BBC's latest drama Sherwood is set to start on our screens on Monday night and joining the cast is Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt. The 41-year-old actress is set to join the star-studded line-up of the new BBC One thriller, alongside Robert Glenister, David Morrissey, Adeel Akhtar, Lesley Manville and Alun Armstrong.
The six-part series, which is inspired in parts by true events, has been created by award-winning playwright and dramatist, James Graham. Set in a Nottinghamshire mining village, the series sees two shocking and unexpected murders lead to one of the largest manhunts in British history.
If you're tuning in to watch the new programme, you may wonder where you recognise the familiar face of actress Joanne Froggatt from. She's perhaps best known for playing lady's maid Anna Bates in the Downton Abbey period drama series from 2010 to 2015 and subsequently in the two movies that have followed in 2019 and 2022.
READ MORE: BBC One Sherwood: The Nottinghamshire killings which inspired chilling new drama
But the North Yorkshire-born star first started her acting career with a brief appearance in The Bill, before landing a role in the ITV soap Coronation Street, where she was cast as teenage mum, Zoe Tattersall. She was just 17 at the time and played the role for just over a year.
Joanne then went on to have roles in Bad Girls, DinnerLadies, The Royle Family as Anthony's pregnant girlfriend, Paradise Heights and TV mini series Island at War. Following her role in Downton Abbey, which saw her win a Golden Globe in 2015 and receive three Emmy nominations, Joanne has gone on to lead crime thriller dramas such as ITV thrillers Angela Black and Liar - which ran for two seasons.
She is now set to star as Sarah Vincent, a woman campaigning to be the next local Conservative councillor, in BBC's latest crime thriller, Sherwood. Speaking to the BBC ahead of the new series being launched, Joanne said she was so excited to join the drama as it was a "dream cast".
"I read the script and immediately jumped at it, no questions asked," the 41-year-old said: "I just loved working with Bally, who plays my husband, and Adeel, who plays his dad, what a pair of incredible actors and gentlemen! And both are incredibly passionate about what they do".
She also revealed she was attracted to the new role because the character wasn't the most "likeable" something she loves. She explained: "That's a fun challenge as an actor. As humans, we’re all multifaceted and multi-layered so it’s interesting to be able to explore those layers in somebody that, when you read them on the page, you think, Ah, okay, this one's a piece of work!".
The actress likes to keep her private life out out of the public eye and mainly shares her career updates on social media. But in her teen years, Joanne was engaged to DJ Phil Vane when she was 19, and they were together for eight years before they separated. In 2012, she married James Cannon, and during their marriage, the pair set up their own production company called 'Run It'.
But it was announced in 2020 that they had separated after eight years and Joanne revealed in late 2021, they were no longer working together and she had taken over the reins, The Mirror reports.
Speaking to Red Magazine in September 2021, she revealed what her past relationships have taught her. “I’ve learned in the past year that you have to be really grateful for the good things," she explained, adding: "I’m so grateful for my friends and family, for my health and to have been working so much during this past year. You realise, when it comes down to it, how many positives you have in your life.”
Sherwood starts on BBC One from Monday, June 13 from 9pm and will continue on Tuesday, June 14 from 9pm. You'll be able to catch up on the episodes via the BBC iPlayer.
