Who's that girl?
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2006-07-05
- Author: Adam Sherwin
- Page: 2
- Language: English
theface Who's that girl? FREEMA AGYEMAN
Some actresses are catapulted to stardom via a fleeting pop career and a celebrity marriage. But while a 15-year-old Billie Piper topped the charts, Freema Agyeman was pondering whether her hard-earned performing arts degree would ever deliver the leading roles she craved.
Yesterday it was announced that, after a decade slogging through The Bill and Casualty, 27-year-old Agyeman will thumb a ride to TV immortality when she replaces Piper as the new Tardis companion to Doctor Who (David Tennant).
Born in North London to an Iranian mother and a Ghanaian father, Agyeman admits that her elevation to a central role in the sci-fi classic, which enjoys up to ten million viewers, is beyond her wildest dreams. But hers is far from a case of overnight success.
Agyeman gained a BA from Middlesex University and spent the summer of 1996 studying at the Anna Scher Theatre School, which delivers a continuing supply of television regulars.
She leapt at the opportunity to take a theatrical course at Radford University in Virginia in 1998, even volunteering to work as a box-office assistant for student drama productions ih which she was not cast.
But in the "hideously white" culture of British television, where were the opportunities for a striking, eminently qualified black actress? The only apparent answer lay in ITV's ill-fated Crossroads revival.
Agyeman threw herself into the role of "saucy chambermaid" Lola Wise, keeping the Daily Star salivating with such quotes as "She just wants to sleep with all the boys and have a lot of fun." The unmarried actress stressed, though, that while her character was "a bigmouth who stands up for herself', these were the only traits that she and Lola shared.
Minor roles in The Bill and Silent Witness followed, and even when Doctor Who came calling she failed to survive to the final credits. Her character, Adeola, was swiftly dispatched by the Cybermen last week. However, the head writer, Russell T Davies, realised that Agyeman's "range, presence and charm" was the answer all along in the search for Piper's replacement.
That her new character, Martha Jones, is the Doctor's first ethnic-minority companion will sit easily on Agyeman's shoulders. It is a role for which she has been training all her life — and she has ale martial arts skills to strike down any doubters, as the Doctor's mortal enemies will soon discover.
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- APA 6th ed.: Sherwin, Adam (2006-07-05). Who's that girl?. The Times p. 2.
- MLA 7th ed.: Sherwin, Adam. "Who's that girl?." The Times [add city] 2006-07-05, 2. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Sherwin, Adam. "Who's that girl?." The Times, edition, sec., 2006-07-05
- Turabian: Sherwin, Adam. "Who's that girl?." The Times, 2006-07-05, section, 2 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who's that girl? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_that_girl%3F | work=The Times | pages=2 | date=2006-07-05 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who's that girl? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who%27s_that_girl%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 March 2025}}</ref>
