Personal Info
Birth date
1968-05-11 (57 Years)
Gender
Female
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Also known as
Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola
Rakie Ayola
Biography
Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola is a Welsh actress. She was born in Cardiff in May 1968, to a Sierra Leonean mother and a Nigerian father, and was raised by her mother's cousin and his wife in the Ely district of the city. She studied at Glan Ely High School, and was a member of the Orbit Youth Theatre, South Glamorgan Youth Theatre, South Glamorgan Youth Choir and the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She went on to attend the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, studying for a three-year acting diploma. In 2023 Rakie Ayola was the 18th recipient of the prestigious BAFTA Cymru Siân Phillips Award. At the same ceremony she also won the Bafta Cymru Best Actress Award for her performance in BBC1 series The Pact Season 2 on which she was an Executive Producer. In 2021 Rakie Ayola won BAFTA Best Supporting Actress for BBC1 film Anthony by Jimmy McGovern. Ayola has appeared in television shows including Kaos, The Pact Season 1, Grace, Shetland, No Offence, Midsomer Murders, Black Mirror, Noughts + Crosses, Doctor Who, Silent Witness and EastEnders, a number of Shakespearean theatrical performances and feature films such as Been So Long, Now Is Good, Great Moments in Aviation, The i Inside, Dredd, and Sahara. She appeared as Kyla Tyson in the BBC medical drama Holby City from its eighth to eleventh series.
Filmography
Midsomer Murders
7.534
Overview:
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.Doctor Who
7.555
Overview:
The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.Black Mirror
8.286
Overview:
Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.Question Time
5.5
Overview:
This topical debate series based on Any Questions? typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience.Shetland
7.527
Overview:
Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.Vera
7.456
Overview:
A sharp detective with a messy life, DCI Vera Stanhope patrols her “patch” of northeast England, pursuing the truth in cases of murder, kidnapping, and blackmail. Vera is obsessive about her work and faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.Soldier Soldier
6.643
Overview:
The daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'B' Company, 1st Battalion The King's Fusiliers.KAOS
7.246
Overview:
As discord reigns on Mount Olympus and almighty Zeus spirals into paranoia, three mortals are destined to reshape the future of humankind.Alex Rider
7.791
Overview:
Alex Rider is an ordinary teenager enlisted to work on behalf of MI6, where he uses skills he didn't know he had to become an extraordinary spy.Flowers
7.267
Overview:
Dark comedy about the eccentric members of the Flowers family. Maurice and Deborah are barely together but yet to divorce. They live with Maurice's batty mother and their maladjusted twin children.Waking the Dead
7.2
Overview:
A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.Grace
6.678
Overview:
Brighton based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is a hard-working police officer who has given his life to the job, but his career is currently at rock bottom. He’s fixated by the disappearance of his beloved wife, Sandy, and running enquiries into long forgotten cold cases with little prospect of success. Following another reprimand for his unorthodox police methods, Grace is walking a career tightrope and risks being moved from the job he loves most.Ready Steady Cook
NYR
Overview:
Talented chefs battle it out against the clock, creating delicious dishes in 20 minutesThe Pact
7.275
Overview:
How far would you go to protect those you love? Divided loyalties test the ties of family and friends—because secrets always have consequences.Code of a Killer
7.34
Overview:
Based on the extraordinary true story of Alec Jeffreys' discovery of DNA fingerprinting and its first use by Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker in catching a double murderer.Being April
4.5
Overview:
Three kids. Three dads. One mum. Mum is April (Pauline Quirke), a 39-year-old single mother living in Leicester, who has had three children by three different fathers. Richard (Victor McGuire), her husband since she was 18, is a plumber who still adores her. They separated years ago but never got round to a divorce. Eddie (Nicholas Gleaves) is a barman, with whom she had a fling nine years ago until, a week after moving in with him, she discovered they were both looking for Mr Right. Sunil (Nitin Ganatra) followed, sexy, young and rich.Saving Lives in Cardiff
NYR
Overview:
Life-saving operations, difficult dilemmas. Lifting the lid on the heart-rending, hard-headed decisions surgeons must make before tackling the day job of changing people’s lives.Dredd
6.844
Overview:
In the future, America is a dystopian wasteland. The latest scourge is Ma-Ma, a prostitute-turned-drug pusher with a dangerous new drug and aims to take over the city. The only possibility of stopping her is an elite group of urban police called Judges, who combine the duties of judge, jury and executioner to deliver a brutal brand of swift justice. But even the top-ranking Judge, Dredd, discovers that taking down Ma-Ma isn’t as easy as it seems in this explosive adaptation of the hugely popular comic series.My Almost Famous Family
NYR
Overview:
My Almost Famous Family is a British children's television series produced by the BBC and originally aired between 12 September and 21 November 2009 on CBBC on BBC Two. The 11-part series was about a group of siblings and their parents who performed together as the house band of a fictional chat show. It was written by a team of writers that included Gail Renard and Emma Reeves. Composer and performer Richie Webb, whose credits include the BBC Radio 4 series 15 Minute Musical, was the show’s musical director. The shows theme tune 'Almost Famous' was written by Richard Webb, Steve Young and Tom Nichols. Incidental music was written and recorded by Tim Baxter. On 17 April 2010, the BBC launched the My Almost Famous Family interactive website on the CBBC website, which consisted of 16 interactive games, music videos, and songs from the show. The show has not yet been recommissioned for a second series.Murder in Mind
8.4
Overview:
Murder in Mind is a British television thriller drama anthology series of self-contained stories with a murderous theme seen from the perspective of the murderer.Sahara
5.913
Overview:
Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.Sea of Souls
7.6
Overview:
Sea of Souls follows para-psychologist Monaghan and his two sidekicks from a fictitious Scottish University that investigates paranormal activity.Bargain Hunt Famous Finds
NYR
Overview:
Two teams of celebrities search for antique bargains and put them up for auction, with the help of two antiques experts.Maisie Raine
NYR
Overview:
Maisie Raine was a drama series originally broadcast on BBC1 for 2 series from 28 July 1998 – 9 July 1999. Pauline Quirke took the lead role as DI Maisie Raine, an unorthodox detective whose hands on and down to earth approach was not always appreciated by her superiors. When she took on a case, she did it her way, regardless of whose toes she stepped on and who she offended. Each episode would see the team investigating a crime and often uncovering more about the perpetrators and the victims histories with DI Raine often becoming personally involved or bending the rules to get the results she wanted. Also starring alongside Quirke were Ian McElhinney, Steve John Shepherd, Rakie Ayola and Richard Graham.Canterbury Tales
6.9
Overview:
The Canterbury Tales is a series of six single dramas that originally aired on BBC One in 2003. Each story is an adaptation of one of Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales which are transferred to a modern, 21st century setting, but still set along the traditional Pilgrims' route to Canterbury.Now Is Good
7.319
Overview:
A girl dying of leukemia compiles a list of things she'd like to do before passing away. Topping the list is her desire to lose her virginity.Brexit: The Uncivil War
6.583
Overview:
Political strategist Dominic Cummings leads a popular but controversial campaign to convince British voters to leave the European Union from 2015 up until the present day.The I Inside
5.939
Overview:
When Simon awakens in the hospital after surviving a near-fatal accident, amnesia has erased the last two years from his memory. He learns that his brother was killed, he has married a woman he doesn't remember and he's haunted by strange visions of the woman he loved.Acting
TBABad Apples as Sylvia
2024KAOS (5 Episodes) as Persephone
2024Saving Lives in Cardiff (12 Episodes) as Self - Narrator
2021Mothers, Missiles and the American President as Narrator
2021The Pact (6, 6 Episode) as DS Holland, Christine Rees
2021Grace (6 Episodes) as ACC Alison Vosper
2020Alex Rider (7 Episodes) as Jo Byrne
2020Anthony as Gee Walker
2019Brexit: The Uncivil War as Camilla
2018Been So Long as Martina
2016King Lear as Goneril
2016Flowers (1 Episode) as Morag
2015Code of a Killer (2 Episodes) as Helena Adarkwa
2014Under Milk Wood as Voice
2013Shetland (6 Episodes) as Olivia Lennox
2012Now Is Good as Phillippa
2012Dredd as Chief Judge
2011Black Mirror (1 Episode) as Shelly
2011Vera (1 Episode) as Amber Haleford
2009My Almost Famous Family (11 Episodes) as Shalondra
2008Bargain Hunt Famous Finds (1 Episode) as Unknown
2005Sahara as Mrs. Nwokolo
2005Doctor Who (1 Episode) as Hostess
2004The I Inside as Nurse Clayton
2004Sea of Souls (2 Episodes) as Yemi
2003Canterbury Tales (1 Episode) as Nicky Constable
2002Being April (6 Episodes) as Unknown
2001Waking the Dead (2 Episodes) as Pauline
2001Murder in Mind (1 Episode) as Cally
1999The Secret Laughter of Women as Talking Drum
1998Maisie Raine (12 Episodes) as D.C. Helen Tomlin
1997Midsomer Murders (1 Episode) as Alice Winning
1994Ready Steady Cook (1 Episode) as Self - Guest
1994Great Moments in Aviation as Gabriel Angel
1993Nightshift (3 Episodes) as Unknown
1991Soldier Soldier (7 Episodes) as Bernie Roberts
1979Question Time (1 Episode) as Self - Panellist
Production
2018Twelfth Night ... Executive Producer