Amanda Burton

Amanda Burton (born 10 October 1956) is a Northern Irish actress, well known for her television roles, including Heather Black in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, Beth Glover in Peak Practice, Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness, Clare Blake in The Commander and Karen Fisher in Waterloo Road.

Burton was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, the youngest of four sisters. Her father was a primary school headmaster. After attending Londonderry High School, a girls-only secondary school in the city of Derry, she moved to England at the age of 18, where she spent three years studying drama at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre.

Although best known for her television roles, Burton had worked almost exclusively in the theatre prior to landing the role of Heather Black in Channel 4's Liverpool-based flagship drama series Brookside. After nearly four years in the role, during which time Heather had become one of the show's most-popular residents of Brookside Close, she began to lose sympathy with her character and decided to leave. Following her departure her television work consisted mainly of guest appearances, with parts in a number of peak-time drama series including Minder, Inspector Morse, Boon, Medics, Van Der Valk, Stay Lucky and Lovejoy.

In 1993 Burton starred alongside Kevin Whately in Peak Practice. She played the role of Doctor Beth Glover in the medical drama series, based in Derbyshire's Peak District, for three series until her departure in 1995. In 1996 she then took the main role of Professor Sam Ryan in the highly acclaimed BBC drama Silent Witness; she held this role until 2004. After Silent Witness, she took on the role of Prosecutor Helen West in a series based on Frances Fyfield's novels. She also played Aunt Polly in a 2003 remake of Pollyanna. One of her most recent roles is as Commander Clare Blake in Lynda La Plante's drama, The Commander.

In 2010, Burton appeared in the sixth series of BBC drama Waterloo Road as new head teacher, Karen Fisher, and departed the show in 2011. She recently starred in BBC1's Celebrity Masterchef and made it through to the semi-finals. In Autumn 2016, she will play gangster's wife Cherie Le Saux in ITV drama The Level.

Burton married theatre technician Jonathan Hartley in 1976, whom she met while at Manchester School of Theatre. They divorced in 1982. She married professional photographer Sven Arnstein in 1989, and the couple had two children, Pheobe (born 1989) and Brid (born 1991), before divorcing in 2004. Burton currently lives in Hastings, East Sussex.

Film

• Bronson (2009) as Mum

Television

• Brookside as Heather Huntingdon/Haversham/Black (1982–86), Channel 4
• Inspector Morse as Mirella Lunghi in "The Settling of the Sun" (15 March 1988), ITV
• Boon as Margaret Daly (1987–88), ITV
• Medics as Vikki in "Jessica" (1990), ITV
• A Casualty of War as Nicola (1990)
• The Storyteller: Greek Myths as Aithra (1990)
• Van der Valk as Elly van Roekel in "Doctor Hoffmann's Children" (1991), ITV
• Lovejoy as Bonnie Wright in "Kids" (15 March 1992), BBC One
• Peak Practice as Dr. Beth Glover/Kerruish (1993–1995), ITV
• Silent Witness as Sam Ryan (1996–2004), BBC One
• The Precious Blood as Rosie Willis (1996)
• The Gift as Lynn (1998)
• Forgotten as Rachel Monroe (alias Carla Hayden) (1999)
• Little Bird as Rachel Lewis (2000)
• The Whistle-Blower as Laura Tracey (2001)
• Helen West as Helen West (2002)
• Dinotopia as Rosemary (2002)
• Pollyanna as Aunt Polly (2003)
• The Commander as Commander Clare Blake; (2003–08)
• Agatha Christie's Marple as Sister Clotilde in "Nemesis" (1 January 2009), ITV1
• Waterloo Road as Karen Fisher (2010–2011), BBC One
• Amanda Burton: Forensic Killers as herself (2013), Discovery
• Midsomer Murders as Carole Latimer (2015) episode 17.2 "Murder by Magic"
• The Level as Cherie Le Saux (2016)