The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who?
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2007-03-22
- Author: Adam Sherwin
- Page: 11
- Language: English
She stacked Doctor Who DVDs on shelves at Blockbuster, but Freema Agyeman has since entered the Tardis, becoming the Timelord's new assistant. The 27-year-old replaces Billie Piper when the series returns this month. After years of audition disappointments, the little-known actress is playing the medical student Martha Jones. The Doctor and the medic are thrown together when a London hospital is transported to the Moon, and are soon fighting a galactic clan. Agyeman, who was brought up in North London by her Iranian mother and Ghanaian father, and who worked shifts at a video shop so that she could get time off for auditions, is about to become one of the most recognisable faces on television. A model Martha action figure is already on the way. Agyeman had a minor role in last year's series and believed she was auditioning for a role in Torchwood when she was summoned to meet the writing team in Cardiff. "I was absolutely elated," she said, after the truth was revealed. "I hadn't allowed myself to entertain the thought that I would get it." Martha is expected to be a "sassier" sidekick than her predecessor, Rose Tyler. Piper has now become an acclaimed West End actress.
David Tennant, who returns in the title role, said: "There is a different dynamic, because the Doctor is not looking for a new best friend. Or, at least, he thinks he isn't."
The Doctor and Martha are destined to meet Shakespeare, alien Plasmavores and a sinister intelligence at work in 1930s New York, where the Daleks are preparing havoc. Tennant said: "The scale is bigger, the locations More extraordinary." Phil Collinson, the producer, said: "The biggest pressure is coming up with new, scary monsters. This year there's probably a bigger selection." Speaking at a screening last night, Agyeman said it was a challenge to carve out a new role. "There are certain aspects that the Doctor is looking for in his assistant," she said. She will be feisty, and a happy-go-lucky, bolshie kind of person. "I am told this is going to change my life but I don't know how to prepare for it. It's been a really good experience so far."
Caption: David Tennant and Freema Agyeman in Doctor Who, which returns to BBC One on March 31
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- APA 6th ed.: Sherwin, Adam (2007-03-22). The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who?. The Times p. 11.
- MLA 7th ed.: Sherwin, Adam. "The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who?." The Times [add city] 2007-03-22, 11. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Sherwin, Adam. "The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who?." The Times, edition, sec., 2007-03-22
- Turabian: Sherwin, Adam. "The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who?." The Times, 2007-03-22, section, 11 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_Doctor_returns_with_a_sassy_sidekick._Who%3F | work=The Times | pages=11 | date=2007-03-22 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=16 April 2024 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=The Doctor returns with a sassy sidekick. Who? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_Doctor_returns_with_a_sassy_sidekick._Who%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=16 April 2024}}</ref>
