Sarah has starred in Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax and more recently Black Doves

Bafta-winning actress Sarah Lancashire has been recognised in the 2025 New Year Honours.

The actress, from Greater Manchester, has received numerous accolades over her four-decade long career, including three British Academy Television Awards and a nomination for an Olivier Award.

She been recognised for her performances in TV shows including Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax, following her breakthrough role as Raquel Watts in soap opera Coronation Street during the 1990s.

And now, Lancashire, 60, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama and described it as “an unexpected delight.”

Each year, a list of people gets compiled following recommendations from the prime minister, senior government ministers and members of the public.

Special honours are given to people who make outstanding contributions to their community and the country, with the New Year Honours acknowledging more than 1,200 people in the UK this year.

Lancashire was born in Oldham in 1964 and grew up with her parents and three brothers, including a twin. Her dad Geoffrey was a TV scriptwriter for Coronation Street and her mum, Hilda, worked as his personal assistant.

The star attended Oldham Hulme Grammar School and then studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before taking on minor roles in television and theatre – working as a drama tutor at the University of Salford to supplement her income.

Her breakout role was barmaid Raquel in Coronation Street for five years until 1996, appearing in more than 260 episodes. At one point, she was the highest-paid TV actress in the UK after singing a golden-handcuff deal with ITV.

After leaving the cobbles, Lancashire earned a name for her TV drama work including the BBC’s critically-acclaimed Clocking Off from 2000 until 2003, which revolved around a series of factory workers.

She won her first National Television Award (NTA) following her performance in ITV drama Seeing Red, with Lancashire playing real-life actress and child-carer Coral Atkins.

And since, Sarah has starred in countless hit TV shows including Last Tango In Halifax, for which she won her first Bafta in 2014 for her supporting role. The British drama, written by Sally Wainwright, follows two widowed childhood sweethearts Celia and Alan who rekindle their romance in their 70s.

During her career, Lancashire has become known for portraying complex and emotionally rich characters. It was a decade ago that she collaborated with Wainwright to portray no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the Yorkshire-set thriller Happy Valley.

In 2017, she earned the best actress Bafta for her role in the second season of the show, as well as becoming an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Earlier this year, Lancashire was given the Bafta for best actress for her portrayal in the swansong of Happy Valley.

More recently, Lancashire starred in new Netflix spy thriller Black Doves, opposite Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw.

In Black Doves, Knightley portrays a dedicated wife, mother and professional spy who has been passing on her politician husband’s secrets for a decade, while Whishaw plays a Champagne-drinking assassin and Lancashire stars as the head of the spy organisation.

The actress has always been candid about her struggles with her mental health. She began suffering from clinical depression as a teenager and previously told The Scotsman that while shooting Corrie she was on medication and considered taking her own life twice.

She said: “In my early days, depression did inhibit me because I was too debilitated and terrified to tell anyone why I couldn’t get on a train from Manchester for auditions in London,” she says. “I fully believed I’d lose work if I admitted to it. Tranquillisers were the worst thing for it and I ended up in a terrible mess. My twenties were a write-off.

“It’s a cruel illness because you can’t see it and you can hide it so well. At least, I can. I’m a genius at hiding it. I think a lot of people are. Actors are bloody marvellous at hiding… My family knew, but I didn’t tell anyone at Coronation Street and I didn’t take any time off. I just battled along, which was the worst thing I could have done. Every day I was hysterical at the thought of getting out of bed, but I made myself do it.”

The star sought help for her mental health when her mother encouraged her to visit a doctor. She said seeking help “gave me my life back”.

When Sarah was 22 she married her first husband Gary Hargreaves, who was 11 years older than her, out of pressure not to have a child out of wedlock. She told The Telegraph: “I got married only because I was pregnant. Simple as that. I am a very traditional girl and was horrified at the thought of having a child out of wedlock. I didn’t want a child of mine to be different or have fingers pointed at.”

She said: “My marriage lasted for 10 years, which was 10 years longer than it should have done. It was tough.”

In 2000 she started seeing her now husband former director of BBC North and Chief Creative Officer of BBC Vision Peter Salmon. The couple married in 2001 and share son Joseph.