Eleanor Ham

A Lichfield actress is ready to take a starring role in TV soap Doctors.

Former Friary School pupil Eleanor Ham will star as Leanne Hemsby in the BBC programme tomorrow (October 18).

Eleanor Ham
Eleanor Ham

The 17-year-old has already appeared in adverts for pet charity PDSA and a Skepta music video.

But her mum Angela said the appearance as lead guest actress in Doctors had been great news.

“It’s always been her desire to feature in a soap so this is a dream come true for her,” she said. “She’s always had an interest in drama and has played a variety of roles since being at The Croft Primary School in Armitage, but she has now started to be cast in more high profile roles.

“She’s recently travelled to London to take part in the filming for a Boots TV Christmas advert.”

It was at The Friary School where Eleanor began to bloom as an actress, landing roles in a number of the school’s productions. She has since gone on to study at Birmingham Ormiston Academy.

Eleanor Ham
Eleanor Ham in one of her CBBC appearances

Mum Angela said: “She’s very determined to succeed and doesn’t mind hard work.

“The Friary School gave her a good grounding to pursue her career as an actress – without the support of the school she wouldn’t be where she is now.

“Her TV career has so far seen her in two different BBC kids TV shows. For two years she was in CBBC’s The 4 O’Clock and also appeared in All at Sea.”

Other roles have included performances with the Birmingham Youth Theatre at the Old Rep and as a model with the Loreal Academy in London.

But despite the bright lights of London calling, Angela insists her daughter is still proud of her roots at home.

“Most auditions and roles are in London,” she said. “But she doesn’t let being in Lichfield stop her. She was lucky enough to get signed by a London agent 18 months ago which was a massive achievement.

“She absolutely loves the acting life and is never phased by all the knock backs that she’s had along the way – castings for major leads that have led to nothing. She just picks herself up and gets onto the next.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.