Orphan 55

The future of humanity

One episode (Orphan 55)
First broadcast: Jan 12 2020
Audience for story: 5.38m

REGULAR CAST

Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor) Born Jun 17 1982 Click here for Jodie Whittaker's entry on Twice Upon a Time

Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) Born Jan 5 1988 Click here for Mandip Gill's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair) Born Jul 23 1992 Click here for Tosin Cole's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brien) Born Jun 4 1960 Click here for Bradley Walsh's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

GUEST CAST

Will Austin (Vorm) Born Nov 28 19??
Career highlights
Will debuted in 24: Live Another Day (2014), followed by roles in Down Dog (2014), Babylon (2014), Doctors (2016), The Coroner (2016), Casualty (2017), Justice League (2017/21), The Windsors (2020), The Batman (2022) and EastEnders (2022).

Amy Booth-Steel (Hyph3n)
Career highlights
Amy made her screen breakthrough as one of the potential candidates to play Nancy in the talent search show I'd Do Anything in 2008, after which she appeared in M.I High (2008), Hustle (2011), Kill Keith (2011), Doctors (2016), The Windsors (2017), Coronation Street (2018), Zomboat! (2019), Buffering (2021), Stath Lets Flats (2021), Call the Midwife (2021) and The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk (2022).

Facts

In 2014, Amy was diagnosed with stage three cancer and told she could be "dead by Christmas". However, in 2019 she staged a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe, directed by Kathy Burke, chronicling her story, and battle with mental and physical health.

James Buckley (Nevi) Born Aug 14 1987
Career highlights
James is best known as Jay Cartwright in the sitcom The Inbetweeners, which ran for 18 episodes between 2008-10, as well as having two spin-off movies in 2011 and 2014. His debut came in 'Orrible (2001), followed by Teachers (2004), Skins (2007), Off the Hook (2009), Rock & Chips (2010-11), Charlie Countryman (2013), The Boy in the Dress (2014), Red Dwarf (2017), Zapped (2016-18), I Feel Bad (2018) and White Gold (2017-19).
Facts
James appeared in a TV ad for Hellman's in 2004 (aged 17), and indulged his musical side by appearing in the video for State of Emotion's The Unsung (2010), and playing guitar and providing backing vocals on Steve Cradock's 2011 album Peace City West.

Col Farrell (Benni) Born Dec 6 1938
Career highlights
Debuted in Five More (1966), followed by Mr John Jorrocks (1966), The Gamblers (1967), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), The Doctors (1970-71), The Fenn Street Gang (1971), Crown Court (1973), Dixon of Dock Green (1974), The Land That Time Forgot (1974), Porridge (1975), Trinity Tales (1975), Hadleigh (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Blake's 7 (1979), Gandhi (1982), Henry's Leg (1986), Lytton's Diary (1986), The Wars of the Roses (1990-91), Boon (1992), Lovejoy (1993), Seaforth (1994), I'm Alan Partridge (1997), Midsomer Murders (1998), A Touch of Frost (2001), Last of the Summer Wine (2006), New Tricks (2011), Top Boy (2019), Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019), After Life (2022) and Avoidance (2022). Col also regularly played Ernie Hadfield in the sitcom In Loving Memory (1979-86).
Facts
Col's wife is fellow actor Ann Penfold. Their daughter Maddie sadly died in a car accident, but their son Tom has become a stage manager.

Julia Foster (Vilma) Born Aug 2 1943
Career highlights
Julia made a name for herself playing student nurse Anne Carson in Emergency Ward 10 (1960-61), followed by parts in Your World (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963), Taxi! (1963), The Bargee (1964), Two Left Feet (1965), Alfie (1966), Major Barbara (1966), Half a Sixpence (1967), The Sex Game (1968), Percy (1971), Good Girl (1974), Moll Flanders (1975), Ghosts (1977), Wilde Alliance (1978), The Cabbage Patch (1983), Late Starter (1985), News at Twelve (1988), Virtual Murder (1992), Flick (2008), Dad's Army (2016) and Holby City (2001/19).
Facts
Julia's first husband was Lionel Morton, presenter on children's shows such as Play Away and Play School, and a member of the 1960s band The Four Pennies. Her second husband is celebrity vet Bruce Fogle, with whom she has two children (one of which is TV presenter/ adventurer Ben Fogle). The 15-year gap in her screen CV is down to the fact Julia ran an antique furniture shop, specialising in 18th and 19th century Scandinavian painted furniture. Julia may also be remembered for her appearance with director Michael Winner in a TV ad for Esure in 2003 ("Calm down, dear!"). In 2017, Julia almost died after an epidural went wrong and all of her organs began to fail. She was given a tracheotomy to save her life, and spent the next five months in hospital recovering, having to relearn how to walk and speak.

Laura Fraser (Kane) Born Jul 24 1975
Career highlights
Debuted in the short Good Day for the Bad Guys in 1995, after which she appeared in Taggart (1996), Small Faces (1996), Neverwhere (1996), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Cousin Bette (1998), The Tribe (1998), Virtual Sexuality (1999), Titus (1999), Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Vanilla Sky (2001), He Knew He Was Right (2004), Conviction (2004), Casanova (2005), Talk to Me (2007), Cuckoo (2009), Single Father (2010), Lip Service (2010-12), Black Box (2014), Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2015), Houdini and Doyle (2016), The Missing (2016), The Loch (2017), Dark Encounter (2019), The Pact (2021) and Traces (2019-22). Laura also played Lydia Rodarte-Quayle in Breaking Bad (2012-13) and its spin-off Better Call Saul (2017-20).
Awards
2017: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Television Actress (The Missing)
Facts
Laura is married to fellow actor Karl Geary, who appeared in Madonna's controversial book Sex in 1992.

Lewin Lloyd (Sylas) Born Dec 18 2006
Career highlights
Lewin debuted in Taboo (2017), then took parts in Fortitude (2017), The Alienist (2018), The Aeronauts (2019), Judy (2019), His Dark Materials (2019-20) and Pinocchio (2022).

Gia Re (Bella) Born Jan 12 1994
Career highlights
Gia's other appearances include Spirit Warriors (2009), Jinx! (2009), Rocket's Island (2012-15), Which is Witch (2014), The Sparticle Mystery (2015) and Bring It On: Worldwide Showdown (2017).
Facts
Gia has also been credited as Gia Lodge-O'Meally.

Spencer Wilding (Lead Dreg) Born Jul 26 1972
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Creature (minotaur) in The God Complex (2011)
Played: Wooden King in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)
Played: Skaldak in Cold War (2013)

Played: Quill Goddess in Class: The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did (2016)
Played: Lead Dreg in Orphan 55 (2020)
Career highlights
At two metres (6ft 7in) high, Spencer specialises in playing creatures and supernatural beings. He started out playing a werewolf in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), after which he appeared in The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Batman Begins (2005), Eragon (2006), Stardust (2007), The Golden Compass (2007), The Wolfman (2010), Game of Thrones (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Atlantis (2013), The Legend of Hercules (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Jupiter Ascending (2015), Pan (2015), Victor Frankenstein (2015), Men in Black International (2019) and Hobbs & Shaw (2019). He also played Darth Vader in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).
Facts
Spencer is on Twitter. He was once crowned British/ Welsh kickboxing champion. To see a photo of 6ft 7in Spencer with 7ft actor Phill Martin and 3ft 8in Jimmy Vee (also a Doctor Who alumni), click here.

CREW

Ed Hime (writer) Born 1980
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: It Takes You Away (2018), Orphan 55 (2020)
Career highlights
Ed's TV writing has included scripts for Skins (2010-11), The Watch (2021), Lockwood & Co (2022), and he has also written for radio and the stage.

Facts

In 2019, Ed was twice arrested as part of the Extinction Rebellion campaign group's activities, charged with public order offences and obstruction of the highway. He was found guilty. You can read about his experience here.

Lee Haven Jones (director) Born Jun 10 1976
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Spyfall Part Two (2020), Orphan 55 (2020), Revolution of the Daleks (2021)
Career highlights
Lee started out as an actor, having worked on Love in a Cold Climate (2001) and the short film Perfect Day (2010), making his name on Welsh language TV playing Emyr Tomos in 45 episodes of Caerdydd (2006-10) and Gwaith/ Cartref (2011). Lee then moved behind the cameras to direct, starting with Caerdydd (2010), then soap Pobol y Cwm (2012), The Indian Doctor (2012-13), Wizards vs Aliens (2014), Waterloo Road (2015), Casualty (2013-16), Vera (2017-18), Shetland (2018), The Bay (2019), The Long Call (2021) and Wolf (2022). He has also produced, including Tir (2013-15), Want It (2015) and Bang (2017-20).
Awards
2013: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Director: Fiction (The Indian Doctor)
2016: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Director: Fiction (35 Diwrnod)
Facts
Here is Lee on Twitter.

Spyfall

The TARDIS "fam" dolled
up to the nines

Two episodes (Part One, Part Two)
First broadcast: Jan 1-5 2020
Audience for story: 6.48m

REGULAR CAST

Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor) Born Jun 17 1982 Click here for Jodie Whittaker's entry on Twice Upon a Time

Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) Born Jan 5 1988 Click here for Mandip Gill's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair) Born Jul 23 1992 Click here for Tosin Cole's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brien) Born Jun 4 1960 Click here for Bradley Walsh's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

GUEST CAST

Tom Ashley (Airport worker)
Career highlights

Debuted in New Tricks (2014), then Black Mirror (2016), Darkest Hour (2017), Robin Hood: The Rebellion (2018), Summer of Rockets (2019), Bruno (2019), Downton Abbey (2019), Breeders (2020), Spy City (2020), Pennyworth (2021), Gentleman Jack (2022), Emmerdale (2022) and The Devil's Hour (2023).

Andrew Bone (Mr Collins)
Career highlights
Andrew debuted in Just Us (1986), then made appearances in Butterfly Collectors (1999), The Vice (2001), Doctors (2002), Coronation Street (2011), Great Expectations (2011), The Hour (2012), Holby City (2013), The Royals (2015), The Crown (2016), Sherlock (2017), Harlots (2017), EastEnders (2017), Catherine the Great (2019) and Sex Education (2021). He is also a director, having helmed the short film Mr London (2012).

Sylvie Briggs (Ada Lovelace)
Career highlights
Sylvie's career began in 2018 with the shorts Seize the Day and Kingdom. She also played Ellie Marsden in Cold Feet (2019-20) and Clara Stowe in The Nevers (2021).

Sacharissa Claxton (Passenger/ Intelligence agent) Born 1988
Career highlights
Sacharissa debuted in the short film Donkey (2013), followed by ALL of Me (2017), Hound (2017), Joe All Alone (2018), EastEnders (2018), Doctors (2019), Corner Shop Show (2019), Avenue 5 (2020), The Irregulars (2021) and The Sandman (2022).

Melissa De Vries (Sniper)
Career highlights
Other work includes A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits (2016), Bring It On: Worldwide (2017) and Recipes for Love and Murder (2022). She also played Sasha Daniels in more than 200 episodes of South African drama Arendsvlei (2021).
Facts
South African Melissa is also a dancer and hip-hop MC.

Mark Dexter (Charles Babbage) Born Apr 21 1973
Doctor Who credits
Played: Dad in Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead (2008)
Played: Charles Babbage in Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Mark debuted in the children's show Your Mother Wouldn't Like It (1987-88), aged 14, then found roles in Dramarama: Peter (1987), Palace Hill (1988-91), Phoenix Hall (1990), An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1998), The Cazalets (2001), From Hell (2001), Spooks (2002), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Heartbeat (2004), Mile High (2004), Space Race (2005), I Shouldn't Be Alive (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2008), Moving Wallpaper (2009), Coronation Street (2010), Red Dwarf (2012), Ripper Street (2012/16), Mr Selfridge (2013), The Assets (2014), 24: Live Another Day (2014), Coalition (2015, playing UK Prime Minister David Cameron), The Exception (2016), Flack (2019), The Crown (2019), The Midwich Cuckoos (2022) and Industry (2020-22). Recurring roles include Matt Hinckley in The Bill (2006-07), Samuel Tuffley in Crusoe (2008-09) and Timothy Gray in The Bletchley Circle (2012/14).
Facts
Mark is a craft beer aficionado and blogs about it here. Here's Mark on Twitter.

Sacha Dhawan (The Master) Born May 1 1984
Doctor Who credits
Played: Waris Hussein in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
Played: The Master in Spyfall (2020), Ascension of the Cybermen/ The Timeless Children (2020), The Power of the Doctor (2022)
Career highlights
Sacha's earliest credit was in 1998's City Central, at the age of 14, followed by roles in The Last Train (1999), EastEnders: Perfectly Frank (2003), The History Boys (2006), Bradford Riots (2006), Wired (2008), Paradox (2009), Five Days (2010), The Deep (2010), Splintered (2010), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012), Being Human (2012), Last Tango in Halifax (2012), After Earth (2013), The Tractate Middoth (2013), Line of Duty (2014), In the Flesh (2014), 24: Live Another Day (2014), Utopia (2014), The Lady in the Van (2015), Mr Selfridge (2016), Sherlock (2017), The Boy with the Topknot (2017), Dracula (2020), Suspect (2022) and Wolf (2022). Regular roles include Ali Patanjali in Out of Sight (1997-98), Azmat Madari in Weirdsister College (2001-02), Manmeet in Outsourced (2010-11), Dev in In the Club (2014-16), Davos in Iron Fist (2017-18) and Orlo in The Great (2020-21). He also provided the voice of Eddie in 38 episodes of children's series Chuggington (2008-09).
Awards
2007: Royal Television Society Breakthrough Award (Bradford Riots)

Facts

Sacha's partner is actor Anjli Mohindra, best known to Doctor Who fans as Rani Chandra in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Sacha suffers from Crohn's disease.

William Ely (Older passenger)
Career highlights
William's debut came in The Bill (1994), then Casualty (1995), The Knock (1996), Bob Martin (2000), Judge John Deed (2002), EastEnders (2003), My Family (2006), Stockwell (2009), Unforgotten (2017) and Hatton Garden (2019).
Facts
William was once married to actor Stirling Gallacher (they have a son named Ulysses).

Stephen Fry (C) Born Aug 24 1957
Doctor Who credits
Played: The Minister of Chance in Death Comes to Time (2001-02, animation)
Played: C in Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Stephen is one of the UK's best loved and most admired comedians and polymaths, having emerged from the Cambridge Footlights revue scene in the late 1970s. His first screen work was as an uncredited singer in Chariots of Fire (1982), after which he appeared in The Young Ones (1984), Alfresco (1983-84), Happy Families (1985), The Good Father (1985), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), This is David Lander (1988), The New Statesman (1989), Peter's Friends (1992), Stalag Luft (1993), IQ (1994), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), The Steal (1995), Wilde (1997), Spice World: The Movie (1997), The Tichborne Claimant (1998), The Magician's House (1999-2000), Longitude (2000), Gormenghast (2000), Baddiel's Syndrome (2001), Gosford Park (2001), Thunderpants (2002), Bright Young Things (2003, which he also wrote and directed), Mirrormask (2005), Dirty Tricks (2005), V for Vendetta (2005), Adolf Eichmann (2007), St Trinian's (2007), House of Boys (2009), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), The Borrowers (2011), The Look of Love (2013), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), 24: Live Another Day (2014), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), Yonderland (2016), Veep (2017), Tomorrow (2018), Sex Education (2020), It's a Sin (2021), The Dropout (2022) and The Sandman (2022). He also had regular roles in the Blackadder sitcom franchise (1986-2008), Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster (1990-93), Charles Prentiss in Absolute Power (2003-05), the narrator in 60 episodes of children's series Let's Go, Pocoyo (2005-07), Peter Kingdom in 18 episodes of Kingdom (2007-09), Dr Gordon Wyatt in Bones (2007-17), Roland in The Great Indoors (2016-17), and the voice of Colonel K in the cartoon series Danger Mouse (2015-19). He also co-starred in his own sketch series with Hugh Laurie, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, between 1987-95. He also wrote for Not the Nine o'Clock News (1979), Pushing Up Daisies (1984), Hysteria! (1988-89), A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Fire Island (1999) and The Settlement (2011). Stephen has also appeared as himself in a plethora of comedy shows, most notably on Countdown (1998-2001), Stephen Fry in America (2008), Last Chance to See (2009-10), and 187 episodes as host of quiz show Q.I (2003-16). He has also been host on many awards ceremonies.
Awards
2007: British Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement
2010: National Television Award Special Recognition

2025: Knight Bachelor for services to mental health awareness and the environment
Facts
Stephen claims to be related to the Fry's chocolate family, as well as the 17th century MP John Fry, who signed King Charles I's death warrant, and the cricketer C.B Fry. In the 1970s, Stephen spent three months in Pucklechurch Prison on remand after inadvertently stealing a friend's credit card. Stephen has also written his own novels, starting with 1991's The Liar and also including 1994's The Hippopotamus, 1996's Making History, and The Stars' Tennis Balls (2000). Between 2010-16 he was on the board of directors of Norwich City FC, and was the last ever person to be named Pipe Smoker of the Year in 2003, before the "honour" was abolished (previous incumbents include Harold Wilson, Peter Cushing, Patrick Moore and Rod Hull). In 2017, the bird louse Saepocephalum stephenfryii was named after him. Stephen was the best man at his best friend Hugh Laurie's wedding, and is godfather to all three of his children, and was also best man at Rowan Atkinson's wedding. He can name Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles and the late actor Sir John Mills as friends. He has spoken openly that he suffers with bipolar disorder, and is a supporter of mental health charities, particularly following his very public nervous breakdown in 1995 when he abandoned his nightly role in a play called Cell Mates and "disappeared" to Belgium. He has also admitted to attempting suicide several times. Stephen says he also suffers from prosopagnosia (face blindness). In 2018, he had an operation to remove his prostate following a cancer diagnosis. In 2022, he became the new president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Ravin J Ganatra (Hakim Khan)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Neil in Torchwood: Greeks Bearing Gifts (2006)
Played: Mahajan in Torchwood: Golden Age (2009, radio play)
Played: Hakim Khan in Arachnids in the UK (2018), Demons of the Punjab (2018), Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Ravin made his debut in No Worries (1993), then Casualty (1996), Prime Suspect 5 (1996), The Brittas Empire (1997), Holding On (1997), Dalziel and Pascoe (2001), Nighty Night (2004), The Fugitives (2005), EastEnders (2006), Britz (2007), Dappers (2010), Rev (2010), Hollyoaks (2012), Count Arthur Strong (2013), In the Club (2014/16), The Boy with the Topknot (2017), Seven and Me (2018-19), Cheat (2018), Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019), War of the Worlds (2019) and The Canterville Ghost (2021).
Facts
Ravin also runs his own theatre company, Guruji Productions. Here's Ravin on Twitter.

Shobna Gulati (Najia Khan) Born Aug 7 1966
Doctor Who credits
Played: Najia Khan in Arachnids in the UK (2018), Demons of the Punjab (2018), Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Shobna rose to prominence in her debut screen role as Anita in the Victoria Wood sitcom Dinnerladies (1998-2000), then secured roles in EastEnders (2000), New Street Law (2006), Where the Heart Is (2006), Magnolia (2006), Coming Up (2008), Junkhearts (2011), The Slammer (2013), In the Club (2014), Paranoid (2016), Finding Fatimah (2017), River City (2017-18), Hold the Sunset (2018), On the Edge (2020), Adulting (2020), Murder, They Hope (2021) and Hullraisers (2022). She will be best remembered for playing Sunita Alahan in 671 episodes of the soap Coronation Street between 2001-13.

Awards

2024: Member of the order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the cultural industries

Facts
Shobna performed as a dancer in the music video for Boy George's 1991 single Bow Down Mister. She also mimicked Diana Ross on an edition of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes (2003). Here she in on Twitter.

Lenny Henry (Daniel Barton) Born Aug 29 1958
Career highlights
Lenny's showbiz career began after he won talent show New Faces in 1975 (with an impression of Stevie Wonder), and then became a presenter on children's show Tiswas (1978-81). His further acting work includes The Young Ones (1984), Coast to Coast (1987), The Suicide Club (1988), True Identity (1991), Bernard and the Genie (1991), The Man (1999), Goodbye, Mr Steadman (2001), Mirrormask (2005), Penelope (2006), The Syndicate (2015), Danny and the Human Zoo (2015), Broadchurch (2017), The Long Song (2018), Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle (2019), My Name is Leon (2022), The Lord of the Rins: The Rings of Power (2022) and The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022). Regular roles include Sonny Foster in The Fosters (1976-77), Gareth in sitcom Chef! (1993-96) and Ian George in Hope and Glory (1999-2000), while he has also provided voices for children's series Big and Small (2008-11) and Tinga Tinga Tales (2011-12). Lenny is also well remembered for his various comedy sketch shows, including Lenny Henry Tonite (1986), The Lenny Henry Show (1987-88), Lenny Goes to Town (1998) and Lenny Henry In Pieces (2003). Lenny has also written for television, including The Black and White Minstrel Show (1975), Three of a Kind (1981-82) and Danny and the Human Zoo (2015). He was also series deviser of Chef! and Neverwhere (1996).
Awards
1999: Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama and charity
2003: British Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance
2015: Knight Bachelor of the order of the British Empire for services to drama and charity
Facts
Lenny was married to comedy actor Dawn French between 1984-2010, while his brother Paul Henry has also written for television, notably for the sketch show The Real McCoy. Along with one-time Doctor Who writer Richard Curtis, Lenny co-founded the charity Comic Relief in 1985. In 2015, he produced an album with King Crimson entitled New Millennium Blues, and back in 1993 provided backing vocals on Kate Bush's album The Red Shoes.

Kenneth Jay (Perkins)
Career highlights

Debuted in The Bill (1992), followed by roles in Emmerdale (1998), Hotel! (2001), Hiroshima (2005), The Other Wife (2012), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) and What? (2022).

Asif Khan (Ramesh Sunder)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Sgt Ramesh Sunder in The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018), Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Asif's other credits include Dalziel and Pascoe (2006), Bradford Riots (2006), Going Postal (2010), Spooks (2011), The Dumping Ground (2014) and Man Down (2016).
Facts
Asif has his own theatre company called AIK Productions. Here he is on Twitter.

Brian Law (US operative) Born Jan 27 1989
Career highlights
Canadian Brian made his screen debut in the 2015 short What Could Go Wrong?, followed by roles in More Strange Than True (2016), Classified Freaks (2017/20), White Dragon (2018), Electric Angel (2018), The Santa Suicides (2018-19), Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) and Suspicion (2022).
Facts
His sister is Beverly Law, who has worked in the wardrobe department on productions such as Hemlock Grove, Pose and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Dominique Maher (Browning)
Career highlights
Dominique debuted in Zenon: Z3 (2004), followed by parts in American Monster (2018), The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019), The Devil Speaks (2018-19), Vagrant Queen (2020) and The Ground Under (2021).

Aurora Marion (Noor Inayat Khan) Born Dec 22 1985
Career highlights
Born in Belgium, Aurora's screen career began with Almayer's Folly (2011), followed by Belgian Disaster (2015), Fallow (2015), The Airport (2016), A Wedding (2016), Success Story (2017), Parlement (2020), Professor T (2021) and Missions (2021).
Facts
Aurora can speak nine different languages: ancient and modern Greek, English, Flemish, French, German, Spanish, Swahili and Urdu!

Christopher McArthur (Ethan)
Career highlights
Other work includes Bluestone 42 (2014), Black Sails (2015) and Tutankhamun (2016).

Darron Meyer (Seesay) Born Jul 19 1977
Career highlights
South African Darron debuted in The Deal (2008), followed by Hitchhiker (2008), Generation Kill (2008), The Sinking of the Laconia (2011), Outcasts (2011), Strike Back (2012), Alien Outpost (2014), Black Sails (2016), The Indian Detective (2017), Deep State (2019), Black Beauty (2020), Razor's Edge (2021) and Revelation Road (2023).
Facts
Darron won an Angel Film Award at the 2009 Monaco International Film Festival for Best Feature Film Script for Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer. Before becoming an actor he was a competitive gymnast for 11 years, and then became a coach and judge in the sport. His brother, Tyrel Meyer, also acts.

Bhavnisha Parmar (Sonya Khan) Born 1986
Doctor Who credits
Played: Sonya Khan in Arachnids in the UK (2018), Demons of the Punjab (2018), Spyfall (2020), Can You Hear Me? (2020), Flux (2021)
Career highlights
Other work includes Penguin (2011), Darren Has a Breakdown (2014) and Guilty Pleasures (2016).

Andrew Piper (Inventor) Born Aug 19 1973
Career highlights
Andrew debuted in Great Escape: The Untold Story (2001), then Don't Leave Me (2004), Please Kill Me (2006), Gabriel Ernest (2007), Detectorists (2014), Elton John: Ten Days That Rocked (2019), The Crown (2020) and EastEnders (2022).

Struan Rodger (Voice of the Kasaavin) Born Sep 18 1946
Doctor Who credits
Played: Voice of the Face of Boe in New Earth (2006), Gridlock (2007)
Played: Clayton in The Woman Who Lived (2015)
Played: Voice of the Kasaavin in Spyfall (2020)
Career highlights
Struan's CV stretches right back to Hobson's Choice in 1967, after which he appeared in The Regiment (1972), Look and Read: Joe and the Sheep Rustlers (1973), Warship (1974), Les Miserables (1978), Return of the Saint (1979), Chariots of Fire (1981), Boys from the Blackstuff (1984), Cover Her face (1985), The Detective (1985), Edge of Darkness (1985), Yesterday's Dreams (1987), Imaginary Friends (1987), Game, Set and Match (1988), Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990), Afraid of the Dark (1991), Spender (1993), Prime Suspect 3 (1993), Chandler and Co (1994), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), The Madness of King George (1994), Richard II (1997), Young Adam (2003), Sea of Souls (2004), Stardust (2007), Moses Jones (2009), The Thick of It (2009), Kill List (2011), Endeavour (2014), Prey (2014), Grantchester (2014), Game of Thrones (2014-15, as the voice of the Three-Eyed Raven), The Enfield Haunting (2015), Shetland (2016), Vera (2017), Save Me (2018), Age Before Beauty (2018), The World We Knew (2020) and A Discovery of Witches (2021).

Ronan Summers (Rendition man) Born Feb 12 19??
Career highlights
As a physical actor, Ronan has worked on Caerdydd (2006), Locked Up Abroad (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Dubplate Drama (2009), Episodes (2012), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Suspicion (2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), The Dare (2019), Vikings (2020) and The Eight (2022). He has also worked extensively as a voice artist on video games such as League of Legends (2009), Dead in Tombstone (2013), Steep (2016), Star Wars Battlefront II (2017), Hitman 2 (2018) and Battlefield 2042 (2021), and has also narrated the series Welcome to Murdertown (2018), Til Death Do Us Part (2019) and Engineering Catastrophes (2018-21), among others. Ronan has also worked in performance capture on various video games, and in 2012, wrote, directed, narrated and produced the short film Blue Collar Britain.

Buom Tihngang (Tibo)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Tibo in Spyfall (2020), Can You Hear Me? (2020)
Career highlights
Buom's further work includes Diana and I (2017), World on Fire (2019), Endeavour (2020), Death in Paradise (2021) and Caribbean Summer (2022).

Blanche Williams (Barton's mother)
Career highlights
Blanche made her credited debut in Oh Happy Day (2007), followed by roles in Sensitive Skin (2007), Dubplate Drama (2007), Streetdance 3D (2010) and Coffee (2019). She also regularly played Precious in the sitcom Derek (2013-14).

CREW

Chris Chibnall (writer) Born Mar 21 1970 Click here for Chris Chibnall's entry on 42

Jamie Magnus Stone (director, part 1) Born Dec 15 1985
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Clara and the TARDIS (2013, uncredited), Spyfall Part One (2020), Praxeus (2020), Ascension of the Cybermen/ The Timeless Children (2020), Flux chapters 1, 2 & 4 (2021), Centenary special (2022)
Career highlights
Jamie's credited career began in 2006 as writer, producer and director of the short film Fritz, after which he worked in similar capacities on other shorts such as Two Dreams (2007), Astronaut (2009), Skyborn (2012) and the BAFTA-nominated Orbit Ever After (2013). He also worked as editor on documentaries such as Scotland's Brand New Bank (2009) and Old MacDonald's Farm (2012). His directing work includes The World According To (2008), The Village (2014), Tripped (2015), X Company (2015-16), The Last Dragonslayer (2016) and Queens of Mystery (2019).
Awards
2008: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Animation (The World According To) - shared with Anders Jedenfors
Facts
Jamie is the son of broadcaster Sally Magnusson (best known for Songs of Praise) and director/ producer Norman Stone, the grandson of Magnus Magnusson, quizmaster on Mastermind between 1972-97, and the nephew of Jon Magnusson, a TV producer who works often with Graham Norton.

Lee Haven Jones (director, part 2) Born Jun 10 1976
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Spyfall Part Two (2020), Orphan 55 (2020), Revolution of the Daleks (2021)
Career highlights
Lee started out as an actor, having worked on Love in a Cold Climate (2001) and the short film Perfect Day (2010), making his name on Welsh language TV playing Emyr Tomos in 45 episodes of Caerdydd (2006-10) and Gwaith/ Cartref (2011). Lee then moved behind the cameras to direct, starting with Caerdydd (2010), then soap Pobol y Cwm (2012), The Indian Doctor (2012-13), Wizards vs Aliens (2014), Waterloo Road (2015), Casualty (2013-16), Vera (2017-18), Shetland (2018), The Bay (2019), The Long Call (2021) and Wolf (2022). He has also produced, including Tir (2013-15), Want It (2015) and Bang (2017-20).
Awards
2013: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Director: Fiction (The Indian Doctor)
2016: BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Director: Fiction (35 Diwrnod)
Facts
Here is Lee on Twitter.

Resolution

The Doctor brings us all together

One episode (Resolution)

First broadcast: Jan 1 2019
Audience for story: 7.13m

REGULAR CAST

Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor) Born Jun 17 1982 Click here for Jodie Whittaker's entry on Twice Upon a Time

Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) Born Jan 5 1988 Click here for Mandip Gill's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair) Born Jul 23 1992 Click here for Tosin Cole's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brien) Born Jun 4 1960 Click here for Bradley Walsh's entry on The Woman Who Fell to Earth

GUEST CAST

Daniel Adegboyega (Aaron) Born Jul 21 1979
Doctor Who credits
Played: Guard in Torchwood: Miracle Day - The Categories of Life (2011)
Played: Aaron in Resolution (2019)
Career highlights
Nigerian Daniel's screen debut came in 2008's Broken Lines, followed by parts in Spooks (2010), Skyfall (2012), Atlantis (2013), Episodes (2014), The Interceptor (2015), Casualty (2017), Father Brown (2017), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Man Down (2015-17), Save Me (2018), The Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018), Nightflyers (2018), Sex Education (2019), Big Boys Don't Cry (2020), Tom and Jerry: The Movie (2021) and Grace (2022).
Facts
Daniel runs his own personal fitness company. His Twitter handle is @Daniel Adeg.

Michael Ballard (Sergeant)
Career highlights
Other work includes The Bill (2008), Merlin (2009), Law and Order UK (2010), Common People (2013), Dirtymoney (2013), Jekyll and Hyde (2015), The Musketeers (2016), The Death of Stalin (2017), Motherland (2019), Bloods (2022) and EastEnders (2017/22).
Facts
Here's Michael on Twitter.

Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Dalek) Born Sep 29 1961 Click here for Nicholas Briggs' entry on Rose

Connor Calland (Security guard Richard) Born Jan 28 1997
Career highlights
Connor's further work includes Doctors (2019), We Hunt Together (2020), Flatmates (2021), Last Night in Soho (2021) and Stay Close (2021). He also played Jordan Price in 62 episodes of soap Hollyoaks (2019-20).

Darryl Clark (Police officer Will) Born 1975
Career highlights
Debuted in Tres estrelles (1989), followed by Seeyou at Night (1990-91), The Cops (1998), Where the Heart Is (1999), Clocking Off (2000), Holby City (2003), The Royal (2006), Emmerdale (2008), Spooks: Code 9 (2008), Coronation Street (2009), Shameless (2011), DCI Banks (2014), several episodes of Doctors (2004/11/14/18), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Father Brown (2018) and Murder in the Car Park (2020).

Sophie Duval (Mum) Born 1971
Career highlights
Further work includes Topsy-Turvy (1999), Dickens (2002), Ashes to Ashes (2009), Holby City (2012), Don't Take My Baby (2015), The Coroner (2015), EastEnders (2016), Chewing Gum (2017), Father Brown (2018), Emmerdale (2018), Call the Midwife (2020), Sliced (2021) and The Richie Doctor (2021).

Laura Evelyn (Call centre Polly) Born 1983
Career highlights
Laura debuted in the short film Scratch (2008), followed by work in Popular Unrest (2010), Wilby Park (2011), Doctors (2015), Denial (2016), Lovesick (2018), Silent Witness (2018), Black Mirror (2018), Good Omens (2019), Last Christmas (2019), Starstruck (2021) and Agatha Raisin (2022). She also wrote two short films, Parents Evening (2015) and Frolic (2019).
Facts
Here's Laura on Twitter.

James Lewis (Farmer Dinkle) Born 1983
Career highlights

James debuted in Straight 8 (2004), followed by Heartbeat (2005), Sugartown (2011), The Mill (2014), Emmerdale (2019), Pennyworth (2019), Hollyoaks (2019) and Gentleman Jack (2022).

Callum McDonald (Teen)
Career highlights
Child actor Callum also played Augustus Gloop in Sam Mendes's stage version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2016-17.

Nikesh Patel (Mitch) Born Oct 17 1985
Career highlights
Nikesh's first role was as Dan in the series Bedlam (2012), followed by roles in Jadoo (2013), Midsomer Murders (2013), Law and Order UK (2014), Honour (2014), London Has Fallen (2016), Halal Daddy (2017), Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019), Man Like Mobeen (2020), Artemis Fowl (2020), The Mezzotint (2021) and Starstruck (2021-22). He also played Aafrin Dalal in 19 episodes of Indian Summers (2015-16).

Facts
Here he is on Twitter.

Charlotte Ritchie (Lin) Born Aug 29 1989
Career highlights
Charlotte debuted in the 2004 short film The Open Doors before appearing as an uncredited student in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). She then secured roles in Life of Riley (2009), Death in Paradise (2011), Doctors (2012), Raised by Wolves (2016), You (2018), Stath Lets Flats (2019), Dead Pixels (2019-21), Feel Good (2020-21) and Grantchester (2022). She has also enjoyed regular roles as Hannah in Siblings (2014-16) and Oregon in Fresh Meat (2011-16), but will be best recognised as Nurse Barbara Hereward (nee Gilbert) in Call the Midwife (2015-18) and Alison Cooper in sitcom Ghosts (2019-22). Charlotte has also appeared as herself on various shows, such as 8 Out of 10 Cats (2014), Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2016), The Last Leg (2017) and Taskmaster (2021).
Facts
Charlotte was also a member of the classical/ close harmony band All Angels, which released three albums, performed the National Anthem at Twickenham and Wembley, and supported Katherine Jenkins (guest star of A Christmas Carol) on tour. Her brother is singer/ songwriter Luke Ritchie, and her sister journalist Alice Ritchie. Here she is on Twitter.

Harry Vallance (Teen) Born 2005
Career highlights
Child actor Harry played Mike Teavee in Sam Mendes's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and also appeared in the West End's School of Rock. He also appeared in the Hetty Feather 2019 Christmas special.
Facts
His mum is lifestyle and travel journalist Donna Vallance.

CREW

Chris Chibnall (writer) Born Mar 21 1970 Click here for Chris Chibnall's entry on 42

Wayne Yip (director) Born 1981
Doctor Who credits
Directed: Class: Detained (2016), Class: The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did (2016), The Lie of the Land (2017), Empress of Mars (2017), Resolution (2019)
Career highlights
Wayne (sometimes credited as Wayne Che Yip) did his first work as a director on the 2008 short Samantha, followed by Coming Up (2010), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2011), Utopia (2013), Misfits (2011-13), Tatau (2015), Salem (2016), Imposters (2017), Preacher (2017-18), Into the Badlands (2019), Doom Patrol (2019), Treadstone (2019), The Wheel of Time (2021) and The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power (2022). Wayne has also worked as a producer on series such as Tatau and The Lord of the Rings.
Facts
Wayne has also co-directed a number of music videos, including Groove Armada's Drop the Tough (2009).