Michelle Holmes

Holmes was born in Rochdale, Lancashire.^[1]

Holmes performed in a pop band called the Dunky Dobbers. She changed her professional name to gain entry to the actors' union Equity.^{[citation needed]} Holmes' first acting role was in the ITV soap The Practice as Susan Turner the receptionist.^[2] Originally she was given a part as an extra, but after pestering the producers at Granada with multiple phone calls, she was given an audition for Susan which was successful.^[2][1]

Holmes came to prominence as Sue, one of the babysitters in Rita, Sue and Bob Too who are seduced by an older man.^[1] A year later she appeared as Goth Jenny in Damon and Debbie,^[1] and as Tina Fowler in Coronation Street.^[1] Holmes played Yvonne Sparrow in the first three series of Goodnight Sweetheart,^[1] and Maggie Coles in Firm Friends.^[1] She appeared as Marie in two series of Common as Muck.^[1] Holmes has appeared in Emmerdale twice: first in 1992 as Lindsay Carmichael,^[1] and in 1995 as bar manager Britt Woods.^[1]

In 2001, she played Connie Harper in Merseybeat,^[1] and guest starred in the BBC One school drama, Waterloo Road as Lindsey Woodham.^[3] From July 2006 to August 2006, Holmes played Claudie Williams in The Chase, a BBC One drama. Holmes also stars as Genevieve in the ITV drama Life Begins.^[1] She played Theresa in the 2008 series of Shameless^[1] and DC Barbara Maddox in the 2009 production of Lynda La Plante's ITV crime drama Above Suspicion.^[1] In January 2001, Holmes played Pamela Fairbrother and in August 2010 she played Eileen Needham in Heartbeat.^[4]

In March 2017, Holmes played Jude, a neonatal nurse, in the BBC1 hospital drama series Casualty and, in April, she played Maggie Kinsella in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. More recently, she has played café owner Mary in seasons 8 and 9 of Cold Feet.^[5] In October 2022, she portrayed Dora Booth in the BBC soap opera Doctors.^[6]

• Rita, Sue and Bob Too as Sue (1987)
• Coronation Street as Tina Fowler (1989–1990)
• Goodnight Sweetheart as Yvonne Sparrow (1993–1996)
• Emmerdale as Britt Woods (1995)
• Merseybeat as Connie Harper (2001)
• The Chase as Claudie Williams (2006)
• Shameless as Theresa (2008)
• Above Suspicion as DC Barbara Maddox (2009-2012), TV Series, 8 episodes
• The Road to Coronation Street as Brenda (2010)
• Midsomer Murders as Trina Nevins (2016), S18E6: “Harvest of Souls”
• Hollyoaks as Maggie Kinsella/Greta (2017–2018), TV Series 28 episodes
• Cold Feet as Mary (2019)
• Doctors as Dora Booth (2022)

• Michelle Holmes at IMDb
• Michelle Holmes at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• Corrie.net profile
• BBC.co.uk Interview - about her role in Merseybeat