Katherine Parkinson Breaks Down Over Hospital Shame

Katherine Parkinson has recalled the moment she was 'knocked out cold' during a terrifying street assault that left her hospitalised with a broken nose. 

The British star, best known for her roles in The IT Crowd and Rivals, was still establishing herself as an actress after studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art when the attack took place. 

Recalling the incident during an appearance on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, a tearful Parkinson, 48, said she was returning home from the theatre with a friend when she was assaulted. 

'A guy who had previous form of doing this got into a bit of a disagreement with this colleague of mine,' she recalled. 'I said "leave her alone" and he knocked me out cold and broke my nose.' 

Parkinson was subsequently hospitalised with a broken nose, but the actress says her treatment was overshadowed by feelings of shame after nursing staff failed to acknowledge that she was the victim. 

'I think what I find upsetting about it most is that I remember the nurse in hospital say, "Oh, she's a nice girl as well."

'There was a sense … I remember somebody saying to me, "what were you doing [walking]?" There was a sense that I had brought it on myself.’ 

'At the time I was still hanging around with my university friends, and they were saying, "Parky, you walk from the station, we're going to go and pick up so and so and so and so," and I did sort of think that I was a cheaper commodity when I was just as vulnerable.' 

Now an established star and a mother to children Dora and Gwendolyn from her marriage to fellow actor Harry Peacock, Parkinson says the incident has made her overly-protective towards her family. 

'It's good with hindsight to acknowledge it, and to acknowledge the legacy of something like that, because what I have found is that I'm really neurotic when it comes to my daughters,' she explained. Lizzie Vereker

The actress is back on TV after reprising her popular role as Lizzie Vereker in the second series of Disney+ show Rivals. 

But its return has been overshadowed by the death of author Dame Jilly Cooper, whose bestselling 1988 novel inspired the show's first series. 

Speaking to Daily Mail at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, Parkinson said she hoped the second series will 'do Jilly justice.'

'It was a real shock,' she said of the author's sudden death. 'Obviously she was, whatever age she was, it was a real shock and everyone was really quite stunned by it.

'But I think that we just want the show to do her justice even more than before, and I think it will, and we've got 12 episodes, and I'm really excited for you all to see.' 

Episode four of the show was released on Friday, and showed Danny Dyer's character Freddie Jones indulge in a very passionate tryst with love interest Lizzie, played by Parkinson.

In the raunchy clip, both Danny and Katherine stripped nude to film a sex scene in a swimming pool, with Danny previously joking he was worried how he would look on screen because it was 'cold' during filming. 

, Rivals debuted on Disney+ in October 2024 and immediately became a huge hit.

The eight-episode first series ended in December 2024 and was soon renewed for a second outing.

Ahead of its release, Rivals series two received rave reviews from critics, who .