Amanda Burton is a Northern Irish actress, born in Derry on 10 October 1956. She rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s for her role as Heather Haversham in the soap opera *Brookside*, later consolidating her fame as Dr. Beth Glover in the medical drama series *Peak Practice*. Her most iconic and internationally recognised performance is as forensic pathologist Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama *Silent Witness*, a role she held from 1996 to 2004 and briefly reprised in 2022. For this role, she won numerous National Television Awards for Most Popular Actress. Her television career also includes leading roles as Commander Clare Blake in *The Commander* and headteacher Karen Fisher in *Waterloo Road*. In addition to audience awards, she has received honorary doctorates from several universities for her contribution to the dramatic arts.