riots'' in 2007. As of 2013, she and her husband live in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

, South London.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Virk was nominated in 2010 for Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the BIFA Awards, both for her role in '' The Arbor''. She was one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow in Screen International in 2007. She was also nominated for Asian Woman of Achievement Award in 2008. In 2013, for her short film ''Out of Darkness'', Virk won Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virk, Manjinder Living people Alumni of De Montfort University English people of Indian descent English Sikhs English television actresses English film actresses British actresses of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people)