Mina Mumtaz Anwar (born 20 September 1969) is a British actress and singer.

Early life

Anwar was born in Church, Lancashire in 1969. She was educated at Accrington Moorhead High School, and gained an

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

in Theatre in Performance at the

Accrington and Rossendale College Accrington and Rossendale College is a further education college based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The College Accrington & Rossendale College ('Accross') is a further education college that specialises in vocational education. The ...

in 1988 before training at the

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Acting career

She played

Police Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Maggie Habib in the TV

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' The Thin Blue Line'', first shown on

BBC 1 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, ...

from 1995 to 1996. Other roles include the recurring part of Sandra Malik in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' in 2003, Sister Zita Khan in '' Doctors and Nurses'' and Selena Sharp in ''

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to: Objects * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...

''. She also performed as the storyteller in ''

Razzledazzle ''Razzledazzle'' was a short-lived BBC television programme for kids aged between 3 and 7 years old that aired on CBeebies between February and March 2005. It was an educational show that featured Razzledazzle, an orange CGI creature with two f ...

'' on the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

channel. Anwar appeared in the Channel 4 drama '' Shameless'', and as a supporting character in children's sci-fi drama ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC ...

'', in which she played

Gita Chandra The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

, the mother of character

Rani Chandra Rani Chandra (1949 – 1976), born in Kochi, Kerala, was a Malayalam film actress and winner of the Miss Kerala Title. She died in a plane crash in 1976. She acted in several landmark films such as '' Nellu'' (Malayalam, 1974), ''Bhadrakali'' ...

, from its second to fifth series. She was also in the BBC drama show ''

The Invisibles ''The Invisibles'' is a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication. The series loosely ...

''. Anwar appeared in ''

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 ...

'' as the ex-wife of

Dev Alahan Dev Alahan is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street''. Portrayed by Jimmi Harkishin, the character's first appearance was broadcast on 10 November 1999. He is the ex-husband of Sunita (Shobna Gulati) and fat ...

, the corner-shop owner, and in ''

No Angels No Angels are an all-female pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originated on the debut season of th ...

''. She starred in '' The Infidel'' as the woman in the black burqa, and portrayed Trudy Rehmann in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

series ''

House of Anubis ''House of Anubis'' is a Mystery fiction, mystery television series developed for Nickelodeon based on the Dutch–Belgian television series ''Het Huis Anubis''. The series was created by Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst and premiered on Nickel ...

''. She has appeared in a number of BBC TV dramas and sitcoms, such as ''

The Wright Way ''The Wright Way'' is a British television sitcom written by Ben Elton which aired on BBC One from 23 April to 28 May 2013. It concerns a health and safety manager, his staff and his family. Widely panned by critics, it was cancelled after one ...

'', in which she plays the only female health-and-safety officer, Malika Maha, and in an episode of ''

Upstart Crow Upstart or upstarts may refer to: * HMS ''Upstart'', a Royal Navy U-class submarine *Upstart (company), an online lending marketplace *Upstart (software), a process management daemon used in several operating systems. * Upstart (sculpture), a publi ...

'' where she portrayed one of the three witches from Macbeth. She appeared in the 2014 dramas '' Happy Valley'' and '' In the Club'' and the ghost tale '' Remember Me''. In 2014 she portrayed Lauren in ''The Beneficiary'', episode 5 of series 6 of the BBC's series of 45-minute stand-alone dramas '' Moving On''. In 2017 she originated the role of Ray in the new musical ''

Everybody's Talking About Jamie ''Everybody's Talking About Jamie'' is a coming-of-age stage musical with music by Dan Gillespie Sells and book and lyrics by Tom MacRae. The musical is inspired by the 2011 British television documentary ''Jamie: Drag Queen at 16'' directed b ...

'' at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's m ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

, and continued her role for the West End transfer. Anwar appeared in Series 10 of ''Doctor Who'' in 2017. In 2018 she played Miss Marigold Mould in Series 2 of ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

''.

Other activities

Anwar is a classically trained mezzo soprano. She sings big band jazz and sings backing vocals on occasions for The Charlatans.

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio

References

External links

*
Mina Anwar interview for TV to Go
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anwar, Mina 1969 births Living people Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts People from Church, Lancashire English people of Pakistani descent British film actors of Pakistani descent