Daisy Aitkens

Daisy Aitkens (born 25 March 1986) is an English actress, screenwriter and director best known for her role as Lucy Chadwick in the television series Fear, Stress & Anger, and sketch characters in Watson and Oliver. She wrote and directed the 2017 film You, Me and Him.

Early life Aitkens was born in Sydney, Australia to British writer and actor Michael Aitkens, and grew up in London. She studied drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and while acting became her focus, she was really excited by the idea of becoming a writer.

Career

Acting After graduating, and throughout her 20s, Aitkens acted in about 15 television commercials, as well as television guest roles such as Casualty, Wire in the Blood, The Bill and EastEnders, while trying to establish herself as a writer.

In 2007, Aitkens starred on short-lived sitcom Fear, Stress & Anger for six episodes, alongside Doctor Who alumni (and real life father and daughter) Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant. Her father Michael Aitkens was the creator of the series and it was loosely based on his life with his own family. Aitkens played Lucy Chadwick, the role based on her own real-life sister, while Tennant played Chloe Chadwick, the role based on Aitkens.

From 2012 to 2013, Aitkens appeared as various characters on the sketch show Watson & Oliver. She has also appeared in several feature films, including Colin (2008), Nightshooters (2018), School of the Damned (2019) and Dune Drifter (2020) as well as film shorts.

As an actor, she has also toured with Alan Ayckbourn's theatre company, on a 2011 production of Communicating Doors.

Writing / directing A script (written in partnership with an actor alumnus from LAMDA) secured Aitkens her first job in a writer's room. After writing on the sitcoms My Family and Shelfstackers, she wrote and directed the short film, 96 Ways to Say I Love You (2014) and The Exit (2016), before directing and writing her debut feature film, You, Me and Him (starring Lucy Punch, Faye Marsay and David Tennant) in 2017.

Aitkens has also written for numerous publications and websites including The Times, Stylebible, Save the Cat, and Huffington Post.

Personal life Together with her husband, producer Neil Andrews, Aitkens has two daughters. Prior to having her children, she was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at the age of 21, and later found out she had an irregular shaped uterus, resulting in three miscarriages.

Filmography

As actor

Television Year Title Role Type 2001 Life As We Know It Anne TV series, 1 episode 2006 Casualty Laura TV series, 1 episode 2007 Fear, Stress and Anger Lucy Chadwick TV series, 6 episodes 2007 Wire in the Blood Sara Lloyd TV series, 1 episode 2005–2007 The Bill Lisa Holland / Joss Green TV series, 2 episodes 2008–2012 Doctors Jenny Whitaker / Jocasta Pennington / Laura Gerald TV series, 3 episodes 2013 East Enders Sophie TV series, 1 episode 2013–2013 Watson and Oliver Various characters TV series, 10 episodes 2013 The Crazy Ones Maid TV series, 1 episode

Film Year Title Role Type 2005 The Cross of Joshua Home Short film 2008 Colin Linda (Colin's sister) Feature film 2011 Showreel Girl on Street Feature film 2013 Manorexic Jennifer Short film 2013 Magpie Emily Feature film 2014 Meeting Mr. Reich Kate Short film 2018 Nightshooters Gabi Feature film 2019 School of the Damned Murphy Feature film 2020 Dune Drifter Yaren Feature film

Theatre Year Title Role Type 2011 Communicating Doors Jessica Stephen Joseph Theatre, North Yorkshire, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Theatre Royal, Bath, Theatre Royal, Brighton, Gate Theatre, Durham, Oxford Playhouse, Richmond Theatre, London 2005 The Woman in Black Frinton Theatre 2005 Relatively Speaking Frinton Theatre 2005 In Two Minds Frinton Theatre 2005 Life Time Three Frinton Theatre 2005 The Man of Destiny Frinton Theatre 2005 The Real Inspector Hound Frinton Theatre 2005 The Sneeze Frinton Theatre Lettice and Lovage Frinton Theatre Ghosts Frinton Theatre Family Circles Frinton Theatre The Importance of Being Earnest Frinton Theatre Dead of Night Frinton Theatre Private Lives Frinton Theatre Pains of Youth Gate Theatre, Durham

As writer / director

Television Year Title Role Type 2010 Shelfstackers Writer TV series, 2 episodes 2009–2010 My Family Writer / Script Associate TV series, 5 episodes 2018 Peel and Jones Writer TV pilot

Film Year Title Role Type 2015 96 Ways to Say I Love You Writer / Director Short film 2016 The Exit Writer / Director Short film 2017 You, Me and Him Writer / Director Feature film 2018 A Quiet Life Writer Feature film TBA Memoirs of a Stalker Writer In development