EASTENDERS - BRITISH ACTRESS LANDS BIONIC WOMAN ROLE

British actress MICHELLE RYAN has beaten out competition from some of Hollywood's leading ladies to land the title role in a US TV update of 1970s television show THE BIONIC WOMAN. The 22-year-old, best known in her native UK as ZOE SLATER in BBC soap EASTENDERS, has signed up to play JAMIE SOMMERS, a professional tennis player who suffers a skydiving accident before being transformed into The Bionic Woman. The original show starred LINDSAY WAGNER and ran from 1976 to 1978. It was a spin-off from the LEE MAJORS-starring THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. The new NBC programme will be a "reimagination" of the original series.