Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). According to the character's creator and executive producer Russell T Davies in his non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, the character was developed from the beginning with the intention of appearing for a whole of the 2007 series, and to later make guest appearances in subsequent series and crossover appearances in the show's two spin-offs; Martha subsequently made guest appearances in Torchwood series two and in Doctor Who series four in 2008 and special episode The End of Time in 2010. Martha was also intended to make guest appearances in the 2009 series of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, but could not due to the actress' other obligations.
Within the series' narrative, Martha begins as a medical student who becomes the Doctor's time travelling companion after an incident at the hospital where she works. After well over a year (from the perspective of the Doctor and herself) of service at the Doctor's side, Martha parts from the Doctor's company as she cannot bear her own unrequited love for him. After returning to life on Earth, becoming engaged and finishing her medical degree, Martha finds a newfound level of independence when she is recruited into the paranormal military organisations UNIT, and briefly Torchwood. In a later appearance, she takes the surname Smith-Jones after having married fellow companion Mickey Smith and becoming a freelance alien hunter. Having faced the end of the world single-handedly during her time with the Doctor, Martha is recognised for her skills both in the field and in medicine. he 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. The character is a 23-year-old medical student from 2008, although earlier in the conception process she had been meant to come from the year 1914. 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.[24] Nevertheless, Agyeman notes that Martha is "very independent"; living alone and having almost completed her medical qualifications.She does not have an ex-boyfriend, but writer Russell T Davies has stated that she is not a lesbian, as had been rumoured in some quarters. An article in The Times speculated that, since Agyeman has martial arts skills, she may have "a more physical approach" to the role. As with her predecessor Rose, Martha is from London; Brett Mills from the University of East Anglia presumes this is because characters from the capital of the country are "therefore relatable to all British people" because they are seen as "neutral".
Freema Agyeman told the school publication The Newspaper that Martha is older and more secure than Rose.[28] Agyeman speculated that 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).[28] In addition, Martha's family appears to be of a higher social class than Rose; whereas Rose's family was fairly typically working class, Martha's family appears to be wealthier (her father owns what appears to be a late model Mercedes-Benz convertible, and the clothes worn by her family are substantially more in line with fashion), probably middle to upper middle class.
Drawing from her creator's pool of recurring names, Martha and her family share the last name "Jones" with many other Russell T Davies-penned characters. Foremost among them are Harriet Jones in Doctor Who, Ianto Jones and Eugene Jones in Torchwood, Yanto Jones in Mine All Mine and Stuart Allen Jones in Queer as Folk. Davies states that reusing names (such as Tyler, Smith, Harper, Harkness and Jones) allows him to get a grip of the character on the blank page.In casting Martha, the actress Freema Agyeman was reused from her minor role as Adeola Oshodi, in the Series 2 episode "Army of Ghosts". Acknowledging this, the resemblance of the two characters was touched upon in "Smith and Jones" when Martha makes reference to her deceased cousin, also serving to connect Martha to the larger Doctor Who universe. Throughout Doctor Who series three, Martha pined for the Doctor's affection. In its final story — "Last of the Time Lords", Martha was separated from the Doctor for a year, and after saving the world she decided to return to Earth to allow herself to qualify as a medical doctor, look after her devastated family, and get over her unrequited love for the Doctor.
Following the airdate of "Last of the Time Lords", the BBC announced that the character would return to screens in three episodes of Torchwood Series 2, before rejoining David Tennant's Tenth Doctor alongside new companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) for five episodes in the fourth series of Doctor Who.Appearing in Torchwood, it is explained through exposition that Martha is a medical specialist for UNIT,a qualified doctor and bona fide expert on alien life. First appearing on the spin-off series in Torchwood episode "Reset", fellow companion Jack Harkness establishes Martha's credibility to her new peers, slyly commenting upon her vast experience. John Barrowman noted that in many ways Martha entered Torchwood as their superior as being employed with UNIT placed her in a higher authority. In the same episode, Martha notes that an "impeccable source" recommended her employment to UNIT, implying the Doctor holds the highest level of faith in Martha's capability. Her Torchwood outfit was specifically designed to reflect her development, with Costume designer Ray Holman stating: "We wanted to give her that air of authority, with some professional-looking and quite classy fitted suits".
Martha is first seen in action with UNIT in "The Sontaran Stratagem", where Donna Noble, the Doctor's current companion, reacts with shock asking derisively if the Doctor turns all of his companions into "soldiers". The Doctor also appears to disapprove over the situation until Martha defends her intentions, reminding the Doctor that she herself does not carry a gun, and stating that she is trying to make UNIT "better" from the inside. Agyeman herself states that she was never in any worry about Martha becoming too gun-toting: "I never felt any danger of that happening. At the end of Series Three, she'd struggled for a year, and travelled alone, and saw all this hardship, her family tortured... that's going to have affected her. At the same time, she's continued in her studies to become a doctor, so obviously she still has this caring side to her".
Martha tells Owen in the Torchwood episode "Reset", that she has a boyfriend, who is revealed to be paediatric doctor Thomas Milligan in "The Sontaran Stratagem", by which time the two are engaged — indicating that Martha has gotten over her love for the Doctor. In "The Poison Sky" she cites her relationship with Thomas Milligan as a reason to stay on Earth, rather than join Donna and Doctor in the TARDIS - saying that she's now got a great big adventure of her own to enjoy. Agyeman feels that Martha's relationship with Tom has "helped cement where she is in life".Agyeman also feels that it was important for Martha's mother Francine to re-appear in "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", as closure for what happened to the Jones family in Series Three: "It's great for the audience to know that all this talk of Martha wanting to stay on earth because of her family is for real. It's great to see Adjoa there, representing the Jones clan, even though it's a fleeting appearance. She's still very much in Martha's life".
Director Euros Lyn comments that the production team had intended for Agyeman and Clarke to join Torchwood for its third series, but their careers led them elsewhere.[35] When the characters interact with UNIT officers in Children of Earth, Martha's absence is explained by her being on honeymoon. Head writer and executive producer Russell T Davies explains that Agyeman was cast in Law & Order: UK before Children of Earth had been officially commissioned. Because Law & Order offered her 13 episodes a year, she went with that over Torchwood which had been reduced to 5. In response, Davies created the character of Lois Habiba, played by Cush Jumbo, to be a "kind of a Martha figure", one with added innocence who is out of her depth.Agyeman does not rule out returning to the show at a later date, however. Davies reveals in his non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale that Martha was also intended to appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures series two finale Enemy of the Bane in December 2008, but the character had to be replaced with classic series character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) "at the last minute" due to Agyeman's role in Law & Order: UK;[1] had Martha appeared, the character would have appeared in all three programmes in the franchise.
