Denise Gough leads The Stolen Girl as ITV pick-up brings Elisa Blix to a wider audience
Denise Gough headlines the five-part mystery The Stolen Girl, which first premiered on Disney+ last year and is now airing on ITV. The Stolen Girl places Gough at the centre of a disappearance narrative at a time when the actress’s stage and screen profile has been rising rapidly.
The Stolen Girl plot: Elisa Blix and a vanished child
Gough plays Elisa Blix, a mother who reluctantly allows her daughter to attend a first sleepover at the home of a new friend, Josie. After meeting Josie’s mother, Rebecca—portrayed by Holliday Grainger—Elisa is reassured and permits the stay. The next day, when Elisa returns to collect her child, Josie’s family and Elisa’s little girl have disappeared. The series is made up of five episodes, written by Catherine Moulton and adapted from the novel Playdate by Alex Dahl.
Denise Gough’s early life in Wexford and County Clare
Gough was born on February 28, 1980, in Wexford and raised in Ennis, County Clare. Accounts in the provided context differ on her exact family size: one source describes her as one of ten children, while another identifies her as the seventh of eleven siblings; the record is unclear in the provided context. Her mother was pregnant for nine-and-a-half years, and the household was described as bustling but impeccably kept. Gough has recalled that the family had a system of assigned chores, which taught her to work from an early age.
Parents: the electrician and the counsellor
Her father worked both as an electrician and as a fisheries head; her mother qualified as a marriage counsellor. Neither parent had a background in entertainment. Gough has spoken warmly of her mother’s practical creativity—making curtains, stitching clothing and refreshing pre-loved toys with new outfits—while also recounting the emotional limits her mother acknowledged, including the admission that she was often unable to provide emotionally and would brush off needs with a phrase recalled as “stop looking for attention. ”
Stage milestones: People, Places and Things and High Noon
Gough trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wandsworth, graduating in 2003, and left school at 15 to pursue drama out of what she described as a pure love of the craft. Her breakthrough is marked by a raw 2016 performance in People, Places and Things at the National Theatre. She had played the role in 2015 and in 2024 reprised Emma in that play; the role previously brought her an Olivier Award and a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award. For her work in Angels in America—staged in both the UK and the US—she won another Olivier and earned a Tony nomination. She is currently appearing on London’s West End alongside Billy Cruddup in the play High Noon.
Screen credits and awards, from Andor to Too Close
On screen, Gough’s credits span television and film. She won widespread praise for her portrayal of Dedra Meero in the Star Wars series Andor and received a Peabody Award in 2023 for that work. Her television roles also include the title role in the drama Paula in 2017, Dr Alison Walden in two episodes of The Fall, and a BAFTA nomination for the 2021 three-parter Too Close. Additional television appearances listed in the context include Casualty, The Bill, Silent Witness, Holby City, Stella and Apple Tree Yard, and further series credits noted are Under the Banner of Heaven, Robin Hood and Who Is Erin Carter? on Netflix.
Her feature-film work includes roles opposite Claire Foy in H Is For Hawk and appearances in Colette, The Other Lamb, Monday and Martyrs Lane. A role in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is described as yet-to-be-confirmed in the provided material.
Supporting cast and production details
The Stolen Girl’s ensemble includes Holliday Grainger as Rebecca Walsh, Bronagh Waugh as DI Shona Sinclair and Michael Workéyè as Kabel Negate. The cast also features Ambika Mod and Jim Sturgess; Mod previously played Em in the small-screen adaptation of One Day opposite Leo Woodall, while Sturgess played Dex opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2011 movie. The drama airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on ITV and is available to stream in full on ITVX.
Gough has been candid about her own teenage struggles, describing an “obsession with smoking and boys” and recounting involvement at 14 with a 21-year-old who collected her from school. She has said she did not recognise that the relationship was grooming until she later received help. Those personal recollections, alongside a childhood marked by scarcity and resilience, have been a frequent focus of recent coverage of her rise from theatre stages to headline television roles. What makes this notable is the way the discipline of an early, work-focused household, and later raw stage performances, have translated into a screen presence that anchors a high-profile mystery drama.
Separately, entertainment coverage accompanying the rollout mentioned a new edition of Living Legends—a 100-page all-colour celebration of Taylor Swift—priced at £8. 99. One of the write-ups included a note about an Evening News Editor with more than a decade of pop-culture coverage contributing further context to Gough’s credits and awards.
The Stolen Girl continues to expand Gough’s audience as it moves from its Disney+ premiere to a wider broadcast run on ITV.
