Ashley Jensen

Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She is best known as Maggie Jacobs in Extras (2005–2007), Christina McKinney in Ugly Betty (2006–2010), the title character in Agatha Raisin (2014–2022), and DI Ruth Calder in Shetland (2023–present).

For her role in Extras, Jensen was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie in 2008.

Career Jensen was a member of the UK's National Youth Theatre before being selected to study and train in Drama at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University.

Her first significant television role was as Clare Donnelly, daughter of Glasgow criminal Jo-Jo Donnelly (played by Billy Connolly) in the 1993 BBC drama Down Among the Big Boys. In 1994, she played eccentric secretary Rosie McConnichy in the final series of BBC comedy May to December, as a replacement for the character of secretary Hilary (Rebecca Lacey), and Heather in Roughnecks, a BBC television series about workers on a North Sea oil platform. Jensen had a small role in a Dangerfield episode "Contact" as the mother of a young girl with meningitis. She then appeared as Fiona Morris in EastEnders. She also appeared in the 2003 BBC drama Two Thousand Acres of Sky.

Jensen co-starred alongside Ricky Gervais in the BBC Two/HBO television programme Extras as the socially inept Maggie Jacobs. For her work on the first series, she received best television comedy actress and newcomer awards at the 2005 British Comedy Awards. In 2006, Jensen received two British Comedy Awards and a BAFTA nomination for her role in Extras. Her role in the 2007 Christmas Special earned her an Emmy Award nomination. In January 2006 she starred in the drama series Eleventh Hour on ITV. Later that year she played Steve Coogan's agent in A Cock and Bull Story. In 2007, she provided the narration for the film Taking Liberties.

In September 2006, Jensen's first major role on American television came when she took the role of regular character Christina McKinney on the ABC series Ugly Betty. Her character was originally an American, but when she met the show's producers they liked Jensen's accent and changed the nationality of the character, keeping McKinney Scottish. Production of Ugly Betty moved to New York from Los Angeles in mid-2008, causing a conflict for Jensen, who was unable to relocate from Los Angeles and left the show in 2009 near the end of the third season but made a return guest appearance in 2010 during the fourth season.

In January 2009, Jensen starred in No Holds Bard, a BBC Scotland one-off special comedy shown on Burns Night as part of a line-up of special programming to mark the 250th birthday of Robert Burns. She is the narrator of Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses and Embarrassing Bodies. She also narrated an advertising campaign for Bank of Scotland and Persil detergent adverts for both television and radio. From September 2009 to May 2010, she appeared in the sitcom Accidentally on Purpose as Olivia. Jensen starred in the 2009 BBC comedy Nativity! as Jennifer Lore, a Hollywood producer's secretary and the love interest of Paul Maddens, played by Martin Freeman.

On 21 December 2010, she starred in the one-off/pilot BBC comedy drama Accidental Farmer, playing a London executive who buys a derelict farm with her philandering boyfriend's credit card. In 2011, she voiced Nanette the frog in the animated production Gnomeo & Juliet. She starred in the ITV drama The Reckoning in April of that year.

Ashley Jensen with Marion Chesney (M.C. Beaton) at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival 2018 In 2014, she played the lead character in the television film adaptation of the M. C. Beaton novel Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death for Sky1. She also starred in the eight-part series that first aired on Sky1 on 7 June 2016.

From 2015 to 2019, Jensen acted in Catastrophe, a comedy series for Channel 4, and with Susan Calman in Calman's BBC Radio 4 comedy series Sisters.

In 2017, she starred in a six-part TV series for BBC TV, Love, Lies & Records, depicting the gritty life and entwined storylines working in Leeds Registry Office. In March 2019, Jensen reunited with Gervais in the Netflix black comedy series After Life, a role she continued for all three series. In April 2019 she played Debbie Dorell in the second series of BBC TV drama Trust Me. When an injured soldier discovers patients in his hospital ward dying, he attempts to investigate the suspicious deaths. Also in 2019, she played the voice of Jacqueline in Lady and the Tramp.

In November 2022 she was announced as the new lead in the BBC drama Shetland.

Jensen also appeared in the 2022 Christmas film Christmas On Mistletoe Farm for Netflix.

Personal life Jensen was born in Annan to Ivar and Margaret Jensen, who were both from Glasgow. She has a half-sister and brother from her father's second marriage. She is of Danish and Scottish descent on her father's side and Scottish descent on her mother's. She has one son, born in October 2009, from her marriage to actor Terence Beesley, whom she met in 1999 while working on a stage production of King Lear. They married in January 2007 in Big Sur, California. Her husband died in November 2017, and an inquest found that he had taken his own life.

In August 2023, Jensen married actor Kenny Doughty at Priston Mill in Priston, near Bath, Somerset.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1991 Tickets for the Zoo Eleanor 1999 Topsy-Turvy Miss Tringham 2005 A Cock and Bull Story Lindsey 2007 Taking Liberties Herself - Narrator Documentary film 2009 Nativity! Jennifer Lore 2010 Sunshine Alison Short film. (Also producer and art director) How to Train Your Dragon Phlegma the Fierce (voice) 2011 Gnomeo & Juliet Nanette (voice) Hysteria Fannie Arthur Christmas Bryony (voice) Nominated – Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production 2012 The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate (voice) 2013 All Stars Gina 2014 Small Time Gail 2015 The Lobster Biscuit Woman The Legend of Barney Thomson Detective Inspector June Robertson 2018 Sherlock Gnomes Nanette (voice) 2019 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Phlegma (voice) Lady and the Tramp Jock (voice) 2022 Christmas on Mistletoe Farm Ms. Fletcher

Television Year Title Role Notes 1990 City Lights Moira Series 5; Episode 6: "The Front" 1991 Screen Two Betting Shop Cashier Series 7; Episode 10: "Dreaming" 1992 Rab C. Nesbitt 2nd Girl Series 2; Episode 1: "Country" 1993 Sheena Series 3; Episode 4: "Wean" Screen One Claire Donnelly Series 5; Episode 3: "Down Among the Big Boys" 1994 May to December Rosie McConnachy Series 6; Episodes 1–6 The Tales of Para Handy Catriona MacLean Episode 4: "A Night Alarm" Takin' Over the Asylum Kathleen Mini-series; Episode 1: "Hey Jude" 1994–1995 Roughnecks Heather Series 1 & 2; 13 episodes 1994 The Bill Kate Selby Series 10; Episode 85: "Personal Space" 1995 The Baldy Man Hairdresser Episode 6: "Hair/Crime" Waiting Amanda Cookson TV film Capital Lives Eileen Series 2; Episode 1: "Temp" 1996 The Big Picnic Nessie TV film Bad Boys Morag Hood Episodes 1–6 Casualty Jess Series 11; Episode 4: "Thicker Than Water" 1997 The Bill Diane Wyre Series 13; Episode 79: "Mid-Life Crisis" Dangerfield Michelle Thomson Series 4; Episode 8: "Contact" 1998 Mortimer's Law Naomi Childs Episode 5 1998–2000 City Central PC Sue Chappell Series 1–3; 31 episodes 2000 EastEnders Fiona Morris 5 episodes 2001 Rebus Mhairi Henderson Episode 4: "Mortal Causes" 2001–2003 Clocking Off Babs Fisher/Leach Series 2–4; 5 episodes 2002 Outside the Rules Dawn Deacon TV film Breeze Block Leanne 5 episodes 2003 Two Thousand Acres of Sky Angie Reeburn Series 3; Episodes 5–8 Coming Up Rachel Episode 5: "Victoria" Silent Witness DI Becky Metcalf Series 7; Episodes 3 & 4: "Fatal Error: Parts 1 & 2" Sweet Medicine Faye Brooks Episodes 6–10 2004 Casualty Stella Series 18; Episodes 45 & 46: "Love, Honour and Betray" and "Ring of Truth" 2005 Meet the Magoons Policewoman No. 1 Episode 3: "The Samosa Triangle" Taggart Agatha Ferry Series 22; Episode 2: "A Taste of Money" 2005–2007 Extras Maggie Jacobs Series 1 & 2; 13 episodesBritish Comedy Award for Best NewcomerBritish Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress (2005)Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Comedy PerformanceNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieNominated – Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best ActressNominated – British Comedy Award for Best Television Comedy Actress (2008)Nominated – Rose d'Or Award for Best Sitcom Performance (follower-up) 2006 Eleventh Hour Rachel Young Mini-series; Episodes 1–4 2006–2010 Ugly Betty Christina McKinney Regular role; Series 1–3 / Guest star; Series 4. 66 episodesNominated – BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Acting Performance in TelevisionNominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008) 2007 The Friday Night Project Herself - Guest Host Series 4; Episode 7 Embarrassing Illnesses Herself - Narrator Episodes 1–8 The Teen Choice Awards 2007 Herself - Presenter TV Special Cook Yourself Thin Herself - Narrator Series 1; Episodes 1–6 2007–2009 Movie Connections Herself - Narrator Series 1 & 2; 16 episodes 2008 Embarrassing Bodies Herself - Narrator Series 1, 2 & 6; 6 episodes 2009 No Holds Bard Isobel TV film 2009–2010 Accidentally on Purpose Olivia Episodes 1–18 2010 Accidental Farmer Erin Taylor TV film Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Herself - Narrator Episodes 1–6 2011 The Reckoning Sally Wilson Mini-series; Episodes 1 & 2 2013 Love and Marriage Sarah Paradise Episodes 1–6 The Escape Artist Kate Burton Mini-series; Episodes 1–3: "Parts 1–3" Iceland Foods: Life in the Freezer Cabinet Herself - Narrator Episodes 1–3 2013–2014 CBeebies Bedtime Stories Herself - Storyteller 3 episodes 2014–2022 Agatha Raisin Agatha Raisin Series 1–4; 20 episodes 2015–2019 Catastrophe Fran Series 1–4; 18 episodes 2017 Love, Lies and Records Kate Dickenson Episodes 1–6 2018 Sofia the First Arielf (voice) Series 4; Episode 25: "The Elf Situation" 2018–2020 DuckTales Downy McDuck / Agnes McDuck / Danny McDuck (voice) Series 1; Episode 21: "The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!" and Series 3; Episode 17: "The Fight for Castle McDuck!" 2019 Trust Me Debbie Dorrell Series 2; Episodes 1–4 2019–2022 After Life Nurse / Emma Series 1–3; 18 episodes 2021 The Balmoral Hotel: An Extraordinary Year Herself - Narrator Documentary mini-series; Episodes 1–4 Summer Camp Island Miss Mary (voice) Series 5; Episode 9: "Mildred's Friends" 2022 The Airport: Back in the Skies Herself - Narrator Documentary mini-series; Episodes 1–5 Dog Squad Meagaidh (voice) Series 1; Episodes 2, 10 & 15 Mayflies Anna Two-part drama; Episodes 1 & 2 2023–2024 Designing the Hebrides Herself - Narrator Series 1 & 2; 12 episodes 2023–present Shetland DI Ruth Calder Series 8–10; 18 episodesNominated – BAFTA Scotland Audience Award 2025 Man vs Baby Janet