Nicola Jane Bryant (born 11 October 1960) is an English actress known for her roles as Peri Brown, a companion to both the Fifth and Sixth Doctors in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986 and as Martine Johnson the dance teacher in the school drama series The Biz from 1995 to 1997. She also played Miss Brown in The Stranger film series and Lana in Star Trek Continues.
Nicola Bryant was born and raised in a small village near Guildford in Surrey, the older of two daughters of Denis and Sheila Bryant. She has a younger sister named Tracy. She began taking dance classes at the age of three, and also took piano lessons. At the age of ten she auditioned to go to ballet schools, but was unable to take up places offered because of asthma. Upset by this development, she joined a local amateur dramatic group.
On leaving school she auditioned for all of the London drama schools, and took up a scholarship to the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. In her final year there, she played the part of Nanette in a production of the musical No, No, Nanette.

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