Saira Choudhry is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Saira in BBC's ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', Naila in ITV's ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' and

Anita Roy Anita Roy (also Strong) is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Saira Choudhry. Choudhry was cast in 2008 as part of the new Roy family and arrived in November and stayed in the serial for 2 years before ...

in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' and Tegan in

Paul Abbott Paul Abbott (born 22 February 1960) is an English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain, following his work on popular series such as ...

's ''

No Offence ''No Offence'' is a British television police procedural drama on Channel 4, created by Paul Abbott. It follows a team of detectives from Friday Street police station, a division of the Manchester Metropolitan Police (a fictional version of the ...

''.

Early life

Saira Choudhry was born in

Cheetham Hill Cheetham is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, which in 2011 had a population of 22,562. It lies on the west bank of the River Irk, north of Manchester city centre, close to the boundary with Salford, bounded by Brou ...

, an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. She was born to an Irish mother and an Indian father, the latter of whom died when Choudhry was ten years old.

Career

Choudhry first came to prominence in 2008, when she joined the cast of ''

'' as

, a part she played for 198 episodes, leaving the series in 2011. After appearing in shows such as ''

'' and ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'', Choudhry starred as PC Tegan Thompson in Channel 4's comedy drama series ''

'' from 2015 to 2018. On playing Tegan, Choudhry told the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'': "

egan Egan may refer to: People * Egan (surname) * Egan (given name) Places in the United States * Egan, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Egan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Egan, South Dakota, a city * Eg ...

s braver than me. She’s completely different to any character I’ve been known for before ..It was nice to play such a strong female character and I think the way

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

has written her and the other women in the show is amazing. Women and men love to see that." In 2020, Choudhry appeared as Saira Malik in the BBC drama series ''

''. In 2022, Choudhry appeared as Alice in one episode of BBC comedy ''Peacock'', alongside

Allan Mustafa Allan "Seapa" Mustafa (born 29 September 1985) is a British actor, comedian and writer who is best known for portraying Anthony "MC Grindah" Zografos in the BBC mockumentary series ''People Just Do Nothing'', which he co-created with Asim Chaudh ...

. Later in 2022, Choudhry starred as Nancy in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

series '' Dodger'', a reimagining of the

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

’ character's life before ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

''.

Personal life

Chaudhry's mother, Fae, is a no-smoking advisor. In 2010, Chaudhry helped to launch that year's No Smoking drive. In 2014, Choudhry set up her own drama school, TV Talent.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* Living people British actresses of Indian descent British soap opera actresses Actresses from Manchester People from Middleton, Greater Manchester Year of birth missing (living people) 1982 births {{UK-tv-actor-1980s-stub