Born: 22nd April 1984 (as Michelle Claire Ryan)
Episodes Broadcast: 2009

Michelle Ryan was born in Enfield, London. Aged ten, she became interested in acting after watching a West End production of the musical Grease. Gaining experience with a local theatre company, Ryan made her television debut in 2000 with episodes of The Worst Witch and Burnside. Later that year, she joined the regular cast of EastEnders; by the time she left five years later, she had become a household name. Ryan went on to appear in programmes such as Agatha Christie's Marple and Jekyll from future Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. She also made her movie debut in 2006's Cashback, and followed it with I Want Candy in 2007. Then Hollywood beckoned, and Ryan took the lead role in a short-lived television remake of Bionic Woman.

Returning to the United Kingdom, Ryan appeared in several episodes of Merlin before co-starring as cat burglar Lady Christina de Souza opposite David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in 2009's Planet Of The Dead. The same year, she narrated the Tenth Doctor audiobook The Rising Night from BBC Audio. During the 2010s, Ryan took roles on television programmes like Covert Affairs and Death In Paradise. Amongst her movie appearances were 4.3.2.1. from former Doctor Who regular Noel Clarke, the horror spoof Cockneys Vs Zombies, and the science-fiction film Andròn: The Black Labyrinth. Ryan also took to the West End stage in a production of Cabaret. In 2018, she began reprising Lady Christina in Doctor Who audio plays from Big Finish Productions, initially in the Tenth Doctor adventure Last Chance.