Summary

• Freema Agyeman was the first Black companion on Doctor Who, playing Martha Jones who went on to work for UNIT and Torchwood.
• Agyeman's success as Martha came after impressing producers and demonstrating her versatility and skills through auditions.
• Agyeman is one of the few actors in Doctor Who's history to play multiple characters, with Martha being a significant role.

Freema Agyeman played Martha Jones, the first Black companion in the history of explain UNIT's history with the Doctor.

Agyeman's casting as Martha was no accident. She was supposed to play two characters during the previous season, though only one made it to the final script. It was not unusual for Doctor Who to recast actors who previously only had bit parts. Anyone who is familiar with every Doctor and who played them will notice that Colin Baker played a Time Lord guard prior to his run as the Sixth Doctor. Agyeman's casting as Martha was the first time that an actor who played a role in one season was recast as a major character in the next.

Freema Agyeman's Doctor Who Characters Explained

On season 2's "Army of Ghosts," Agyeman played Adeola Oshodi, who worked for Torchwood One. Adeola's major significance to the plot was that the Cybermen killed her. They had upgraded her internally via earpieces that the Doctor overloaded, but that led to her death. Adeola, known to her friends as Adi, later appeared in several Doctor Who stories that were not on TV, with Agyeman voicing the character for several Big Finish audio adventures. Martha mentioned during her time with the Doctor that Adeola was her cousin.

Adeola was supposed to have a twin named Esme, also played by Agyeman, but this character was cut from the script.

The following season, Agyeman was recast to play Martha, a medical student who became involved with the Doctor after he posed as a patient in her hospital. She moved on to UNIT and later appeared on Torchwood after ending her run on Doctor Who. Agyeman also played a third role when Martha was kidnapped by Sontarans and cloned. The clone had a distinct role in the episode, classifying her as a separate character. Martha left the Doctor soon after and is now one of many missing former Doctor Who characters who should return.

How Freema Agyeman Became A Companion After Her Season 2 Debut

Agyeman's persistence in auditioning for Doctor Who, along with the role she had played in "Army of Ghosts," impressed the production team. She had demonstrated flexibility in her various auditions and also had skills such as martial arts training, gymnastics, and horseback riding. These skills allowed her to participate in action scenes. She still had to audition before she was hired as Martha Jones, but her previous experience on the set undoubtedly helped her. The showrunners needed someone different than Rose Tyler to follow Billie Piper's extraordinarily popular run, and Agyeman's skill set allowed Martha to be that person.

Agyeman is one of the only of the 15 main Doctor Who actors who played multiple characters to get an explanation of why her characters look alike. That demonstrates the impression her first character made and explains why she continues playing multiple characters in audio adventures. Without her experience playing Adeola, she might not have had the opportunity to play Martha Jones. The showrunners made the right call in rehiring her, allowing her to play two more characters and play Martha on multiple shows.