Jessica Ransom (born 1 December 1981) is a British actress and writer, best known for her role as medical receptionist Morwenna Newcross in the ITV drama '' Doc Martin'' (2011–2022). She won a Children's BAFTA Award in 2015.

Early life and education

Ransom was born 1 December 1981 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, England. She studied

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

in Expressive Arts and A Level Theatre Studies at

High Storrs School High Storrs School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form college with academy status located on the south-western outskirts of Sheffield, England. The main school building is Grade II listed. It moved to its current site in 1933. The sch ...

in Sheffield.

Career

After graduating from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, Ransom did sketch writing and comedy. She appeared at the

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 ...

with two pieces: "Million" and "Unsung Heroes." From 2009 to 2010, she appeared in various side characters in the sketch show '' The Armstrong and Miller Show''. Thereafter, she appeared in the television improvisation show '' Fast and Loose'' in 2011 and that year also appeared as Morwenna Newcross, Doc Martin's medical receptionist (known for her mismatched colourful outfits) in the ITV drama '' Doc Martin,'' Ransom remaining a cast member playing that character to the present day. In the meantime, Ransom performed in other productions. Ransom took the stage, including work in the 2012 revival of ''

Posh Posh is an informal adjective for " upper class". It may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Posh'' (album), a 1980 album by Patrice Rushen *" Posh!", a 1968 song from the musical ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' * ''Posh'' (2006 TV series), a 2006 Phili ...

''. Also that year, Ransom appeared in the D.C Moore play, ''

Straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang for heterosexual ** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype * Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games * ...

,'' at the Sheffield Crucible and then at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a s ...

in London. In 2014, Ransom voiced the role of the titular character in the second season of ''

Poppy Cat Poppy Cat is a series of books created by British illustrator and writer Lara Jones. The books are published by Campbell Books (a division of Macmillan Publishers), and include ''Poppy Cat's Play House'', ''Poppy Cat's Christmas'', ''Poppy Cat ...

'', replacing the original voice actress,

Joanna Page Joanna Louise Page (born 23 March 1977) is a Welsh actress and presenter. She appeared as Stacey Shipman in the BAFTA-winning television series ''Gavin & Stacey''. She played Dora Spenlow in the 1999 adaptation of ''David Copperfield'', and f ...

. She appeared in a Sky TV advertisement with

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

where she was "totally unlimited" (the advertisement was banned in 2013 for being misleading, but has been re-released with more prominent information on the pricing) and appeared in series 4 of ''

Horrible Histories ''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more. In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpor ...

'' and series 6, 7 and 8 of its 2015 revival winning the 2015 Children’s BAFTA Award for her role as Mary, Queen of Scots. Ransom was also a writer on

The Amazing World of Gumball ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend ...

for seasons 3 to 6, and Elliott from Earth. Ransom also wrote an episode of '' Danger Mouse'' in 2017 called "Live and Let Cry."

Personal life

Ransom lives in London. She is married to producer and director Ben Wilson and they have two sons. Ransom has run the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

four times, in 2012 for Mencap, in 2014 for

Age UK Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...

and in 2015 and 2017 for

Bloodwise Blood Cancer UK, (formerly Bloodwise, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and the Leukaemia Research Fund) is a UK-based charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, as well as offering informat ...

Filmography

She also narrates '' Rich Kids Go Skint'' for

5Star 5Star (stylized as 5STAR) is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia and a sister channel of Channel 5. It originally launched as the female-orientated Five Life on 15 October 2006, and was relaunch ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransom, Jessica 1981 births Living people Actresses from Sheffield People educated at High Storrs School 21st-century British actresses British stage actresses British television actresses 21st-century English women 21st-century English people