Laura Doddington

Laura May Doddington was born on 2 January 1981 in Cambridge, England.^[1][2] Doddington studied at Queen Margaret University between 1999 and 2002, where she obtained a BA degree in acting.^[3] In 2004, Doddington made her stage debut in the plays I Ought to Be in Pictures, and went on to appear in numerous other plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre over the next two years, which included Miranda's Magic Mirror (2004), Her Slightest Touch (2004), For Starters (2004), Miss Yesterday (2004), Time and Time Again (2005), Improbable Fiction (2005–2006), Caution Trousers (2005) and The Champion of Paribanou (2006).^[4] She subsequently began appearing in further stage productions for various theatre companies.^[5]

Doddington's television debut was in the final two episodes of Prime Suspect in October 2006.^[1] She appeared in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors on four separate occasions as various characters.^[6] She has appeared in numerous Doctor Who audio productions, primarily as the character Zara, which she first played in the audio adaptations Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles and Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures in 2009.^[7] The same year she appeared as Trudy Parks in Man of the Moment at the Royal & Derngate theatre, before appearing in an episode of the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Barbara, a woman leading an antenatal class attended by Masood Ahmed (Nitin Ganatra) and Zainab Masood (Nina Wadia).^[8][9] She also played Julia Sindall in an episode of The Bill.^[1] Between 2010 and 2011, Doddington starred as Poopay in Communicating Doors at the Stephen Joseph Theatre.^[10] In 2014, she appeared in an episode of Casualty as Tina Connolly.^[11] In 2015, she appeared in Educating Rita at The Mill at Sonning and in Boeing-Boeing at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre.^[12]

In 2019, Doddington appeared in an episode of Holby City as Abbey Ealy.^[13] In 2022, she appeared in the Sky Max sci-fi series The Midwich Cuckoos as DS Mayes.^[1] In 2023, she appeared in the stage plays Yours Unfaithfully and Owners at Jermyn Street Theatre, portraying the characters of Anne Meredith and Marion, respectively.^[14] In 2024, Doddington returned to EastEnders and was cast in the regular role of Nicola Mitchell. Her character was introduced as the ex-wife of Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) and mother of Harry (Elijah Holloway) and Barney Mitchell (Lewis Bridgeman).^[15][16]