Emily Bevan

Amy Dyer in In the Flesh (2013) can be bold and lonely at the same time. Emily Bevan makes her outward confidence credible, so we do not spend the performance waiting for it to be exposed as a disguise. The humour helps: Amy's vulnerability does not require her to stop being funny. We were moved by her loneliness because Bevan lets it show without taking away the energy that makes her such good company.

The make-up and prosthetics in In the Flesh do not obscure that mixture of humour and vulnerability. Bevan's performance suits creator Dominic Mitchell's warmth towards the undead trying to reconnect, giving the series someone we can enjoy spending time with. This is where we rate her: she makes an unusual character easy to care about without smoothing away her boldness. The series itself is less controlled, taking on more themes in its short first run than it can properly develop. We recommend it for the performances, with that overcrowding as the caveat.

The useful turning point in Bevan's screen work is the move from small parts, including St Trinian's (2007), to Amy across both series of In the Flesh (2013–2014). That sustained part gives a clearer sense of her strengths than a succession of brief appearances could. The subsequent credits include Mary Fairbrother in The Casual Vacancy (2015) and Nurse Margaret in Andy Serkis's Breathe (2017). The Full Monty (2023), in which she plays Yvonne, continues a career largely spent in supporting and ensemble roles.

Amy is a strong reason to follow Bevan, though not a template we would impose on every part. The interest lies in seeing what else a role of comparable size might let her do, rather than asking her to repeat that particular mixture of bravery and loneliness. Start with In the Flesh, accepting that its actors sometimes do more to hold it together than its storytelling.