Doctor Who’s New UNIT Character Future Confirmed By David Tennant & Producer
Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson and David Tennant reveal Ruth Madeley's UNIT scientist Shirley Anne Bingham will return in future seasons.
Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson and David Tennant reveal Ruth Madeley’s UNIT scientific advisor Shirley Anne Bingham will return in future appearances following her role in the first 60th anniversary special “The Star Beast”. Madeley starred alongside Tennant and Catherine Tate in the first episode of the long-running series’ three-part 60th anniversary celebrations. In “The Star Beast”, Bingham leads UNIT’s task force dispatched to secure a ship that has crash-landed at a London steelworks, crossing paths and meeting the Doctor, and quickly striking up a friendship with her scientific advisor predecessor while saving the city from destruction.
With Madeley having made her on-screen Doctor Who debut in “The Star Beast”, Collinson, fellow producer Vicki Delow, and Tennant discussed the newcomer’s future within the series during “The Star Beast” official on-screen commentary on BBC IPlayer. While Bingham is already set to play a role in the third anniversary special, “The Giggle”, Collinson confirmed to Tennant that Madeley had been promoted to a semi-regular within the series as the 56th scientific advisor to UNIT, though the actor and producer misremember the number. Check out the actor and two producers’ exchange below:
David Tennant: And here’s the first appearance of Ruth Madeley
Phil Collinson: Yes, Indeed.
Vicki Delow: Yeah, lovely Ruth.
Tennant: Who is a new semi-regular, I think I’m right in saying.
Collinson: Yeah, she is indeed. Scientific adviser number…
Tennant: Oh, she says it in a minute, number 52 or something.
Collinson: Yeah.
Ruth Madeley Has Appeared In Doctor Who & Worked With Russell T. Davies Before
While “The Star Beast” marks her first appearance in the television series, Madeley is no stranger to Doctor Who, as she has already appeared in Big Finish’s audio dramas as a companion. Madeley’s companion character, Hebe Harrison, made her debut in the 2021 Sixth Doctor Adventures box set, “Water Worlds”, alongside the sixth incarnation of the Time Lord (Colin Baker) and Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford). A marine biologist and friend of former Sixth Doctor companion Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables), Hebe played a key role in the line’s ongoing storyline.
Madeley’s casting in Doctor Who has also seen the actor reunite with showrunner Russell T. Davies following her role in his 2019 dystopian sci-fi series Years and Years. In Years and Years, Madeley portrayed the youngest Lyons family sibling, Rosie, in a frightening, ever-changing Britain over 15 years, as the family grapples with geopolitical and financial crises, heartbreaking loss, changing technology, and an oppressive regime becoming the ruling party in the country. With her joining Davies’ new era, Madeley is one of three actors the showrunner worked with between his Doctor Who tenures to take a role as a key character, alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Michelle Greenidge following their roles in 2021’s It’s A Sin, and John Mackay following his role in 2023’s Nolly.
While both Bingham and UNIT set to return in “The Giggle”, it has already been confirmed the organization will continue to play a key role in Davies’ new era. UNIT’s leader Kate Stewart is also set to return in Doctor Who season 14, while season 15’s filming has seen protesters gather outside of the organization’s headquarters. With the organization set to face threats both alien and human, Madeley’s scientific advisor is sure to be a valuable member of the group going through these troubling times for UNIT.
