| Ingrid Oliver | |
| Birth Date: | 1977 2, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Germany |
| Occupation: | Actress, comedian, writer |
| Yearsactive: | 2005–present |
| Mother: | Jo Gideon |
Ingrid Oliver (born 25 February 1977) is a British actress and comedian, and one half of the comic double act Watson & Oliver. She played Petronella Osgood, a supporting character in the BBC television series Doctor Who.
Oliver and her comedy partner Lorna Watson met at Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston upon Thames.[1] She then read Modern Languages at New College, Oxford. In September 2005, Watson and Oliver performed their first show together at the Canal Cafe Theatre in London. They took sell-out shows to Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006 and 2007.[2]
Oliver has performed in various radio and television programmes, including Doc Martin, The Penny Dreadfuls radio series The Penny Dreadfuls Present... The Brothers Faversham[3] and the radio series Another Case of Milton Jones. She played the part of Natalie in Peep Show on Channel 4.
She appears in the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging as Miss Stamp, and in early 2009 could be seen in Channel 4's sitcom Plus One.[4]
In 2010, Oliver played Mimi Throckmorton in Material Girl on BBC One, alongside Lenora Crichlow and Dervla Kirwan.[5] In 2012, she appeared on Let's Dance For Sport Relief with comedy partner Lorna Watson, dancing Boléro, famously used by Torvill and Dean. The following year, she appeared in the first episode of The Great Comic Relief Bake Off and was named as 'Star Baker'. The same year, she appeared in the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, "The Day of the Doctor", as Petronella Osgood. She reprised the role in the episodes "Death in Heaven", "The Zygon Invasion", and "The Zygon Inversion"; UNIT, an audio drama spinoff series produced by Big Finish Productions; and Doctor Who: Redacted, a BBC radio drama spin-off series.
Oliver was born to a German father and English mother. Her grandfather, Eric Gideon, was a D-Day veteran who died in 2017, shortly after receiving the Légion d'Honneur for his service to France during the war. Her mother is former Conservative MP Jo Gideon, who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central in 2019. Oliver has British and German nationality.[6]
She began a relationship with Richard Osman in 2020; they became engaged in May 2022 and married in December 2022.[7] [8] They met when she was a contestant on TV celebrity quiz show Richard Osman's House of Games.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging | Mrs. Stamp | ||
| 2017 | You, Me and Him | Lily | ||
| 2019 | The Hustle | Brigitte Desjardins | ||
| Last Christmas | Police Woman Crowley | |||
| The Thursday Murder Club | Joanna | In production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Footprints in the Snow | Back-Up Organiser | TV film | |
| Doc Martin | Radio Technician | Episode: "Aromatherapy" | ||
| 2006 | Vital Signs | Mother #2 | Episode #1.2 | |
| Now the Weather | Unaired Pilot | |||
| 2007 | Biffovision | Mrs. Peggy | TV film | |
| Watson & Oliver: The Movie | Various characters | TV film; also writer | ||
| Comedy Showcase | Rebecca Black | Episode: "Plus One" | ||
| 2008 | The Gym | Miriam | 1 episode | |
| Peep Show | Natalie | Episode: "Jeremy's Mummy" | ||
| Tonightly | Ingrid | Episode #1.1 | ||
| The Wrong Door | Various characters | 6 episodes; also writer | ||
| 2009 | Plus One | Rebecca Black | 5 episodes | |
| The Fixer | Sadie | Episode #2.4 | ||
| 2010 | The Persuationists | Harriet | Episode: "The Australianess" | |
| Material Girl | Mimi Throckmorton | 6 episodes | ||
| 2011 | Twenty Twelve | Assistant producer of The Today Programme | Episode #1.6 | |
| Lead Balloon | Jenny | Episode: "Pig" | ||
| 2012–2013 | Watson & Oliver | Various characters | 12 episodes; also writer | |
| 2012–2016 | The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret | Yancy McPickles/Vanessa Blojabditz | 4 episodes | |
| 2013–2015 | Doctor Who | Petronella Osgood | 4 episodes | |
| 2014 | GameFace | Clare | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2016 | Plebs | Camilla | Episode: "Justin Junior" | |
| 2017 | The Magicians | Hudson River Dragon (voice) | Episode: "The Rattening" | |
| 2019 | Silent Witness | DI Briggs | 2 episodes | |
| Defending the Guilty | Fiona | 3 episodes | ||
| 2021 | The Watch | Doctor Cruces | 4 episodes | |
| 2023 | Beyond Paradise | Cassie Parker | Episode #1.4 | |
| 2024 | Father Brown | Gaynor Garfield | Episode: "The Forensic Nun" |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goethe's Faust | Gretchen | St. John's College Theatre | |||
| King Lear | Cordelia | Tabard Theatre | |||
| Heartbreak House | Hesione Hushabye | ||||
| Anatol | Annie | ||||
| 2003 | Revolving Door | Kelly | Theatro Technis | ||
| Butterflies Are Free | Florence Baker | Vienna's English Theatre | |||
| Loveplay | Various characters | Finborough Theatre | |||
| 2004 | Eskimo Sisters | Mo | Camden People's Theatre | ||
| 2006 | The Shelter | Angela Trumpet | Lawrence Batley Theatre | ||
| 2015 | Harvey | Myrtle Mae Simmons | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | ||
| 2017 | Ingrid Oliver: Speech! | Various characters | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | One-woman show |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Company of Heroes 2 | ||
| 2018 | Doctor Who Infinity: The Dalek Invasion of Time[9] | Petronella Osgood (voice) | |
| 2019 | Doctor Who Infinity: The Horror of Flat Holm | ||
| 2021 | Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins[10] | Petronella Osgood |
| Year | Title | Role | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–2012 | The Castle | Lady Charlotte | BBC Radio 4 (series 1–3) | 24 episodes |
| BBC Radio 4 Extra (series 4) | ||||
| 2008 | The Brothers Faversham | Alexandra Faversham | BBC Radio 7 | 4 episodes |
| More Brothers Faversham | 4 episodes | |||
| 2009 | Cavity | Kirsty | BBC Radio 4 | |
| 2013 | ElvenQuest | Penthiselea | 6 episodes | |
| 2014 | The Architects | Sarah | 4 episodes | |
| Men About The House | Eve Feevis | Pilot | ||
| 2015 | A Trespasser's Guide to The Classics | Emma | Episode: "The Rat-Catchers of Yonville" | |
| 2019–2022 | Party's Over | Christine Tobin | 12 episodes | |
| 2021 | The Attendant | Denise/Evil Denise | Episode: "Sci-Fi" |