Helen Victoria Baxendale (born 7 June 1970) is an English actress of stage and television. She is known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama Cold Feet (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom Friends (1998–1999). Her other television credits include Cardiac Arrest (1994–1996), An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1997–1999), Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (2001), Cuckoo (2012–2019) and Noughts + Crosses (2020).
Baxendale's early stage credits include The Soldiers at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre, which earned her a 1993 Ian Charleson Award nomination.
Early life
Baxendale was born on 7 June 1970 in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire. Baxendale's parents were teachers at a comprehensive school. Her sister is the screenwriter Katie Baxendale.
Friends
Aged 27 Baxendale was cast in a recurring role in Friends as Ross Geller's girlfriend, wife and ultimately ex-wife Emily Waltham. She appeared in fourteen episodes throughout Season 4 and early Season 5. Speaking to The Independent in 2022, Baxendale said "I saw those people in Friends, for example, and thought: I don't think that life is really what I want. They were hounded. They weren't able to walk into a supermarket and buy something..." On the attention she received for being in Friends, she said, "This thing… this programme that I happened to be in for a few episodes. The whole thing was bonkers."
Post Friends
Other notable roles include Lorna Johnson in Truth or Dare alongside John Hannah, Caroline Meagher in The Investigator alongside Laura Fraser, and Julie Matthews in Curt Truninger's Dead by Monday. She was nominated for another Scottish BAFTA in 1997 for her role as Lorna Johnson. Dead by Monday won the Angel Award for Best Film at the Monaco International Film Festival in 2003 and the Portland Festival of World Cinema award for best feature film in 2001. She played Pandora Braithwaite in Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years in 2001 and "Maggie" in the multiple award-winning Bolse Vita. She appeared in Saving Nellie, a physics programme running on Teachers TV. From 2007 to January 2008 she starred in Swimming with Sharks alongside Christian Slater at London's Vaudeville Theatre. Later in 2011, she starred as DCI Marion Bettany in Val McDermid's radio crime drama Village SOS. In 2012 she reprised her role in the second episode. She then appeared in the Inspector George Gently episode "The Lost Child" alongside Mark Gatiss. From 2012 to 2019, she starred in Cuckoo as Lorna, the mother in-law of the titular Dale 'Cuckoo' Ashbrick. In 2020 she played housekeeper Meggie McGregor in Noughts + Crosses. In 2009 Baxendale played Lara in Amongst Friends alongside Aden Gillett and Emma Cunniffe at Hampstead Theatre.
Radio
In 2008, Baxendale guest starred in episode three of the award-winning BBC radio comedy Cabin Pressure.
Personal life
Baxendale has been with her boyfriend David L. Williams since her Glasgow days. Together they have three children. Her first pregnancy was written into An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and her second was written into the fourth series of Cold Feet.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film & television
|-
!Year
!Title
!Role
!class=unsortable|Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" |1993
|The Marshal
|Anita
|Television film
|-
|Euphoric Scale
|
|Short film
|-
|The Good Guys
|Miss Lomax
|Episode: "All for Love"
|-
|Casualty
|Emma
|Episode: "Give Us This Day"
|-
|1994–<wbr>1996
|Cardiac Arrest
|Dr. Claire Maitland
|1994–1996; 27 episodes <br> — Nominated: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in Television <small>(1995)</small>
|-
|1994
|Love's Lost Hour
|Hilary
|Short film
|-
|1995
|Dangerfield
|Tara 'Crystal' Jackson
|Episode: "The Call Girl"
|-
| rowspan="4" |1996
|Crossing the Floor
|Ruth Clarke
|Television film
|-
|Truth or Dare
|Lorna Johnston
|Television film <br> — Nominated: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in Television <small>(1997)</small>
|-
|In Suspicious Circumstances
|Queen Elizabeth I
|Episode: "An Evil Business"
|-
|Bolse vita
|Maggie
|
|-
|1997–<wbr>2001
|An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
|Cordelia Gray
|10 episodes
|-
|1997–<wbr>2003
|Cold Feet
|Rachel Bradley
|1997 (pilot), 1998–2003 (series); 32 episodes <br> Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress <br> — Nominated: British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress <small>(1997)</small>
|-
| rowspan="3" |1997
|The Investigator
|Sgt. Caroline Meagher
|Television film
|-
|I'd Like a Word With You
|Joan
|Direct-to-video
|-
|Macbeth
|Lady Macbeth
|
|-
|1998–<wbr>1999
|Friends
|Emily Waltham
|recurring; 14 episodes (Seasons 4 and 5)
|-
| rowspan="3" |2000
|The Servant Girl
|
| Television film
|-
|Ordinary Decent Criminal
|Lisa
|With Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino
|-
|Tales from the Madhouse
|The Servant Girl
|Television mini-series; episode: "The Servant Girl"
|-
| rowspan="3" |2001
|Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
|Pandora Braithwaite
|6 episodes
|-
|Dead by Monday
|Julie Matthews
|
|-
|Lost in the Snow
|Lily
|Animated film
|-
| 2002
|Flyfishing
|Sam
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2003
|Skagerrak
|Stella
|
|-
|Murder in Mind
|Helen Robbins
|Episode: "Justice"
|-
|2006
|The Only Boy for Me
|Annie
| rowspan="2" |Television film
|-
|2007
|Dead Clever: The Life and Crimes of Julie Bottomley
|Sarah
|-
|2008
|Agatha Christie's Miss Marple
|Mary Dove
|Episode: "A Pocket Full of Rye"
|-
|2009
|Lewis
|Caroline
|Episode: "Counter Culture Blues"
|-
| rowspan="4" |2010
|Dirk Gently
|Susan Harmison
|2010–2012; 2 episodes
|-
|Beyond the Pole
|Becky
|
|-
|Big Mouth
|Mum
|Short film
|-
|The Rendezvous
|
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="2" |2011
|Kidnap and Ransom
|Angela Beddoes
|2011–2012; television mini-series; 6 episodes
|-
|Anonymous
|Anne de Vere
|
|-
|2012
|Inspector George Gently
|Frances Groves
|Episode: "The Lost Child"
|-
|2012–<wbr>2019
|Cuckoo
|Lorna Thompson
|33 episodes
|-
|2013
|Agatha Christie's Poirot
|Elizabeth Cole
|Episode: "Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2014
|Death in Paradise
|Sasha Moore
|Episode: "Death of a Detective"
|-
|The Secrets
|Julie
|Episode: "The Visitor"
|-
|2016
|Midsomer Murders
|Rose Lancaster
|S18E1: "Habeas Corpus"
|-
|2020
|Noughts + Crosses
|Meggie McGregor
|6 episodes
|-
|2020
|Agatha and the Midnight Murders
|Agatha Christie
|
|-
|2024
|Orangutan Jungle School
|Narrator
|Series 3 (6 episodes)
|}