Nicola Stephenson (born 5 July 1971) is an English actress. She played the roles of

Margaret Clemence Margaret Clemence is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'', played by Nicola Stephenson. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 14 September 1990. Margaret is characterised as a colle ...

in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'', Julie Fitzjohn in '' Holby City'', Sarah Williams in '' The Chase'', Allie Westbrook in '' Waterloo Road'', and Tess Harris in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

''.

Life and career

She was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and attended North Chadderton School for her secondary education.

Career

She is known mainly for her roles in television, which include

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''

''; Stephenson's on-air kiss with

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...

(

Beth Jordache This is a comprehensive list of characters from the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'' in alphabetical order by the character's surnames. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y {{Brookside ...

) was the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss to be broadcast on British television. In 2012 the kiss was broadcast to over 5 billion people when it was included as part of the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

opening ceremony directed by

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...

. The opening ceremony was broadcast uncensored in 76 countries where homosexuality is illegal and therefore became the first homosexual kiss to be broadcast in these countries. Other roles have included Julie Fitzjohn/Bradford in '' Holby City'', Suzie Davidson in ''

Clocking Off ''Clocking Off'' is a British television drama series which was broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. It was effectively an an ...

'', Jackie Armstrong in ITV's ''

Christmas Lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom g ...

''/'' Northern Lights''/'' City Lights'', Sarah Williams in BBC's '' The Chase'' and '' All at Sea''. In 2012, Nicola played Louise, a series lead in the ITV drama '' Homefront''. In 2014 she joined the regular cast of '' Waterloo Road'' as art teacher Allie Westbrook for 11 episodes. Her theatre roles include ''

A Patriot for Me ''A Patriot for Me'' is a 1965 play by the English playwright John Osborne, based on the true story of Alfred Redl. The controversial refusal of a performance licence by the Lord Chamberlain's Office played a role in the passage of the Theatres ...

'' at the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Peter Gill, ''His Girl Friday'' and ''Edmund'' at the National Theatre, directed by Ed Hall, and ''

War Horse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...

'' at the

New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

in London's West End, directed by Marianne Elliot. In 2007, she had a lead role in the BBC TV 3 part series '' Superstorm'' directed by Julian Simpson. In 2014 she worked with Simpson again when he directed her as a guest lead in the BBC TV series ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...

''. She appeared in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

drama ''

Safe House A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

'' in early 2015. From 2015 to 2016, she played the part of Tess Harris in the soap-opera ''

''. Her five-month stint on the serial came to a sudden end when her character was killed off in a hit-and-run incident. Stephenson's role in the soap also reunited her with her co-star from '' The Chase'',

Gaynor Faye Gaynor Kay Mellor (born 26 August 1971), better known as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer, best known for playing Judy Mallett in '' Coronation Street'' from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in ''Emmerdale'' from 2012 until 201 ...

, who had played the character of

Megan Macey ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 2012, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Steve ...

since 2012.

Filmography

Personal life

Stephenson was in a relationship with actor

Kieran O'Brien Kieran O'Brien (born 1973) is an English actor. Early life and education Born in Oldham, Lancashire, O'Brien grew up in nearby Royton, and was educated at the Bishop Henshaw Roman Catholic Memorial High School in Rochdale. Career O'Brien bega ...

for eight years. The relationship ended in 1999. Nicola has two daughters, one named Esme Rose Stephenson born in 2008 daughter of Director Ian Curtis, and one named Iris Lilly Stephenson, born in 2010 daughter of Paul Stephenson. She is currently married to artist Paul Stephenson.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Nicola 1971 births Living people Actresses from Oldham People educated at North Chadderton School 21st-century English actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses Actresses from Lancashire Place of birth missing (living people)