Alicya Eyo
Encyclopedia
Alicya Eyo is a British theatre, film and television actress. She is best known for portraying Denny Blood in the award winning and critically acclaimed prison drama series Bad Girls
.
area of Liverpool
. When she was fourteen, she moved to London
.
Alicya’s love of drama started when she was nine. She attended classes every Saturday, with dancing. When she won competitions, she believed it went from there. She did her drama training in King's Cross
, at the Courtyard Theatre School
.
, which was filmed shortly earlier. In the same year, she made an appearance on Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
. In 1999, she appeared along Goldie
in the David Bowie
film Everybody Loves Sunshine
, which is known as B.U.S.T.E.D., internationally. She also starred in the movie G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time
.
However, her big break came in 1998 when she was offered the part of Denny Blood, in Bad Girls. The series was broadcast in June the following year when the UK viewing public first saw Alicya Eyo as Denny Blood in a pink PVC suit dancing to the N-Trance
remix of Stayin' Alive
by the Bee Gees
. Her agent told her that the production company, Shed, were looking for a 'shit, young, black, skinhead, tattoos with piercing'.
), and the relationship with stand-in mother Yvonne Atkins (Linda Henry
). She also met the love of her life Shaz Wylie. who sadly passed way at the end of series 4. Denny was devastated by this but found comfort in painting & was last seen being transferred to an open prison to serve the rest of her sentence. Just before Bad Girls was axed, the Bad Girls' creators were going to ask Alicya to reprise her role as Denny Blood.
During this time, Eyo also appeared in the film The Low Down, in an episode of Urban Gothic, and in Tube Tales
. Both films Low Down and Tube Tales had little success at the box office, but Tube Tales was critically acclaimed.
Since leaving Bad Girls, she appeared in Holby City
twice, as two separate characters, and the BBC
daytime drama Doctors. She plays Gaynor Harvey in new Shed Productions drama Bombshell
. However, Bombshell still has not been shown in the UK, but has made its debut in New Zealand
.
. Eyo is planning to stay in Emmerdale until late 2012 - early 2013.
Bad Girls (TV series)
Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road...
.
Early life
She was brought up in the ToxtethToxteth
Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...
area of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. When she was fourteen, she moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Alicya’s love of drama started when she was nine. She attended classes every Saturday, with dancing. When she won competitions, she believed it went from there. She did her drama training in King's Cross
Kings Cross, London
King's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
, at the Courtyard Theatre School
Courtyard Theatre, London
The Courtyard is a theatre housed in the former public library in Pitfield Street in Hoxton, London Borough of Hackney, England. It is a Grade II listed building....
.
Career
Her first television appearance was in 1997, in CasualtyCasualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
, which was filmed shortly earlier. In the same year, she made an appearance on Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a genteel British crime–comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character , Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their lodger Geoffrey Shawcross...
. In 1999, she appeared along Goldie
Goldie
Clifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
in the David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
film Everybody Loves Sunshine
Everybody Loves Sunshine
Everybody Loves Sunshine , is a 1999 British independent film written and directed by Andrew Goth, and starring Rachel Shelley, David Bowie and Goldie.-Plot:...
, which is known as B.U.S.T.E.D., internationally. She also starred in the movie G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time
G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time
G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time is a 1999 British drama film.Starring Steve John Shepherd and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film features music by Acid Jazz and Jungle artists including Talvin Singh, Hinda Hicks and Imogen Heap...
.
However, her big break came in 1998 when she was offered the part of Denny Blood, in Bad Girls. The series was broadcast in June the following year when the UK viewing public first saw Alicya Eyo as Denny Blood in a pink PVC suit dancing to the N-Trance
N-Trance
N-Trance are a British electronic music group, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth, in 1990. The group has sold over 5 million records worldwide and some of their hit singles include "Set You Free", "Forever", as well as covers of the popular 1970s...
remix of Stayin' Alive
Stayin' Alive
"Stayin' Alive" is a song by the pop group Bee Gees from the Saturday Night Fever motion picture soundtrack. The song was written by the Bee Gees and produced by the Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson. It was released on 13 December 1977, as the second single from the Saturday Night Fever...
by the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
. Her agent told her that the production company, Shed, were looking for a 'shit, young, black, skinhead, tattoos with piercing'.
Bad Girls
At the end of the sixth series (in which Alicya did not appear), the character of Denny Blood was voted the sixth favourite inmate on Bad Girls: Most Wanted. Denny’s tragic upbringing, lead to the touching and tragic storylines with her mother, Jessie Devlin (played by Denise BlackDenise Black
Denise Black is an English actress, best known for playing Denise Osbourne in the ITV1 soap Coronation Street and Hazel Tyler in Channel 4 TV's Queer As Folk in 1999 and 2000, written by Russell T Davies. After attending Portsmouth's Girls Public Day School, she studied Psychology at London...
), and the relationship with stand-in mother Yvonne Atkins (Linda Henry
Linda Henry
Linda Henry is an English actress, best known for her roles as Yvonne Atkins in the ITV television drama Bad Girls and Shirley Carter in the BBC's soap opera EastEnders.- Early life :...
). She also met the love of her life Shaz Wylie. who sadly passed way at the end of series 4. Denny was devastated by this but found comfort in painting & was last seen being transferred to an open prison to serve the rest of her sentence. Just before Bad Girls was axed, the Bad Girls' creators were going to ask Alicya to reprise her role as Denny Blood.
During this time, Eyo also appeared in the film The Low Down, in an episode of Urban Gothic, and in Tube Tales
Tube Tales
Tube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other...
. Both films Low Down and Tube Tales had little success at the box office, but Tube Tales was critically acclaimed.
Since leaving Bad Girls, she appeared in Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
twice, as two separate characters, and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
daytime drama Doctors. She plays Gaynor Harvey in new Shed Productions drama Bombshell
Bombshell (TV series)
Bombshell is a British television drama series produced by Shed Productions, the company behind Footballers' Wives, Bad Girls and Waterloo Road...
. However, Bombshell still has not been shown in the UK, but has made its debut in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Theatre
Alicya has studied at the Court Theater Training Company and has been working professionally for 14 years. Alicya has also performed at various theatres including the Royal Court Theatre, Nothingham. She also performed in the critically acclaimed play Any Which Way.Emmerdale
From 20th October 2011 Eyo is appearing in Emmerdale as Ruby Haswell, who is the lesbian partner of the character Alison (Ali) Spencer who is played by Kelli HollisKelli Hollis
Kelli Hollis is a British actressIn July 2011, it was announced Kelli would be playing Ali Spencer in the ITV Soap Emmerdale.Hollis played Melanie Say in Emmerdale in 2002, portraying Yvonne Karib in Shameless during six years, starting in 2004...
. Eyo is planning to stay in Emmerdale until late 2012 - early 2013.
Personal life
- She is a vegetarian.
- Alicya describes her mother as "Amazing" and says that she is her idol. "My mum is a wicked singer, I’ve rapped and done some backing vocals for her. (Her mother is Sue Eyo), she’s a jazz singer and she’s top. If I’m in Liverpool, I sometimes gig with her."
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Everybody Loves Sunshine Everybody Loves Sunshine Everybody Loves Sunshine , is a 1999 British independent film written and directed by Andrew Goth, and starring Rachel Shelley, David Bowie and Goldie.-Plot:... |
Sandra | uncredited |
| 1999 | G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time G:MT - Greenwich Mean Time G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time is a 1999 British drama film.Starring Steve John Shepherd and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film features music by Acid Jazz and Jungle artists including Talvin Singh, Hinda Hicks and Imogen Heap... |
Bobby | |
| 2000 | The Low Down | Paul Girl | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Theatreland | Herself | |
| 1997 | Hetty Wainthropp Investigates Hetty Wainthropp Investigates Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is a genteel British crime–comedy drama television series which aired from 1996 to 1998 on BBC One. The series starred Patricia Routledge as the title character , Derek Benfield as her patient husband Robert, Dominic Monaghan as their lodger Geoffrey Shawcross... |
Trisha Grice | 1 episode - All Stitched Up |
| 1999 | Wing and a Prayer | Roz Cairnforth | 1 episode - Episode #2.1 |
| 1999 | Tube Tales Tube Tales Tube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other... |
TV movie, segment - Grasshopper | |
| 2001 | Urban Gothic | Amber | 1 episodes - Sandman |
| 2003 | Bad Girls Bad Girls (TV series) Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road... |
Denny Blood | 1999–2003; main cast |
| 2004 | Doctors | Dawn Fuller | 1 episode - Love Thy Neighbour |
| 2006 | Holby City Holby City Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999... |
Emma Bennet/Rae Hollins | 2004–2006; 2 episodes - A Twist of Fate, I'll Be Back |
| 2006 | Bombshell Bombshell (TV series) Bombshell is a British television drama series produced by Shed Productions, the company behind Footballers' Wives, Bad Girls and Waterloo Road... |
Gunner Gaynor Harvey | main cast |
| 2006 | Spooks Spooks Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a... |
Raoula | 1 episode - Gas and Oil, Part 2 |
| 2007 | The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work... |
Daisy Driscoll | 1 episodes - Uncovered |
| 2009 | Paradox Paradox (TV series) Paradox is a 2009 British science fiction police drama, starring Tamzin Outhwaite as Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint. Written by Lizzie Mickery and produced by Clerkenwell Films for the BBC, it was filmed and set in Manchester, England.... |
Jean Fellowes | 1 episode - Episode #1.3 |
| 2010 | Casualty Casualty (TV series) Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The... |
Claire Lomas/Julie/Lissa Burroes | 1997–2010; 3 episodes - Private Lives, Is She Really Going Out With Him?, Life Sentence |
| 2011 | Silent Witness Silent Witness Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was... |
Joanne McDermott | 2 episodes - First Casualty: Part 1, First Casualty: Part 2 |
| 2011 | Waterloo Road Waterloo Road (TV series) Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social... |
Sandi Mansfield | 1 episode - Series 7 Episode 5 |
| 2011 | Emmerdale Emmerdale Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972... |
Ruby Haswell | Main Cast |
External links
- Official Alicya Eyo Website
- Alicya Eyo at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...