Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling To Appear In Doctor Who

The BBC has announced that Dame Diana Rigg and her daughter Rachael Stirling are to appear on-screen together in an episode of Doctor Who.

Diana Rigg will be best remembered for her role of Emma Peel opposite Patrick Macnee in the 1960s adventure spy series The Avengers. Rigg also played Tracy Di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The actress has a wide range of screen and stage credits; in the late 1990s she played the title role in The Mrs Bradley Mysteries which co-starred former Doctor Who actor Peter Davison.

Dame Diana Rigg’s role in Doctor Who, and that of her actress daughter Rachael Stirling, was revealed on Twitter. The two will appear in an episode penned by Mark Gatiss with the sci-fi’s showrunner Steven Moffat commenting “Dame Diana Rigg, Rachael Stirling and a Mark Gatiss script – a combination of talents you could only get in Doctor Who! Frankly, I’m terrified already!”

The two actresses will play mother and daughter in an episode set in Yorkshire with filming currently taking place in Doctor Who’s new studios at Roath Lock in Cardiff. Dame Diana Rigg commented on her casting in the sci-fi “The first time Rachie and I will be working together is on an episode of “Doctor Who” specially written for us by Mark Gatiss. How lucky is that?”

Rachael Stirling first came to the public attention in 2002 when she starred in lesbian drama Tipping the Velvet opposite Keeley Hawes. Roles in Poirot, Marple, Hotel Babylon, Lewis, Women In Love and Boy Meets Girl followed. The actress’ film credits include Snow White and the Huntsman, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Young Victoria.

The two actresses are the latest set of guest stars confirmed for the seventh season of Doctor Who which is due to launch later this year. Other confirmed guest stars include David Warner, Adrian Scarborough, Mark Williams, Rupert Graves, Steven Berkoff, Ben Browder,  Jessica Raine, Dougray Scott and Liam Cunningham.