Ruth Madeley

Ruth Madeley (born 4 August 1987) is a British actress known for her roles in Years and Years, The Rook and Doctor Who. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz Kidz for much of her life. She was nominated for a television BAFTA in 2016 for her work in Don't Take My Baby.

Early life Madeley was born in Westhoughton, and was diagnosed with spina bifida six weeks before she was born. She has an older sister named Elizabeth. Her father worked in customer services and her mother was a nurse. When Madeley was 5 years old, the charity Whizz Kidz provided funding for a custom wheelchair for her. Madeley volunteered for Whizz Kidz throughout her childhood and was part of the Kidz Board youth panel. As part of her work with Whizz Kidz, at the age of 13, she visited Cherie Blair at 10 Downing Street to discuss fundraising and awareness. At 14, she received another wheelchair from the charity. In 2004, aged 17, she was awarded the first Bolton Wanderers' Community Hero award.

Madeley attended Thornleigh Salesian College and later studied English and creative writing with a focus on scriptwriting at Edge Hill University, and graduated with a First Class Honours degree.

Career In 2012, Madeley wrote and starred in the made for television film Lime Pictures Scrims. She has had several supporting roles in television, including Fresh Meat and The Level.

She starred as Anna in the 2015 TV movie Don't Take My Baby, chronicling a disabled couple's fight to prevent their baby from being taken away, The following year, she was listed as one of BAFTA's 18 Breakthrough Brits. At the time of filming, Madeley was working in fundraising at Whizz Kidz. She returned to the job after her BAFTA win, thinking there would not be enough roles for disabled actresses for her to make a career in acting.

In Russell T. Davies' 2019 BBC/HBO miniseries, Years and Years, Madeley played Rosie Lyons. The role of Rosie was not originally written for a wheelchair user but after her audition, Davies decided to work with Madeley to reshape the role around her spina bifida.

In 2019, Madeley signed an open letter urging Hollywood executives to normalise disability by casting disabled actors to play disabled characters. In 2020, she appeared in the Christmas special episode of Would I Lie to You? and appeared in Mat Fraser's CripTales, a collection of disability monologues. In 2021, she competed on Celebrity Best Home Cook and played Throat in the television adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel, The Watch.

In 2021, she was cast in the BBC One comedy series, The Cleaner and starred as Barbara Lisicki in the 2022 BBC Two drama, Then Barbara Met Alan. She also appeared in Tom Stern and Celyn Jones' film, The Almond and The Seahorse, inspired by Kaite O'Reilly's play of the same name.

Madeley's first theatre role was in The Greatest Wealth at The Old Vic in 2018. The Greatest Wealth consisted of seven monologues and was put together in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Madeley's monologue, "Choice & Control" was written by Matilda Ibini. In late 2019 and early 2020, she played Barbara 'Buck' Buckingham in Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Michael Longhurst. The play, written by Mike Lew, was inspired by Shakespeare's Richard III. The character of Buck was based on the character of the Duke of Buckingham and was explicitly written to be played by a disabled actor.

In September 2021, it was announced that she would star alongside Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas as a new companion of the Sixth Doctor, marine biologist Hebe Harrison. The boxset, The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds, was released in May 2022. She was cast as Shirley Anne Bingham in the television series' 2023 specials, which were written by Davies, who had returned as showrunner.

Madeley and Ruben Reuter appeared in a documentary from Channel 4 on disability and abortion titled Disability and Abortion: The Hardest Choice. The documentary aired in August 2022.

Filming took place in 2025 on a television adaptation of The Rapture by Liz Jensen for BBC One, starring Ruth Madeley who is also an executive producer.

Personal life Madeley continues her work with Whizz Kidz as a fundraiser and, in 2019, was recognised as a patron of the charity.

She has been with her partner, Joe Lawrence, since 2012 and they married in 2024. The two have known each other since they were young.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2018 Ashes Erica Short films 2020 The Uncertain Kingdom: Verisimilitude Bella 2021 Canvas 5 Ruth Betteridge 2022 The Almond and the Seahorse Jenny 2026 Being Heumann Judith Heumann Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 2009 Half Moon Investigations Fran Series 1, episode 8: "Sick Note" 2011 Fresh Meat Sal Series 1, episode 5 Television film 2015 Don't Take My Baby Anna Watson Television film 2016 Outnumbered Jill Series 5, episode 7: "Christmas Special 2016" The Level Janine Series 1, episodes 11 & 12: "Five by Five: Lucas" & "Five by Five: Janine" Cold Feet Tracey McHarrie Series 7, episodes 1–4 & 7 Katy Helen Series 1, episodes 2 & 3: "Wheels" & "Wings" 2018 Horizon: Herself - Presenter Documentary series, episode: "Spina Bifida and Me" 2019 Brexit: The Uncivil War Leave Supporter Television film Pure Abby Series 1, episode 6 2020 Save Me Too DS Pip Bleasdell Series 2, episode 6 Would I Lie to You? Herself - Panellist Series 14, episode: "At Christmas" Sunday Brunch Herself - Guest Series 9, episode 15 Criptales Throat Series 1, episodes 1, 5 & 8 2021 Celebrity Best Home Cook Herself - Contestant Series 1, episodes 1–3 The Last Leg Herself - Guest Series 23, episode 13; Series 24, episodes 4 & 12 ("Christmas Special") The Cleaner Helena Series 1, episode 3: "The Neighbour" 2022 Then Barbara Met Alan Barbara Lisicki Television film Disability and Abortion: The Hardest Choice Herself - Presenter Documentary 2022–2023 Brassic Clara Marie Series 4, episode 4: "Exotic Zoo"; Series 5, episode 5: "The Rat Catcher" 2023 The Long Shadow WPC Judy Womack Mini-series, episode 2 The Unique Boutique Herself - Narrator Series 1, episodes 1–4 Sunday Brunch Herself - Guest Series 12, episode 43 2023; 2025 Doctor Who Shirley Ann Bingham Recurring role. 2023 specials, Series 15 2024 Rob Beckett's Smart TV Herself Series 1, episode 6 Renegade Nell Mrs. Miller Series 1, episode 7: "Stop Printing This Muck" Nightsleeper Chrissy Doolan Mini-series, episodes 1–6 Celebrity Catchphrase Herself - Contestant Series 9, episode 9: "Chris Bisson, Ardal O'Hanlon and Ruth Madeley"2025 The War Between the Land and the Sea Shirley Ann Bingham Main roleBlankety BlankHerselfSeries 4, episode 62026Who Do You Think You Are?HerselfOne episode The RaptureDr Gabrielle FoxFive episodes

Theatre 2018: Performed "Choice & Control" monologue in The Greatest Wealth. 2019–2020: Barbara 'Buck' Buckingham in Teenage Dick. 2022 Stylist Remarkable Women Awards Change Maker of the Year Award N/A