Catherine Tate

Like many British actresses, comedy queen Catherine started her career with bit-parts in series like Casualty and The Bill. After being spotted doing her own stand-up comedy show at the Edinburgh Film Festival, however, she was offered a part in Wild West with Dawn French, before being given her own programme, The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series. Her ensemble of characters was a hit - especially chav teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie 'Nan' Taylor, the cockney grandmother. Her performance on the show earned her a British Comedy Award for best newcomer in 2004. Expanding her repertoire she appeared in Doctor Who's Christmas special entitled The Runaway Bride and was then confirmed as the Doctor's companion for the fourth series. Catherine has also appeared on the big screen in 2006 flicks Starter For Ten, Sixty Six, and Scenes Of A Sexual Nature. A graduate of London's Central School Of Speech And Drama, Catherine was brought up by her florist mum and grandmother. Her partner is stage manager Twig Clark, with whom she has a daughter, Erin, born in 2003. The family live in Fulham.