Rakie Ayola stars in The Pact series 2 as new character Christine – and, yes, if you’re wondering, she was in series one as someone else!
So why is she back in the new role? Read on to find out why – and to learn about her two characters – past and present – in The Pact.
Rakie Ayola as new character Christine in The Pact series 2
The actress stars in The Pact series 2 as the matriarch of the Rees family.
Christine’s an experienced social worker who is devoted to her family.
She has three grown-up children: Will (Lloyd Everitt); Jamie (Aaron Anthony); Megan (Mali Ann Rees).
The story picks up 18 months after the death of her fourth child, Liam.
But behind her smile and no-nonsense manner is a web of secrets.
Will, Jamie and Megan don’t understand why their mum never talks about her past.
Rakie says of her character: “When we meet her that’s the weight she’s carrying – the weight of having lost a child. It was so unexpected. But she is bearing. She is getting on with life the way people do. She is working and taking care of the others.”
Who was Rakie Ayola in The Pact series 1?
Yes, eagle-eyed viewers, Rakie Ayola was also in The Pact series 1 playing a different character!
In the first series, which saw a group of women dump their evil boss’s body in the woods, Rakie played DS Holland.
She was the lead copper investigating his death.
Her new character, Christine, has no connection at all to DS Holland.
Rakie explains: “The writer, Pete McTighe, and I were in the early stages of another project.
“We had got on very well coming out of the first series. Then The Pact was recommissioned (for another series) so I thought I wouldn’t hear from him for a year!
“But he got back in touch (with the script for series 2) and said: ‘Just have a look at this.’
“I didn’t really know where I might fit in, but when I read it again through Christine’s eyes I thought, ‘Ah, right, this is it. What actor wouldn’t want to do this?’ Some people will feel for Christine, some people will loathe her.”
Is Rakie Ayola really Welsh and how did she get into acting?
Indeed she is! Rakie, who is 54, grew up on a council estate in Cardiff.
She was cared for by her birth mother’s cousin from Sierra Leone and his Welsh wife.
Watching Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly on TV as a child made Rakie want to take up acting.
Following youth theatre and amateur dramatics, she studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Rakie Ayola stars in The Pact series 2: what else has she been in?
In 2001, Rakie appeared in EastEnders as teacher Miss French.
She went on to play troubled nurse Kyla Tyson in Holby City from 2006-8, who endured domestic violence and alcoholism.
Rakie quit Holby when she was pregnant with her second daughter. She previously explained: “I made the decision purely because I was pregnant, but I wasn’t really ready to put down the character of Kyla. I’m very sorry to have to let her go.”
The mum-of-two went on to appear in episodes of Black Mirror, Stella and Silent Witness.
In 2016 she took on the role of matriarch Nora Attah, the head of a crime family, in series 2 of Channel 4’s police comedy drama No Offence.
But it was 2021 which really propelled Rakie to fame.
She won a BAFTA for her performance as bereaved mum Gee Walker in BBC1‘s drama Anthony.
The drama was based on the real-life 2005 murder of Anthony Walker in a racist attack in Liverpool.
The 90-minute film imagined how Anthony’s life would have been if he’d lived.
In the same year, she also starred as Prime Minister Opal Folami in BBC drama Noughts and Crosses.
And fans of ITV1’s Grace series, which began in 2021 and stars John Simm as DS Roy Grace, will recognise her as no-nonsense copper ACC Alison Vosper.
Will Rakie Ayola return in Grace series 3?
Series 3 of Grace is currently in production – but at the end of the last Brighton-based series Rakie Ayola’s character Alison Vosper departed for a new job in London.
She could potentially return to the seaside town, so it’s not clear yet if Rakie Ayola will appear in the next series of Grace.
Is Rakie Ayola married?
Rakie Ayola’s husband is actor Adam Smethurst, the son of Jack Smethurst. They met when acting together on stage in Hamlet.
Jack played Eddie Booth in popular ’70s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour.
They have two daughters, Tansy and Shani, born in 2004 and 2009.
Tansy has undergone extensive surgeries to treat neurofibramatosis type 1 (NF1) and Rakie is Patron of The Childhood Tumour trust.
The Pact series 2 begins on Monday, October 24 at 9pm on BBC One and all episodes will be on BBC iPlayer.
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