Miranda Raison

Early life

Miranda Raison was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk on 18 November 1977. Her mother, Caroline Raison (née Harvey), read the news for Anglia Television, and her father, Nick Raison, is a jazz pianist. She is the granddaughter of cricketer Max Raison and the niece of politician Timothy Raison.

Her parents divorced when she was five years old. From a young age she attended five boarding schools, including Gresham's School, Felixstowe College and Stowe School; her education was paid for by her grandfather.

It was at Felixstowe College where she cemented an interest in acting; she moved there after experiencing bullying at her previous school. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

Raison has one brother, Ed (a musician with the band The Lost Levels), as well as three half-siblings by her father's second marriage.

Theater

In 1999, she played the role of June Stanley in the play The Man Who Came to Dinner.

In 2000, Raison played Desdemona in William Shakespeare's Othello at the Theatre Royal, York.

From February 27 to April 7, 2001, she performed In the role of Davina in the farce Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (originally titled "Whitehall Farce") at The Mill, Sonning.

From 2002-3, she appeared as Ben-Hur's love interest in a minimalist production of Ben-Hur (play) at the Battersea Arts Centre.

In 2003, she was featured in Pains of Youth, again at the Battersea Arts Centre, playing the death obsessed bisexual Desiree; Lyn Gardner of The Guardian described her performance as making "Desiree's death wish seem tragic rather than merely silly."

In 2010 she played the title role in Anne Boleyn, a new play by Howard Brenton (who had also been involved in scripts for BBC's Spooks) which premiered at Shakespeare's Globe on 24 July 2010 to high critical acclaim. In the same Shakespeare's Globe season Raison also played Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII by William Shakespeare.

In 2011, she appeared as Ann in the short play "Oliver Lewis" by Jack Thorne, part of the series of plays 66 Books performed at the Bush Theatre.

In June/July 2012 she appeared in a production of The Physicists: A Comedy in Two Acts at the Donmar Warehouse, playing the roles of Lina Rose, the lead character's ex-wife, and Monika Settler, the lead's attending nurse.

From October 2012 Raison starred in The River, a new play by Jez Butterworth, at the Royal Court Theatre (Jerwood) alongside Dominic West. Tickets became "the most sought-after theatre tickets in London" after rave reviews.

In 2013-14 she played Anne Faulkner in the theatrical version of Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud Theatre, produced by Barbara Broccoli.

From January to February 2015, she starred opposite Shaun Evans in Hello/Goodbye at the Hampstead Theatre.

In August 2015 she joined the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in The Winter's Tale and Harlequinade which ran at the Garrick Theatre from October 2015 until January 2016. Raison played the wife of Kenneth Branagh's character in both plays. She stated that she enjoyed the experience and was grateful for the opportunity, given that previously she had a bad audition with Branagh for Macbeth in 2011. She also enjoyed learning from Judi Dench.

Film/TV

In 1999, she starred in her first TV film, Suzy Q by Martin Koolhoven playing the role of "Marianne Faithfull"; her cameo included some nude scenes.

In 2003, she was featured in the TV comedy film The Private Life of Samuel Pepys as Deb Wilet.

In 2005, she landed a role in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, which she described as that it "may as well have been the most brutal Lars von Trier film. Another actress and I actually spent a whole night just crying." She called the experience "regrettable from start to finish" and a "hideous, hideous moment and a great lapse of judgement on my part."

Raison's breakthrough role was as Jo Portman (2005-2009) in the BBC One television drama series Spooks (also broadcast under the title MI-5). She requested that the production company let her go in 2009 as she felt that her character could not develop further and wanted to follow up on theater opportunities.

In the same year as she joined Spooks, she appeared alongside Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen's film Match Point and in Land of the Blind playing the daughter of Ralph Fiennes's character.

In April 2007 she appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks" as Tallulah, a show girl whose opening scene involved singing to a musical number for which her father played the piano background as part of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

In 2008, she had the role of "Mlle. Blanche" in Agatha Christie's Poirot for the adaptation of Cat Among the Pigeons; in it, she spoke English with a French accent.

In 2008 and 2009, she appeared in short films produced by Exit Strategy Films.

In 2009, she was featured in the show Plus One (TV series) opposite Duncan James. She was originally featured in the Comedy Showcase pilot in 2007, where she wore a fat suit. The show also featured Rory Kinnear and Nigel Harman.

She was also involved in the film Heaven and Earth, the biopic of Dr. James Miranda Barry, playing the role of Helena Langrish Smith. However, the project was pulled after filming had started in South Africa.

In 2010 after leaving Spooks, she played a model called Abbey in the ITV1 comedy-drama Married Single Other.

In 2011 she returned to BBC1 in Sugartown, a guest role Death in Paradise, and portrayed the warrior Isolde in the fourth series of Merlin in two episodes.

She had a small role in My Week with Marilyn, where she played the assistant to Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). She expressed pleasure in being able to work with great British talent and her fascination with Marilyn Monroe.

In 2012 she played DI Georgina Dixon alongside Toby Stephens in the second series of Vexed screened on BBC2. She also had a guest spot on the first episode of Dirk Gently and an episode of Sinbad.

In 2013 she played 'Harriet Hammond' in the third series of the BBC legal drama Silk; her character was a practice manager that shook up the firm and a potential love interest for her former Spooks (TV series) co-star Rupert Penry-Jones' character.

Also in 2013, she played the role of Dr. Stella Drew in Lewis (TV series) in the two-part episode "Intelligent Design."

In 2014, she had a small role in I Am Soldier, playing "Stella", the lead interrogator in the "Tactical Questioning" portion of the lead character's training.

In 2014 she also appeared in six episodes of 24: Live Another Day alongside Stephen Fry.

In July 2014 she was announced as a new cast member of Spotless, a (10 x 1 hour episode) drama produced by Canal+. Despite speaking French fluently, the producers decided not to use her for the French voiceover because she spoke "with a slight accent."

On 15 April 2015 it was announced that a second series of Spotless was in development.

She appeared in a lead role in the acclaimed short-film Yussef Is Complicated in 2015.

In July 2016 Spotless was launched on Netflix as a 'Netflix Original' series.

In 2016 she appeared in the ITV drama Dark Heart (also known as Wagstaffe) as "Sylvie," the on-again, off-again love interest of the lead character.

Raison will appear in four films scheduled for release in 2017: Murder on the Orient Express, Breathe, My Daughter is Missing (the opening film of the 2017 "Dances With Films" film festival) and, Widow's Walk.

In 2017 a second season of Spotless was announced by Esquire.

Other works

She appeared alongside then husband Raza Jaffrey in the music video for her brother's band, The Lost Levels, song "Never The First".

She has performed several commercial voice overs and has demonstrated a range of accents; she is represented by Sue Terry Voices for voiceover work.

She provided the voice of Lieutenant Sandra Lansing in Apache: Air Assault.

She provided the voice of Natasha and other characters in the video game Renegade Ops.

She has voiced several video game characters, including Cassandra Pentaghast in the Dragon Age series. She discusses the evolution of her characterization of Cassandara by Dragon Age: Inquisition here. BioWare also hired Raison for providing several voices in Mass Effect: Andromeda. She voiced three characters in The Secret World and lent her voice for Dreamfall Chapters and Blades of Time.

Raison has also voice-acted in several Big Finish Doctor Who audios, including The Davros Mission and The Wreck of the Titan, and plays Constance Clarke, a regular companion to the Sixth Doctor. She also provides additional voices in other Big Finish audio productions, including other Doctor Who stories and The Avengers (TV Series).

In 2013 she joined the CGI cast of Thomas & Friends and provides the voice of Millie (UK/US), first introduced in King of the Railway.

Starting in July 2017 she is narrating the BBC2 documentary Hospital.

Personal life

Raison keeps a flat in Fulham, London for work and owns a cottage in Aldeburgh, close to her father and brother Ed.

She plays golf and is a member of the Aldeburgh Golf Club.

She was married to Spooks co-star Raza Jaffrey in 2007 after meeting him on-set in 2005 but divorced in December 2009, citing estrangement.

While separated from her first husband, she began a relationship with her Married Single Other co-star Ralf Little in November 2009; their relationship ended in February 2013.

In July 2013, Raison reportedly dated Anthony Howell, her co-star from Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

In early 2014, she reported that she was involved with a man who is "an accountant."

She speaks fluent French and is conversational in Italian and Spanish.

She gave up drinking alcohol for health reasons, and is distantly related to Jack Huston.

Raison supports King's Lynn Town Football Club.