Michelle Ryan (born 22 April 1984), a London-born actress, played Lady Christina de Souza in Planet of the Dead.
Born only a few weeks after Colin Baker's debut as the Sixth Doctor, Ryan is best known in the UK for her work on the soap opera EastEnders, and for co-starring in Steven Moffat's miniseries, Jekyll. She also played Nimueh in BBC One's fantasy drama Merlin, in 2008. In North America, Ryan is best known for portraying a reimagined version of iconic TV superhero Jaime Sommers on the short-lived NBC series Bionic Woman in 2007. NBC also broadcast Merlin during the summer of 2009.
Reportedly, Ryan was considered a candidate for the companion to follow Rose Tyler.[source needed] In January 2009, before it was announced that she had been cast in the special, there was considerable media speculation suggesting that she might be the Eleventh Doctor's first companion.[source needed]
Ryan has maintained her connection to the franchise, however, recording the Tenth Doctor exclusive-to-audio story The Rising Night for BBC Audio, which was released in July 2009.
She has also occasionally been involved with Doctor Who personnel in other projects. She co-starred with Billie Piper in Mansfield Park; with Lynda Bellingham in Mister Eleven; with Colin Morgan and Anthony Head in Merlin; with Noel Clarke and Russell Tovey in Huge; with Noel Clarke and Nicholas Briggs in 4,3,2,1; with Simon Callow in No Ordinary Trifle; and with Claire Bloom, Michael Maloney, Bonnie Langford and June Whitfield in the Miss Marple mystery, By the Pricking of My Thumbs.