Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Twinkle in Dinnerladies and Veronica Ball in Shameless, barrister Martha Costello in the BBC legal drama Silk, and Grace Middleton in the BBC drama series The Village, as well as starring in Black Mirror episode "Metalhead". She is also an accomplished stage actress, having played the title role in Hamlet.