Actress Erin Doherty, best known for playing Princess Anne in The Crown and Briony Ariston in Adolescence, has disclosed an unexpected connection to comedian Romesh Ranganathan. The 33-year-old star revealed that Ranganathan, 47, was her head of sixth form at Hazelwick School in Three Bridges, West Sussex.
Speaking in a joint interview with co-star Malachi Kirby on Sky News, Doherty explained that Ranganathan, who worked as a maths teacher at the time, once called her and her father into a meeting after she was removed from her English Literature course for failing to read the set books. “We had a chat with Romesh Ranganathan when he was just Mr Ranganathan,” she said.
Doherty noted that she has not seen Ranganathan since leaving school and would like to meet him now that they are both in the public eye. “It’s kind of cool,” she added. Ranganathan, now a well-known comedian and presenter, is one of several famous former pupils of Hazelwick School, alongside footballer Gareth Southgate, broadcaster Dan Walker, and singer Chico.
Doherty is currently promoting the second season of the Disney+ series A Thousand Blows, in which she plays Mary Carr, leader of the Forty Elephants gang. The drama, set in 1880s London, follows the true story of Jamaican immigrant Hezekiah Moscow (Kirby) and his rivalry with bare-knuckle boxer Henry ‘Sugar’ Goodson (Stephen Graham). Season two launched on the streaming platform yesterday.
