Amanda Burton

Amanda Burton (born 10 October 1956) is a Northern Irish actress, well known for her television roles, including Heather Black in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, Beth Glover in Peak Practice, Sam Ryan in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness, Clare Blake in The Commander and Karen Fisher in Waterloo Road. 2Early years Burton was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, the youngest of four sisters. Her father was a primary school headmaster. After attending Londonderry High School, a girls-only secondary school in the city of Derry, she moved to England at the age of 18, where she spent three years studying drama at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. 2Career Although best known for her television roles, Burton had worked almost exclusively in the theatre prior to landing the role of Heather Black in Channel 4's Liverpool-based flagship drama series Brookside. After nearly four years in the role, during which time Heather had become one of the show's most-popular residents of Brookside Close, she began to lose sympathy with her character and decided to leave. Following her departure her television work consisted mainly of guest appearances, with parts in a number of peak-time drama series including Minder, Inspector Morse, Boon, Medics, Van Der Valk, Stay Lucky and Lovejoy. In 1993 Burton starred alongside Kevin Whately in Peak Practice. She played the role of Doctor Beth Glover in the medical drama series, based in Derbyshire's Peak District, for three series until her departure in 1995. In 1996 she then took the main role of Professor Sam Ryan in the highly acclaimed BBC drama Silent Witness; she held this role until 200