"The Doctor Who's Rosa Parks actress," Vinette Robinson, also appeared in "Sherlock" and "The A Word"

The episode of tonight's Doctor Who will embody a major historical figure: Rosa Parks, an icon of civil rights, known for her refusal to leave a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and the subsequent boycott of the Montgomery buses. There are good reasons to recognize the actor who represents the "mother of the civil rights movement" – Doctor WhoRosa Parks actress Vinette Robinson has a full-length resume covering film, television and theater, including a recurring role in a little-known BBC drama entitled Sherlock. What else? She appeared in Doctor Who before, 11 years ago and three doctors.

Robinson grew up in Bradford, the Telegraph said, and attended the Leeds Theater Club, Scalakids (the club also proved Neville Longbottom himself, Matthew Lewis, as well as The imitation gameMatthew Beard and Crown StreetLucy Jo Hudson.) After receiving a scholarship to study at the Douglas Webber Academy of Dramatic Art, Robinson has secured a series of acting roles.

She is probably more recognizable to Doctor Who fans like Sergeant Sally Donovan Sherlock, a role she started playing in 2010. You will remember Sgt. Donovan is not really a fan of Mr. Holmes. He repeatedly treated him crazy and warned John Watson that the private detective was a "psychopath". Robinson played Donovan in four Sherlock episodes between 2010 and 2014: "A study in pink", "The big game", "The fall of Reichenbach" and "The sign of the three".

More recently, Robinson played the young doctor Nicola Daniels in the drama of the BBC 2016-2017 Word, who follows the Hughes family (played by Morven Christie, Lee Ingleby and Max Vento) after the diagnosis of their youngest son with autism. Between 2016 and 2017, she played alongside Dawn French, Emilia Fox and Iain Glen in the Sky comedy Delicious, while in 2016, she appeared in BBC Two miniseries Near the enemy. Launch your mind a little further back and you may remember Robinson for his recurring role in Waterloo Road like Helen Hopewell, or in Hope Springs like Josie Porritt.

Vinette Robinson is no stranger to science fiction: the actor has already appeared in two of the biggest shows of its kind. The second is Black mirror, in which she played Liza Bahar in the episode of 2016 "Hated in the Nation". And the first? Doctor Who, back in 2007 – during the captaincy of Tardis by David Tennant. Robinson appeared as Abi Lerner in a three-episode series entitled "42", in which Martha and Dr. Freema Agyeman land on a spaceship heading for the center of the sun.

The actor also has extensive knowledge of the theater: she has appeared in numerous productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has been hailed by critics for her performance HamletOphelia at Young Vic, opposite Michael Sheen. In 2017, she played Anna in Albion, a family drama presented at the Almeida Theater in London.

This is quite a resume of Robinson's built vinyl, then, ranging from science fiction to comedy to drama. And since Doctor Who incorporates the three genres, it seems to be a perfect fit for the show. It's a brave actor who assumes an iconic role like Rosa Parks – but it looks like Robinson will do him justice.