Honeysuckle Weeks

• Name — Honeysuckle Weeks • Birth Name — Honeysuckle Susan Weeks • Born — 1 August 1979 • Birthplace — Cardiff, Wales, UK • Education — Pembroke College, Oxford • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1993–present • Children — 1 • Relatives — Perdita Weeks (sister) Rollo Weeks (brother)

Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan (née Wade) Weeks, and grew up in Chichester and Petworth, both in West Sussex, England. Her parents named her after the plant honeysuckle, which flowered when she was born. She has a younger sister Perdita and brother Rollo, who have also pursued careers in acting. Weeks was educated at Great Ballard School, Roedean School, and Pembroke College, Oxford, where she read English. She also spent time studying art on the John Hall Pre-university Course in Venice, Italy. As a child she was a member of the Chichester Festival Theatre. From the age of nine, Weeks studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School at the weekends. At age eleven, Weeks was flown to the United States and cast in the Walt Disney Pictures feature A Far Off Place directed by Steven Spielberg. However, when Spielberg dropped out of the project, Weeks' role was re-cast with Reese Witherspoon.

Despite missing out on a film role, Weeks was cast in 1993 as the juvenile lead role of Kitty Killen in the television adaptation of Anne Fine's Goggle-Eyes. Her sister Perdita and brother Rollo also appeared with her in small roles in the third episode of that series. The part gained her considerable attention, and she was interviewed by Alan Titchmarsh on the TV show Pebble Mill about her role in the series. She quickly became a familiar face to viewers, appearing in a number of Ruth Rendell adaptations, such as A Dark-Adapted Eye (1994), and The Ruth Rendell Mysteries episodes "The Strawberry Tree" (1995) and "The Orchid Walls" (1998), while she had a notable role in The Bill in 1995, playing a kidnap victim in the feature length episode "Deadline", with David Tennant as her abductor. In 1997, Honeysuckle and Perdita were both cast in Catherine Cookson's The Rag Nymph, wherein Perdita played the younger version of her sister's character. It was a significant role for Honeysuckle, and she gained further fame when she appeared in the children's TV series The Wild House that year, appearing from 1997 to 1998. She appeared in the raunchy BBC serial Close Relations in 1998 as she sought to move to more adult roles, and continued to receive regular acting work, such as in Midsomer Murders (1999). In 2002, she was cast as Samantha Stewart in the TV series Foyle's War a BAFTA Award–winning detective series set in Hastings during and just after World War II; she starred opposite Michael Kitchen and was featured in every episode of all eight series, which were broadcast between 2002 and 2015. She continued to find other roles during this period. In 2006 she appeared in the Poirot mystery "Cards on the Table", while in 2007, Weeks starred in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries as Tania Thompson, a character based on the Canadian serial killer Karla Homolka. In 2008, she appeared as Harriet Pringle in the Radio 4 adaptation of Fortunes of War. In 2012, she played a small part as Mrs Beeton in an episode of the BBC educational programme The Charles Dickens Show. After Foyle's War ended in 2015, she appeared as Mae Harmer in the BBC TV series Death in Paradise (series 4), while in May that year, she portrayed a wartime letter writer at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London that was broadcast live on BBC1. She also appeared in the ITV series Lewis episode "Magnum Opus". The following year she appeared in the TV series The Five as Laura Marshall, before personal events saw her take a break from acting for the next three years. In 2019, Weeks guest starred in an episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries as author Agatha Christie. It was her first appearance back on screen in three years, and she followed it up with an appearance in the Channel 4 series Maxxx in the episode "House Party".

In 2016, Weeks had a recurring role as Heleyna in the Big Finish Productions audio play series The War Doctor, based on the TV series Doctor Who.

• Title — Year — Role — Notes • Agatha Christie play A Daughter's A Daughter — 2010 — Sarah Prentice — Trafalgar Studios • Pygmalion — 2010 — Eliza Doolittle — Chichester Festival Theatre • Melanie Marnich's play These Shining Lives — 2013 — UK premiere at Park Theatre (London) • King Lear (rehearsed reading in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association) — 2013 — Cordelia — The Other Palace and The Old Vic • Gore Vidal's play The Best Man — 2018 — Mabel Cantwell — Playhouse Theatre • Calendar Girls - The Musical — 2023 — ensemble — Theatre Royal, Windsor • Accolade — 2024 — Rona Trenting — Theatre Royal, Windsor • Anne-Marie Casey's adaptation of Little Women — 2025 — Marmee — Touring

Weeks was engaged to the poet and musician Anno Birkin for a short period before his death, at age 20, in a car crash in Italy in 2001. While on holiday in the Himalayas in 2005, she married hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth Darling, of a landed gentry family of Lednathie, Kirriemuir, Scotland, in an impromptu Buddhist wedding ceremony, followed by a London wedding in July 2007. The couple have a son, born in 2011, and lived in Petworth. The marriage ended in 2019. Lorne Stormonth Darling died 16 November 2023, aged 60. In August 2015, Weeks was caught speeding on the A3 in south-west London. It later emerged that she was already banned from driving under the totting-up scheme, due to points violations, and in early 2016 was ordered to wear an electronic tag when the court imposed a four-week night time curfew on her. In January 2023, Weeks was again banned from driving, this time following an incident in which she reversed into a parked vehicle whilst more than twice the legal limit for alcohol. In July 2016, it was reported that Weeks had gone missing, with relatives said to be concerned for her welfare. However, she was later found safe and well and remained with police late that night before returning to West Sussex. Weeks has bipolar disorder and has spoken openly about this. Weeks is a vegetarian.

• Title — Year — Role — Notes • Goggle-Eyes — 1993 — Kitty Killen — 4-part miniseries (appeared in all episodes) • data-sort-value="Dark-Adapted Eye, A" | A Dark-Adapted Eye — 1994 — Young Faith — 2-part miniseries (appeared in Episode 1) • data-sort-value="Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The" | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — 1995 — Young Petra Saunderton — Series 8, episode 4 - "The Strawberry Tree: Part 1" • The Bill — Lucy Dean — Series 11, episode 128 - "Deadline" • 1996 — Deborah White — Series 12, episode 64 - "Cuckoo" • Have Your Cake and Eat It — 1997 — Sophie Dawson — 4-part miniseries (appeared in all episodes) • data-sort-value="Rag Nymph, The" | The Rag Nymph — Millie — 3-part miniseries (appeared in all episodes) • data-sort-value="Wild House, The" | The Wild House — 1997–1998 — Serena Wild — Main role; Series 1 and 2 (18 episodes) • Close Relations — 1998 — Imogen — 6-part miniseries (appeared in Episodes 1–5) • data-sort-value="Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The" | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — Jenny — Series 11, episode 7 - "The Orchard Walls" • Midsomer Murders — 1999 — Fleur Bridges — Series 2, episode 4 - "Blood Will Out" • Casualty — 2000 — Diane Gibson — Series 15, episode 1 - "Phoenix" • Lorna Doone — Annie Ridd — Television film • Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings — Alice Cottisloe — Christmas special • My Brother Tom — 2001 — Sarah — Feature film • Foyle's War — 2002–2015 — Samantha Stewart / Samantha Wainwright — Main role; 8 series (28 episodes) • Red Mercury — 2005 — Clarissa — Feature film • Agatha Christie's Poirot — Rhoda Dawes — Series 10, episode 2 - "Cards on the Table" • Where the Heart Is — 2006 — Carly — Series 10, episode 7 - "Don't Look Back in Anger" • The — 2007 — Tania Thompson — Series 6, episode 2 - "Know Thine Enemy" • data-sort-value="Bill, The" | The Bill — 2009 — Julie Nowak — Series 25, episodes 12 and 13 - "Righteous Kill" (Parts 1 and 2) • data-sort-value="Wicker Tree, The" | The Wicker Tree — 2011 — Lolly — Feature film • data-sort-value="A to Z of Crime, The" | The A to Z of Crime — Herself — 6-part series (appeared in 3 episodes) • data-sort-value="Charles Dickens Show, The" | The Charles Dickens Show — 2012 — Mrs. Beeton — 4-part miniseries (appeared in Episode 3 - "Christmas") • The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson — 2014 — Herself — Show 1,939 (28 May 2014) • Death in Paradise — 2015 — Mae Harmer — Series 4, episode 8 - "Unlike Father, Unlike Son" • Lewis — Carina Beskin — Series 9, episodes 3 and 4 - "Magnum Opus" (Parts 1 and 2) • data-sort-value="Five, The" | The Five — 2016 — Laura Marshall — Series 1 (4 episodes) • Frankie Drake Mysteries — 2019 — Agatha Christie — Series 3, episode 1 - "No Friends Like Old Friends" • Maxxx — 2020 — Christy — Series 1, Episode 2 (House Party)

The authorities additionally record the heading Honeysuckle Susan Weeks. Her recorded language was English. She married Lorne Stormonth Darling.

Honeysuckle Weeks is recorded as actress.