Sara Powell (born 23 June 1968) is a British-Jamaican stage, screen and

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

actress and audiobook

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

. Her regular television roles include

crown prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...

Rachel Barker 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 ...

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

drama ''

HolbyBlue ''HolbyBlue'' (also known as ''Holby Blue'') is a British police procedural drama series that ran for two series from 2007 to 2008. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. T ...

'' (2007–2008), driver Sally Reid in ITV's

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

drama ''London's Burning'' (1993–1994) and

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

Cass in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's sitcom '' Damned'' (2016–2018). She also played historical figure

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...

in the thirteenth series of the

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

long-running

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' (2021), as well as a number of other characters in its spin-off

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

, produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

Early life and education

Powell was born on 23 June 1968 in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. She loved acting from a very young age, making up little shows together with her brother and forcing her father and any guests at home to watch them. Sara studied Commerce (B.Com) at Birmingham University from 1986 to 1989. She studied acting at London's

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

Career

Television

Powell's television debut happened in 1992, in an episode of the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-winning

police drama '' Between the Lines''. From 1993 to 1994, she appeared in her first regular role in both the sixth and seventh series of the ITV

drama ''London's Burning'', playing Sally Reid, the watch's first female driver. In 2007, she joined the main cast of the BBC

drama ''

'' (2007–2008), playing senior

Rachel Barker throughout the first and second series. From 2016 to 2018, Powell appeared as psychologist Cass in both series of the

sitcom '' Damned'' (2016–2018), starring comedians

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...

and

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...

. Her other television highlights include the ITV crime dramas '' The Ice Cream Girls'' (2013), '' Little Boy Blue'' (2017) and '' Unforgotten'' (2018), comedy thriller ''

You, Me and the Apocalypse ''You, Me and the Apocalypse'' is a British-American comedy-drama miniseries. The series was green-lit on 8 January 2015. It debuted on Sky 1 on 30 September 2015 and on NBC on 28 January 2016. Sky 1 said in March 2016 there would be no sec ...

'' (2015), medical drama ''The Family Man'' (2006), situation comedy ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' (2021) and the film ''My Zinc Bed'' (2008), starring

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...

. In 2021, she played historical figure

in the episode " War of the Sontarans" of the BBC's long-running

series ''

'', featuring the

Thirteenth Doctor The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She is played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, in three series, five specials and a ...

, played by

Jodie Whittaker Jodie Auckland Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles on television as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017) and the Thirteenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022, 2025). She came to pro ...

. Fans of the classic ''Doctor Who'' series, broadcast from 1963 to 1989, may also be familiar with Powell's voice, as she has portrayed more than ten other characters in several ''Doctor Who'' audio drama spin-offs from

, featuring the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Fourth, Sixth and

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-o ...

Stage work

Since 1995, she has appeared on stage as often as on television, taking part in about thirty productions at the National Theatre,

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalston, houses two studio ...

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

, Birmingham Rep and more. Powell played various Shakespearean roles, such as

Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "m ...

in ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

'' (1999),

Lady Macduff Lady Macduff is a character in William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. She is married to Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Her appearance in the play is brief: she and her son are introduced in Act IV Scene II, a climactic scene that ends with both ...

in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' (2005) and

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

in ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (2017). Her other classical credits include playing Cariola in

John Webster John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

revenge tragedy Revenge tragedy (sometimes referred to as revenge drama, revenge play, or tragedy of blood) is a theatrical genre, in which the principal theme is revenge and revenge's fatal consequences. Formally established by American educator Ashley H. Tho ...

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theat ...

'' (2000–2001) for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

's touring production, directed by

Gale Edwards Annette Gale Edwards (born 14 November 1954) is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. Professional career Edwards began her career at ...

. In 2005, Powell starred opposite ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' star

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director, and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Pri ...

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Fest ...

's original West End production of '' Some Girl(s)'' at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

. The cast also included

Catherine Tate Catherine Tate (born Catherine Jane Ford, 5 December 1969) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC Two, BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), as well as bein ...

Lesley Manville Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including two Laurence Olivier Awards and nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, four British Academy Television ...

and

Saffron Burrows Saffron Burrows (born 22 October 1972) is a British and American actress who has appeared in films such as '' Circle of Friends,'' '' Wing Commander,'' '' Deep Blue Sea,'' '' Gangster No. 1,'' '' Enigma,'' ''Troy,'' '' Reign Over Me'', and '' Th ...

. In April 2003, she made her debut as a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

with ''Come Out Eli'', a play based on the events of the

Hackney siege The Hackney siege was a criminal event that took place in Hackney, London, Hackney, in East London, England, for 15 days from 26 December 2002 to 9 January 2003. It ended with the death of the gunman, Eli Hall. Background Eli Hall, born in Jamaic ...

, Britain's longest police siege. It opened at the

Tristan Bates Theatre Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...

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 ...

only four months after the siege ended. The story was told through recounting interviews taken from eyewitnesses and local residents during the incident. Powell dismissed accusations that the production was exploiting a tragedy, "This snot exploitative to me because we are re-telling people's stories. We are not using the stories in any way because we are telling them in the way they told us during the interviews. It is a different method of

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

to your usual theatre experience. It is technically quite difficult but it does capture the nuances of tone and speech in a very real way." In 2019, she got a small part in the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film ''

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael, it was released on 3 December 1984 via CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side via Epic Records with " Everything She Wants" in several Eur ...

'', written by

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Emma Thompson on screen and stage, Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson, her accola ...

and starring ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' actress

Emilia Clarke Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke (born 23 October 1986) is an English actress, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received nominations for four Primetime E ...

. Three years later, she joined Clarke in her West End debut,

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'', directed by Jamie Lloyd. It was broadcast in cinemas worldwide as part of the

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London. It broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions (and those of other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I gre ...

programme, just like Powell's other theatrical production, ''

The Madness of George III ''The Madness of George III'' is a 1991 play by Alan Bennett. It is a fictionalised biographical study of the latter half of the reign of George III of the United Kingdom, his battle with mental illness, and the inability of his court to handle ...

'' (2018), with

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

as the lead. Two more plays starring Powell, ''Mapping the Edge'' (2001) and

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

's '' The Plague'' (2017), have been broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio

Full-cast audio dramas

Audiobook narration

* ''The Cellar'' (2015) by

Minette Walters Minette Caroline Mary Walters Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English writer. Life and work Walters was born in Bishop's Stortford in 1949 to Samuel Jebb and Colleen Jebb. As her father was a serving army officer, the f ...

* ''When I Was Invisible'' (2016) by Dorothy Koomson * ''All Men Want to Know'' (2020) by Nina Bouraoui, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins * ''Bernard and the Cloth Monkey'' (2021) by Judith Bryan * ''The Sex Lives of African Women'' (2021) by

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is a Ghanaian feminist writer and blogger. She co-founded award-winning blog ''Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women'' and has written for ''The Guardian'' and '' Open Democracy''. Sekyiamah is the Director for Com ...

* '' Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution'' (2021) by

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama ( ; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a professor of history and art history at Columbia Uni ...

* ''Assassin's Orbit'' (2021) by John Appel * ''

Sankofa (pronounced ''SAHN''-koh-fah) is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve" (literally "go back and get"; - to return; - to go; - to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono people, Bono Adinkra symbols, Adinkra ...

'' (2021) by Chibundu Onuzo * ''Island Songs'' (2021) by Alex Wheatle * ''What Is History, Now?'' (2021) by Helen Carr and

Suzannah Lipscomb Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978)
, Library of Congress Name Authority File is a Britis ...

* ''In Every Mirror She's Black'' (2021) by Lola Akinmade Åkerström * '' Evelyn Dove: Britain's Black Cabaret Queen'' (2022) by Stephen Bourne * ''The Wordhord'' (2022) by Hana Videen * ''Blood to Poison'' (2022) by Mary Watson * ''The Blunder'' (2022) by Mutt-Lon, translated by Amy B. Reid * ''The Racial Code: Tales of Resistance and Survival'' (2022) by Nicola Rollock

Video games

* '' The Secret World'' (2012) * '' Dragon Age: Inquisition'' (2014) * '' Dragon Age: Inquisition – Trespasser'' (2015) * '' Red Solstice 2: Survivors'' (2021) * '' Dying Light 2: Stay Human'' (2022)

Theatre

References

External links

*
Sara Powell
at

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a Great Britain, British website covering British comedy, British comedies. BCG publishes guides to TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, va ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Sara Living people 1968 births Black British actresses Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama British television actresses British stage actresses British film actresses Audiobook narrators British video game actresses British voice actresses Jamaican actresses 21st-century British actresses British theatre directors British women theatre directors