Anita Dobson and Michelle Greenidge in Series 14

The BBC has confirmed that Anita Dobson and Michelle Greenidge will be starring in the next series of Doctor Who.

Anita Dobson is best known as the neurotic pub Landlady Angie Watts in the BBC soap EastEnders, playing the role from the series launch in 1985 until 1988. Other television roles include the 1989 ITV sitcom Split Ends.

In 2003, she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress for the National Theatre production of Frozen. She has also starred in the West End as Mama Morton in the musical Chicago (2003) and Gertrude in Hamlet (2005), and made her RSC debut in the 2012 revival of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Her film appearances include Darkness Falls (1999) and London Road (2015).

Michelle Greenidge is best known for her portrayal of Valarie in the Netflix series After Life. She played Lola Okonedo Akimbo in the BBC Two comedy Mandy, PC Williams in the police comedy-drama Code 404 and Rosa Babatunde in the Russel T Davies television drama It's a Sin.

She has also worked in theatre with some of her credits including Ear for Eye, At the Feet of Jesus, Super Skinny Bitches, House, All Saints, Stopcock, Do You Pray?, The Distance Between Us, People Who Need People, The House They Grew Up In and Omega Time

Both actresses will join Doctor Who for its fortieth season, the 14th series since the show returned in 2005. The series will star Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and will screen in 2024. 

Doctor Who will return in November 2023 with three special episodes to coincide with the 60th anniversary with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.