Which actress plays Molly Hooper in BBC Sherlock?

Louise Brealey plays Molly Hooper in BBC Sherlock.

Molly is a specialist registrar working in the morgue at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where Sherlock regularly examines bodies and obtains forensic information. She is one of the series’ recurring characters and has an apparent romantic interest in Sherlock, although he is initially too self-absorbed to recognize the depth of her feelings.

The character was created for the television series rather than directly lifted from Doyle’s original canon. Molly was initially intended to be a one-off character who helped introduce Sherlock’s working environment, but Brealey’s performance impressed creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, so they brought her back. She becomes increasingly important as the programme develops.

Molly is sometimes confused with other women in the series, including Irene Adler, Mary Morstan Watson and Janine Donlevy. Yasmine Akram plays Janine, Lara Pulver plays Irene, and Vinette Robinson plays Sally Donovan. Brealey’s Molly also appears in the Victorian-set special “The Abominable Bride,” in which the show playfully reimagines her role.