Liz White makes intelligence and empathy believable together, particularly as Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars. We rate her unforced acting highly, while wishing that more of her parts gave her as much prominence as Ackley Bridge.
Fi1m perspective
In Life on Mars (2006), Annie Cartwright works in a police force where being a capable woman does not mean being treated as an equal. White makes her intelligence and resilience clear without presenting her as someone put there simply to correct the men. We warmed to Annie because White makes her empathy feel as considered as her police work. Alongside John Simm and Philip Glenister, whose arguments drive so much of the programme, she gives us someone else worth listening to.
Her rapport with Simm helps a time-travel mystery establish relationships we can believe in. That matters in a series which asks us to care about the consequences of its strange premise, and it is a substantial reason to recommend her work here. Our reservation about Life on Mars is that the police stories and the disputes between its central pair begin to repeat. White’s grounded performance remains welcome, but even a convincing character cannot make every familiar case feel fresh.
Her film debut was as Pamela Barnes in Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake (2004), before Annie brought wider recognition. The title role of Jennet Humfrye in The Woman in Black (2012) took her into horror; Margaret in Pride (2014) put her within another ensemble. Ackley Bridge (2017) subsequently gave her a leading role as teacher Emma Keane. The police officer and the teacher suggest a persistent casting preference for intelligent women dealing with institutions that constrain them.
The danger with an actor this naturalistic is that praise stops at calling her dependable. Annie deserves closer attention: White lets us take a sympathetic character seriously without mistaking her kindness for naivety. We would welcome more leading parts, following Ackley Bridge, which let White do more than provide good company for someone else’s story. Start with Life on Mars, and allow the policemen a few arguments they have already had.
Biography
Liz White is an English actress. She trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and began appearing in television and film in the early 2000s.
She is known for her role as Annie Cartwright in the BBC series Life on Mars (2006–2007). Other credits include Vera Drake (2004), The Woman in Black (2012), Pride (2014), Ackley Bridge (2017–2019) and Unforgotten (2015–2021). She has also worked in theatre, including productions at the National Theatre and the Old Vic.
