TARDIS CREW

Shortly after meeting Freema Agyeman in 2005, Doctor Who director Graeme Harper predicted that “she was going to be exceptional.” His instincts proved correct.

By JONATHAN RIGBY

Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.

"I knew it was going to be the ride of a lifetime, but I didn’t know it was going to be this fantastic,” said Freema Agyeman in 2007, soon after finishing work on Series 3 of Doctor Who. “I thought it would be a more difficult journey… But I’m loving it now as much as I was on the day that I landed the part.”

The part Agyeman landed was Martha Jones, the companion who succeeded Billie Piper’s trailblazing Rose Tyler. In what turned out to be quite a complicated process, Agyeman had originally auditioned, in June 2005, for a different role – Sally in The Christmas Invasion, which went to Anita Briem. Then, in October that year, she was cast in Army of Ghosts as ill-fated Torchwood technician Adeola. After three further meetings with the Doctor Who team in early 2006, she was finally signed up as Martha – and then had to keep quiet about it until the official announcement. This followed on 5 July, complete with a ringing endorsement from showrunner Russell T Davies, who hailed her as “an exciting new talent” and noted that “her range, presence and charm blew us all away.”