Doctor Who to introduce first transgender companion in new audio series

Tania will join Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor.

Doctor Who is introducing its first transgender companion with the upcoming Big Finish audio series Stranded.

Tania Bell will be played by Rebecca Root, who will be starring alongside Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, Torchwood's Tom Price, other Big Finish recurring stars such as Hattie Morahan and Nicola Walker, and Tom bloomin' Baker reprising his role as The Curator.

Rebecca has spoken to Nerdist about playing Tania, stating that her character is "a person like all the other people I have played and hope to play in the future.

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"She's not perfect, but she's not a mess, and certainly, I don't think her gender identity has any influence on her behaviour in the story."

Rebecca also spoke about what it would have meant for her to have seen a character like Tanya on Doctor Who while growing up.

"It would have been amazing to see a trans person in a show like Doctor Who. In fact, to see a trans person period would have been amazing," she said.

"But I [grew] up in the '70s and society was differently populated back then, and gender ID was not really 'a thing'."

Doctor Who first cast a trans actress in the series nine episode 'Sleep No More' with Bethany Black (who later did so well on The Chase that current Who companion Bradley Walsh thinks she could be a future Chaser), while series 10 saw the first openly gay companion in Bill Potts.

Pearl Mackie recently reprised the role of Bill for a new scene with Matt Lucas' Nardole, as part of a series of tweetalongs and bonus content keeping Whovians entertained in lockdown.

Doctor Who airs on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US, and will return for a festive special.