DOCTOR WHO: JEMMA REDGRAVE 'TO LEAD CAST OF UNIT SPIN-OFF SERIES'

As previously announced, Jemma Redgrave will return as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and UNIT, the long-running organisation set on defending the Earth, in the next series of Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor in 2024.

Report from The Mirror now suggest that Jemma is to lead the cast of a brand-new UNIT-based spin-off series for the BBC and Disney+, which will be written by showrunner Russell T. Davies.

Jemma first appeared in the role of Kate Stewart alongside Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor in the 2012 episode The Power Of Three. She reprised her role a year later in the 50th Anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor and also starred alongside Peter Capaldi and most recently Jodie Whittaker.

Kate Stewart is the Chief Scientific Officer at UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce, who is the daughter of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who appeared in the classic series of the BBC sci-fi show.

A source told The Mirror: "Doctor Who has always featured strong women in positions of authority."

Redgrave will guest star in the new series, with other guest stars including Aneurin Barnard as the mysterious Roger ap Gwilliam, Anita Dobson and Michelle Greenidge.

Doctor Who is available on BBC iPlayer and airs on BBC One.