Ellen Thomas (actress)

Ellen Thomas
Thomas in 2016
Born	(1964-02-03) 3 February 1964 (age 60) Sierra Leone
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–present
Known for	Teachers EastEnders Mount Pleasant

Ellen Thomas (born 3 February 1964)^[1] is a Sierra Leonean-British actress, known for her roles as Liz Webbe in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers and Claudette Hubbard in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Career

In Teachers, Thomas played Liz Webbe, a school secretary, and appeared in all four series, from 2001 to 2004. She was a regular cast member in BBC Radio 4's Clare in the Community and in BBC Three's Coming of Age, in which she portrayed the principal. For her role in Rev, she was nominated for "Best TV Comedy Performance" at the Black International Film Festival and Music Video & Screen Awards.^[2] In 2010, she had a minor role in Come Fly with Me, as Mrs Mbutu.^[3]

Thomas is known for the number of characters she has portrayed in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She initially played Pearl Chadwick in 1990, Estella Hulton in 2002, Grace Olubunmi from 2010 to 2011, and most notably Claudette Hubbard from 2015 to 2016.^[4][5][6] From 2018 to 2019, Thomas appeared in the medical drama by the BBC Casualty, in the recurring role of Omo Masters.^[7] In 2020, she appeared in an episode of Death in Paradise.^[8] In 2021 she appeared in the first season of Netflix's Arcane^[9] and returned for season 2 in 2024.In 2023, she appeared in The Madame Blanc Mysteries.^[10] In 2024, she appeared in two episodes of the BBC crime drama Silent Witness.^[11]

Filmography

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Gentle Touch	Laura	Series 5, Episode 4
1981	Sunday Night Thriller	Assistant	1 episode
1982	O.T.T.	Herself, various	12 episodes
1983	Don't Wait Up	Receptionist	Series 1, Episode 5
1984	Shroud for a Nightingale	Staff Nurse	3 episodes
1987	The Lenny Henry Show	Rose	Series 1, Episode 1–6
1988	French and Saunders	Various characters	Christmas special
1988	The Lenny Henry Show	Rose	Series 2, Episode 1–6
1989	CBS Summer Playhouse	Mrs. Holmes	Series 3, Episode 10 "Outpost"
1990	Hallelujah Anyhow	Unnamed Character
1990	EastEnders	Pearl Chadwick	Recurring role
1991	Grange Hill	Pregnancy Advisor	Series 14, Episode 14
1993	Screenplay	Aunt Mafe	1 episode
1994–1996	Cardiac Arrest	Sister Jackie Landers	14 episodes
1994	The Bill	Iris Davareux	"Lesson to Be Learned"
1994	Home Away from Home	Miriam
1995	London Bridge	Diane Symmons	Series 2, Episode 1–2
1996	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Laurette Akande	3 episodes
1997	Holding On	Florrie	Series 1 Episode 1–8
1997	Kavanagh QC	Chief Usher	Series 3, Episode 1 "Mute of Malice"
1998	Ultraviolet	Maria	Series 1, Episode 5 "Terra Incognita"
2000	The Bill	Mrs. Okin	"White Lies"
2000	In Defence	Mrs. Hope	Series 1, Episode 1
2000	Where There's Smoke	Counsellor Edwards
2000	Never Never	Brenda	Short drama
2001–2004	Teachers	Liz Webb	Series 1–4 (39 episodes)
2002	Doctors	Mrs. Foster	1 episode
2002	The Bill	Aisha Danvers
2002	Holby City	Marcia Lyme	1 episode
2002	The Jury	Ruby Thomas	Series 1, Episode 1–4
2002	EastEnders	Estella Hulton
2003	Strange	Mrs. Andoh	Series 1, Episode 2 "Kaa-Jinn"
2003	Lenny Henry in Pieces	Unnamed Character	Series 2, Episode 2
2003	Good Food Live	Herself	1 episode
2005	Casualty	Stephanie Mellor	Episode: "Aftermath"
2005	William and Mary	Mrs. Morris	Series 3, Episode 2
2006	Doctor Who	Clockwork Woman	Series 2, Episode 4 "The Girl in the Fireplace"
2006	Little Miss Jocelyn	Unnamed Character	Series 1, Episode 1 and 3
2006	Trial & Retribution	Judge Joyce Addo	"Sins Of The Father"
2006	Doctors	Marie Crossley	Series 7, Episode 140 "Ashes to Ashes"
2006	The Play's the Thing	Herself	Series 1, Episode 2
2007	Outnumbered	Jehovah's Witness	Series 1, Episode 4
2007	One of Us?	Mum	Short film
2008	Coming of Age	The Principal	All episodes since series 1, episode 3
2008	New Tricks	Cora Trimble	Series 5, Episode 8 "Mad Dogs"
2009	Off the Hook	Angela	Series 1, Episode 1
2009	Doctor Who	Carmen	Easter 2009 special; "Planet of the Dead"
2009	Moses Jones	Libby Jones	Series 1, Episodes 2 and 3
2010–2011	EastEnders	Grace Olubunmi	Recurring role
2010	Rev.	Adoha Onyeka	All 6 episodes
2011	Come Fly with Me	Mrs. Mbutu	Episode 2
2011	EastEnders: E20	Grace Olubunmi
2012	Doctors	Mrs Francelle Ndebele	"Paradise Lost"
2012	Casualty	Florence Asike	2 episodes
2015–2016	EastEnders	Claudette Hubbard	Regular role
2015	Humans	Lindsey Kiwanuka	Episode 1–2
2015–2017	Mount Pleasant	Nana Miller	Regular role
2016	New Blood	Joan Philips	Episode 1
2018–2019	Casualty	Omo Masters	Recurring role
2018–2019	In the Long Run	Mama	5 episodes (voice role), 2 episodes
2018	Midsomer Murders	Ruth Crane	1 episode
2018	The Queen and I	Philomena Troussaint	Television film
2019	Doctors	Liz Maberry	1 episode
2019	Dark Money	Maggie Mensah	Main role
2020	Death in Paradise	Georgine Perault	Series 9, Episode 7
2021–2024	Arcane	Ambessa Medarda	Voice, 5 episodes
2022	A Birthday Party	Aunty Fatou	Short film
2022	Say Nothing	Ms Araali Mabele	Short film
2023	Murder, They Hope	Nanny	Episode: "A Midsummer Night's Scream"
2022	A Birthday Party	Aunty Fatou	Short film
2023	Such A Lovely Day	Claude	Short film
2023	The Madame Blanc Mysteries	Reme Benson	Episode: "Kidnap"
2024	Silent Witness	Esther Daniels	2 episodes
Sources: [12][13]

Film roles

Year	Title	Role
2001	South West 9	Mrs. Ashware
2001	Buried Treasure	Martha
2002	Jeffrey Archer: The Truth	First Judge
2006	Basic Instinct 2	Prosecutor
2006	Losing It	Paula
2006	Breaking and Entering	Judge
2008	Clubbed	Mrs. Smith
2010	The Future Wags of Great Britain	Auntie Deborah
2010	The Santa Trap	Tooth Fairy
2011	Johnny English Reborn	Colin Tucker's mother
2016	Golden Years	Thelma
2022	Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris	Vi Butterfield
2022	The Pay Day	Ms Boomer
Sources: [14][15]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	The British Soap Awards	Villain of the Year	Nominated	[16]
2016	Inside Soap Awards	Best Bad Girl	Longlisted	[17]

References

1. "BBC Three Counties Radio - Edward Adoo, Doorstep befriending, tackling domestic violence, and Big Guest Ellen Thomas, Ed's Big Guest: Ellen Thomas". BBC. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
2. Review, Alt A. (12 January 2023). "Talking to Ellen Thomas on stage in The Wife of Willesden as play is set for Broadway - Alt A Review". alt-africa.com. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
3. "EastEnders up for four MVSAs". EastEnders. BBC Blogs. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
4. Kilkelly, Daniel (3 October 2016). "Revealed! Here's how Claudette leaves EastEnders". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
5. "EastEnders casts new character played by Ellen Thomas". HELLO. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
6. "Actress, Ellen Thomas to host 2011 GUBA Awards". GhanaWeb. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
7. "English actress Ellen Thomas, Kadi out and about in Sierra Leone". Swit Salone. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
8. Griffiths, Eleanor Bley (27 February 2020). "Meet the cast of Death in Paradise series 9". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
9. https://thedirect.com/article/arcane-season-2-cast-characters-voice-actors-guide-photos-ella-purnell-hailee-steinfeld
10. updated, Martin ShoreContributions from Steven Perkins last (23 May 2023). "The Madame Blanc Mysteries season 3: how to watch, cast, episode guide and all you need to know". What to Watch. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
11. Cremona, Patrick (12 February 2024). "Silent Witness season 27 cast: Meet the characters". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
12. "Ellen Thomas". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
13. "Ellen Thomas". TV Time. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
14. "Ellen Thomas". Plex.tv. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
15. "Ellen Thomas | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
16. "British Soap Awards 2016 full winners list: Did your favourites take home prizes?". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
17. Sandwell, Ian (21 June 2016). "Inside Soap Awards 2016 longlist revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 June 2016.

External links

• Ellen Thomas at IMDb