Doctor Who: Bethany Black, transgender actress, cast in cisgender role

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Published on August 7, 2015 06:22PM EDT

Transgender actress and stand-up comedian Bethany Black has been cast in a role in the new season of Doctor Who, which premieres on BBC America on Sept. 19. According to The Independent, she won’t be playing a transgender role.

Black will appear in an episode written by Mark Gatiss and also features his League of Gentlemen costar Reece Shearsmith, who previously played Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton in the Gatiss-penned 2013 TV movie, An Adventure in Space and Time.

Black is a longtime fan of Doctor Who. “Ever since I was little, I mean tiny, the TV has been my best friend,” the actress wrote on her Facebook page yesterday. “Growing up as a queer kid in rural Lancashire in the early ’80s, that and my Commodore 64 were my only escape. I watched everything, but especially Doctor Who. My earliest TV memory was Peter Davison in Doctor Who in ‘Four to Doomsday,’ I remember running into the lounge, running away from the music, running back in and hiding behind the couch, leaving when it got too much. I’ve been a Doctor Who fan ever since.” Black also described her Doctor Who role as “the gig of a lifetime.”

Black’s previous acting credits include the show Banana, which was created by former Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies.

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