Daphne Ashbrook (born 30 January 1963 in Long Beach, California) played Dr Grace Holloway, companion of the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 television movie. To this date, she is the only American to portray an on-screen companion in the series (notwithstanding the publicity that maintained the fiction that Nicola Bryant was American; John Barrowman used an American accent but was born in Scotland). Ashbrook also portrayed Perfection in the Big Finish Productions audio drama The Next Life. In 2011, she returned to Big Finish to play UNIT Capt. Ruth Matheson in the audio stories Tales from the Vault and Mastermind. According to an interview with her included on Tales from the Vault, rights issues prevent her from being able to reprise the role of Grace for Big Finish.
Among her many other television and film roles was her guest-starring role as Ensign Melora Pazlar in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine alongside series regular and Big Finish contributor Alexander Siddig. She also had a recurring role on JAG after her appearance in Doctor Who. In 2011 she published an autobiography, Dead Woman Laughing, and also recently released her first album.
