Erin Doherty makes authority feel plausible: we believe people would follow her even when they ought to hesitate. A Thousand Blows makes particularly good use of that gift, though its writers sometimes explain what she has already made clear.
Fi1m perspective
In A Thousand Blows (2025), Erin Doherty makes Mary Carr discussing criminal business as absorbing as a fight. As the leader of the Forty Elephants, she delivers assertive lines without sounding as though she expects our approval. We enjoyed her enormously because she made it so easy to believe that others would follow Mary, even when doing so looked unwise. That credibility carries the gang story through some of its less convincing writing. Doherty gives us a reason to stay interested when the plotting gets crowded.
The breakthrough was Princess Anne in The Crown (2019–2020), a part that encouraged an upper-class image she has since worked against. Chloe (2022) then put her at the centre of a contemporary psychological thriller as Becky Green. In Adolescence (2025), her Briony Ariston required sustained intensity through the demands of a single-take episode. Across these changes of class and period, she pays close attention to voice and physical behaviour. That precision allows toughness to look different from one part to the next.
The limitation in A Thousand Blows is how much explanation surrounds her. Steven Knight and his fellow writers sometimes spell out the connections between class, race and gender when the unequal opportunities have already made them apparent. Alongside Malachi Kirby and Stephen Graham, Doherty makes the struggle for money and control understandable without so much assistance. The competing stories also mean that returning to a neglected character can require another stretch of explanation. We recommend the series, but we would happily exchange some of that dialogue for more time with its actors.
Doherty is frequently cast as a formidable woman whose toughness can fray under pressure. There is a risk of repetition in such casting, however carefully she distinguishes the voices and physical behaviour. We would welcome a part that makes less immediate use of her authority and asks her to earn it gradually. Choose A Thousand Blows for her; allow its writers a little more time than she needs.
Biography
Erin Doherty is a British actress. Born on 16 July 1992 in Crawley, West Sussex, she trained at the Guildford School of Acting and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
She gained recognition for her portrayal of Princess Anne in seasons three and four of the Netflix series The Crown (2019–2020). Doherty has also appeared in Call the Midwife (2017), Les Misérables (2018), Chloe (2022) and the film Firebrand (2024).
In 2025 she played Mary Carr in the Disney+ series A Thousand Blows and Briony Ariston in Adolescence, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.
