Caroline Harding
BornMarch 1962 (age 61)
Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England
NationalityBritish
EducationGuildford School of Acting
Occupations
Years active1992–present
Spouses
​
(divorced)​
    ​
    (m. 2002)​
    Children3

    Caroline Harding (born March 1962) is an English television actress and playwright. She has played recurring roles in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and crime drama Scott & Bailey, as well as in the Netflix six-part mockumentary sitcom Hard Cell. She has also written and performed in numerous theatrical productions, including her play Two Sisters, which received nominations for two Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for Best Play and Best Performance in 2007, and a one-woman show about the eminent Restoration actress Nell Gwyn.

    Early life and education

    Harding was born and raised in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England.[1] She graduated from the Guildford School of Acting and worked extensively for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late '80s.[1]

    Career

    Stage

    Together with fellow actress Candida Gubbins, she formed the theatre company Two Friends Productions in 2000.[1][2] Soon after, she made her debut as a playwright with Postcards from Maupassant, a 2001 play based on the late 19th-century short stories by French author Guy de Maupassant, in which she also starred.[3] It first premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and then, after receiving rave reviews from critics, went on a national tour.[4] Sam Marlowe of The Times wrote: "All three actors are excellent throughout, but here Harding in particular is painfully funny and sad as the child-like, crazed wife. Her portrayal is still more impressive when you consider that, by contrast, just a couple of scenes earlier she was an elegant, icy society doyenne in sequins and silk."[5] Ten years after the initial premiere, Harding adapted it into French Fancies.[2]

    Her next play was Two Sisters, a gripping black comedy set in 1880's Russia and directed by Chris Gascoyne.[6] First performed in July 2006 at the Buxton Festival, it was soon followed by a national tour and nominations for two Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards for Best Play and Best Performance.[7] Around the same time, Harding starred in the productions of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2004),[8] Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing (2005)[9] and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (2007).[10]

    In 2008, she wrote and performed a one-woman show about one of the first actresses on the English stage and a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England, Nell Gwyn.[11] She called it Pretty Witty Nell after a description of Gwyn by Samuel Pepys, the famed diarist and social commentator of the day.[10] Described by Harding as "a sort of historical stand-up",[1] the show toured the UK for two years.[12]

    Television

    Her television career began in a 1992 episode of the ITV crime drama Van der Valk, based on Nicolas Freeling's novels about a detective in Amsterdam, played by Barry Foster.[13] She then appeared in all four episodes of the BBC Two medical drama Degrees of Error (1995), starring Beth Goddard, and all six episodes of the BBC One legal drama Fish (2000), starring Paul McGann in the eponymous role.[14][15] In 2007, she briefly appeared opposite Robert Pattinson and Holly Grainger in The Bad Mother's Handbook, the television adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Kate Long.[16] She then had recurring roles in Scott & Bailey and Doctors in the early 2010s.[17][18][16]

    For three months in autumn 2020, she appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Dr. Howarth, who treated the dying son of Steve McDonald and Leanne Battersby, and later told the court it would be an act of kindness and compassion to switch off his life support.[19] Harding has also played five different characters, including three doctors, in another popular ITV soap opera, Emmerdale.[1][16]

    In 2022, she appeared as series regular Sal in Hard Cell, Catherine Tate's Netflix mockumentary sitcom set in a women's prison.[20][21] Together with Lorna Brown, she led a storyline about a couple who found love in the prison and have no desire to leave.[22]

    Personal life

    Harding has been married to actor Chris Gascoyne, best known for his role as Peter Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street, from 2000 to 2023.[10] In 2004, they starred opposite each other in the Octagon Theatre production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.[8] The couple have a daughter, Belle.[23] Harding also has two children, Pip and Freddie, from a previous marriage to actor Jason Watkins.[24]

    Filmography

    Year Title Role Notes
    1992 Van der Valk Maarte de Kleine Episode: "Still Waters"
    The Old Boy Network Journalist Episode: "The Book of Revelations"
    Waiting for God Janet Follett Episode: "The Estate Agent"
    1993 The Buddha of Suburbia New York Interpreter 2 episodes
    1995 A Touch of Frost A&E Sister Episode: "Dead Male One"
    Degrees of Error Susan 4 episodes
    1999 Dangerfield Sheila Lardner Episode: "Through a Glass, Darkly"
    2000 Doctors Eve Sharpe Episode: "God's Will"
    Fish Juliette Vishnevski 6 episodes
    Casualty Louise Bennett Episode: "Getting to Know You"
    EastEnders Welfare Officer 1 episode
    2004 Doctors Harriet Scott Episode: "Turning Back the Clock"
    2005 Casualty Ruby Townend 2 episodes
    Emmerdale Belinda Connors 1 episode
    2006 Life on Mars Raimes' Lawyer 1 episode
    Strictly Confidential Stephanie 2 episodes
    2007 The Bad Mother's Handbook Sandra Gale TV film
    The Royal Diane Fletcher Episode: "Laura"
    2008 Cold Blood Mrs. Armstrong Episode: "The Last Hurrah"
    Emmerdale Dr. Judd 1 episode
    Spooks: Code 9 Sarah 1 episode
    2009 Casualty 1909 Edith Dean Known as London Hospital in the USA; 2 episodes
    2010 Holby City Sally Carley Episode: "Thursday's Child"
    2013 Scott & Bailey Louise 4 episodes
    Emmerdale Dr. Garrett 2 episodes
    Mount Pleasant Maître d' 1 episode
    Holby City Anja Fancourt Episode: "If I Needed Someone"
    2014 Doctors Grace Henning 5 episodes
    2015 Coronation Street Consultant 2 episodes
    2016–2017 Emmerdale Prosecution Barrister 3 episodes
    2018 Dr. Todd 2 episodes
    2020 Coronation Street Dr. Howarth 18 episodes
    2022 Hard Cell Sal 6 episodes
    2023 Happy Valley SIO Mary Whitaker 1 episode

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wolfisz, Francine (25 April 2008). "A fruity tale of the Restoration". Bucks Free Press. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    2. 1 2 Meads, Glenn (13 March 2011). "Caroline Harding On...French Fancies | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    3. ↑ Monahan, Mark; Leith, Sam (8 August 2001). "Edinburgh diary". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    4. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (22 August 2001). "Review: Postcards From Maupassant". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    5. ↑ Marlowe, Sam (5 September 2003). "Postcards from Maupassant". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    6. ↑ "Two Sisters @ Buxton Festival Fringe". Manchester Evening News. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    7. ↑ "M.E.N. Theatre Awards: Our guide to the winners". Manchester Evening News. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    8. 1 2 "Here's Johnny... and Frankie!". Manchester Evening News. 28 October 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    9. ↑ "The Real Thing, Library, Manchester". the Guardian. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    10. 1 2 3 Dibbits, Kat (26 September 2008). "Interview: Caroline Harding in Pretty Witty Nell". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    11. ↑ "Exciting line-up from Arts Alive". Hereford Times. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    12. ↑ Cunningham, Dave (9 June 2009). "Pretty Witty Nell (Tour - Salford) | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    13. ↑ "Caroline Harding". IMDb. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    14. ↑ "TV: Fish out of water in this limp courtroom drama". NZ Herald. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    15. ↑ "Off the hook". the Guardian. 1 May 2000. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    16. 1 2 3 "The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich". www.wolseytheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    17. ↑ "Doctors, Series 15, About the Boy". BBC One. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    18. ↑ "Scott & Bailey Season 3". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    19. ↑ Gonzalez, Elliot (3 November 2020). "Steve betrays Leanne after judge decides that Oliver's life support should be withdrawn in Corrie". I Talk Telly. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    20. ↑ Kanter, Jake (30 July 2021). "'Hard Cell': Netflix Rounds Out Cast For Catherine Tate Prison Comedy Series". Deadline. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    21. ↑ "Netflix announces new Catherine Tate comedy series Hard Cell". About Netflix. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    22. ↑ "Hard Cell review: Catherine Tate's prison comedy is too much, too late". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    23. ↑ O'Sullivan, Kyle; Fitzpatrick, Katie (8 June 2021). "Peter Barlow actor Chris Gascoyne on his co-star wife and drastic weight loss". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
    24. ↑ "Who is Caroline Harding? Meet Coronation Street's Chris Gascoyne's co-star wife". Heart. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
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