Freema Agyeman
A fan site for Freema Agyeman

Martha Jones gallery

Associated with the Doctor between Smith & Jones and Last Of The Time Lords.

The introduction of Martha as the next companion after Billie Piper's Rose Tyler was announced by the BBC in a 5 July 2006 press release.[1][2] The character is a 23-year-old medical student.[3][4] Like Rose, Martha has family members who are seen in the programme: Adjoa Andoh plays her mother Francine, with Trevor Laird as her father Clive (divorced from Francine), Gugu Mbatha-Raw as her sister Tish and Reggie Yates as her brother, Leo.[5] Nevertheless, Agyeman notes that Martha is "very independent"; living alone and having almost completed her medical qualifications.[6] She does not have an ex-boyfriend, but writer Russell T. Davies notes that she is not a lesbian, as had been rumoured in some quarters.[4] Unlike Rose's family, Martha's family do not seem to be as pivotal to the series- they only appear briefly at the beginning and the end of their first episode, "Smith and Jones," and play no vital role in the main events. Martha meets the Doctor in the Royal Hope Hospital, where he is investigating strange anomalies, seen in the episode "Smith and Jones".

An article in The Times speculated that, since Agyeman has martial arts skills, she may have "a more physical approach" to the role.[7] Freema Agyeman told the school publication The Newspaper that Martha is older and more secure than Rose[8] (whose paternal issues made the bulk of the subtext of her relationship with the Doctor, particularly in his ninth incarnation). Martha, by contrast, travels with the Doctor for the adventure rather than because of a need for guidance or education; Agyeman also told The Newspaper that Martha hopes to eventually go back to Earth and finish her medical education.[8]

Agyeman previously played Adeola, a minor character who was killed in the Series 2 episode Army of Ghosts. Davies said in a Newsround interview that the resemblance would be subtly touched on.[9] According to the "Quick Reads" novel Made of Steel, written by Terrance Dicks, which was released on 1 March 2007, Adeola was Martha's cousin, and this relationship was confirmed on-screen in her debut appearance. [10][8]