Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire was born on 10 October 1964 in Oldham, Lancashire. Her father, Geoffrey Lancashire (1933–2004), was a television scriptwriter noted for his work on the soap opera "Coronation Street" and situation comedies such as "The Cuckoo Waltz". Her mother, Hilda, worked as Geoffrey's personal assistant. She has three brothers, one her elder, one younger and a twin. Lancashire was educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School between 1976 and 1981. At the age of 17, she started to suffer clinical depression.