Raquel Cassidy
Raquel Cassidy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 January 1968 Fleet, Hampshire, England |
| Education | Farnborough Hill |
| Alma mater | Girton College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1997–present |
Raquel Cassidy is an English actress. She played the role of Phyllis Baxter in the television series Downton Abbey (2013–2015), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She has reprised the role for both the 2019 feature film of the same name and its 2022 and 2025 sequels.
She has played leading roles in other television series including Teachers, Party Animals, Moving Wallpaper, Lead Balloon, The Worst Witch and The Good Karma Hospital.
Early life and education
Born to a Spanish mother and an English father, she was the third child and only daughter born to the couple.[1] Born and brought up in Fleet, Hampshire,[2] she was educated at Farnborough Hill Convent,[3][4] and then Girton College, Cambridge, where she studied modern languages. She later pursued a PhD in biological anthropology, but abandoned it to pursue a career in acting.[5]
Career
In an early role, Cassidy played Lola Chaves in an episode of The Bill, speaking predominantly in Spanish.[6] In 2001 she took the role of Susan Gately in Teachers, returning for the second series in 2002.[7] She has also played the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, Cassie Turner in The Worst Week of My Life, Nancy Weeks in Moving Wallpaper and Mel in Lead Balloon.[7][8]
In 2013 Cassidy joined the cast of Downton Abbey, playing the role of rehabilitated thief and lady's maid Phyllis Baxter for the show's final three series.[7] In 2015 the cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.[9] She reprised the role for the show's 2019 feature film, also called Downton Abbey and its 2022 sequel.[7][10]
She has subsequently played the role of Miss Hardbroom in four series of the 2017 television revival of The Worst Witch.[11] In 2022, she appeared in series 4 of The Good Karma Hospital as Frankie Martin.[12] In 2023, she played Maria Swanson in an episode of British crime drama series The Chelsea Detective.[13]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Perdie | Miss Jennings | Short film |
| 2002 | Shooters | Tess | |
| Before You Go | Felicia | ||
| Do I Love You? | Romy | ||
| 2004 | Out of Time | Alice | Short films |
| 2005 | Blake's Junction 7 | Jenna | |
| Festival | Petra Loewenberg | ||
| 2007 | Tick Tock Lullaby | Maya | |
| The Boat People | Alice | ||
| 2008 | Nightwalking | Martha | Short films |
| 2010 | An Act of Love | Catherine | |
| Bleach | Rebecca | ||
| 2012 | Routine Vaccination | Nurse | |
| 2013 | Wisdom | Emily Eximo | |
| To Leech | Mary | ||
| 2014 | The Ballad of Langley Lane | Mother | |
| 2016 | The Twisted Death of a Lonely Madman | Mystic-57 (voice) | |
| Two Is a Family | Maitresse Gloria | ||
| 2019 | Downton Abbey | Phyllis Baxter | |
| Cliffs of Freedom | Christina Vakrinos | ||
| Official Secrets | Anne Emmerson | ||
| 2022 | Downton Abbey: A New Era | Phyllis Baxter | |
| 2023 | Ferryman | Mother | |
| 2025 | Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale | Phyllis Baxter |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Killer Net | P.C. Pam Boxer | Mini-series; 2 episodes |
| 1999 | The Bill | Lola Chaves | Episode: "Lola" |
| Peak Practice | Cheryl Parker | Episode: "Hearts and Minds" | |
| 2000 | Nature Boy | Ros | Mini-series; episode 2 |
| Hearts and Bones | Mary Jones | Episode: "Once There Was a Way to Get Back Home" | |
| Thin Ice | DS Beckett | Television film | |
| 2001 | Table 12 | Yolanda | Episode: "Aphrodisiac" |
| 2001–2002 | Teachers | Susan Gately | Series 1 & 2; 18 episodes |
| 2003 | Trust | Elizabeth Blackwood | Mini-series; episode 2 |
| Red Cap | Staff Sgt. Neve Kirland | 5 episodes | |
| Holby City | Julie Redding | Episode: "Desperate Measures" | |
| Trevor's World of Sport | Caroline Bradley | 3 episodes | |
| 2004 | The Worst Week of My Life | Cassie Turner | 7 episodes |
| 2005 | According to Bex | Chris | 8 episodes |
| Last Rights | Nadine | Mini-series; 3 episodes | |
| Twisted Tales | Lynne | Episode: "Murder Me" | |
| 2006 | Comedy Lab | Jane | Episode: "FM" |
| 2006–2011 | Lead Balloon | Mel | Series 1–4; 26 episodes |
| 2007 | Party Animals | Jo Porter | 8 episodes |
| Britz | Joy | 2-part television film | |
| Sold | Yvette Daniels | Episode #1.3 | |
| 2008 | Casualty | Monica Batchelor | Episode: "Before a Fall" |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot | Maureen Summerhayes | Episode: "Mrs McGinty's Dead" | |
| No Heroics | Kim the Agent | Episode: "Monkey Gone to Heaven" | |
| 2008–2009 | Moving Wallpaper | Nancy Weeks | Series 1 & 2; 18 episodes |
| 2009 | New Tricks | Susannah Morton | Episode: "The Truth Is Out There" |
| 2010 | On Expenses | House of Commons Counsel | Television film |
| 2011 | Land Girls | Diana Granville | Series 2; 5 episodes |
| Doctor Who | Miranda Cleaves | Episodes: "The Rebel Flesh" & "The Almost People" | |
| DCI Banks | Dr. Elizabeth Waring | Episodes: "Friend of the Devil: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 2012 | Midsomer Murders | Diana DeQuetteville | Episode: "The Dark Rider" |
| Hustle | Dr. Dana Deville | Episode: "Eat Yourself Slender" | |
| A Touch of Cloth | Clare Hawkchurch | Episodes: "The First Case: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 2013 | The Other Child | DI Valerie Almond | 2 episodes |
| Jo | Pauline Langlois | Mini-series; episode: "Notre Dame" | |
| Heading Out | Sabine | Episode #1.3 | |
| Law & Order: UK | Lydia Smythson | Episode: "Dependent" | |
| 2013–2015 | Downton Abbey | Phyllis Baxter | Series 4–6; 23 episodes |
| 2014 | Jonathan Creek | Sharon | Episode: "The Letters of Septimus Noone" |
| 2015 | Vera | Gloria Edwards | Episode: "Shadows in the Sky" |
| 2015–2017 | Uncle | Teresa | Series 2 & 3; 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge | Hayley | Episode: "Grundy + Snow" |
| 2017 | Silent Witness | Dr. Eva Vasquez | Episodes: "Awakening: Parts 1 & 2" |
| W1A | Tasmin Howard | Episode #3.5 | |
| 2017–2020 | The Worst Witch | Miss Hardbroom | Series 1–4; 53 episodes |
| 2018 | Strangers | Rachel Hargreaves | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | The Good Karma Hospital | Frankie Martin | Series 4; 4 episodes |
| Safe Space | Lucy Leer | Episode #1.0 | |
| 2023 | The Chelsea Detective | Maria Swanson | Episode: "Golden Years" |
| 2024 | Van der Valk | Anki Bergen | Episode: "Hope in Amsterdam" |
| 2026 | Beyond Paradise | June Harris | Episode #4.2 |
Selected radio
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Spending My Inheritance | Jo |
| 2015 | Ed Reardon's Week | Suzan |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Twelfth Night | Viola | Royal Court Theatre |
| 1998 | Othello | Desdemona | National tour |
| Threesome | Ruth | Old Red Lion Theatre | |
| 2002 | Possible Worlds | Joyce | Tron Theatre |
| 2004 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth[4] | International tour |
| 2005 | Anna Karenina | Anna Arkadyevna Karenina | Royal Lyceum Theatre |
| 2006 | Mirandolina | Mirandolina[4] | Royal Exchange Theatre |
| 2019 | Shipwreck | Jools/Donald J. Trump's Secretary[14][15] | Almeida Theatre |
References
- ^ "School's out forever Raquel Cassidy has graduated from Teachers to Glasgow's Tron, reports Neil Cooper". HeraldScotland. 17 September 2002. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ Raquel Cassidy reopens Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice shop in Fleet | Fleet People Archived 2 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] Archived 14 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "Raquel stars in record-breaking comedy show – News – gethampshire". Retrieved 26 April 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Morganstern, Adam. "Attending 'Downton Abbey' Film Premieres (And Drinking Hot Chocolate) With Star Raquel Cassidy". Forbes. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Lola (1999)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Raquel Cassidy". BFI. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016.
- ^ "Raquel Cassidy". TVGuide.com.
- ^ Strause, Jackie (30 January 2016). "SAG Awards: 'Downton Abbey' Wins Best Cast in a Drama Series". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Brazier, Tori (24 April 2022). "Downton Abbey: A New Era's Raquel Cassidy teases 'most amazing, sumptuous ride'".
- ^ "The Worst Witch". www.bbc.com.
- ^ Morris, Lauren (21 January 2022). "Meet the cast of The Good Karma Hospital". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "The Chelsea Detective Season 2: Cast & Characters Explained, Plot, Release Date, Time, Where to Watch & Other Details". 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Raquel Cassidy | Hamilton Hodell". www.hamiltonhodell.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Shipwreck". Almeida Theatre. Retrieved 22 December 2020.