Samantha Spiro

Spiro began her professional career with the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, appearing in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Boys From Syracuse, and Macbeth. Additional stage credits include As You Like It, Teechers, The Tragic Roundabout, Jumpers, On the Piste, Roots, How the Other Half Loves, and Glyn and It.

She played Barbara Windsor in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick at the National Theatre and later reprised the role in the television adaptation Cor, Blimey!. She appeared in National Theatre productions including Mike Leigh’s Two Thousand Years, and in Funny Girl at the Minerva Theatre and Bedroom Farce in the West End.

In 2009, she appeared as Maria in Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse and as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the Open Air Theatre.
In 2013, she played Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Her television credits include The Bill, Cold Feet, Plebs, Coupling, After You’ve Gone, and the lead role of DI Vivien Friend in M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team. She starred in the BBC comedy Grandma’s House beginning in 2010, appeared in Psychobitches (2012), joined Bad Education (2013), and appeared in Little Crackers (2013).

In 2016, she portrayed Melessa Tarly in Season 6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones and appeared in Tracey Ullman’s Show, later reprising the role in Tracey Breaks the News.
In 2017, she reprised Barbara Windsor in Babs and appeared in the Doctor Who episode “The Doctor Falls.”

Film credits include Beyond Bedlam (1994), From Hell (2001), and Tomorrow La Scala! (2002).

In 2018, she played Mrs. Erlynne in Lady Windermere’s Fan at the Vaudeville Theatre. From 2019 to 2023, she portrayed Maureen Groff in the Netflix series Sex Education.