Deirdre Mullins


Deirdre Mullins is an Irish film, television & theatre actor and director. In 2017, she won a Scottish BAFTA for Best Actress in Film for The Dark Mile. She is best known for playing series regular Naomi in Channel 4's Man Down opposite Greg Davies and Rik Mayall. Man Down was nominated for Best New Comedy Programme in the British Comedy Awards 2014. Notable theatre roles include Rosalind in As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe, Lika, in Marina Carr's 16 Possible Glimpses at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Jessie Taite in Seán O'Casey's The Silver Tassie at the National Theatre.
Her directing debut, a production of Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, was set in a hotel swimming pool and won her rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe 2006 including The Scotsman's top 5 shows to see at the Fringe. It was in Time Out's top 3 shows at the Fringe; giving it 5 stars, Rachel Halliburton said 'This is the kind of unexpected discovery that critics live for at Edinburgh'. A decade later, Mullins directed her second show, an experimental new play by Bea Roberts, Infinity Pool, which won a Toast of the Fringe Award at Plymouth Fringe Festival and went on to enjoy a place on The Guardian's list of recommended shows at the Edinburgh Fringe & International Festival 2016. The critic Lyn Gardner described it as 'painfully funny' and giving it 5 stars from The Stage, Stewart Pringle said it was 'utterly unique and exceptional in every way, it's a heart-breaking story of a stunted life, told with theatrical verve and palpable compassion'. It was short-listed for the highly prestigious Total Theatre Award.
Mullins was continuity announcer for ITV3 from Dec 2012 – Dec 2013. Her most recent audio drama work includes playing Mina opposite Mark Gatiss in Dracula by Big Finish Productions.
She is a core committee member of ERA 50:50, a campaign calling for equal representation of women on screen & stage and made an impassioned speech about it when picking up her BAFTA.
Mullins was head girl at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. She read Drama & Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin before transferring and finishing with a first class degree in English Literature at the University of St Andrews, Scotland in 2006. She trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 2006 to 2008 and now lives in London.

Film and television

YearTitleRoleProduction CompanyNotes
2009Hard TimesKateFeature Productions Ltddir Tom Reeve
2009De Troon JoannaLemming Filmdir Erik de Bruyn
2009Ashes to AshesNurseBBC1dir Catherine Morshead
2010Midsomer MurdersLibby MorrisBentley Productions/ITV1dir Richard Holthouse
2011WhitechapelHeather GreenCarnival Films/ITVSeries 3, Episode 4, dir Richard Clark
2011TriviaGrainne Grand Pictures/RTEdir Tom Hall
2012The Best Possible TasteBBC ReceptionistMammoth/BBC 4dir James Strong
2013Man DownNaomi Avalon/Channel 4dir Matt Lipsey
2013VikingsPeasant WomanTake 5 Productions/World 2000/History Channeldir Ken Girotti
2013BreathlessDiana FairfaxITVdir Marek Losey
2013DoctorsChrissie WelshBBCdir Jordan Hogg
2014My Name Is EmilyEmily's MotherHurricane Filmsdir Simon FitzMaurice
2014Inspector George GentlyValerie CullenCompany Pictures/BBC2dir Roger Goldby
2015The Frankenstein ChroniclesAgnes MarlottITV Encoredir Benjamin Ross
2016Father BrownBebe FontaineBBC1Episode 4.1 "The Mask of the Demon" dir Paul Gibson
2016Tank 432 Sarah KarlssonThe APC Tank Films Ltddir Nick Gillespie
2017Otzi & the Mystery of TimeHelenaOnemore Picturesdir Gabriele Pignotta
2017WillAnne ShakespeareTNTwritten by Craig Pearce
2017The Dark MileClaireBridge Project Onedir Gary Love – won a Scottish BAFTA for best actress in film
2018The RomanoffsNatalie BurrowsAmazon Studiosdir Matthew Weiner
2019FlackJanetHat Trick Productionsdir George Kane
2020The Christmas BallClareMarVista Entertainment/Headlong Entertainmentdir Amy Barrett
2020The DrowningKateElement Pictures/Unstoppable Entertainmentdir Carolina Giammetta
2020Miss Scarlet and the DukeTabitha ButlerA + E Studiosdir Declan O'Dwyer

Stage

YearTitleRoleTheatreDirector
2008Twelfth Night by William ShakespeareViolaRedgrave TheatreJohn Hartoch
2008A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev LizavetaTobacco Factory TheatreSue Wilson
2009Measure for Measure by William ShakespeareMarianaThelma Holt Ltd/Theatre Royal, PlymouthJamie Glover
2009The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New VoicesActorThe Old VicAlice Lacey
2011Old Vic 24 Hour Plays Celebrity GalaActorThe Old VicAlexander Ferris
201116 Possible Glimpses by Marina CarrLikaAbbey TheatreWayne Jordan
2011A Midsummer Night's Dream by William ShakespeareHelenaHeadlongNatalie Abrahami
2012As You Like It by William ShakespeareRosalindShakespeare's GlobeJames Dacre
2013The Man Who Pays The Piper by GB SternDaryllOrange Tree TheatreHelen Leblique
2014The Silver Tassie by Seán O'CaseyJessie TaiteLyttelton, National TheatreHoward Davies

Radio

YearTitleRoleChannelNotes
2009CavityJemmaBBC Radio 4dir Alison Crawford
2009The LakeReaderBBC Radio 4dir Sarah Blunt
2011PositiveTessBBC Radio 4dir Sara Davies
2017The Cold God of Bad Luck by Colin BarrettReaderBBC Radio 4prod Duncan Minshull
2019The Country Girls by Edna O'BrienMarthaBBC Radio 4dir Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole
2020For the Love of LeoMary GraceBBC Radio 4dir Marilyn Imrie

Audio Drama

YearTitleRoleProduction CompanyNotes
2015The Confessions of Dorian GrayScarlet MooreBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2015DraculaMina HarkerBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2016Doctor Who – The Very Dark ThingAdmiral EffenishBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2016Charlotte PollardNaomiBig Finish Productionsdir Nicholas Briggs
2017The Prisoner S2Number 2Big Finish Productionsdir Nicholas Briggs
2017HamletOpheliaBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2017Doctor Who – The War MasterOsenBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2018CiceroVitelliaBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2018Class – GiftedMabBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2019Doctor Who – Feast of FearThe Spae WifeBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2019Torchwood – SerenityKellyBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock
2020Doctor Who – The Headless OnesAmanda LatimerBig Finish Productionsdir Scott Handcock