The Stolen Girl: Denise Gough’s rise from theatre to leading a five-episode thriller

Denise Gough leads the cast of the Stolen Girl as Elisa Blix, a mother who wakes to discover her daughter and a neighbour’s family have vanished — a twist that helped the Stolen Girl grip audiences on Disney+ last year and now win new viewers as it airs on ITV.

The Stolen Girl on ITV and Disney+

The Stolen Girl is a five-episode drama written by Catherine Moulton and based on the novel Playdate by Alex Dahl. The series first premiered on Disney+ last year and is now airing on ITV on Wednesdays at 9pm, with the full series available to stream on ITVX.

How the plot unfolds

Gough plays Elisa Blix, a mother whose daughter is excited about her first sleepover at a new friend Josie’s house despite Elisa’s initial reservations. After meeting Josie’s mother Rebecca — played by Holliday Grainger — Elisa feels reassured and allows the sleepover. The next day, when Elisa arrives to pick up her child, she finds that Josie’s family and her own little girl have disappeared, setting the series’ mystery in motion.

Cast and connections

Alongside Denise Gough, the Stolen Girl’s cast includes Holliday Grainger as Rebecca Walsh, Bronagh Waugh as DI Shona Sinclair and Michael Workéyè as Kabel Negate. The series also features Ambika Mod and Jim Sturgess; Mod previously played Em opposite Leo Woodall in One Day on television, and Sturgess played Dex opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2011 movie One Day.

Gough’s screen resume and awards

Gough has become a familiar screen presence after a long, award-filled stage career. She won a Peabody Award in 2023 for her performance as Dedra Meero in Andor. Her television credits include the title role in Paula in 2017, two episodes as Dr Alison Walden in The Fall, the 2021 three-parter Too Close (for which she received a BAFTA nomination), and appearances in Casualty, The Bill, Silent Witness, Holby City, Stella and Apple Tree Yard. Additional screen credits mentioned include Andor, Under The Banner Of Heaven, Robin Hood and Who Is Erin Carter? on Netflix.

Stage work and notable theatre honours

On stage, Gough has been widely recognised: she won an Olivier Award and a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for People, Places and Things, a role she reprised in 2024 after first appearing in the 2015 production. For her work in Angels in America in the UK and the US she was nominated for a Tony and won an Olivier. She is currently appearing in London’s West End alongside Billy Cruddup in the play High Noon.

Early life, training and personal history

Denise Gough was born on February 28, 1980, in Wexford and raised in Ennis, County Clare. One account in the context describes her as the seventh of eleven siblings; another describes her as one of ten children living with their mother — the two sources differ on the number of siblings. She has said her mother worked as a marriage counsellor and her father worked as a fisheries head and an electrician. The context also states her mother was pregnant for nine-and-a-half years and that the household was busy but “immaculately maintained, ” with a system of chores that taught Gough to work from an early age. Gough left school at 15 and went on to graduate from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) in Wandsworth in 2003.

Trauma, homelessness and candid reflections

Personal details in the provided material describe a troubled adolescence: Gough has said she developed an “obsession with smoking and boys” as a teenager and that at 14 she was involved with a 21-year-old who would collect her from school. She has described that relationship as grooming, saying she did not realise until later, after getting help, what grooming entailed. The broader account of her life in the context links those experiences to a narrative described as one that runs from abuse to homelessness. Gough has spoken about her childhood on the Changes podcast with Annie Macmanus, recalling how her mother kept the house immaculate, made curtains and clothing and even restyled second‑hand toys.

Her film work includes roles in Colette, The Other Lamb, Monday and Martyrs Lane, and she was seen alongside Claire Foy in H Is For Hawk. The context also notes a yet‑to‑be‑confirmed role in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. She maintains a social media presence, including posts from the Instagram account @denisegoughig.

The Stolen Girl continues to air on ITV on Wednesdays at 9pm and is available to stream in full on ITVX.