Lenora Crichlow

Lenora Isabella Crichlow (born 4 January 1985) is an English actress. She became known for her starring roles as Maria "Sugar" Sweet in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Sugar Rush, Annie Sawyer in the BBC Three supernatural drama series Being Human, and Shania Andrews in the 2012 sports drama film Fast Girls. In 2013, Crichlow portrayed Chen Sam in the television film Burton & Taylor and Victoria Skillane in the episode "White Bear" of the dystopian sci-fi series Black Mirror. She has since had regular roles in the ABC sitcom Back in the Game and the NBC comedy series A to Z. In 2020, she was in the main cast of the HBO/Sky One comedy series Avenue 5, playing second engineer Billie McEvoy.

Early life Crichlow was born 4 January 1985 and raised in Harlesden, London. She is one of four siblings born to a biracial couple, Port of Spain, Trinidad-born Frank Crichlow and his partner, Lucy Addington, a white Englishwoman. Her father owned the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, which was frequented by stars such as Jimi Hendrix and Vanessa Redgrave. Crichlow has two sisters and a brother.

From the age of twelve, Crichlow trained and worked with the YoungBlood Theatre Company in Hammersmith, West London.

Career Crichlow's first professional acting role came when she was cast alongside Billie Piper in the television film Bella and the Boys. She made her first feature film appearance in the low-budget horror film Wilderness, released in 2006, and her first television appearance in the ITV police drama series The Bill. which won the 2006 International Emmy Award in the Children And Young People category.

In 2007, she appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Gridlock", guest starring as Cheen. Crichlow then had a role in BBC One's feature-length drama Kiss of Death in 2008, starring alongside Danny Dyer. In March 2010, Crichlow returned to the world of Doctor Who in the audio release of The Architects of History, playing a new character, Rachel Cooper, a companion of the Seventh Doctor in an alternate timeline. Crichlow then played the role of Portia in a performance of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, for the BBC's educational platform Bitesize.

In November 2008, the BBC announced Crichlow had been cast as Annie Sawyer, a ghost in a flat shared with a vampire and a werewolf, in the BBC Three series Being Human, replacing Andrea Riseborough who had played the character in the pilot. In 2011, Crichlow won the TV Actress of the Year Award at the annual Glamour Awards for her work on the show. She continued to play the role of Annie in the programme until deciding to depart following the last episode of the fourth series, which aired in March 2012. Crichlow later narrated the audiobook of Simon Guerrier's tie-in novel The Road.

In November 2009, Crichlow played the part of Alice Jackson in Collision, an ITV1 drama which ran over five consecutive nights. From January to February 2010, Crichlow appeared as aspiring fashion designer Ali Redcliffe in the BBC One romantic comedy miniseries Material Girl. In June 2010, she also played the role of Ashley in a BBC Three pilot, Dappers. That same month, Crichlow presented Nelson Mandela: One Incredible Life on BBC Three. For the documentary, Crichlow travelled to South Africa to learn more about Nelson Mandela's story. In 2011, Crichlow played the character of Police Sergeant Lily Thomson in the BBC drama Death in Paradise.

In January 2011, Crichlow appeared in six short accompaniments for The Tudors airings on BBC America. Crichlow also narrated The Gatwick Baby: Abandoned at Birth, shown on BBC Three on 13 April 2011. The following year, she appeared in an episode of Inspector George Gently, and played the central role of Shania Andrews, a streetwise 200m runner, in the Olympics-themed drama film Fast Girls. In December 2012, she starred as Laura Stanton in the ITV1 drama film Doors Open, an adaptation of the Ian Rankin novel of the same name.

In February 2013, Crichlow starred as Victoria Skillane in "White Bear", the second episode in the second series of Charlie Brooker's critically acclaimed anthology series Black Mirror. The following month, it was announced that she had landed a main role in the American sitcom Back in the Game for the ABC network, starring alongside James Caan and Maggie Lawson. In July 2013, Crichlow portrayed the role of Chen Sam in the BBC Four television film Burton & Taylor, alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West.

In 2014, she portrayed Mel in the independent drama film Electricity, starring opposite Agyness Deyn and Christian Cooke. In February 2014, it was announced that Crichlow had been cast as Stephie Bennett in the NBC comedy series A to Z. The series was given a full season order, but was ultimately cancelled. She next appeared in the Kevin Pollak-directed comedy-drama The Late Bloomer, alongside J. K. Simmons, Brittany Snow, and Johnny Simmons. Crichlow was then cast as Dina Clark in the ABC procedural crime drama series Deception, alongside Jack Cutmore-Scott and Amaury Nolasco.

Since 2024, Crichlow is one of the Station Voiceovers on BBC Radio 3 Unwind.

Filmography

Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 Bella and the Boys Stacy Television film 2004 The Bill Shirley Moss 12 episodes 2005 Casualty Linda Surrey Episode: "Truth, Lies and Videotape" 2005–2006 Sugar Rush Maria "Sugar" Sweet 20 episodes 2007 Doctor Who Cheen Episode: "Gridlock" 2008 Kiss of Death Jude Whiley Television film 2008 The Things I Haven't Told You Miss Baker Television film 2008 Casualty Michelle Episode: "There and Back Again" 2009–2012 Being Human Annie Sawyer 30 episodes 2009 Collision Alice Jackson Miniseries; 3 episodes 2010 Material Girl Ali Redcliffe Miniseries; 6 episodes 2010 Dappers Ashley Unsold pilot 2011 Death in Paradise Lily Thomson Episode: "Arriving in Paradise" 2012 Inspector George Gently Carol Morford Episode: "Gently Northern Soul" 2012 Doors Open Laura Stanton Television film 2013 Burton & Taylor Chen Sam Television film 2013 Black Mirror Victoria Skillane Episode: "White Bear" 2013–2014 Back in the Game Gigi Fernandez-Lovette 12 episodes 2014–2015 A to Z Stephie Bennett 13 episodes 2016 Suspects DS Alicia Brooks 6 episodes 2017 Flaked Rosa 5 episodes 2018 Deception Dina Clark 13 episodes 2020–2022 Avenue 5 Billie McEvoy Main cast 2021 Goliath Ava Wallace-Margolis Main cast 2024 Bel-Air Penelope Recurring

Other work

Theatre Year Title Role Location 2006 93.2 FM Delisha Taylor Royal Court Theatre 2008 Big White Fog Claudine Adams Almeida Theatre

Radio Year Title Role Station Notes 2010 Doctor Who: The Architects of History Rachel Cooper BBC Radio 4 Extra 4 episodes

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result 2011 Glamour Awards TV Actress of the Year Being Human 2012 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards Female Performance in Film Fast Girls 2013 SFX Awards Best Actress Being Human Sexiest Female 2014 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards Female Performance in TV Black Mirror, Back in the Game, and Burton & Taylor