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Sheridan Smith returning to TV after turbulent year

Ainhoa Barcelona
Content Managing Editor
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She's had a tough year battling stress and coming to terms with her father's cancer diagnosis, but Sheridan Smith is set to make a TV comeback.

The 35-year-old actress will narrate the new series of Crackanory on Dave – an update on the popular sixties children's series Jackanory.

"She was brilliant on set, really lovely to work with and read brilliantly," a source told The Mirror. "She's a brilliant actress and the programme were delighted to have her."

sheridan smith2© Photo: PA

Sheridan Smith will narrate the new series of Crackanory

Crackanory is a storytelling TV series aimed at adults. Each episode features two 15-minute tales combining live action with animation and music.

Sheridan will star alongside Anna Friel, Bob Mortimer and Mel Giedroyc, who recently announced that she is stepping down from her Great British Bake Off role.

sheridan smith1© Photo: PA

The 35-year-old will also star in The Moorside Project

The new Crackanory series is due to air in 2017 but before then fans will also see Sheridan in the BBC's The Moorside Project. Based on the Moors murders, Sheridan will play Julie Bushby, the woman who led the search for nine-year-old Shannon Matthews after her disappearance in 2008.

Her role was announced earlier this year, with Sheridan saying: "The story is a fascinating mixture of what I thought I knew and a whole lot more that I had no idea about. The themes of faith and trust in human nature, and the way the whole community came together really inspired me."

sheridan smith4© Photo: Rex

Sheridan took a break from her stage role Funny Girl over the summer

It's been a difficult year for the Lincolnshire-born actress. Sheridan was signed off from her part in West End show Funny Girl due to "stress and exhaustion" for weeks.

It was suggested that the Jonathan Creek star was struggling to come to terms with her father Colin's cancer diagnosis in March. Her brother Julian sadly passed away from the disease when he was just eight.

Last year Sheridan played breast cancer sufferer Lisa Lynch in the heart-breaking TV drama The C Word, for which she lost out on a BAFTA award.

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