Rachel Smith held a recurring role as nurse Alison Rathbone in Coronation Street, as well as other acting credits which include September Song, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Where the Heart Is, EastEnders, Doctors and The Royal. She gave up acting to become a TV writer for series such as Doctors, as well as Casualty, Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators, Father Brown and The Dumping Ground.