Daisy Aitkens

Aitkens was born in Sydney, Australia to British writer and actor Michael Aitkens, and grew up in London. She studied drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and while acting became her focus, she was really excited by the idea of becoming a writer.{{cite web|url= https://www.directorsnow.com/daisy-aitkens/ |title= Daisy Aitkens |publisher= directorsnow.com}}

After graduating, and throughout her 20s, Aitkens acted in about 15 television commercials, as well as television guest roles such as Casualty, Wire in the Blood, The Bill and EastEnders, while trying to establish herself as a writer.

In 2007, Aitkens starred on short-lived sitcom Fear, Stress & Anger for six episodes, alongside Doctor Who alumni (and real life father and daughter) Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant. Her father Michael Aitkens was the creator of the series and it was loosely based on his life with his own family. Aitkens played Lucy Chadwick, the role based on her own real-life sister, while Tennant played Chloe Chadwick, the role based on Aitkens.{{cite web|url= https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/peter-davison-georgia-tennant-fear-stress-anger-interview/ |title= Fear, Stress & Anger: Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant's lost sitcom |work= Radio Times | date= 27 September 2023}}

From 2012 to 2013, Aitkens appeared as various characters on the sketch show Watson & Oliver. She has also appeared in several feature films, including Colin (2008), Nightshooters (2018), School of the Damned (2019) and Dune Drifter (2020) as well as film shorts.

As an actor, she has also toured with Alan Ayckbourn's theatre company,{{cite web|url= https://savethecat.com/success-stories/5-ways-save-the-cat-saved-me-during-the-writing-and-making-of-my-first-feature |title= 5 Ways Save the Cat!® Saved Me During the Writing (and Making) of My First Feature |publisher= savethecat.com | date= 16 June 2017}} on a 2011 production of Communicating Doors.

A script (written in partnership with an actor alumnus from LAMDA) secured Aitkens her first job in a writer's room. After writing on the sitcoms My Family and Shelfstackers, she wrote and directed the short film, 96 Ways to Say I Love You (2014) and The Exit (2016), before directing and writing her debut feature film, You, Me and Him (starring Lucy Punch, Faye Marsay and David Tennant) in 2017.{{cite web|url= https://www.directorsnow.com/daisy-aitkens/ |title= Daisy Aitkens |publisher= directorsnow.com}}

Aitkens has also written for numerous publications and websites including The Times, Stylebible, Save the Cat, and Huffington Post.{{cite web|url= https://www.babylifeline.org.uk/daisy-aitkens |title= Daisy Aitkens |publisher= Baby Lifeline}}

Together with her husband, producer Neil Andrews,{{cite web|url= https://www.neilandrews.uk/about |title= Neil Andrews |publisher= neilandrews.uk}} Aitkens has two daughters. Prior to having her children, she was diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at the age of 21, and later found out she had an irregular shaped uterus, resulting in three miscarriages.{{cite news|url= https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/eastenders-stars-traumatic-birth-8-31072359?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target |title= Eastenders star's traumatic-birth |work= mirror|date=30 September 2023}}

{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/02_february/01/fear_biogs.shtml |title= Fear, Stress and Anger |publisher= BBC |date= 1 February 2007}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2016696/ Daisy Aitkens] at the Internet Movie Database
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/02_february/01/fear_daisy.shtml Daisy Aitkens] at the BBC Press Office
• [http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/shelfstackers/episodes/1/3/ Daisy Aitkens] at The British Comedy Guide
• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4024506/ 96 Ways To Say I Love You] at the Internet Movie Database

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Category:1986 births

Category:21st-century English actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:English film actresses

Category:English film directors

Category:English screenwriters

Category:Living people