Susan Tully

Susan Tully (born 20 October 1967) is a British retired actress, television producer, and television director from London.

Her most prominent television acting roles were those of rebellious teenager Suzanne Ross in Grange Hill and single mother Michelle Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tully played one of the original EastEnders characters, appearing in the first episode on 19 February 1985 and remaining central to the series until 1995.

She then gave up acting in favour of working behind the camera, and since then has directed and produced British television programmes.

Early life

Tully's father was a watch-case maker, and her mother a housewife. Tully was brought up on a London council estate.<ref name="Tully">"After 10 years as TV's most famous single mother, Susan Tully now craves an escape from soap megastardom – and a bit of adventure", The Independent. 29 October 1995. Accessed 14 March 2007.</ref>

While at school in Barnsbury, Islington, she took up acting as a hobby and attended the Anna Scher children's theatre, which began a fast track into television work.<ref name="Tully"/>

Career

Acting

At the age of nine Tully hosted the television children's programme Our Show and later worked on The Saturday Banana with Bill Oddie.<ref name="EEHandbook">Template:Cite book</ref>

She was cast in the BBC children's television serial Grange Hill. She played schoolgirl Suzanne Ross for three years (1981–1984).<ref name="Grange Hill">Template:Cite news</ref> At the age of 17, Tully secured a major role in the BBC's new soap opera EastEnders. She played Michelle Fowler from the show's inception in 1985 to 1995. During her time on the show, her character became pregnant at the age of 16 after having an affair with the 39-year-old adulterer Den Watts. In December 2016, EastEnders recast the role of Michelle Fowler to actress Jenna Russell after Tully repeatedly turned down offers to return. The show's executive producer at the time, Sean O'Connor, has said that Tully gave her blessing for the recast to take place.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Directing and producing

In the late 1990s, Tully began concentrating on directing for television (credited as Sue Tully).

Year	Title	Notes
1998–1999	EastEnders	15 episodes
1999–2004	The Bill	14 episodes. Also credited as producer on episodes 93, 94, 99, 100, 106, 107
2000	Black Cab	5 episodes
2000–2001	London's Burning	4 episodes
2002	The Story of Tracy Beaker	13 episodes
2003	M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team	1 episode: Lambs to the Slaughter
2004	55 Degrees North	2 episodes
2005	Twisted Tales	3 episodes
2005	Funland	4 episodes
2006	Drop Dead Gorgeous	3 episodes
2006	Goldplated	2 episodes
2006–2007	The Chase	5 episodes
2007	Secret Diary of a Call Girl	4 episodes
2008–2011	Silent Witness	6 episodes
2009	Theatre Live!	1 episode: Too Many Cooks
2009	Blue Murder	2 episodes
2009–2011	Lark Rise to Candleford	9 episodes
2012	Stella	4 episodes
2012	Good Cop	2 episodes
2012	The Paradise	2 episodes
2012	Getting On	6 episodes
2013	Truckers	2 episodes
2014	The Mill	2 episodes
2014	Puppy Love	6 episodes
2015	Crossing Lines	4 episodes
2016	The Musketeers	2 episodes
2016–2017	The A Word	4 episodes
2018	Britannia	1 episode: Honor and Betrayals
2019	Tin Star	2 episodes
2019	Line of Duty	2 episodes
2020	Strike: Lethal White	4 episodes
2021	Too Close<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3 episodes
2022	Strike: Troubled Blood	4 episodes
2023	Maryland<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2024	Strike: The Ink Black Heart	4 episodes

Personal life

Tully is a supporter of the Meningitis Trust and she has also been involved in the Comic Relief fundraising event.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is a close friend of Letitia Dean, who played her best friend Sharon Watts in EastEnders.<ref>"LIFE AFTER SHARON", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 18 September 2006.</ref> Tully was a bridesmaid at Dean's wedding to Jason Pethers in 2002.<ref>"EastEnd Letitia's diamond geezer", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 18 September 2006.</ref>

External links

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