Arabella Weir

Arabella Weir (born 6th December 1957 in San Francisco, California) played an alternative, alcohol-addled female version of The Doctor in "Exile," part of the Doctor Who Unbound series of audio adventures produced by Big Finish Productions. Along with Joanna Lumley, she is one of only two women to play the Doctor in a BBC-licensed production, and Weir is to date the only American-born actor of either sex to portray the character (although she is not herself considered an American).

It has also been announced that she will star in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special.

The daughter of former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir, she is a famous for her role in The Fast Show and a number of books including Does My Bum Look Big In This? (a catchphrase of one of her characters in the show). She is also famous for her book Onwards and Upwards, first published in 1999. Arabella also writes articles for The Guardian periodically. These articles, although mainly about recent events, commonly include details regarding Arabella's life and the things that she presently considers to be pestiferous.

Weir wrote and starred in the 2003 comedy series Posh Nosh co-starring Richard E. Grant, who played the Tenth Doctor in DW: The Curse of Fatal Death and the Ninth Doctor in WC: Scream of the Shalka. She also contributes to the popular BBC2 comedy series, Grumpy Old Women.

She was a regular cast member of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Smelling of Roses. Arabella also provides the voice for the puppet duck character Hana in forthcoming children's TV show Hana's Helpline.

Married to Dr Jeremy Norton, the couple have two children, of whom David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor, and a long-time friend of Weir's, is the godfather.