On stage, Jones has appeared in productions of A Few Good Men (2005), Blithe Spirit (2009), Top Girls (2011), Beautiful Thing (2013), Orlando (2014), and Frozen (2018).

"[9] She became a member of the Oldham Theatre Workshop[10] and completed a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts, which she felt "[wasn't] quite the same as drama school".

[13] Jones's television career began in 1997, with a small role in Coronation Street in April 1997 as Mandy Phillips, a girlfriend of Chris Collins (Matthew Marsden).

Described as "a bulldog in hoop earrings"[9] and a "Victoria Beckham wannabe",[15] the role garnered Jones public attention, with episodes involving feuds between her and rival Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) receiving high viewing ratings.

[citation needed] Jones also began modelling for men's magazines such as FHM and Loaded, saying: "I was 21, and within three weeks of me joining Corrie I was in Barbados doing a bikini shoot [...] I was quite impressionable and I'd just say yes to everything because I wanted to keep my job.

Jones stated that upon her departure from Coronation Street, she received numerous offers to appear in reality TV programmes, which she declined, quipping: "lots of money to go off and eat a crocodile's knob, or whatever".

In the same year, she starred on the West End stage in A Few Good Men opposite Rob Lowe and John Barrowman, which earned her the Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress.

[20] On New Year's Day 2007, Jones starred in a Yorkshire- and London-based black comedy, Dead Clever with Helen Baxendale and Dean Lennox Kelly on ITV1.

In autumn 2007, Jones undertook a national tour in the stage run of the film Terms of Endearment, where she played Emma, opposite Linda Gray and John Bowe.

[25] Jones received favourable reviews for her portrayal, with Brian Viner of The Independent writing: "a stunning performance, the stuff of Bafta nominations if ever I saw it.

In December, Jones starred in the Manchester Royal Exchange's production of Blithe Spirit, by Noël Coward, which ran until late January 2010.

Later in the year, she starred as Sarah in Single Father on BBC1, a character who falls in love with a widower, Dave (David Tennant), who was married to her best friend before her death.

[citation needed] In July 2011, Jones starred as Marlene, a career woman living in Thatcher's Britain, in the Minerva Theatre's production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill in Chichester.

[34] In August 2011, it was announced that Jones would star alongside John Hannah in a spoof detective drama written by Charlie Brooker and Daniel Maier called A Touch of Cloth.

[38] In 2013, Jones starred as herself in Playhouse Presents: "Stage Door Johnnies", a comedy mockumentary about obsessive theatre fans airing on Sky Arts.

[39] Later that year, Jones played a young judge "battling to keep her head above water in the murky depths of the justice system" in Lawless, a television pilot, broadcast on Sky1 as part of its Drama Matters strand.

[42] In September 2015, Jones starred as the title character in the BBC One thriller Doctor Foster, as a GP whose life begins to unravel when she suspects her husband of infidelity.

[43] The programme earned widespread critical acclaim, with Radio Times noting that "a career-best Suranne Jones was unstoppably brilliant";[44] the magazine placed Doctor Foster second in a roundup of the Top 40 best television shows of 2015.

[53] Airing the following September, Jones played the role of Miss Pinkerton, the haughty former headmistress of protagonist Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke).

[55] From February to May 2018, Jones returned to the West End in a revival of Bryony Lavery's stage play Frozen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

[58] Jones missed the last four performances of the show's three-month run due to illness, citing the play's "deeply affecting" subject matter as a contributing factor.

Premiering in April 2019 in the US and a month later in the UK, James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote: "Jones's performance is a marvel, exuding vitality, charisma and sexual confidence.

[citation needed] On 5 August 2021, Jones appeared in the title role of "I Am Victoria", the first in a second series of one-off dramas created by BAFTA winner Dominic Savage, focussing on various women's issues, in this case, mental health challenges.

[69] Jones subsequently took the lead role of DCI Amy Silva in the six-episode BBC series Vigil, which aired weekly in the UK from 29 August 2021, and streamed all episodes on 23 December in the US.

The submarine thriller with an underlying lesbian love story drew an initial audience of 13.4 million viewers, becoming the BBC's most successful drama in years.

[70] In March 2022, the first project from TeamAkers, the production company formed by Jones and her husband Laurence Akers, was announced as Maryland, a three-part drama set on the Isle of Man.

Jones also has worked with Christian Aid, travelling to Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo to help with projects concerning HIV, women's rights and child soldiers.