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Actress Polly Walker has been on our screens for almost four decades, appearing in some of the UK's most popular crime and period dramas. She's set to return in the latest season of Bridgerton, and fans can’t help but wonder: will we see her back in Line of Duty too?
We’ll be answering that question and more as we take a look at her career, life and most iconic roles.
Polly Walker: Movies and TV shows
Polly Walker originally trained as a dancer, but after an injury, she found herself taking a very different path – straight into acting.
Polly Walker in Rome
Polly Walker really made her mark with her breakout role as Atia of the Julii in Rome. She played Caesar’s niece and the mother of Octavia and Octavian - a character who was ambitious, cunning, and always playing the game to get what she wanted.
Part snob, part schemer and completely unapologetic, Atia was full of drama, wit, and a bit of scandal.
Polly Walker in Bridgerton
Polly Walker plays Lady Portia Featherington, the sharp-tongued, ambitious matriarch of the Featherington clan in Netflix’s Bridgerton.
She’s always scheming to secure the best marriages for her daughters - Prudence (Bessie Carter), Phillipa (Harriet Cains), and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) 0 especially after her husband Archibald’s (Ben Miller) gambling and untimely death left the family finances in a mess. Her housekeeper, Mrs Varley (Lorraine Ashbourne), is often on hand to help with her plans.
But it’s not all about social climbing: beneath the plotting and drama, Portia genuinely has her daughters’ best interests at heart, even if it doesn’t always look that way. Equal parts strategist and drama queen, she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her girls safe and socially afloat.
Polly Walker in Line of Duty
Other than Bridgerton, Line of Duty is Polly Walker’s biggest role. She plays Gill Biggeloe, a police lawyer who’s anything but ordinary. Cunning and manipulative, she secretly worked with an organised crime syndicate and even tried to set up Superintendent Ted Hastings, cementing her place as one of the show’s most unforgettable villains.
Since being exposed as part of an organised crime syndicate, Gill Biggeloe has been keeping a low profile under a new identity and is cooperating as a witness against her former partners. But fans are still wondering - could Polly Walker’s sly and scheming lawyer pop up again in Line of Duty Series 7? With a character this clever, you never know what surprises might be in store.
Polly Walker in Bookish
In Bookish, Polly plays Trottie, the wallpaper-shop-owning wife of Gabriel Book (Mark Gatiss, the show's creator) in 1946 London. Their “lavender marriage” might sound prim, but Trottie is full of wit, charm and just the right touch of clever scheming.
Between running her shop and helping her husband navigate murder mysteries, she keeps the post-war London drama lively and entertaining, and fans can look forward to seeing her return soon for season 2.
Polly Walker in Age Before Beauty
Age Before Beauty, from Debbie Horsfield, the creator of Poldark, is a family drama set in a Manchester beauty salon.
Polly Walker stars as Bel, a busy mum of two trying to keep the family salon afloat while managing feuding relatives and a tricky marriage.
She’s joined by a starry cast including Robson Green, Sue Johnston, Madeleine Mantock, Vicky Myers and James Murray.
All six episodes of Age Before Beauty are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Who is Polly Walker's husband?
Polly Walker married actor Laurence Penry-Jones (brother of Rupert Penry-Jones) on the 23rd October 2008. He is an actor, best known for Waking the Dead, The Forsyte Saga and Doctors.
The couple met while performing together in a West End production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. They lived in Los Angeles for several years before returning to London in 2015, where they continue to live together.
Polly Walker's family
She grew up in Warrington, Cheshire, as one of four children. Her dad, Arthur Walker, ran a hotel, while her mum, Georgiana, was a schoolteacher. She has two sisters, Emma and Hannah, and a brother, Daniel.
Polly is mum to Giorgio and Delilah from a previous relationship, and her husband Laurence is their stepdad.
When asked what being a mother means to her, Polly kept it simple and heartfelt. “For me, it’s my raison d’être – my children are everything,” she told Country & Town House.
How old is Polly Walker?
The actress was born on the 19th May 1966, making her 59 years old.
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. A devoted bookworm and TV fan, she’s always immersed in the latest shows or catching the newest films and theatre productions. When she’s not writing, Arabella enjoys cooking and exploring the outdoors with her three dogs.