# Alice Lowe
**Alice Lowe** (Alice Eva Lowe, born 1977 in Coventry, England) is an English actress, comedy writer, and film director known for the spoof horror series *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace*, the caravan comedy *Sightseers* (2012), and *Prevenge* (2016), which she wrote, directed, and starred in while herself pregnant.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/) • [2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977, Coventry, West Midlands, England[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/) |
| Education | studied Classics at the University of Cambridge; did not audition for the Footlights comedy troupe[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html) |
| Breakthrough | *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace*, playing Madeleine Wool / Dr. Liz Asher[2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//) |
| Signature film | *Sightseers* (2012), co-written with Steve Oram and Amy Jump, directed by Ben Wheatley; BIFA Best Screenplay, Sitges Best Actress and Best Screenplay[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/awards/) |
| Directing debut | the short film *Solitude* (2014)[5](https://www.directorsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/DIRECTORS_NOW-1.pdf) |
| First feature as director | *Prevenge* (2016), shot while roughly seven and a half months pregnant[6](https://filmmakermagazine.com/99751-tiff-2016-five-questions-for-prevenge-directoractor-alice-lowe/) |
| Latest feature | *Timestalker* (2024), a reincarnation romance she wrote, directed, and stars in as Agnes[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker) |
## Cambridge and the Edinburgh Fringe
Lowe came to experimental theater, costume design, sound design, and set design while studying Classics at Cambridge, and she did not audition for [Footlights](https://www.edgepedia.org/footlights), the university's celebrated sketch comedy troupe. She has described the university as "really sexist" and said that coming from a comprehensive school she felt looked down on there, an experience she carried with her for a long time.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html)
In 2000 she appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe in *Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight* alongside fellow Cambridge graduates [Richard Ayoade](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-ayoade) and Matt Holness, with the show nominated for the Perrier Award; the following year *Garth Marenghi's Netherhead*, a spoof of [Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king) written by Ayoade and Holness, won the award, which landed Lowe an agent.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html)
## British television comedy
From 2001 on, Lowe made regular television appearances, becoming what one profile calls a recognisable face if not a household name.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html) Her credits include *Little Britain*, *The Mighty Boosh*, *The IT Crowd*, *Black Books*, *Horrible Histories*, *Come Fly With Me*, and *This Is Jinsy*.[2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//) In *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace*, the [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) spoof horror comedy, she played Madeleine Wool and her in-show counterpart Dr. Liz Asher,[2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//) and she later played the therapist Dr. Haynes in [Charlie Brooker](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-brooker)'s interactive dark comedy *Black Mirror: Bandersnatch*.[2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//) She has also written for television, with writing credits on *Beehive* and *Comedy Lab* and additional material on *Harry and Paul*.[8](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/alice-lowe/credits/3030104302/)
## Sightseers
*Sightseers* (2012) grew from a short film Lowe and co-star Steve Oram made with director Paul King, intended as a teaser for a TV comedy series; it was well received but judged too dark, until [Edgar Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wright) saw its feature potential and connected them with Big Talk Productions.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/sightseers-ben-wheatley-alice-lowe-steve-oram) Ben Wheatley, fresh from the critical success of *Down Terrace* (2009), was brought in to direct the story of a Midlands couple whose caravanning holiday becomes a serial killing spree.[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/sightseers-ben-wheatley-alice-lowe-steve-oram) Lowe and Oram developed the character dynamics partly through a week of improvisation on a caravan research trip along the actual route.[10](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/103777-interview-ben-wheatley-alice-lowe-on-sightseers)
The film premiered at Cannes and won Lowe and her co-writers the British Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay, plus Best Actress at both the Sitges Film Festival and the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/awards/) • [11](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/alice-lowe/)
## Prevenge and directing
Lowe has said she started writing out of frustration, as an actress, at the lack of diverse roles for women, which she found one-dimensional and boring.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/08/alice-lowe-interview-sometimes-always-never) Her directorial debut was the short *Solitude* (2014).[5](https://www.directorsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/DIRECTORS_NOW-1.pdf) Her first feature, **Prevenge** (2016), is a micro-budget black comedy in which she plays Ruth, a pregnant widow on a killing spree who hears murderous instructions from her fetus.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html) • [6](https://filmmakermagazine.com/99751-tiff-2016-five-questions-for-prevenge-directoractor-alice-lowe/) Lowe was herself pregnant during the shoot, receiving its North American premiere at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), and gave birth to her daughter Della Moon Synnott afterwards.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/) • [6](https://filmmakermagazine.com/99751-tiff-2016-five-questions-for-prevenge-directoractor-alice-lowe/) She has described making it as a sense of freedom, "I get to do stuff the way I want, and everybody has to listen to me, because I'm the director".[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/08/alice-lowe-interview-sometimes-always-never)
She brings a devised-theater approach to her sets, inviting improvisation and playfulness rather than formalising the process, on the theory that the atmosphere a director creates dictates how people are treated.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker)
## Timestalker and industry views
*Timestalker* (2024) followed as her second feature: a dreamlike romance about reincarnation in which Lowe plays Agnes, pursuing her crush through the centuries and repeatedly dying before true love can blossom.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker) She wrote, directed, and stars in it, and has defended that full-control model of the auteur, arguing that without one guiding vision a film made by committee risks blandness.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker)
She has been outspoken about the obstacles facing female independent filmmakers. She reports that funding bodies get "freaked out" when a writer-director wants to star in her own film, and describes a subconscious trust problem directed at women directors without star power, along with ageism that favors young female directors as apparently more tapped into modern trends.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html)
## Selected screen appearances
Lowe's acting work spans comedy and horror. Film roles include Tina in Edgar Wright's *Hot Fuzz* (2007) and *Sightseers* (2012), a radio reporter in Wheatley's *Kill List* (2011), roles in *[The World's End](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-worlds-end-film)* (2013) and *Locke* (2013), the Geographers' Guild receptionist in *Paddington* (2014), and Ruth in *Prevenge* (2016).[13](https://www.metacritic.com/person/alice-lowe/) Recent work includes Shelley Williams-Walker in *Partygate* (2023) and Heather in the [Take That](https://www.edgepedia.org/take-that) [jukebox musical](https://www.edgepedia.org/jukebox-musical) *Greatest Days* (2023), an unusual mainstream departure for a performer known for grisly comedy.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html) Upcoming credits include *Dirty Business* and *Out There* (both 2026), and she is attached to write and direct an adaptation of *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, currently in pre-production.[2](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/)
## References
1. [Alice Lowe, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/)
2. [Alice Lowe, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/alice_lowe//)
3. [Alice Lowe: 'Cambridge was so many posh boys putting me down', The Independent (2023)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/alice-lowe-interview-greatest-days-b2361010.html)
4. [Alice Lowe, Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1546686/awards/)
5. [DIRECTORS NOW directory (2020)](https://www.directorsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/DIRECTORS_NOW-1.pdf)
6. [TIFF 2016: Five Questions for Prevenge Director/Actor Alice Lowe, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/99751-tiff-2016-five-questions-for-prevenge-directoractor-alice-lowe/)
7. [Alice Lowe: 'I've always gotten mouthy about sexism', The Guardian (2024)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/04/alice-lowe-interview-timestalker)
8. [Alice Lowe credits, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/alice-lowe/credits/3030104302/)
9. [Sightseers: Ben Wheatley, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, BFI (2012)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/sightseers-ben-wheatley-alice-lowe-steve-oram)
10. [Interview: Ben Wheatley & Alice Lowe on Sightseers, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/103777-interview-ben-wheatley-alice-lowe-on-sightseers)
11. [Alice Lowe, Independent Talent](https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/alice-lowe/)
12. [Alice Lowe: 'I was terrified that Bill Nighy was going to hate me', The Guardian (2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/08/alice-lowe-interview-sometimes-always-never)
13. [Alice Lowe, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/alice-lowe/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames L to Mb*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license