Nicola Bryant

Nicola Bryant
Bryant in 2016
Born	Nicola Jane Bryant (1960-10-11) 11 October 1960 Guildford, Surrey, England
Alma mater	Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present
Known for	Doctor Who The Biz Star Trek Continues
Spouse	Scott Kennedy ​ (divorced)​
Partner	Nev Fountain
Awards	2022 British Horror Film Festival Best Supporting Actress
Website	nicolabryant.net

Nicola Jane Bryant (born 11 October 1960) is an English actress best known for her role as Peri Brown, a companion to both the Fifth and Sixth Doctors, in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.

Early life

Nicola Bryant was born and raised in a small village near Guildford in Surrey, the older of two daughters of Denis and Sheila Bryant. She has a younger sister named Tracy. She began taking dance classes at the age of three, and also took piano lessons. At the age of ten she auditioned to go to ballet schools, but was unable to take up places offered because of asthma. Upset by this development, she joined a local amateur dramatic group.

On leaving school she auditioned for all of the London drama schools, and took up a scholarship to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. In her final year there, she played the part of Nanette in a production of the musical No, No, Nanette.

Career

Bryant's first professional part was as Peri Brown in Doctor Who. She played the part from 1984 to 1986, first with Peter Davison, and then with Colin Baker as the Doctor. Bryant's tenure on the show was met with raised eyebrows in some quarters as series producer John Nathan-Turner admitted (in his book Doctor Who: The Companions and elsewhere) that his intention was to pump up the sex appeal of the ageing series by casting the young actress who was often seen wearing low-cut outfits in the show. As the Doctor Who production team were only auditioning American actors for the role of Peri, Bryant's agent encouraged her to use an American accent until contracted for the role, and backtracked on a promise to inform the production of her nationality before any public appearances as herself. Bryant therefore continued to speak in an American accent throughout her time in the role, including in interviews and rehearsals, with only Baker becoming aware of her true nationality and accent.

Bryant appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Two Doctors (1985), and she enjoyed working with Patrick Troughton, who returned as the Second Doctor. During the programme's hiatus during 1985 and 1986, Bryant reprised the role of Peri in a BBC radio production entitled Slipback alongside Baker. As a consequence of the hiatus, Bryant's three-year contract expired half way through season 23; Nathan-Turner did not renew her contract as he did not wish for a companion to be part of the series for more years than previous Doctors.

After appearing in Doctor Who, Bryant spent nine months at the Savoy Theatre in the West End of London in the thriller Killing Jessica with Patrick Macnee, directed by Bryan Forbes. She was cast in other television roles, including a part in Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988). In the early to mid-1990s, she co-starred with Baker in a series of made-for-video science fiction films entitled The Stranger for BBV, although the first few films in the series were little more than Doctor Who episodes in disguise. She also appeared alongside Baker, Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Jon Pertwee in another BBV production, The Airzone Solution, which includes a love scene between Baker and Bryant.

Bryant has reprised the role of Peri in several of the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who spin-off audio plays, appearing both with Peter Davison and Colin Baker. She also directed UNIT: The Wasting and Judge Dredd: 99 Code Red!.

In February 2006, she performed in a New End Theatre production of the Carl Djerassi play Taboos, and in early 2007 appeared in a London stage production of Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll at the Duke of York's Theatre. A DVD documentary, In The Footsteps of The Two Doctors, following Bryant's return to some of the locations featured in the Doctor Who serial The Two Doctors, was released in late 2006.

Bryant in 2008

She returned to the stage in 2008 in a touring production of an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's "Don't Look Now", playing the part of Laura Baxter. This production continued into 2009.

In the summer of 2009, Bryant filmed an improvised documentary-style film for Australian director Ben Briand as well as recording eight audio stories for Big Finish as a "missing season" of adventures for Doctor Who. On 2 March 2010 she appeared in Holby City as a television news reporter, and in 2011 she featured in the Dark Shadows audio drama The Blind Painter. In 2013 she appeared in a Doctor Who-themed episode of the game show Pointless.

Bryant guest-starred as 'Lana' in the 2017 two-part finale of the internet series Star Trek Continues, which finishes the five-year mission of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Appearing in commercials, Bryant has been the face of Woolwich Building Society, National Saving, and Nurofen. Bryant was in the Ridley Scott Associates production for Axa Health Insurance.

Bryant's voice-over work spans more than three decades. She has been the voice behind BMW, Duchy Originals, Florida Orange Juice, Twinings Tea, Nationwide, Woolwich Building Society, medical and pharmaceutical companies and Bovis Houses. She has also voiced documentaries for the BBC and NBC.

In 2023, Bryant reprised her role as Peri Brown in the series Tales of the TARDIS.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Summoned By Shadows	Miss Brown
1992	More Than A Messiah
1993	In Memory Alone
1993	The Airzone Solution	Elenya
1998	Parting Shots	Beverley
2011	Unlawful Killing	Romilly Weeks
2016	The Head Hunter	Dr. Shaw
2021	Midas	Charlotte Ward
2022	The Wilds	Helen	(short)
TBA	Dreadnought: Invasion Six	Lord Doctor Elli Morsto	(Pre-production)
TBA	Chuck	Sister Hackett	(short) (Pre-production)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984–1986	Doctor Who	Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown	33 episodes
1988	Blackadder's Christmas Carol	Millicent	TV film
1993	Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time	Peri Brown	Children in Need special
1995–1997	The Biz	Martine Johnson	All 24 episodes
1996	The 10%ers	Julia	Episode: "Wedding"
1998	Animal Ark	Sara Lawson	Episode: "Bunnies in the Bathroom"
2000	Casualty	Susan Harris	Episode: "Fall Out"
2000	Doctors	Sonia Heyward-Smith	Episode: "Catch-22"
2007	Holby City	Catherine Sloman	Episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me"
2008	Love in Hyde Park	Isabel
2009	My Family	Anne	Episode: "A Very Brief Encounter"
2010	My Family	Janet	Episode: "Ben Behaving Badly"
2010	Holby City	Reporter	Episode: "The Butterfly Effect: Part One"
2010	Doctors	Jackie Fallon	Episode: "A Naked Ambition"
2010	Scoop	Anne Boleyn	Episode: "Back Tud-or Future"
2015	The Promise	Emily Newman	Episode: "The New Name"
2016	Serial Thriller: The Head Hunter	Dr. Shaw	2 episodes
2016	New Blood	Sophie Baxter	Episode: "Case 3, Part 2"
2017	Star Trek Continues	Lana	Episodes "To Boldly Go", Parts I and II
2020	Gentrification	Annabel de Winter	Episode: "Part Seven"
2021	The Effect	Sandra	3 episodes
2023	Tales of the TARDIS	Peri Brown	Episode: "Vengeance on Varos"

Audio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Judge Dredd	Judge Mordin	Episode: "Trapped on Titan"
2011	Dark Shadows	Eloise Verinder	Episode: "The Blind Painter"
2011	Dark Shadows	Mrs. Gibbs	Episode: "The Poisoned Soul"
2011	Dark Shadows	Grace Collins	Episode: "The Crimson Pearl"
2013	The Mervyn Stone Mysteries	Verity Mycroft	Episode: "The Axeman Cometh"
2014	The Night of the Triffids	Kerris	Audio film
2014	The Confessions of Dorian Gray	Claudia Markham	Episode: "Echoes"
2015	Iris Wildthyme: Wildthyme Reloaded	Maggie	Episode: "Comeback of the Scorchies"
2015	Iris Wildthyme: Wildthyme Reloaded	Mabel	Episode: "The Slots of Giza"
2016	Painkiller	Monica	Audiobook
2017	Waking Hell	Leila Fenech	Audiobook
2020	Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures	Peri Brown	4 episodes
2021	The Effect	Sandra	3 episodes
2024	Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures	Peri Brown	8 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey
	Twelfth Night	Olivia
	Skin Deep ad Come on Jeeves		Gateway Theatre (Chester)
	Secret Garden	Martha	Leicester
	Spring's Awakening and Absurd Person Singular	Eva	Vienna's English Theatre
	The Ride Down Mount Morgan	Leah	Derby Playhouse
	So Long on Lonely Street		touring
	The Great Gatsby	Daisy Buchanan	touring
	Dinner with George		touring
	Home Truths		touring
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Hermia	touring
	Don't Look Now	Laura	touring
	The Trouble with Old Lovers	Alice	touring

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2022	British Horror Film Festival Jury Prize	Best Supporting Actress	The Wilds	Won

External links

• Nicola Bryant at IMDb
• Official website
• Nicola Bryant at shillpages.com/dw (Doctor Who Image Archive)
• Nicola Bryant at Rotten Tomatoes