Alison Pargeter (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress who played the roles of stalker Sarah Cairns in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Mary Slessor in an 11-part television series of Mary Slessor, the Nag's Head barmaid called Val in the BBC Only Fools and Horses prequel Rock & Chips, She later played the role of Margaret Campbell in the third series of STARZ's Outlander, and also as a Kindly Old Woman in the HBO series The Nevers.

Alison Pargeter
Born (1972-05-31) 31 May 1972 (age 52)
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Years active2000–present
TelevisionThe Nevers
Outlander
Rock & Chips
Mary Slessor
EastEnders

Career

edit

Television appearances

edit

Pargeter has made several guest appearances over the years, she has appeared in the Channel 5 Horror series Urban Gothic, the long-running ITV police drama series The Bill, Strange, Dalziel and Pascoe, and Holby City.

Between that time in 2004, she played a recurring role which was Martin Fowler's stalker Sarah Cairns in EastEnders, who appeared in 21 episodes, She was a barmaid who worked in Angie's Den club, and tried to split Martin Fowler up from his wife Sonia following a drunken night together. She exited the series following a fight where she accidentally stabbed Martin and got committed to a mental institution.

Since leaving EastEnders she moved back, and returned to doing guest appearances again, including The Courtroom, Love Soup, Channel 4 comedy series Green Wing, and returned for a second guest appearance in The Bill.

In 2008, Pargeter played another major the role called Mary Slessor in the Mary Slessor an 11-part television series.

Since then, she went back to doing guest appearances onces again, such as the Channel 4 comedy series Pete Versus Life, Rock & Chips, The Crimson Petal and the White, 24: Live Another Day inciding three guest roles in Doctors, Crashing, Outlander, The Dumping Ground, four guest roles in Casualty, Vanity Fair, Chernobyl, Catch-22, Father Brown, The Crown and most recently The Nevers.

In 2004 she appeared in the television advertisement for John Smith's bitter "Annie, I'm not your Daddy" which starred Peter Kay. Also in 2012 she appeared in a television advertisement for Miracle Whip: Village. she later played a role as a house wife for TV commercial Volvic Juicy drink back in 2015, at the end of 2018, she appeared as playing the role of mother of three children with her husband as part of an Sainsburys Christmas Advert, on a really important mission complete their Christmas shopping, In time for Christmas, and more recently, she played the role of a Vampire for an Birds Eye Commercial, advertising veggie burgers.

Films

edit

Pargeter has appeared in seven films such as Calendar Girls (2003), Mad George (2004), Angel (2007), Reuniting the Rubins (2010), The National Union of Space People (2016), The Little Stranger (2018) and the upcoming movie called Shafted, which is currently still in pre-production.

Theatre

edit

During 1997, Pargeter starred in the stage play Dinosaur Rock, and between 1999 and 2000, she ended up spending a year touring in the musical Grease playing the role of Jan who was one of the Pink Ladies.

Pargeter was a member of the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where she was directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn in a trilogy of plays known collectively as Damsels in Distress, which subsequently transferred to the West End. For this, she won Best Newcomer in the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and was nominated for an Evening Standard award, Manchester Evening News Award and a Whatsonstage Award.

Later parts include Sugar Daddies, again written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn; She Stoops to Conquer at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, for which she was nominated for a second Manchester Evening News award;

In June 2005, she played title role of Effie Gray in The Countess, playing opposite Nick Moran at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly.

In 2008 she recorded the voice of 'Wendy Darling' in a musical adaptation of Peter Pan with the music lyrics by Dallison/Wherry and was also narrated by Joe Parquale as 'Smee'.

Pargeter has starred in several Christmas Pantomimes for children over the years, she appeared in Alice in Wonderland, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella.

In July 2011 Pargeter played the role of Gertrude Riall at the Manchester International Festival in a Victoria Wood's play called That Day We Sang.

Between February and June 2013, Pargeter went on A National Tour, touring eleven theatres around parts of the UK, and played the role of Eliante in the Roger McGough's play called The Misanthrope and on 10 March 2013 The Misanthrope also went live from the Everyman Playhouse and English Touring Theatre on BBC Radio 3.

Between 2013 and 2016, she appeared in two more stage plays including Sex Cells and her more recent was All My Sons.

Filmography

edit

Films

edit
Year Film Role Notes
TBA Shafted Svetlana Gobbleoff In pre-production
2023 Wonka Wendy Chucklesworth
2018 The Little Stranger Maid
2016 The National Union of Space People Danielle Chief
2010 Reuniting the Rubins Nurse
2007 Angel Edwina
2004 Mad George Sandra Short film
2003 Calendar Girls Chemist's Assistant

Television

edit
Year TV Show Role Notes
2023 You Dawn Brown Recurring role, Season 4
2022 Wedding Season Claire Episode 6
2021 Holby City Wendy Carrington 4 episodes
The Nevers Kindly Old Woman Episodes "Exposure", "Ignition"
2020 The Crown Buckingham Palace Maid 1 Episodes "Fagan", "War"
Father Brown Anna Bailey Series 8, episode 6 "The Numbers of the Beast"
2019 Catch-22 Nurse Cramer Episode 6
Chernobyl BCP HQ Aide Female "Please Remain Calm"
2018 Vanity Fair Glorvina O'Dowd Episodes "In Which a Painter's Daughter Meets a King", "Endings and Beginnings"
Casualty Theresa Jordons 1 episode
2017 The Dumping Ground Janet Umbleby Episodes "Back in the Game - Part 1", "Back in the Game - Part 2", "The Fairytale Princess", "Save the DG", "What Lies Beneath"
Outlander Margaret Campbell Episodes "Creme de Menthe", "The Bakra"
"Eye of the Storm"
2016 Crashing Nurse Episode 6
2015 Casualty Flo Hill Episode "Maybe This Year"
Suspicion Anita Episode "Death Next Door"
2014 Quiet Desperation Gabby Pilot
Doctors Matilda Episodes "The Moon Girl Chronicles: Part One", "The Moon Girl Chronicles: Part Two", "Love is a Battefield"
24: Live Another Day Lydia Episode "10:00 p.m.-11:00 a.m."
2013 Toast of London Senna Poddington Episode "Vanity Project"
2012 Doctors Annie Hanks Episode "Ticks and Twitches"
2010–2011 Rock & Chips Val Episodes Pilot Special, "Five Gold Rings", "The Frog and the Pussycat"
2011 The Crimson Petal and the White Amelia TV mini-series, Episode 4
2010 Pete Versus Life Valerie Episode "Ollie's Girlfriend"
2009 Casualty Rosie Pullen Episode "Could We Be Heroes?"
2008 Doctors Nina Jarvis Episode "I Know What You Did Last Semester"
Mary Slessor Mary Slessor 11 episodes
2007 The Bill Shelley Cooper Episodes "Line of Fire: Part 1", "Line of Fire: Part 2"
2006 Casualty Donna Carlyle Episode "In Good Faith"
Green Wing Nurse Series 2, episode 1
2005 Love Soup Siobhan Episode "There Must Be Some Way Out of Here"
2004 The Courtroom Deborah Harker Episodes "Five Below Zero", "Zero"
EastEnders Sarah Cairns 21 episodes
Holby City Sylvia Dyson Episode "The Kindness of Strangers"
Dalziel and Pascoe Barmaid Episode "A Game of Soldiers"
2003 Strange Natalie Episode "Incubus"
2001 The Bill Katie Episode "Billy the Kid"
2000 Urban Gothic Leila Haze Episode "Sum of the Parts"
edit