Manjinder Virk is a British actress, director and writer. She has appeared in the television series Holby City (1999), Doctors (2000), The Bill (2004), The Ghost Squad (2005), Runaway (2009), Skins (2010), Monroe (2011), Hunted (2012) and Midsomer Murders (2016 –2018).
She has also written and directed the short films Forgive (2008) and Out of Darkness (2013), the latter of which she won the Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
Early life and education Manjinder Virk was born in Coventry, England to parents of Indian origin. Her mother's name is Jasvir, while her father was Harbhajan Singh Virk. She comes from a family of three children.
She began acting at the Belgrade Youth Theatre in Coventry and went on to become artistic director of Pangram Dance Theatre with her brother, Hardish.
She went on to earn a degree in contemporary dance at De Montfort University in Leicester.
Career
In 1999, Virk began her television career on the British TV series Holby City. She appeared in the soap opera Doctors, as Karen Slater in 2000. In 2003, she wrote a play for a show for touring company Theatre Centre titled Glow.Also published in Theatre Centre - Plays for Young People (2003, Aurora Metro Books) In 2004, she again appeared on the soap opera Doctors to play Laila Khalid, and returned to the show in 2007 as Harpit Jindal. Also in 2007, Virk appeared in Britz as Nasima Wahid.
In 2008, Virk wrote and directed the short film Forgive starring Sacha Dhawan and Abdi Gouhad. She portrayed Lorraine Dunbar in the 2010 documentary The Arbor. For the latter, she earned three nominations: Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards. She later had recurring roles on the British medical drama show Monroe in 2011, and the BBC One spy drama series Hunted in 2012. Also in 2012, she wrote and directed another short film, Out of Darkness, starring Tom Hiddleston, Monica Dolan, Andrew Gower, Jimmy Akingbola, Christine Bottomley and Riz Ahmed.
Virk had a recurring role as the coroner the popular detective series Midsomer Murders, from 2016 to 2018. In 2022, Virk appeared as DI Samira Desai in the thriller series Trigger Point alongside Vicky McClure. The following year, she played a grieving mother in an episode of Shetland.
Personal life She met husband Neil Biswas on the set of the TV drama Bradford riots in 2007. In 2013, they were living in Brixton, South London.
Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes1999Holby CityJunior NurseTV series (1 episode: "Staying Alive: Part 2")2000DoctorsKaren Slater TV series (1 episode: "Game Over")2003Ready When You Are, Mr. McGillSueTV film2003Two MinutesRubyShort2004The BillKhadija Miah TV series (4 episodes)2004DoctorsLaila Khalid TV series (1 episode: "Moving On")2004Swiss ToniJennyTV series2004Green WingTheatre Nurse TV series (1 episode: "Tangled Webs")2005Child of MineWPC TV film2005The Ghost SquadWPC Shareen CharanTV series (1 episode: "Colour Blind")2006Bradford RiotsShazia TV film2006Orange PeopleAmber Short2007World of WrestlingPrincess Short2007DoctorsHarpit JindalTV series (1 episode: "Wings and Needles")2007Comedy ShowcaseNews Reporter TV series (1 episode: "Plus One")2007BritzNasima WahidTV film2007Famous Last WordsTV short2008The Blue TowerAsha 2009RunawayPC BrinkleyTV series (2 episodes)2010SkinsDoctor BergTV series (1 episode: "Katie")2010The ArborLorraine DunbarDocumentary2011Lost ParadiseIsmat Short2011MonroeSally FortuneTV series (6 episodes)2012The Thick of ItJournalist 1 TV series (1 episode)2012 HuntedSimran BainesTV series (4 episodes)2012 Broken EternityWoman Short2013 Out of DarknessFemale Short; also writer, director and producer2014 CheckpostRia Short2015 Call the MidwifeAmeera Khatun TV series (Episode #4.5) 2015 History's FuturePhoebe Post-production 2015 Ordinary LiesMarianne TV series 2016–2018Midsomer MurdersDr Kam Karimore Series 18–19 2017Bad MoveMeenaTV series (6 episodes)2022Trigger PointDI Samira DesaiTV series (6 episodes)2023ShetlandFarida SadatTV series (1 episode: "Episode 5")2025VirdeeMandip VerdeeTV series (3 episodes)
Awards and nominations Virk was nominated in 2010 for Best Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival Awards and Best Actress and Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards, both for her role in The Arbor. She was one of the UK Stars of Tomorrow in Screen International in 2007. She was also nominated for Asian Woman of Achievement Award in 2008.
In 2013, for her short film Out of Darkness, Virk won Best of Fest award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.
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