Born: 4th August 1987
Episodes Broadcast: 2023, 2025

Weeks before her birth in Westhoughton, Greater Manchester, doctors diagnosed Ruth Madeley with spina bifida and scoliosis. As she grew, the then-nascent charity Whizz-Kidz provided financial support for her parents to purchase the wheelchairs which would enhance her mobility. Madeley and her family were soon heavily involved with Whizz-Kidz, and she became a noted advocate for disabled people. As a result of her efforts, in 2000 she was a recipient of the Diana Award, which recognises change-making youth. Madeley went on to attend Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire, from which she graduated in 2008 with a degree in English and creative writing.

Madeley's focus during her post-secondary education had been on scriptwriting, but she soon found work as an actor as well, initially with a 2009 episode of Half Moon Investigations. She wrote and starred in the 2012 telefilm Scrims. Madeley soon began to win prominent roles in shows like The Level and Cold Feet. In 2019, she co-starred in Years And Years from former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. In 2022, Madeley joined the series of Sixth Doctor audio dramas from Big Finish Productions as new companion Hebe Harrison; she made her first appearance in Water Worlds.

The following year, Madeley became a recurring castmember in televised Doctor Who proper, to which Davies had now returned. She took the role of Shirley Bingham, the latest scientific adviser to the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, and she initially appeared opposite David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor in The Star Beast and The Giggle. Although scheduling issues precluded Madeley's return the following year, she came back for two 2025 adventures featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, and she will also appear in the spin-off series The War Between The Land And The Sea. Amongst her other Twenties television credits were Brassic and Nightsleeper. In 2024, Madeley married her longtime boyfriend, Joe.