Sheridan Smith’s Very Best British TV Dramas
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2 hours ago
Her new series The Cage kicks off this weekend
When it comes to gripping and gritty British dramas, Sheridan Smith is never far from the scene of the crime. Rising to fame on classic sitcoms like The Royle Family (1999–2000), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2009), Gavin & Stacey (2008–2024) and Benidorm (2009), the Lincolnshire local soon turned her attention to more serious dramas, carving out a space for herself in the British television hall of fame. Indeed, she has won a BAFTA, an NTA and a TV Choice Award, as well as being nominated for an Emmy, for her work on the small screen.
Next, Smith stars as a charismatic casino cashier in The Cage, opposite Michael Socha, kicking off this Sunday at 9pm. In the meantime, below we’ve gathered the star’s very best TV performances if you just can’t get enough Sheridan Smith.
Mrs Biggs (2012)
Starring opposite Daniel Mays playing the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, it is in ITV drama Mrs Biggs that Sheridan Smith proved to the British public that she was worth her salt. Smith stars as Charmian Biggs, wife of Ronnie and mother to three young sons when her cash-strapped husband joins up with Bruce Reynolds to commit one of the most notorious crimes in British history.
Five episodes streaming on ITVX.
Cilla (2014)
Broadcast towards the end of Cilla Black’s life, in Cilla, Smith totally embodies the beloved Liverpudlian star to reenact her 1960s rise to fame on the small screen. Also starring Aneurin Barnard as Bobby Willis and Ed Stoppard as Brian Epstein, across three episodes, we follow Priscilla White transform from typist and hobby singer to beloved shining star.
Three episodes streaming on ITVX.
Black Work (2015)
It was in Black Work that Britain discovered Sheridan Smith can portray a dogged police officer impeccably. In the three-part drama, she took on the role of PC Jo Gillespie, whose world is turned upside down when her fellow copper of a husband Ryan not only turns out to have been working undercover (doing ‘black work’) for three years without her knowledge, but then turns up shot dead. Over three episodes, Jo fights to discover the truth about her husband’s double life amid a gaggle of coppers trying to cover it up.
Three episodes streaming on ITVX.
The Moorside (2017)
Based on a true story, in The Moorside, Sheridan Smith stars alongside Gemma Whelan, Sian Brooke and Siobhan Finneran, with these four northern women bringing the disturbing story to the small screen. At the centre is the disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews in 2008, which spiralled into a major missing person hunt likened to that of Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old who disappeared on holiday just a year before. But of course Shannon was quickly found alive, and pretty close to home…
Two episodes streaming on ITVX.
Cleaning Up (2019)
Starring opposite Jade Anouka and Ben Bailey Smith, in Cleaning Up, Sheridan Smith takes on the role of Sam, a debt-ridden cleaner with a gambling addiction grappling to regain custody of her children. But then Sam finds a new opportunity where she least expects it: despite working a low-paid zero-hour contract, Sam cleans the offices of a glitzy London financial firm, and manages to use insider trading information to turn her life around. Naturally this comes with repercussions.
Six episodes available to rent on Prime Video.
The Teacher (2022)
This is Sheridan Smith at her very best: stressed, plagued with alcoholism, but determined for justice. And this time, Smith’s character in The Teacher, Jenna Garvey, has to vouch for herself. An English teacher popular with her students, Jenna has a shambolic personal life – and this quickly becomes clear when she blacks out on a drunken night out. When she wakes, she is charged with having sexual intercourse with one of her pupils, the 15-year-old Kyle (Samuel Bottomley). It’s not something Jenna would ever do. Is she being framed? And why?
Four episodes streaming on Channel 5.
I Fought The Law (2025)
Sheridan Smith’s most recent role was in I Fought the Law, another ITV drama dramatising a real story. In it she plays Ann Ming, a bereaved mother who fought tirelessly to overturn the 800-year-old British double jeopardy law, which prevented people being tried twice for the same offence after her daughter’s murderer was allowed to walk free after multiple mistrials.
Four episodes streaming on ITVX.
The Cage premieres at 9pm on Sunday 26 April 2026 on BBC One and iPlayer.
