Ingrid Oliver
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Ingrid Oliver (born 25 February 1977) is a British actress and
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
, and one half of the comic double act '' Watson & Oliver''. She is known for playing
Petronella Osgood UNIT stands for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a fictional entity in ''Doctor Who''. UNIT first appeared in the Second Doctor serial ''The Invasion (Doctor Who), The Invasion'', (1968), although Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Alistair Go ...
, a supporting character in the BBC television series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''.


Career

Oliver and her comedy partner
Lorna Watson Lorna Watson (born 1977) is a British comedian, actress and television presenter. She was one of the presenters of ''Spy School''. Her acting roles include various characters in television sketch shows ''Rush Hour'', ''The Wrong Door'' and '' ...
met at
Tiffin Girls' School ("Dare to be Wise") , established = , closed = , type = Grammar Academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = Ian Keary , r_head_label = , r_head = , ch ...
in
Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
. In September 2005, Watson and Oliver performed their first show together at the
Canal Cafe Theatre The Canal Cafe Theatre is a 60-seat fringe theatre venue in Little Venice, London, specialising in comedy performances. Location The theatre is above the Bridge House pub on the corner of Westbourne Terrace Road and Delamere Terrace, at the meeti ...
in London. Since then they have taken sell-out shows to
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
, in both 2006 and 2007. Oliver has performed in various radio and television programmes, including ''
Doc Martin ''Doc Martin'' is a British medical comedy drama television series starring Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham. It was created by Dominic Minghella after the character of Dr Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film '' Saving Grace''. The ...
'' starring
Martin Clunes Alexander Martin Clunes OBE DL (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, comedian, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series ''Doc Martin'' and Gary Strang in ''Men Be ...
, ''The Penny Dreadfuls radio series '' The Penny Dreadfuls Present... The Brothers Faversham'' and the radio series ''Another Case of Milton Jones''. She played the part of Natalie in ''
Peep Show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...
'' on
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 ...
. She appears in the film '' Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'' as Miss Stamp, and in early 2009 could be seen in
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 sitcom '' Plus One''. In 2010, Oliver played Mimi Throckmorton in '' Material Girl'' on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
, alongside
Lenora Crichlow Lenora Isabella Crichlow (born 4 January 1985) is a British actress. She became known for her starring roles as Maria "Sugar" Sweet in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Sugar Rush'', Annie Sawyer in the BBC Three supernatural drama series '' ...
and
Dervla Kirwan Dervla Kirwan (born 24 October 1971) is an Irish television, stage, and film actress who specializes in drama roles. She gained attention for her roles in ''Ballykissangel'', '' Goodnight Sweetheart'', and the Doctor Who Christmas special epis ...
. In 2012, she appeared on ''Let's Dance For Sport Relief'' with comedy partner Lorna Watson, dancing ''
Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. At least one observer has called it Ravel's most famous composition. It was also one of his last completed works before illness forced him into retirement. Co ...
'', famously used by
Torvill and Dean Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are English ice dancers and former British Ice Figure and Dance Championships, British, European Figure Skating Championships, European, Figure skating at the Olympic Games, Olympic, and Wor ...
. The following year, she appeared in the first episode of ''The Great Comic Relief Bake Off'' and was named as 'Star Baker'. The same year, she appeared in the 50th anniversary special of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', "
The Day of the Doctor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
", as
Petronella Osgood UNIT stands for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a fictional entity in ''Doctor Who''. UNIT first appeared in the Second Doctor serial ''The Invasion (Doctor Who), The Invasion'', (1968), although Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Alistair Go ...
. She reprised the role in the episodes "
Death in Heaven "Death in Heaven" is the twelfth and final episode of the Doctor Who (series 8), eighth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 8 November 2014. The episode was written by sh ...
", "
The Zygon Invasion "The Zygon Invasion" is the seventh episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 October 2015, and written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim. T ...
", "
The Zygon Inversion "The Zygon Inversion" is the eighth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 7 November 2015, and was written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat and directed ...
", '' UNIT'', an audio drama spinoff series produced by Big Finish Productions, and ''Doctor Who: Redacted'', a BBC radio drama spin-off series.


Personal life

Oliver was born to a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
father and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
mother. Her grandfather, Eric Gideon, was a
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
veteran who died in 2017, shortly after receiving the Legion d'Honneur for his service to France during the war. Her mother is Conservative MP
Jo Gideon Joanna Mary Gideon (born 7 November 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament ( MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency since the 2019 general election. Early life and career Gideon studied ...
, who became the
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central in 2019, Oliver has British and German nationality. She began a relationship with Richard Osman in 2021, they became engaged in May 2022 and married in December 2022. They met when she was a contestant on TV celebrity quiz show '' Richard Osman's House of Games''.


Filmography


Film


Television


Stage


Video games


Radio


References


External links

* * 1977 births Living people British film actresses British television actresses English women comedians People educated at the Tiffin Girls' School 21st-century British actresses 21st-century British comedians {{england-actor-stub