Sunetra Sarker

Sunetra Sarker
Born Sunetra Sarker
(1973-06-25) 25 June 1973
Liverpool, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1988–present
Spouse(s) Nick Corfield (2003–2009)
Partner(s) Scott Carey (2012—)
Children 1

Sunetra Sarker (born 25 June 1973)[1] is an English actress, best known for her acting roles in Brookside, No Angels and Casualty. She was also involved with a few episodes of the CBBC show, Horrible Histories. Sarker took part in the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Brendan Cole.

Early life

Sarker was born in Liverpool into a Hindu family.[2] Her father is a retired doctor,[3] and her mother Bisakha taught Indian classical dance[4] for which she was awarded an MBE in December 2013.[5] Sarker has a degree in Information Systems for Business in Europe from Brunel University London.[6] Her great-grandfather was the lawyer, novelist and political activist Nares Sen-Gupta.[7][8]

Career

Sarker has played a wide variety of roles in her career. Her initial success came when she was cast as Nisha Batra in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside from 1988 to 1990 and then returned in 2000 until 2003.[9]

Sarker also starred in the short-lived regional soap London Bridge. This was followed by one of her biggest roles as Anji Mittel in No Angels from 2004 to 2006.[10]

Sarker's next large role was playing the part of Clare Burns in the BBC drama The Chase[11] until the show was pulled after its second series. Sarker played the role of Dr Zoe Hanna in Casualty from 2007 until May 2016 after she decided to leave after over 9 years.[12]

In 2007, Sarker was a contestant on the celebrity cooking series Celebrity MasterChef. In 2009 she provided the voiceover for the new Liverpool One shopping centre advertisements.

In 2017, she will star in the second series of Safe House on ITV.[13]

Sarker currently appears in Channel 4's Ackley Bridge as Kaneez Paracha, mother of main character Nasreen.

Strictly Come Dancing

In autumn 2014, Sarker competed in the twelfth series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with New Zealand professional dancer Brendan Cole. In the first week the couple danced a Tango to "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" by Robert Palmer and scored 24. In the second week they danced a Cha-cha-cha to "Million Dollar Bill" by Whitney Houston and scored 26.[14] In the third week the couple danced the American Smooth to "The Way You Look Tonight" from the film Swing Time and scored 40, including a 9 from head judge Len Goodman. Because of Sunetra's filming schedule, the routine had to be learned in a single day.[15]

In the fourth week the couple danced the Salsa to "Turn the Beat Around" by Vicki Sue Robinson and scored 27. In the fifth week the couple danced the Viennese Waltz to "Anyone Who Had a Heart" by Cilla Black and scored 30. In week six, opening the show, they danced a Jive to "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones and scored 27. In week seven they danced a Foxtrot to "All of Me" by John Legend and scored 31. In week eight, at Blackpool, they danced a Samba to "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by the Scissor Sisters and scored 30. The couple were voted into the dance-off, against Judy Murray and Anton du Beke, but were unanimously saved by the judges.

In week nine they danced a Waltz, to "Last Request" by Paolo Nutini, and again scored 30, placing them in one from last place. The couple was voted into the dance-off with Steve Backshall and Ola Jordan, but were saved by three votes to one from the judges. In week ten they danced a Rumba to "The Girl from Ipanema" by Michael Bolton. The couple was again voted into the dance-off, against Mark Wright and Karen Hauer, but were unanimously voted out by the judges.

Who Do You Think You Are?

On 23 February 2017 Sarker's ancestors were the subject of Who Do You Think You Are? shown on BBC One in which she traced them to Bengal. She learns about her family's involvement in the struggle for independence in India and one of her ancestor's connection to Gandhi. Travelling next to Bangladesh, she visits her great-grandmother's ancestral village where she discovers the harrowing story of how her family were caught up in Bangladesh's 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.[16]

Personal life

Sarker married Nick Corfield in 2003. Their son Noah was born the following year. The couple parted in 2011, but both still live in Bristol, and care for Noah jointly.

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1988–1990, 2000–2003 Brookside Nisha Batra
1995 London Bridge Jyoti Solanki
1999 Cold Feet Clare
2000 Playing the Field Dr Meera
2003 Doctors Donna Sykes
Emmerdale Priti Chowdry 4 episodes
Eyes Down Karen 2 episodes
2004 The Smoking Room Monique
Holby City Nanda Veer 1 episode
2004–2006 No Angels Anji Mittel
2005–2008 Ideal Sangita
2006 New Street Law Nita Shibani
2006–2007 The Chase Clare Burns
2007 Mobile DI Lorraine Conil
Celebrity MasterChef Contestant
2007–2016 Casualty Dr. Zoe Hanna Also directed two episodes
2012 Doctor Who Indira 1 episode ("Dinosaurs on a Spaceship")
2014 Puppy Love Lilli Kusiak 2 episodes
Strictly Come Dancing Contestant Series 12
2017 Death In Paradise Hetma Patel 2 Episodes (A Man Overboard Part 1 & 2)
Broadchurch Sahana Harrison Series 3
Ackley Bridge Kaneez Paracha School drama
Safe House TBA Series 2

Guest appearances

References

  1. ↑ Tina Miles (15 November 2014). "Strictly Come Dancing star Sunetra Sarker dedicated ‘Sambanetra’ to Liverpool mums". liverpoolecho.
  2. ↑ "Series 12, Strictly Come Dancing - Sunetra Sarker - BBC One". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "I’m happy to be a Casualty of success". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing". BBC. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Catherine Jones (31 December 2013). "New Year's honours list recognition for Merseysiders - Liverpool Echo". liverpoolecho.
  6. ↑ "Sunetra Sarker". sightsavers.net. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Sunetra Sarker: It was 'astonishing' finding my family's links to Gandhi". Whatsontv.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  8. ↑ "BBC iPlayer - Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 13: 9. Sunetra Sarker". Bbc.co.uk. 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  9. ↑ "'Mobile' star Sunetra Sarker". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "My little angel; Dawn Collinson talks to actress Sunetra Sarker about the joys of motherhood.". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "BBC - Drama - The Chase - Other characters". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sunetra Sarker (Zoe Hanna, 'Casualty')". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "ITV announces brand new season of original event drama Safe House". itv.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing, Series 12 - Sunetra Sarker". BBC.
  15. ↑ Cathy Owen. "How Strictly Come Dancing's Sunetra Sarker splits her time between Cardiff and the dancefloor - Wales Online". walesonline.
  16. ↑ "Sunetra Sarker featured article on TheGenealogist". TheGenealogist. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  17. ↑ "Pointless Celebrities tonight on BBC1 with Sunetra Sarker and Paul Bradley from Casualty and Holby City and Surgical Spirit's Duncan Preston and Nichola McAuliffe". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Big Star's Little Star on ITV tonight with Jake Wood with son Buster, Sunetra Sarker with son Noah & former England rugby star Austin Healey with twins Betsey & Bibi Dee". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "Sunetra Sarker and Jo Joyner, Series 5, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip - BBC Two". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  21. ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "Harry Hill's Tea Time Series 1, Episode 8 - Sunetra Sarker - British Comedy Guide". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "BBC - Who Do You Think You Are returns to BBC One for a 13th series - Media Centre". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.

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