Arabella Weir

Arabella Helen Weir Template:Post-nominals (born 6 December 1957)<ref>Arabella Weir date of birth, Californiabirthindex.org. Accessed 20 November 2022.</ref> is an American-born British comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series The Fast Show, Posh Nosh and Two Doors Down, and has written several books, including Does My Bum Look Big in This? Weir has also written for The Independent and The Guardian and the latter's Weekend magazine.

Early life and education

Weir was born in 1957, in San Francisco, California, United States, to Scottish parents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the daughter of former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir and his wife, Alison (Template:Nee Walker),<ref>Adel Darwish Obituary: Sir Michael Weir, The Independent, 28 June 2006</ref> who had met while studying at the University of Oxford; her father was from Dunfermline and her mother was from the Scottish Borders, daughter of the headmaster of a small boarding school.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Weir attended nursery school in Washington D.C., where her father was posted as a member of the British diplomatic service. She later attended the Sacre Coeur Convent in Cairo, and the French Lycee in London.<ref name="Independent 22 January 1998">Template:Cite news</ref> Having spent many holidays in Scotland as a child, Weir describes herself as "culturally Scottish".<ref name=":0"/> After her parents' divorce she initially lived with her mother, her two older brothers and her younger sister in the UK.<ref name="auto"/> She has described her relationship with her mother as difficult, and in her comedy routine has exposed her mother's "cruel, snobby campaign to shame her into losing weight."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Weir's relationship with her mother later became the subject of her debut one-woman show, Does My Mum Look Big in This?<ref name="auto"/> At the age of nine she moved to Bahrain with her father while her brothers were at prep school and her younger sister stayed with their mother.<ref name=":0" />

Weir returned to London after passing the eleven-plus in Bahrain and her father was posted to New York.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Independent 22 January 1998"/> She was a pupil at the Camden School for Girls,<ref name="Telegraph 6 September 2008">Template:Cite news</ref> where her mother was a teacher, and then studied drama at Middlesex Polytechnic.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Independent 22 January 1998"/> As a teenager, she was a backing singer in the British pub rock band Bazooka Joe, whose bass player was Stuart Goddard, who later became famous as Adam Ant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Career

Weir's television career breakthrough came in 1994 in BBC's The Fast Show;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> she later also became widely known for her roles in Posh Nosh and Two Doors Down.<ref name="Scots">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to acting, Weir wrote several episodes of The Fast Show and Posh Nosh, and has also written for The Independent<ref name="indy">Template:Cite web</ref> and The Guardian.<ref name="TG">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1998, Weir published the international bestseller Does My Bum Look Big in This?, the title of which was a catchphrase of her character "Insecure Woman" in The Fast Show.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2000, she published her second novel Onwards and Upwards, followed by Stupid Cupid in 2002.

In 2001, Weir took part in the Weakest Link Comedians Special.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, Weir appeared as a contestant in the first series on Celebrity MasterChef.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, Weir appeared in Skins as Michelle Richardson's mother, Anna.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Weir played Chris Harper in Calendar Girls at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End of London from November 2009 until the play closed in January 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Weir voiced the female incarnation of the Doctor in the Doctor Who Unbound Big Finish 2003 episode Exile.<ref name="Peck 2013">Template:Cite web</ref> American alternative weekly Houston PressTemplate:'s Jef Rouner described her portrayal as "one of the most melancholy of all the Doctors."<ref name="Rouner 2013">Template:Cite web</ref> Weir appeared in the Doctor Who 2011 Christmas Special The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.<ref name="xmascast">Template:Cite news</ref>

Weir performed with the original cast from The Fast Show (with the exception of Mark Williams) in six online-only episodes sponsored by the Fosters brand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 2013 until 2016, she starred as Jenny in Drifters. In 2015, she joined the team of presenters for BBC Two's Food and Drink programme.<ref name=foodanddrink>Template:Cite news</ref> She also played a small role in Citizen Khan in the mid-2010s. She has also appeared with Ready Steady Cook.Template:Citation needed

Since 2016 she has been starring in the BBC Scotland sitcom Two Doors Down.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Weir's performance was criticised by Ben Arnold, commenting in The Guardian "her Scottish accent [is] still a work in progress, it would seem."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When Weir was asked about this comment on Richard Herring's RHLSTP comedy podcast, she said she was doing specifically a Paisley accent on the show and that both her parents were from Scotland, which she considers her home. Weir added that Scottish actor David Tennant had responded to The Guardian's comment with the words "What the f*** are they on about, it's impeccable!", and that Ben Arnold (who himself is English) had later said to her he was sorry for making the comment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2019, Weir premiered her debut one-woman show, Does My Mum Loom Big in This?, a comedic analysis of Weir's helter-skelter childhood and her difficult relationship with her late mother.<ref name="auto"/> The show's title is a pun on Weir's bestselling novel Does My Bum Look Big in This? She took the show to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, Weir narrated the pilot episode of the E4 survival reality competition format Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sean Pertwee replaced her for the full series.

Weir appeared in three episodes of Coronation Street as Aggie and Ed Bailey's old neighbour, Yvette, in June 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Weir has appeared in multiple episodes from season 1 to season 6 of the BBC Radio 4 comedy "Believe it!".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

In 1995, Weir began a relationship with Jeremy Norton. They have two children, a daughter and a son.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They separated in 2013.<ref name=Ross>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Actor David Tennant is a close friend of Weir's and is godfather to her younger child.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They met while filming the six-part comedy drama Takin' Over the Asylum for BBC Scotland in 1994.<ref name="Scots"/> Shortly after, Tennant moved to London and lodged with Weir at her house in Crouch End for five years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She is a friend of Gordon Brown,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and headlined a rally for his think tank, Our Scottish Future, in Edinburgh on 1 June 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Weir was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to the Arts and to Young People.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web </ref>

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The French Lieutenant's Woman	Girl on Undercliff
1986	The Frog Prince	Zar
1997	Shooting Fish	Mrs. Stratton-Luce
2002	Killer Queen!	Narrator	Documentary film
2018	Colette	Mme. de Caillavet

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	BBC Television Shakespeare	Lady in Waiting	Episode: Othello
1983	Philip Marlowe, Private Eye	Carita	Episode: "Nevada Gas"
	Jury	Linda	Episode: "Julian"
	Nelly's Version	Hospital Nurse	Television film
1986	Screen Two	Prish Holt/Liz Murison	2 episodes
	Shades of Darkness	Anne Page	Episode: "The Demon Lover"
	Call Me Mister	Lena Santon	Episode: "Frozen Assets"
1987	The Corner House	Annie	4 episodes
1988	Les Girls	Polly	7 episodes
	This Is David Lander	Claudette Dernu	Episode: "A Growing Crisis"
1989	The Bill	Jo Whitney	Episode: "One to One"
	Traffik	Selina	Episode: "The Criminal"
	The Paradise Club	Rebecca Ford	Episode: "Crack in the Mirror"
	Alexei Sayle's Stuff	Various	3 episodes
1990	Harry Enfield's Television Programme	Second wife	1 episode
1991	The Lime Grove Story		Television film. Voice role
1992	KYTV	Mandy Stringer	Episode: "Talking Head"
1993	The Good Guys	Annabel West	Episode: "Missing"
	One Foot in the Grave	Sonia	Episode: "Hearts of Darkness"
	Bonjour la Classe	Granddaughter	Episode: "Vive la Revolution"
1994	Takin' Over the Asylum	Paula	3 episodes
1994–1995	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Various characters Nancy	Series 1; episodes 2 & 3 Series 2; episodes 1–3 & 6
1994–1997, 2000, 2014	The Fast Show	Various characters	25 episodes (including 4 Specials)
1995	1995	Sandra the Lawyer	Television film
	99-1	Claudia	Episode: "A Game of Two Halves"
	How to Be a Little Sod	Abigail	Episode: "A Life of Her Own"
1997	Harry Enfield & Chums	Labour Politician	1 episode
1998	Goodness Gracious Me	Various characters
	My Summer with Des	Barbara	Television film
	Ted & Ralph	Mrs. Jenkins / Ralph's Mother / Henrietta Gladstone
1998–2000	The Creatives	Tanya Gray	Main role. 12 episodes
1999	McBeal Appeal		Television film
	You Ain't Seen All These, Right?	Various characters
	The Timekeepers of the Millennium	Kronos
2000	Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)	Judith Milton	Episode: "Paranoia"
2003	The Fast Show Farewell Tour	Various characters	Television film
	Posh Nosh	Minty Marchmont	Main role. 8 episodes
	Test the Nation: The National IQ Test 2003	Celebrity participant	Quiz show
2004	Spooks	Michelle Molby	Episode: "Celebrity" (uncredited)
2007	Hana's Helpline	Hana	6 episodes. Voice role
2007–2008	Skins	Anna	3 episodes
	Genie in the House	Peggy
2009	Hotel Trubble	Sister Matic	Episode: "A Sistery Mystery"
2011	The Fast Show Faster	Insecure Woman / Mother / Northern Nigella	2 episodes
	Doctor Who	Billis	Episode: "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"
2013	Citizen Khan	Jackie	Episode: "Shazia's Gym Visit"
	Two Doors Down	Beth Baird	Television film. Pilot to the series
2013–2016	Drifters	Jenny (Meg's mother)	Recurring role. 12 episodes
2014	Midsomer Murders	Angela Linklater	Episode: "Wild Harvest"
	House of Fools	1970s Wife/TV Woman	2 episodes
2015	Nurse	Mrs. Hamilton	1 episode
2016–2025	Two Doors Down	Beth Baird	Main role. 46 episodes
2019	Pure		First episode
2023	Coronation Street	Ingrid	3 episodes

Books

Novels

• Does My Bum Look Big in This?: the Diary of an Insecure Woman (1998)
• Onwards and Upwards (2000)
• Stupid Cupid (2002)
• The Rise and Rise of Tabitha Baird (2014), YA
• The Endless Trials of Tabitha Baird (2015), YA

Non-fiction

• The Real Me Is Thin: or Why All Women Think They're Fat (2011)<ref name=Weir>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Arabella Weir at the British Film Institute
• Template:IMDb name
• Template:British Comedy Guide
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Arabella Weir chooses Joyce Grenfell on BBC Radio 4 Great Lives – listen online: BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Series 15, Joyce Grenfell