page:  = <unk> <unk> = 
   
   <unk> <unk> <unk> ( born May 1968 ) is a Welsh actress , best known for her role as <unk> Tyson in the BBC medical drama <unk> City . She first rose to prominence in the lead role of the 1993 <unk> <unk> screenplay Great <unk> in Aviation . <unk> has worked in theatre , film and television , appearing in a number of Shakespearean theatrical performances , Hollywood films The i Inside and <unk> , and British television shows including Soldier Soldier , <unk> , Sea of <unk> and Doctor Who . She appeared in <unk> City from its eighth to eleventh series , from 2006 to 2008 , and in 2009 starred in the <unk> musical comedy My Almost Famous Family . 
   <unk> is an advocate of increased ethnic representation in the entertainment industry , and in 2001 founded her own production company , producing the short film <unk> 's <unk> for the Cannes film festival in order to further her campaign . In 2006 , <unk> was shortlisted for the ' Female Performance in TV ' award in the Screen Nation Awards , receiving Honourable Mention in the same category in 2007 , and a further shortlisted nomination in 2008 . She is married to fellow actor Adam <unk> , with whom she has two daughters . 
   
   = = Early life = = 
   
   <unk> was born in Cardiff , Wales in May 1968 , to a Sierra <unk> mother and a <unk> father . She was raised by her mother 's cousin and his wife in Ely , Cardiff . <unk> 's heritage means she is <unk> by descent , although she does not speak the language . <unk> studied at Windsor Clive Primary and <unk> Ely High School , and was a member of the <unk> Youth Theatre , South Glamorgan Youth Theatre , South Glamorgan Youth Choir and the National Youth Theatre of Wales . She left high school before sitting her A Levels in order to pursue her ambition of becoming an actress . She explains : " I 've always wanted to act . I decided at 16 I wanted to make my living acting , but even if I couldn 't , I ’ d be in an amateur theatre company . " She then went on to attend the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama , studying for a three @-@ year acting <unk> . Her first acting role was for the Welsh <unk> when still at primary school , playing a lady @-@ in @-@ waiting at the court of King Arthur . <unk> has stated that it was <unk> Streisand 's performance in <unk> , <unk> ! that inspired her to act as a child , though credits her adoptive mother with encouraging her to act professionally . <unk> 's first job was selling <unk> on <unk> Road Market in Cardiff . She worked as a <unk> whilst attending drama school , and , six weeks prior to graduation , was offered a job with the ' Made in Wales ' theatre company which enabled her to obtain her union card . 
   
   = = Career = = 
   
   <unk> began her career in the theatre , performing in a number of Shakespearean plays including Twelfth Night , A Midsummer Night 's Dream , The Tempest , The <unk> of Venice and Macbeth . She states of this : " Shakespeare keeps coming my way . I love the fact that I get to play people who are much more articulate than I 'll ever be " . <unk> has performed in Twelfth Night in the lead roles of both Olivia and Viola . She explains : " The role of Viola didn 't sit that well with me for some reason but Olivia makes more sense . " She has also appeared in modern performances , assuming the title role of <unk> , Queen of <unk> at the Globe Theatre in London in 2003 , which she described as " a dream of a part " . She has deemed her dream role to be that of Isabella in Measure for Measure , as she once lost out on the part and would like to prove herself capable of playing it . 
   <unk> 's first film appearance was in the 1993 film Great <unk> in Aviation , written by <unk> <unk> , in which she starred alongside Jonathan Pryce and John Hurt . Variety magazine 's David <unk> said of her performance : " In the film 's most <unk> turn , <unk> is a constant pleasure to watch . <unk> and appealing , she often succeeds in pulling the <unk> fireworks momentarily back down to Earth . " <unk> recalls having been <unk> at the prospect of working alongside so many established names , but has deemed it to have been a " wonderful experience " . Her subsequent film credits are romantic comedy The Secret <unk> of Women , set in Nigeria and starring Colin Firth , thriller The i Inside , filmed in Sully Hospital , Cardiff , and starring Ryan <unk> , and <unk> , filmed in Morocco whilst <unk> was pregnant with her first child , starring <unk> Cruz . <unk> says of her film career : " I really like doing film [ but ] I 've not done enough big films though to really know the difference between film and television . " 
   <unk> 's first prolific television role was in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier , in which she starred throughout its third series in 1993 as soldier 's wife Bernie Roberts . <unk> credits her chemistry with co @-@ star <unk> <unk> , who played her on @-@ screen husband Luke Roberts , for winning her her audition . She went on to appear in Gone With the Wind sequel Scarlett , and star in Welsh soap opera Tiger Bay . She has spoken critically of the way the BBC treated the soap , moving it around the schedules and declining to commission a second series . She acted alongside Pauline <unk> in both <unk> <unk> and Being April , deeming <unk> to be a " fantastic " actress , and one she would work alongside again " like a shot " . In 1996 , <unk> appeared at the National Theatre in Helen <unk> 's adaptation of Leo <unk> 's War and Peace . In 2001 , she became a presenter of the BBC Wales arts programme Double Yellow , alongside poet Owen <unk> and performance artist Mark Rees . She posed nude but for a pair of yellow rubber gloves to promote the show 's launch , and was highly critical of the BBC when the show was cancelled midway through its second series . She has since concluded that " the kind of audience they would like to bring in with shows like Double Yellow aren 't really into watching TV " , but at the time was outspoken against the show 's cancellation , stating : 
   <unk> 's other notable television appearances include the BBC psychological thriller Green @-@ Eyed Monster ( 2001 ) , soap opera <unk> ( 2001 ) , Waking the Dead ( 2001 ) , London 's Burning ( 2001 ) , <unk> ( 2002 ) , Murder in Mind ( 2003 ) , The Canterbury Tales ( 2003 ) and Sea of <unk> ( 2004 ) . In 2008 , she starred in the Doctor Who episode " Midnight " , playing an <unk> <unk> alongside David Tennant 's Tenth Doctor . In 2009 , <unk> starred in the <unk> musical comedy My Almost Famous Family . She stated : " The script made me laugh out loud when I read it . [ ... ] I also like the fact that there were a lot of politically @-@ correct boxes being <unk> , but the writers and producer haven 't been restrained by that . " So , instead of <unk> to this altar , they 've said , ' Okay , we have this family that 's half @-@ black , half @-@ white , half @-@ American , half @-@ British . We have a mix of boys and girls , one character who 's mixed @-@ raced and <unk> – but we 're not going to be restrained by any of that . We 're not going to <unk> around Martha 's disability or anything . ' I liked that . It wasn 't some sort of <unk> hands @-@ off approach to what we 're presenting . " She has also been cast in the film <unk> . 
   
   = = = <unk> City = = = 
   
   From 7 February 2006 to 9 December 2008 , <unk> starred in BBC medical drama <unk> City as nurse <unk> Tyson . She had previously appeared in <unk> City 's sister show <unk> , and had made an appearance in <unk> City 's fifth series as patient <unk> Lawson . She was approached about returning to the show in a more permanent role by BBC casting director Julie <unk> . After a series of three meetings , a year after the birth of her first child , she agreed to assume the role of <unk> , despite being " nervous about signing such a long contract " , stating : " I 've been someone who 's loved the uncertainty of acting . I 've loved that one month it 's <unk> in Morocco and the next I 'm doing a stage play , then it 's a six @-@ part <unk> thing . But last summer I started thinking it would be really nice not to have to look for a job every couple of weeks . It would be nice just to stay put for a while . If I 'm going to be a working mum I 'd rather just be one rather than be one intermittently . And then <unk> came along , so I 'm very grateful " . 
   <unk> signed a three @-@ year contract to play <unk> , and described herself as " very similar " to her character , speaking positively about her working relationship with co @-@ stars Jaye <unk> and Sharon D. Clarke , as well as the " dream " storylines her character was given . She said of the show : 
   " I really love <unk> and I 'm surprised how much . What thrills me about <unk> is that you get back what you put in . The powers that be are only as interested in you as they think you are in the job . For me it 's about more than turning up and saying the lines . It 's about understanding it and trying to make it better . That 's actually a lot of fun . What 's great is nobody says , ' Just shut up . ' They want you to work at it . [ ... ] I surprise myself sometimes because after two and a half years sometimes I see friends on the side of a poster and I think , ' do I want to do something else ? ' but I really like this job , I never get that awful ‘ <unk> ’ feeling when you really don ’ t want to go into work . " 
   In October 2008 , <unk> announced that she would be departing from <unk> City in order to have a second child , stating : " I 've had a great time and I 'll miss it . I made the decision purely because I was pregnant , but I wasn 't really ready to put down the character of <unk> . I 'm very sorry to have to let her go . " 
   
   = = = Race and charity work = = = 
   
   Throughout her career , <unk> has been outspoken on the subject of racial discrimination in the entertainment industry . Describing her motivation , she states : " I am not an overtly political person . I just want fairness " . <unk> believes that black actors receive less recognition than their white counterparts , explaining ; " If you get a show with six stars and one is black you are more likely to see interviews with the five white actors . [ ... ] They are not being sold as a reason to watch . " She believes that her career would have taken her in a different direction were she not of ethnic origin , stating : " I could not have played any of the roles I have played on TV if I was white [ ... ] I am very aware of where the glass ceiling is and it 's still very low and expectations are still very low " . She has noted having casting directors accept the notion of characters being both black and Welsh to be a particular problem , explaining that : " I get offered a lot of very different roles , but they 're never Welsh . [ ... ] The one time I was asked to play a Welsh character on screen was in Tiger Bay for BBC Wales , but I know if that series had been called <unk> Park or <unk> Close I wouldn 't have been in it " . In 2001 , <unk> founded a production company and directed a short film entitled <unk> 's <unk> . She presented the film at the Cannes film festival , using it as part of her campaign for increased black representation in theatre , films and television . The project , however , was largely unsuccessful , with <unk> stating : " it just made me decide that if there 's anything I don 't want to do , it 's produce films , because I 'm rubbish at it . I was so bad with the budget that I just said yes to everything and then had to worry about how to pay for things at the end . " In 2008 , <unk> offered her support to the Action for Southern Africa campaign <unk> ! Period , aiming to provide affordable <unk> protection to <unk> women . 
   
   = = = Awards = = = 
   
   <unk> was nominated and shortlisted for the ' Female Performance in TV ' award in the 2006 Screen Nation Awards , for her role as <unk> Tyson in <unk> City . She received Honourable Mention for the same role the following year , and was shortlisted again in 2008 . In 2005 , <unk> voted <unk> the 29th <unk> woman in Wales , saying of her : " One of our favourite <unk> , she 's black , beautiful and the term " <unk> mummy " should have been made for her . " She placed 40th in 2008 , with the Western Mail noting : " the last 15 years have only seen <unk> become more beautiful and more successful " . <unk> placed 17th in the awards in 2009 . 
   
   = = Personal life = = 
   
   <unk> describes herself as " optimistic , cynical , lazy , naive [ and ] honest " . She spends her free time " watching television , the theatre , cinema , concerts , indoor wall climbing [ and ] keeping fit [ with ] <unk> [ and ] aerobics " . She has a collection of <unk> dolls which she keeps under her bath . <unk> has an interest in travel , and has visited Peru and Kenya among other destinations . She has expressed a desire to visit Brazil and Argentina , and has " a romantic notion of travelling around Europe in a <unk> van " . <unk> often speaks of her pride in her Welsh upbringing , describing herself as " an Ely girl through and through " . She was made a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2003 . 
   During a 1998 production of Hamlet , <unk> met her future husband , fellow actor Adam <unk> – son of Love <unk> <unk> star Jack <unk> . They met again two years later , during a production of Twelfth Night , and went on to become a couple . The pair married in May 2004 , and <unk> gave birth to their first daughter in July that year . Their second daughter was born in January 2009 . 
   
   = = Filmography = = 
   
   <unk> has undertaken the following roles from her screen and <unk> debut in 1993 , to the present day . 
   
   = = = Film roles = = = 
   
   
   = = = Television roles = = = 
   
   
  