You know those actors who just seem to be in everything good, yet they never feel overexposed? That’s basically Holliday Grainger. If you’ve spent any time at all browsing the "British Mystery" or "Period Drama" categories on your streaming apps lately, you’ve definitely seen her face. She’s got this incredible range where she can play a Renaissance aristocrat one minute and a gritty modern detective the next without breaking a sweat.
She’s not just a "working actress." She’s become a bit of a quality seal. If Grainger’s name is on the bill, the show is usually worth your evening. From the high-stakes surveillance world of The Capture to the slow-burn chemistry in the Strike series (or C.B. Strike if you’re in the U.S.), she’s consistently the best thing on screen.
The Strike Series: More Than Just a Mystery
Let’s be real for a second. We’ve all seen enough detective shows to last three lifetimes. But there is something about holliday grainger tv shows that feels a bit more grounded. In Strike, she plays Robin Ellacott. She starts as a temporary secretary for a rugged, one-legged private investigator and ends up becoming his indispensable partner.
What makes it work isn’t just the "will-they-won't-they" tension—though that is a massive part of it—it’s how Grainger portrays Robin’s trauma. She isn't just a sidekick. She’s a survivor dealing with a past assault while trying to prove she belongs in the world of investigation. Honestly, it’s one of the most empathetic performances in modern crime TV.
And for the fans waiting on new episodes, 2026 is looking big. Filming for The Running Grave (the seventh installment) was recently spotted in places like Norwich and Cromer. Watching Robin go undercover in a cult is going to be intense. Grainger has this way of looking totally composed on the outside while you can see her brain working ten steps ahead.
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Why The Capture is the Most Terrifying Thing on TV
If Strike is a cozy-ish mystery, The Capture is a full-blown existential crisis. Grainger plays Rachel Carey, a detective who realizes that the very CCTV footage she uses to catch criminals can be faked in real-time. It’s called "correction," and it’s basically deepfake technology used by the government.
It makes you want to put tape over your laptop camera immediately.
The show is twisty. Like, "don't look at your phone for five seconds or you'll lose the plot" twisty. With Season 3 slated for a Spring 2026 release, the stakes are supposedly even higher. Carey is now an Acting Commander in Counter Terrorism, and word is she’s getting dragged into a geopolitical mess that goes way beyond local police work.
From The Borgias to Bonnie & Clyde
Before she was solving modern crimes, Grainger was the queen of the period drama. You might remember her as Lucrezia Borgia in The Borgias. It was lavish, scandalous, and kinda gross in that "historical power struggle" way. She played Lucrezia for three seasons, evolving from an innocent girl into a political powerhouse.
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She also nailed the role of Bonnie Parker in the Bonnie & Clyde miniseries.
Most people think of the 1967 film, but Grainger brought a specific kind of desperate, fame-hungry energy to Bonnie that felt very human. She wasn't just a caricature of a gangster’s moll; she was a woman trying to escape the dust bowl by any means necessary.
The Early Days You Probably Forgot
Grainger has been acting since she was about five or six years old. If you’re a long-time fan of British TV, you might have caught her in:
- Waterloo Road: She played Stacey Appleyard back in the day.
- Merlin: She had a guest spot as Sophia, a literal temptress.
- Casualty and Doctors: The rite of passage for every British actor.
It’s actually wild to look back at her career. She’s avoided the "child star" slump and just quietly became a powerhouse. She doesn't do a lot of flashy interviews or live her life on social media, which honestly makes her characters more believable. You don't see "Holliday Grainger the celebrity" when she's on screen; you just see the character.
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What to watch right now
If you’re new to her work and don’t know where to start, here’s a quick roadmap:
- For Thrills: The Capture. Start with Season 1. It’s on BBC iPlayer or Peacock.
- For Character Growth: Strike. The chemistry with Tom Burke is top-tier.
- For Visuals: The Borgias. Even if the history is a bit loose, the costumes and performances are incredible.
- For Something Short: Patrick Melrose. She has a smaller role here alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, but the whole miniseries is a masterpiece.
What’s Next for Holliday?
Beyond the return of The Capture and Strike in 2026, she’s also popping up in major films like Mickey 17. But TV seems to be where she really gets to dig her teeth into a character. She’s one of those actors who can say more with a silent look than most can with a three-page monologue.
If you haven't caught up on Strike or The Capture, now is the time to binge-watch. With the new seasons dropping soon, you’ll want to be up to speed on Rachel Carey’s paranoia and Robin Ellacott’s evolving detective skills. Check your local listings or streaming platforms—most of these are currently available on BBC iPlayer, HBO, or Peacock depending on where you're located. Be sure to watch The Capture in order, though, because once the "correction" starts, you won't want to miss a single frame.