Siobhan Finneran, the star of Happy Valley, is set to grace our screens once again in the new police drama series, Protection.
The Oldham-born actress, aged 60, will portray DI Liz Nyles, a dedicated officer working in the witness protection department. Her role involves safeguarding those who have testified against criminals and are subsequently placed in safe houses.
However, when a murder occurs at one of these safe houses, she suspects a leak within her team.
As SCI Hannah Wheatley (played by Katherine Kelly) arrives to investigate potential corruption within the unit, Liz initiates her own inquiry, focusing on her younger, married colleague DS Paul Brandice (Barry Ward), with whom she has been having a clandestine affair. Viewers can catch Siobhan in Protection this Sunday.
Speaking about her character’s background, Siobhan reveals: “She’s a woman in her fifties with a 16-year-old daughter, and she’s just become a full-time carer to her dad,”
She adds, “Like hundreds of thousands of women, Liz is trying to keep a balance between personal and professional, so hopefully her character will resonate with loads of people – until that all gets blown up of course!”
With Siobhan returning to our screens, we take a look at her impressive career and past relationships.
Siobhan’s career so far
Upcoming new ITV drama Protection is led by Happy Valley actress Siobhan Finneran who plays Detective Inspector Liz Nyles (Image: ITV)
Siobhan Finneran, acclaimed for her role as the scheming ladies’ maid Sarah O’Brien in Downton Abbey, once confessed her childhood aspiration to emulate a British comedy legend.
She said: “As a little girl I wanted to be Eric Morecambe. Not to be like him but to actually be him.”
She honed her acting skills with a theatre studies course before landing her breakthrough part as Rita in the 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too, sharing the screen with stars such as The Full Monty’s Lesley Sharp and Line of Duty’s George Costigan.
Finneran has since impressed in a variety of stage productions and television series, including notable appearances in Clocking Off, Unforgiven, and The Moorside.
Her television career encompasses roles in , ’s The Stranger, Doctor Who, The Loch, and the award-winning Downton Abbey, where she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her ensemble work. She also received a MEN Theatre Award for Best Actress thanks to her performance in On the Shore of the Wide World.
More recently, Finneran has graced episodes of Inside No. 9 and portrayed Beryl in The Reckoning, a mini-series centered on Jimmy Savile.
Siobhan’s marriage and Death in Paradise romance
Mark Jordon with his heavily pregnant wife Siobhan Finneran (Image: Getty)
In the late 90s, Siobhan tied the knot with actor Mark Jordon and they had two children together, Poppy and Jordan. The couple decided to take a step back from their acting careers to focus on raising their family.
However, their relationship came to an end in 2014, with Mark later marrying his co-star Laura Norton.
Mark and Laura have two children together. Siobhan has been linked romantically to Don Gilet, who is currently starring as the lead detective in ‘s popular series Death In Paradise.
The pair became close while filming the 2017 series The Loch. Although they haven’t publicly confirmed their relationship, they were seen holding hands at the TV Choice Awards last year.
Don and Siobhan were spotted holding hands at an event last year (Image: (Image: BBC))
Siobhan referred to Don as “my fella” during an interview with The Guardian. She shared a story about how Don gifted her a book on Rudi Hurzlmeier’s artwork for Christmas.
She said: “I found a card I’d been sent years ago, clearing out a drawer, and laughed as soon as I saw it again.”
The pair had previously laughed over a humorous piece of art, which led to him gifting her a book on the artist.
“It’s a picture of a nun looking in a shoe shop, and a bloke next to her has got his hand on her bum. I showed it to Don [Gilet], my fella, and now one of my Christmas presents is a book of Hurzlmeier’s work,” she revealed.
Protection is on ITV1 on Sunday, March 16 at 9pm.