Erin Doherty is quickly becoming a household name on British television with fans curious to know more about The Crown alum. A Thousands Blows has dropped on Disney+ with all six-episodes of the period drama now ready to watch, delving into the world of 1880s Victorian London.
At the heart of the East End drama is Mary Carr (played by Erin Doherty), the “Queen” of the Forty Elephants, an infamous gang of female thieves that terrorised London in real-life. And with A Thousand Blows already green lit for a second outing, here’s an insight into the life of Erin Doherty away from the cameras.
Doherty may be renowned as an actress but there was a time when she considered between a life in the entertainment industry and a life on the football pitch. When she was younger, Doherty played for the Crawley Wasps and shared on Dermot O’Leary’s breakfast radio show in 2023 that she was scouted by Chelsea Football Club.
However, the time came for the star to make a decision between the two as she was also attending the British Old Vic Theatre School for three years. She explained: “My dad who was driving me back and forth from football matches to this stage school thing that I was doing on the weekends he was like ‘Erin its got to be one’ so I made my decision.”.
Doherty commented that she was “really chuffed” to have played for as long as she did and proud to see the England Lionesses come second in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She added: “It's a bit surreal to think that I could have maybe been a part of that.”.
While she had appeared a plethora of times on stage, Doherty made her onscreen debut back in 2017 in an episode of BBC ’s Call the Midwife. She portrayed a character called Jessie Marsh who is delighted to be expecting her first child with husband George Marsh (Daniel Kendrick) when he is involved in an accident at the docks.
An explosion caused by faulty wiring left him severely burned and unable to work with Shelagh (Laura Main) fighting for better health and safety, encouraging him to testify in court. Doherty was behind Princess Anne for the third and fourth seasons of The Crown on Netflix but struggled with her “purpose” when her stint on the drama came to an end.
She shared with Grazia: "It's not part of my life any more... It's the biggest shock. “I said it out loud for the first time only a few weeks ago. I had the breakthrough of my body and brain connecting that I'm not going to play this woman any longer.
“I realised I had to let go of her. It's a sad thing. "We'd just finished filming the fourth season the week before everything shut down [due to the pandemic]. “The brakes got put on everything, and my mental health did dip. As an actor, I didn't have a purpose. I'd gone from zero to 200 miles per hour and then back to zero.".
The A Thousand Blows actress and fellow actress Sophie Melville - who has been in shows such as The Missing, Bang, The Pact and The Way - were in a play called The Divide together. During an interview with Audible, when she was asked what was her greatest achievement, Doherty: “My relationship.” And although they are in the same industry, the stars do their best to not compete for the same parts.
Doherty told Porter: "Sophie and I don't go up for the same roles, but we understand the limits of each other's work. “When a self-tape audition comes in, both of us are like, 'Let's drop everything and get it done.'". A Thousand Blows may have just come out but the Mary Carr star already has another show coming out.
She is going to star in Netflix’s Adolescence, a four-part drama about a parents’ 13-year-old being arrested for the murder of another child at school. Coming out on Thursday, March 13, Doherty will be starring once again alongside This Is England star Stephen Graham who plays Henry “Sugar” Goodson in A Thousand Blows.
