smith rose to fame playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as "the royle family" (1999–2000), "two pints of lager and a packet of crisps" (2001–2009), "gavin & stacey" (2008–2010), and "benidorm" (2009). she played the role of joey ross on the drama series "jonathan creek" (2009–2013) and went on to receive acclaim for starring in a succession of television dramas, such as "mrs biggs" (2012), "cilla" (2014), "the c word" (2015), "black work" (2015), and "the moorside" (2017). her feature film credits include "tower block" (2012), "quartet" (2012), and "" (2016).