Francine Jones
Francine Jones was the ex-wife of Clive Jones, the mother of Tish Jones, Martha Jones and Leo Jones, the grandmother of Keisha Jones, and the aunt of Adeola Oshodi.
Biography
Before Harold Saxon
Before Francine attended her son's twenty-first birthday, she was engaged in a dispute with her ex-husband because he was bringing his young girlfriend Annalise. Soon afterwards, she learned that Martha and the Royal Hope Hospital had been transported to the Moon. At the party, she stuck up for her daughter when Annalise made a comment suggesting Martha had lied about going to the moon. This grew into a heated argument which exasperated Martha, after which she left with the Doctor. (TV: Smith and Jones)
During the year that never was
She later phoned Martha to tell her that Tish had appeared on the news because she was an assistant to Richard Lazarus. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment) She attended the launch of his de-ageing device with her son Leo and enountered the Doctor, who, unknown to her, had been travelling the universe with her daughter. (TV: The Shakespeare Code, Gridlock, Daleks in Manhattan) She was initially suspicious of the Doctor because of his social awkwardness. This suspicion was exacerbated when she was approached by a mysterious man, who told her the Doctor was highly dangerous. This led to Francine slapping the Doctor and telling him to stay away from Martha. After the Doctor stopped Lazarus and left with Martha, Francine left a message for her daughter, telling her that the Doctor was bad news and dangerous.Harold Saxon had told her this. TV: The Lazarus Experiment)
The Doctor gave Martha a superphone. She phoned Francine from the deck of the SS Pentallian for help with the quiz question doors. Francine told Martha that Elvis had more number one singles than the Beatles, helping Riley Vashtee and her with their mission, although Francine believed Martha to be in a pub quiz. Martha later phoned Francine when her life was in danger, to tell her that she loved her, unaware the phones were bugged by Miss Dexter, who worked for Harold Saxon. As Francine tried to extract more information about Martha's whereabouts, her daughter hung up, leaving a worried Francine in the dark (TV: 42)
Harold Saxon, who was actually the Master, had Miss Dexter use Francine to call Martha to lure her into a trap. When the plan failed, Francine was betrayed by Miss Dexter and kidnapped with the rest of her family. Francine, Clive and Tish were taken to the Valiant where, after taunting the Joneses, the Master released the Toclafane and sent them to decimate the Earth. Francine realised how dreadful a mistake she had made and tearfully apologised to Martha, who then vanished completely from the deck, leaving her family confused and alone. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
Francine and her family were held on the Valiant as servants and hostages while the Master continued to obsess over capturing and executing Martha. Francine and Tish were humiliated, dressed as maids and restrained by chains at night. She saw "half the world decimated" and the burning of Japan. In that year aboard the Valiant, Francine — along with Jack Harkness, the Doctor, Clive and Tish — staged a failed rebellion against the Master. She was tortured into an apology. When the Master's plans unravelled and the Doctor restored, along with time itself, Francine tried to kill him. The Doctor talked her out of it by appealing to her better nature. She was one of the few who remembered the Master and knew of alien life. She was later seen in the window of her home when Martha decided to leave the Doctor, silently acknowledging him with a nod of her head. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
Aftermath
The Doctor asked about her when he met Martha again during the Sontaran crisis. Martha replied, "Well and recovering". (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem)
War in the Medusa Cascade
When the Daleks attacked Earth and moved the planet to the Medusa Cascade, Francine was at home, alone. Martha, using Project Indigo, teleported to the house. Francine's laptop then picked up a transmission from Harriet Jones, who informed Martha, among others, of the plan to bring the Doctor to Earth. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
After making contact with the Doctor, Martha planned to teleport to Germany to activate the Osterhagen Key, despite Francine begging her not go. When she could not stop her daughter, she asked what the key would do, to which Martha replied, "I love you," before teleporting away. When Earth was moved back into the solar system, Francine was overjoyed, going outside and enjoying the sunlight. (TV: Journey's End)
Personality
Francine had a very strong personality. She was an uptight, critical and demanding woman. She was also curious about what happened to Martha twelve hours before the events of Lazarus's experiment, (TV: The Lazarus Experiment) and was very suspicious of the Doctor and his relationship with her daughter. Before she was captured and tortured by the Master, she deeply disliked the Doctor, being antagonistic and cynical towards him, and wanted to know who he was and what he was doing with Martha. She trusted people who told her the Doctor was dangerous and went as far to agree for them to tap the phonelines whilst she was talking to Martha. (TV: 42, The Sound of Drums) She also had a stressful life. Her ex-husband dated a very young woman who was about the same age as Martha. This annoyed her even though they were no longer married. She soon got back together with her ex after being tormented and tortured by the Master who she came to hate and despise for his evil. After the events of the Year That Never Was, her feelings towards the Doctor changed significantly and she no longer disliked him as she came to respect him realizing they she has judged him unfairly. (TV: Last of the Time Lords)
Behind the scenes
- Francine was dubbed in German by voice actor Michaela Kametz.
