Verity Newman was the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern, a nurse that the Doctor had met in the year 1913 and who bore a close physical resemblance to her ancestor.
Biography
One day when she was searching out her attic, she found a journal which had been written by the Tenth Doctor when he was in the form of John Smith. She was credited as the author of "A Journal of Impossible Things", which was based on the writings of John Smith and Joan Redfern.
Near the end of his tenth incarnation, the Doctor went to a book signing of hers. She asked him who to sign it to, and he replied "the Doctor". She then realised it was the same man as in her book.
Verity told the Doctor her great-grandmother died happily when he asked, asking him, in turn, if he was happy. The "dying" Tenth Doctor simply walked away sadly, without giving her a reply. (DW: The End of Time)
Behind the scenes
- The actress who potrayed Verity Newman, Jessica Hynes, also potrayed the character's great-grandmother Joan Redfern.
- Verity Newman gets her name from Verity Lambert (the first producer of Doctor Who) and Sydney Newman (more or less the "creator" of Doctor Who). The names "Sydney" and "Verity" were used previously in DW: Human Nature / The Family of Blood, as the names of the parents of the human John Smith.
- As pointed out in Doctor Who Confidential, John Smith truly loved Joan, and the Doctor seemed to care about Joan and her well being following the events with the Family of Blood.