Morven Christie

Morven Christie is a Scottish actress.

She is best known for her roles as Alison Hughes in the BBC drama The A Word, Amanda Hopkins in the ITV drama Grantchester, and Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong in ITV crime series The Bay.

Christie was born in Helensburgh and raised in Glasgow.

After leaving school at 15, she eventually studied method acting at the Drama Centre London, under Reuven Adiv, an associate of Lee Strasberg.

Her family spent holidays in Aviemore, where Christie learned to ski by the age of five.

Christie has multiple stage credits, spanning over a decade, including plays by Jack Thorne and Tom Stoppard alongside a classical canon.

In 2006, Christie played Juliet, Hero, and Blanche (King John) for the Royal Shakespeare Company in their star-studded Complete Works season.

In 2009, Christie played Anya in The Cherry Orchard and Perdita in The Winter's Tale, for Sam Mendes' "Bridge Project", both at Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York and at The Old Vic, London, alongside Simon Russell Beale, Ethan Hawke and Rebecca Hall.

She played Isa in the National Theatre, Glasgow, production of Men Should Weep, directed by Josie Rourke.

In 2014, Christie played Amanda Hopkins in the ITV drama Grantchester for its first three seasons with James Norton and Robson Green.

Christie was a vocal supporter of independence in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

From 2016–2020, she played Alison Hughes, the mother of an autistic child, in the BBC drama The A Word, for which she was again nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Award.

In 2017, she played Ellen Rooney in the BBC drama The Replacement, alongside Vicky McClure, and Dougray Scott.

This role gained Christie her first BAFTA Scotland nomination.

In 2018 she also played Kirsten Lindstrom in Sarah Phelps' production of Agatha Christie's Ordeal by Innocence [See image].

Christie starred as DS Lisa Armstrong, the lead role in the ITV crime drama series The Bay, filmed through the latter months of 2018, and aired on ITV from 20 March 2019.

She received her third consecutive BAFTA Scotland nomination for her performance.

It was announced on 16 February 2021 that Christie had quit the drama, which had just completed a second series.

She has since completed two independent films and Joe Cornish's eight-part drama Lockwood & Co. for Netflix.

In 2023, she leads a six-part drama Payback, for Jed Mercurio’s HTM label, opposite Peter Mullan, airing on ITV and internationally.

Christie lives in Glasgow with her partner, musician Iain Cook.