Anjli Mohindra () is a British actress. She is known for her television roles as Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) and Nadia Ali in Bodyguard (2018). Her other television roles include Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty in Vigil (2021), Detective Constable Josie Chancellor in Dark Heart (2016–2018) and Archie in The Lazarus Project (2022–2023).
Early life Mohindra was born in Hendon, London and mostly grew up in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire. She also had a four-year period living on a military base in Germany, where she was the only ethnic minority child out of 2,000 students at an Armed Forces school. According to Mohindra, her family is Hindu Punjabi. Her father was raised in Kenya when it was a British colony and had a clerical job in the British Army for several years. Her mother was born in Punjab, India and arrived in the UK at age 18 to further her education, working variously as a court clerk, bank manager, postmistress, pub owner and English tutor.
Mohindra has a sister and a brother. In a 2018 interview about her personal style, Mohindra said that she had been a tomboy growing up, sometimes wearing her brother's hand-me-down clothes.
Mohindra attended Jesse Gray Primary School and West Bridgford School. She later trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham.
Career
2005–2011: Early career Mohindra's television acting career began in an episode of ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street in 2005, where she played Dev Alahan's daughter Shareen after being turned down for another, larger role. This appearance was soon followed by small, one-episode parts in the medical soap opera Doctors (2006), teen sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008), police procedural Law & Order: UK (2009) and medical drama Holby City (2010). She also appeared in two episodes of the comedy drama Beaver Falls (2011).
Mohindra played her first regular role as aspiring journalist Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) on children's television channel CBBC. She was introduced in the second series as a replacement for Yasmin Paige, who left the series to complete her GCSEs. Mohindra continued to play the role in the subsequent three series until the last episode of the show, broadcast in October 2011.
2012–present: Post-The Sarah Jane Adventures career In 2012, Mohindra appeared in an episode of the longest-running medical drama series in the world, Casualty. Soon after, she landed parts in two episodes of The Missing (2014), a BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated child-abduction thriller starring Tchéky Karyo, and six episodes of Cucumber (2015), Russell T Davies's series about a middle-aged gay man from Manchester.
Mohindra played a leading role in four 15-minute episodes of the BBC iPlayer romcom My Jihad (2014–2015), described as "a tender and funny love story exploring the unfolding relationship between a young Muslim couple". She then made her feature film debut in Miss You Already (2015), starring Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, followed by supporting roles in two ITV shows, Paranoid (2016) and Bancroft (2017).
In 2018, Mohindra played Nadia Ali in Jed Mercurio's political thriller Bodyguard (2018). The series received multiple BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations; its finale was reported to be the most-watched BBC drama in 10 years. Mohindra initially declined the role until she learned there would be more depth to her character than she assumed. The same year, she starred alongside Tom Riley in the ITV crime drama Dark Heart and guested in DC's Legends of Tomorrow as magical shapeshifter Charlie. Mohindra starred as an ambitious radio producer in Mark Gatiss's take on the classic Christmas ghost story, The Dead Room (2018), alongside Simon Callow.
From 2006 to 2019, she played in 11 theatrical productions. Her stage work includes David Hare's Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2014) and Shahid Nadeem's Dara (2015), both professionally recorded and broadcast through National Theatre Live, as well as Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (2012) and Michael Frayn's Noises Off (2019).
In 2019, Mohindra appeared as a regular lead in the ITV drama Wild Bill. She later played the Queen of the Skithra in the Doctor Who episode "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" (2020).Doctor Who Series 12: new director, actor, character discovered Andrea Laford, cultbox.com, 10 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019. Since 2022, Mohindra has also reprised her role of Rani from The Sarah Jane Adventures in several Doctor Who audio drama spin-offs from Big Finish Productions, as well as in three episodes of Doctor Who: Redacted (2022), a ten-part podcast drama from BBC Sounds featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. Mohindra has played other characters in audio dramas featuring the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Doctors over the years.
Mohindra won a place on the Royal Court's Young Writers' Programme in 2016. During COVID-19 pandemic, she made her writing debut with a short film called The People Under the Moon (2020), produced entirely during lockdown and starring Gwilym Lee as a medic who joins a dating app.
In 2021, she appeared alongside Suranne Jones in Tom Edge's Vigil, playing Tiffany Docherty, the medical officer on board a nuclear submarine which becomes the subject of a murder investigation. The series quickly became the BBC's most-watched new drama of the year. The following year, she appeared in the Netflix period spy thriller Munich – The Edge of War as a British diplomatic secretary embroiled in the negotiations at the 1938 Munich conference and then had the lead role in the Sky science fiction drama The Lazarus Project, described as a "gripping exploration of memory, fate and the limits of love". In the series she played Archie, who recruits Paapa Essiedu's character George into a secret organisation that has the power to turn back time when the world is threatened by extinction.
Personal life Mohindra married actor Sacha Dhawan in Tuscany on 30 August 2025.
Acting credits Film + Year Title Role Notes 2011Swagger WarsGirl's FriendShort film 2012The Black Scholes ConspiracyDee 2013The Painter and the ThiefSally 2015 Miss You Already Kira 2018ProcessAnayaShort film 2020 The People Under the Moon Dating App (voice) Short film; also writer 2021 Munich – The Edge of War Joan Menzies 2023 The Glassworker Alliz Amano (voice)
Television + Year Title Role Notes 2005–2006 Coronation Street Shareen 2 episodes 2006 Doctors Gemma Fox Episode: "Goodbye Mrs Chips" 2008 The Inbetweeners Charlotte's Friend Episode: "Will Gets a Girlfriend" 2008–2011 The Sarah Jane Adventures Rani Chandra Main role in series 2–5; 41 episodes and a Comic Relief special 2009 Law & Order: UK Sophie Martin Episode: "Love and Loss" 2010 Holby City Mindy Kapoor Episode: "The Butterfly Effect: Part Two" Sarah Jane's Alien Files Rani Chandra Episode #1.2 2011 Beaver Falls Saima 2 episodes2012 Doctors Meera Singh Episode: "Firestarter" Casualty Meera Hussein Episode: "Teenage Dreams" 2013 Coming Up Roxy Episode: "Doughnuts" 2014–2015 My Jihad Fahmida Main role; 4 episodes 2014 The Missing Amara Suri 2 episodes 2015 Cucumber Veronica Chandra6 episodes Cuffs Nasreen Iqbal Episode: "Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight" 2016 Paranoid PC Megan Waters Main role; 8 episodes 2016–2018 Dark Heart DC Josie Chancellor Main role; 6 episodes 2017 Revolting Zaynab Episode #1.1 The Boy with the Topknot Bindi TV film Bancroft Zaheera Kamara Main role in series 1; 4 episodes 2018 Midsomer Murders Faiza Jindal Episode: "The Ghost of Causton Abbey" Bodyguard Nadia Ali 4 episodes The Bisexual Katie Episode #1.1 Legends of Tomorrow Charlie Episode: "Dancing Queen" The Dead Room Tara Lohia TV film 2019 Wild Bill DCC Lydia Price Main role; 6 episodes 2020 Doctor Who Queen Skithra Episode: "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" Daleks! Mechanoid Queen (voice) Animated series released on YouTube; 3 episodes 2021 Vigil Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty 6 episodes 2022–2023 The Lazarus Project Archie Main role; 8 episodes (Series 1) and 8 episodes (Series 2) 2022 The Suspect DS Riya Devi 5 episodes The Peripheral Beatrice 3 episodes2024 The Red KingGrace NarayanLead role Get Millie Black Meera Thakur 3 episodes2025 Fear Rebecca Lead role2026Half Man Ava 4 episodesTBASaviourIndy SangarMain roleTBAArmy of ShadowsUpcoming series
Theatre + Year Title Role Venue Notes 2025The YearsAnnie 2 (Lead role)Harold Pinter TheatreAdapted and directed by Eline Arbo
Audio and radio dramas + Year Title Role Production Notes 2012Bernice SummerfieldGabriella DominicciBig Finish ProductionsEpisode: "Brand Management" 2013GallifreyMarisEpisode: "Evolution" 2014Doctor Who: The Monthly AdventuresJyoti CutlerEpisode: "Scavenger" 2017TumanbayHodahBBC Radio 43 episodes 2019The Eighth Doctor: The Time WarCallaBig Finish ProductionsEpisode: "State of Bliss" 2020A Room of One's OwnJudith Shakespeare / Jane Austen / Mary CarmichaelBBC Radio 4 ProstrateAnita5 episodes Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor AdventuresCaptain Riya NehruBig Finish ProductionsEpisode: "The Moonrakers" The Tenth Doctor and River SongOmara / Barmaid / FannyEpisode: "Precious Annihilation" Doctor Who: The Monthly AdventuresVarious Characters8 episodes of Shadow of the Daleks 2021Passenger ListEvelyn / School SecretaryBBC Radio 42 episodes Doctor Who: StrandedNishaBig Finish ProductionsEpisode: "Baker Street Irregulars" The Goldilocks ZoneZaraBBC Radio 4 2022 The Eighth of March Rani ChandraBig Finish Productions Episode: "The Turn of the Tides" 2022–2023Doctor Who: RedactedBBC Sounds5 episodes 2023–2024Rani Takes on the WorldBig Finish Productions6 episodes
Audiobook narration + Year Title Author Notes 2011Judgement DayScott GrayPart of the audio series The Sarah Jane Adventures Collection 2017The Secret Lives of the Amir SistersNadiya HussainCo-narrated with actresses Avita Jay, Maya Saroya and Aasiya Shah2019How to Find HomeMahsuda SnaithAbridged by Siân Preece and broadcast in 10 parts on BBC Radio 4The Million Pieces of Neena GillEmma Smith-BartonThe Panther's TaleMahsuda SnaithPart of Audible's podcast series HagThe Things We Thought We KnewMrs DallowayVirginia Woolf
Video games + Year Title Role Notes2011PlantsRani Chandra (voice)Plant and Animal HabitatsTeeth and EatingRocks and Soils 2015Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight BelowMaya Mahabala (voice)English version 2016 Dragon Quest Heroes II 2022Elden RingMillicent (voice)Demo Only
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