Caroline Lennon is an Irish actor and voice artist known for her portrayal of Siobhan Hathaway in

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's long-running soap ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

'' and for other stage, film, television and voice work. Lennon was born in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland, and trained at the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. I ...

. She performed at many theatres in the UK including

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Fr ...

, the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

and

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

. She played Siobhan Hathaway (later Siobhan Donovan) in ''The Archers'' between 1999 and the character's death from cancer in 2007, and again in 2020 when it transpired that Siobhan had recorded a message for her son Ruari's 18th birthday, left on a CD in the care of her sister. (Siobhan had come to the village as the wife of doctor Tim Hathaway, but had an affair with central character Brian Aldridge; after she left the village and was diagnosed with terminal cancer, her child Ruairi came to live with his father Brian and stepmother Jennifer.) Lennon played

Goneril Goneril is a character in William Shakespeare's tragic play ''King Lear'' (1605). She is the eldest of King Lear's three daughters. Along with her sister Regan, Goneril is considered a villain, obsessed with power and overthrowing her elderly fa ...

in the 1999 film ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' starring and directed by

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV i ...

, and her television work has included roles in ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', '' London's Burning'' and '' The 10%ers''. She has recorded over 300 audio books, including

Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ma ...

's 1996 novel ''

The Woman Who Walked into Doors ''The Woman Who Walked Into Doors'' (1996) is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle. It was adapted from the 1994 RTÉ/BBC miniseries ''Family''. Plot summary The novel tells the struggle and survival of Paula Spencer, an abused wife who is the n ...

'' which she discussed in a ''Sunday Times'' article. Other voice work includes the narration of a 2019 video produced by the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

's Address Management Unit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the introduction of

UK postcodes Postal codes used in the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies are known as postcodes (originally, postal codes). They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been de ...

. Lennon has recorded audiobooks of Peter Tremayne

Sister Fidelma mysteries The Sister Fidelma mysteries are a series of historical mystery novels and short stories by Peter Tremayne (pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis) about a fictional detective who is the eponymous heroine of a series. Fidelma is both a ''dalaigh' ...

, gaining her the nickname "The Voice of Fidelma".

References

External links

* * * ''Lennon narrates'' Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Irish actresses Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Actors from County Wicklow {{Ireland-actor-stub