# Elizabeth Berrington
**Elizabeth Berrington** (born 1970) is an English actress whose career spans British television, independent film, and theater. A graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she is best known for television roles as Ruby Fry in *Waterloo Road*, Paula Kosh in *Stella*, Mel Debrou in *Moving Wallpaper*, and Dawn Stevenson in *The Syndicate*, and for her recurring work with the writer-director [Mike Leigh](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-leigh).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/) TV Guide lists her birth name as Elizabeth Ann Berrington and her birthplace as Wallasey, England, United Kingdom.[2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-berrington/credits/3030622175/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Wallasey, Cheshire, England, UK; birth name Elizabeth Ann Berrington[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/fullcredits) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-berrington/credits/3030622175/) |
| Training | Graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/) |
| Signature TV roles | Ruby Fry in *Waterloo Road*, Paula Kosh in *Stella*, Mel Debrou in *Moving Wallpaper*, Dawn Stevenson in *The Syndicate*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/) |
| Mike Leigh films | *Naked* (1993) as Giselle, *Secrets & Lies* (1996) as Jane, *Vera Drake* (2004) as the Cynical Lady, *Mr. Turner* as Lady Critic[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/) • [5](https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/104350/2/21822547_LEES_Thesis.pdf) • [6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/) |
| Landmark stage role | Beverly (Beverley) in Mike Leigh's *Abigail's Party*, 2002 25th-anniversary revival at Hampstead Theatre, directed by David Grindley, later at the New Ambassadors in the West End[7](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-with-elizabeth-berrington_27485/) • [8](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/elizabeth-berrington-71492/) |
| Recent lead work | Jackie Diamond in ITV's six-part heist drama *Frauds* (2025)[9](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/itv-confirms-stellar-supporting-cast-thrilling-heist-drama-frauds-starring-suranne) |
| Voice work | Represented by Sue Terry Voices; ranges include Liverpool, Northern, Neutral, and RP accents[10](https://www.sueterryvoices.com/artist/elizabeth-berrington) |
## Background and training
Berrington was born in 1970 in Wallasey, Cheshire, and trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/fullcredits) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/) Her voice profile places her origins in [Merseyside](https://www.edgepedia.org/merseyside), with a neutral natural accent that can shift into regional variations including Liverpool and Northern.[10](https://www.sueterryvoices.com/artist/elizabeth-berrington)
## Work with Mike Leigh
Berrington's screen career began under Mike Leigh, who cast her as the waitress Giselle in his 1993 drama *[Naked](https://www.edgepedia.org/naked-1993-film)*; she returned as Jane in his Oscar-winning *Secrets & Lies* (1996).[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/) A doctoral thesis on Leigh's rehearsal practice records that she created characters in four of his films: *Naked* (1993), *Secrets and Lies* (1996), *Vera Drake* (2004), and *Mr. Turner*.[5](https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/104350/2/21822547_LEES_Thesis.pdf) Her agent's credits list her *Vera Drake* role as the Cynical Lady and her *Mr. Turner* role as Lady Critic.[6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/)
In 2002 she took on one of her rare leading roles, playing the hostess Beverly in the 25th-anniversary revival of *Abigail's Party* at Hampstead Theatre, the venue where the play was first devised in 1977 through Leigh's improvisational methods.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/) • [7](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-with-elizabeth-berrington_27485/) The part originated by [Alison Steadman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alison-steadman) is the gin-drinking, status-anxious center of Leigh's satire of pre-Thatcherite English suburbia.[7](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-with-elizabeth-berrington_27485/) • [8](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/elizabeth-berrington-71492/) Directed by David Grindley with Leigh's blessing, the production returned to [Hampstead](https://www.edgepedia.org/hampstead), the last show mounted in the theater's home of the previous 40 years, before transferring to the West End's New Ambassadors.[7](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-with-elizabeth-berrington_27485/) • [8](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/elizabeth-berrington-71492/)
## Television career
Berrington has appeared across British television for more than three decades. Her agent's credits range from early 1990s work such as *The Lakes*, *The Bill*, and *Casualty* through *Psychoville*, *Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons*, *A Touch of Frost*, and the sitcom *Let Them Eat Cake*, in which she played [Marie Antoinette](https://www.edgepedia.org/marie-antoinette).[6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/) Her best-known regular roles are Ruby Fry in *Waterloo Road* (a regular in series 5 and 6), Paula Kosh in *Stella* across three of its series, Mel Debrou in *Moving Wallpaper*, and Dawn Stevenson in [Kay Mellor](https://www.edgepedia.org/kay-mellor)'s *The Syndicate 3*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/) • [6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/)
Later credits include Jo Powers in *Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation*, Lady Bareacres in *Vanity Fair*, Fleur in Showtime's *Patrick Melrose*, Jean Dixon in *Ridley*, Bernadette in the BBC comedy *Henpocalypse!* (2023), and appearances in *The Responder*, *Brassic*, *Sex Education*, and *Lost Boys and Fairies*.[6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/) • [2](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-berrington/credits/3030622175/) • [10](https://www.sueterryvoices.com/artist/elizabeth-berrington) In the BBC and Amazon fantasy series *Good Omens* she plays the demon Dagon, Lord of the Files, from 2019 through the third season.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/fullcredits)
Her 2025 and 2026 slate is dense: DS Clare Conway in the BBC crime drama *Virdee*; Jackie Diamond in *Frauds*; Charlotte Parnovar in Sky's *The Death of Bunny Munro*; Sarah Harrison in the [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) documentary drama *[Dirty Business](https://www.edgepedia.org/dirty-business-tv-series)*, about whistleblowers affected by sewage-polluted water; and [Stephanie](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephanie) in *Tip Toe*, a Channel 4 series directed by Peter Hoar in which a dispute between two neighbors escalates into dangerous hostility.[10](https://www.sueterryvoices.com/artist/elizabeth-berrington) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/fullcredits) • [6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/)
## Film roles
Though her television work dominates, Berrington's film list runs from supporting parts in *Nanny McPhee* (with [Emma Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/emma-thompson)) and [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s *Scoop* to [Martin McDonagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-mcdonagh)'s black comedy *In Bruges* (2008), in which she appeared opposite Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/) Danny Boyle's *Yesterday*, Edgar Wright's *Last Night in Soho* (as Ms. Tobin), and Pablo Larraín's *Spencer* (as Princess Anne) extend the record into the 2020s.[6](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/)
## Frauds (2025)
In *Frauds*, Berrington plays Jackie Diamond, described by ITV as a sharp-witted, sharp-mouthed magician's assistant to her husband The Great Diavolo who is in fact the real talent, the master illusionist who invents their tricks.[9](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/itv-confirms-stellar-supporting-cast-thrilling-heist-drama-frauds-starring-suranne) The six-part heist drama, created by [Suranne Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/suranne-jones) and Anne-Marie O'Connor and led by Jones and [Jodie Whittaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-whittaker) as confidence tricksters reunited in southern Spain, premiered on ITV1 on October 5, 2025, with the full series available on ITVX the same day.[11](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/frauds-itv-cast-suranne-jones-jodie-whittaker/) • [9](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/itv-confirms-stellar-supporting-cast-thrilling-heist-drama-frauds-starring-suranne) Reviewers credited her character with lifting the story: The Guardian's Lucy Mangan noted the plot improving considerably once Bert and Sam enlist the magician and illusionist Jackie Diamond, played by Berrington, to help with the heist.[12](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/frauds-fantastically-stylish-heist-caper-is-damn-good-fun)
## References
1. [Elizabeth Berrington, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/)
2. [Elizabeth Berrington, TV Guide credits list](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elizabeth-berrington/credits/3030622175/)
3. [Elizabeth Berrington full credits, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077397/fullcredits)
4. [Elizabeth Berrington, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/elizabeth-berrington/)
5. [Lees, doctoral thesis on Mike Leigh, University of Reading (2018)](https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/104350/2/21822547_LEES_Thesis.pdf)
6. [Elizabeth Berrington acting CV, United Agents](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/elizabeth-berrington/)
7. [20 Questions With... Elizabeth Berrington, What's On Stage (15 July 2002)](https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/20-questions-with-elizabeth-berrington_27485/)
8. [Elizabeth Berrington, Official London Theatre (17 April 2008)](https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/elizabeth-berrington-71492/)
9. [ITV confirms supporting cast for Frauds (15 May 2025)](https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/itv-confirms-stellar-supporting-cast-thrilling-heist-drama-frauds-starring-suranne)
10. [Elizabeth Berrington, Sue Terry Voices](https://www.sueterryvoices.com/artist/elizabeth-berrington)
11. [Frauds cast on ITV led by Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, TVGuide.co.uk](https://www.tvguide.co.uk/articles/frauds-itv-cast-suranne-jones-jodie-whittaker/)
12. [Frauds: 'fantastically stylish' heist caper, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/frauds-fantastically-stylish-heist-caper-is-damn-good-fun)
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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: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames A to B*
*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