Martha Jones
Encyclopedia
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 Doctor Who series four
in 2008, and later cameo
ed in the Tenth Doctor's two-part send-off 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.
of Doctor Who, first appearing in the episode "Smith and Jones
". When the hospital she works at is teleported to the Moon
, medical student Martha helps save the day alongside an alien time traveller known only as the Doctor
(David Tennant
). To thank her for her help, the Doctor invites her to join him for a supposed single trip in his time machine the TARDIS
, but later accepts her as his full-time "companion
", admitting that she was "never just a passenger", and he even gives her the key to the TARDIS. Nevertheless, she becomes frustrated because the Doctor is oblivious to her feelings for him, and she expresses concern that she is simply a rebound
after the Doctor's painful loss of his previous companion, Rose
(Billie Piper
). When the amnesiac Doctor falls in love in the "Human Nature
"/"The Family of Blood
" two-parter, a pained Martha claims "You had to go and fall in love with a human... and it wasn't me". In the series finale
, in which the Doctor's nemesis the Master
(John Simm
) takes over planet Earth, capturing both the Doctor and fellow companion Captain Jack Harkness
(John Barrowman
), Martha is left alone to save the world as the Doctor and Jack are captured but she manages to escape by teleporting away. On the run from the Master, she spends a year travelling the world in a plan which restores the incapacitated Doctor and reverses time, undoing the Master's actions. Able to remember the events during the Master's reign, Martha then leaves the TARDIS of her own accord, telling the Doctor that she can't waste her life pining for someone when the relationship cannot happen, but promises that she will see him again. Martha, as voiced by Freema Agyeman, also appears in the 2007 animated serial The Infinite Quest
, which aired in twelve weekly segments during the run of the 2007 series.
The character reappears in the 2008 series of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which focuses on occasional Doctor Who companion Jack Harkness. First appearing in the episode "Reset
" as part of a three-episode story arc
, Martha has been temporarily drafted to the Torchwood
organisation of alien-hunters by Captain Jack, requiring a medical expert on alien life. Through exposition, it is revealed that Martha has become a "medical officer" for international paranormal investigations agency UNIT
since qualifying as a Doctor of Medicine
. Martha briefly joins the Cardiff
-based Torchwood Three as its medical officer following the death of Owen Harper
(Burn Gorman
), but later leaves the organisation in the episode "A Day in the Death
" once she is satisfied that Owen is fit to return to duty following his resurrection. Later in the 2008 series
, Martha returns to Doctor Who for a three-episode arc beginning with "The Sontaran Stratagem
" and ending with "The Doctor's Daughter
", in which she meets the Doctor's new companion Donna Noble
(Catherine Tate
); in the first episode, a more assertive and engaged
Martha summons the Doctor to Earth to help uncover a plot by the Sontaran
s. Agyeman appears in the role again for the final two episodes of the series, "The Stolen Earth
"/"Journey's End
", where she has been promoted to a US division of UNIT and is working on a top secret teleportation project based on Sontaran technology. She rallies alongside fellow companions Jack and Sarah Jane Smith
(Elisabeth Sladen
) in an effort to face the threat of Davros
' (Julian Bleach
) plot to destroy reality. In facing Davros, Martha threatens to set off nuclear warheads
which will destroy the Earth in order to spare human suffering and curtail his plans, but is stopped. In the episode's dénouement, Martha leaves with Jack and former companion Mickey Smith
(Noel Clarke
), with Jack saying to her "I'm not sure about UNIT these days... maybe there's something else you could be doing."
Despite the set up at the end of Doctor Who series four, Martha does not appear in Torchwood series three (2009). Martha's absence is explained when the characters interact with UNIT officers in Children of Earth; she is on her honeymoon. In lieu of Martha, the character of Lois Habiba (Cush Jumbo) was created. In The End of Time
(2010), it is revealed that Martha married Mickey Smith instead of the previous fiancé, and has left UNIT to work freelance fighting aliens with Mickey. The Doctor appears to the pair shortly before his pending regeneration
to save them from a Sontaran sniper. Agyeman is credited as portraying Martha Smith-Jones.
in relationship to the television series. In books, Martha appears in the "New Series Adventures" series of Doctor Who novels, published by BBC Books
. The first book published was a "Quick Reads" novel, Made of Steel
by Terrance Dicks
(published prior to her first television appearance), and the character subsequently appeared in all novels in the series, starting with Sting of the Zygons
by Stephen Cole
and most recently in The Many Hands
by Dale Smith. Freema Agyeman physically represents the character on the cover of every novel. In late 2008 The Story of Martha
, a collection of stories focusing on Martha's adventures between "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" was published.
In terms of comic book appearances, Martha has appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
strips from #381 onwards and the Doctor Who Adventures
comics from #28 onwards. The character also appears in the Battles in Time
series of comic books periodically. In 2007, American comic book publisher IDW Publishing
(publisher of various Angel
, Star Trek and The Transformers
comic titles) announced their plans to do a devoted series of Tenth Doctor and Martha comics for an American audience. When asked about canonicity, IDW executive editor Chris Ryall
dodged the issue by saying all the comics are "blessed" by Russell T Davies but it is up to the individual how canonical each story is.
Torchwood drama, "Lost Souls
" which aired in Summer 2008 as an Afternoon Play featuring the voices of the Torchwood cast and Freema Agyeman. Set between the events of the 2008 series of Torchwood but prior to the Doctor Who finale that year, Martha recruits Jack, Ianto
(Gareth David-Lloyd
) and Gwen
(Eve Myles
) on Torchwood's first international adventure, as part of Radio 4's special celebration of the Large Hadron Collider
being switched on at CERN
in Geneva
. The special radio episode's plot focuses on the Large Hadron Collider's activation and the doomsday scenario some predicted it might incite, as well as the Torchwood team's mourning of Toshiko
(Naoko Mori
) and Owen's recent deaths in the Torchwood second series finale
.
'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. Her cousin, Adeola Oshodi, is deceased, as Martha revealed to the Doctor in "Smith and Jones". 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. 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). 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
.
", 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. 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 doesn't 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; had Martha appeared, the character would have appeared in all three programmes in the franchise.
), and her status as a role model to young viewers. Martha has been described in newspaper reports as the "first ethnic-minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who" or the Doctor's "first black assistant" (Agyeman herself was born to Ghana
ian and Iran
ian parents.) Martha's status as "first black companion" is "thrown into dispute" by consideration of Mickey Smith
(Noel Clarke
) and his companion role in the 2006 series
. In her introduction, Martha is represented as being 'normal' in ways previous Doctor Who companions were not. For example, she becomes the first character to use (light) swear words
when she exclaims "We're on the bloody moon!" Davies felt that this level of swearing was both normal and appropriate, citing a Harry Potter film
in which the young audience reacted with laughter rather than shock when a young character cursed "Bloody hell". In some instances, Martha's status as a middle-class woman distinguish her from earlier black companion Mickey Smith, who is male and, like Rose Tyler, working-class. Articles which focus on Martha's race normally attempt to make distinctions between Martha's social status and that of Mickey, and to what extent race or class do or do not play a part.
, Mickey's constant struggle for respect and recognition from the Doctor in the first two series was a "subtle exploration ... of the dynamics of multi-ethnic life in contemporary Britain". The Rustins argue that in introducing Martha the series "catches hold" of the fact "that black women have in general been more successful educationally and professionally than black men in contemporary Britain." As a black time traveller, the series' writers have used the character's presence as a means of injecting social commentary
, tackling social issues such as racism
in both bygone eras as well as the present day.
As a black time traveller, the character of Martha allows Doctor Who to explore historical issues concerning race. In the episode "The Shakespeare Code
", Martha wonders if she is safe in an era before emancipation
, but the Doctor is blasé. The Doctor points out to Martha (also the audience surrogate) that England in 1599 is "not so different from your time"; black women are seen walking amongst the crowd at home and safe, and Martha identifies several cross-dressing actors. Martha soon reacts with surprise and possible offence to William Shakespeare
's use of Elizabethan
terms for black people
such as "blackamoor" and "ethiop
". For a moment, she thinks these terms could be racist (the Doctor quips that it is "political correctness gone mad
"), but realises Shakespeare is actually enamoured of her. At the end of the episode, he calls her his "Dark Lady", the name given to the woman the real Shakespeare referred to in a number of Shakespeare's sonnets
;Sonnets CXXVII
-CLIV
by implication, Martha is the Dark Lady. Lindy A. Orthia opines that such Tenth Doctor era representations of "Earth’s past as a place of happy and benign diversity" may be anti-racist in intention, but ultimately trivialise the racism that has infested Western society for centuries. Such representations include visions of "Depression-era New York [containing] mixed-race shanty towns led by a black man
, while black women populate the streets and royal courts of Victorian England
and Enlightenment
France".
Other episodes such as "Human Nature
"/"The Family of Blood
", set in 1913, depict the racism of an earlier era (Edwardian era). For Orthia, the few Doctor Who serials that explicitly depict racism "are remarkable by their presence: they carry rhetorical power because they are so rare in Doctor Who." In "Human Nature", in addition to the racist jibes of private school
boys, "we bear witness to how things have changed, when a white nurse refuses to believe that Martha is a medical student in the future, saying, "Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of your colour."" When the TARDIS
crew are nationally branded as terrorists in "The Sound of Drums
", the Master (Simm) says that the Doctor's current companions "tick every demographic box" – referring to Martha's gender and ethnicity and Jack's sexual orientation
. He later refers to Jack (Barrowman) and Martha as "the girlie and the freak", adding to the insult by claiming he is not sure which is which. Episodes set in the future, Orthia notes, are more often than not inclusive and "cosmopolitan" projections of societies which are as multi-racial (though not multi-ethnic) and sexually liberal as the present, if not more so.
, KS4
and KS5
-age students to "identify three of their favourite television programmes and to try and recall, and describe, a television programme they had watched that was about science or included a scientist." The researchers narrowed down these selections to just two programmes which "feature within the favourite programmes for both boys and girls... The Simpsons
(Channel 4
) and Doctor Who (BBC)." The research was further analysed "the representation of STEM-related topics" through the programme's two prominent, respective, female characters: Lisa Simpson
(Yeardley Smith
) and Martha Jones; these characters were selected in light of Steinke. et al.'s suggestion that "presenting positive televised images of women scientists may be a particularly effective strategy for providing role models to promote girls’ interest in science, particularly when direct interaction with human role models is not possible". The article points out that Martha and Lisa are quite different: primarily, "Lisa is represented as
being different from many of her peers... a ‘child genius
’... considered to be
‘extraordinary’", whereas Martha "is represented as being a comparatively ‘normal’ young woman", who unlike Lisa invites self-identification. Martha's attempts to diagnose a patient in her debut episode is criticised as faulty; it is her "responses to the extraordinary situations that she later finds herself in, rather than her everyday life" which distinguish Martha. Her "normal" status is also highlighted when she becomes the first character "to be heard swearing" in Doctor Who. In spite of their differences, however, many commonalities were brought to light by the research.
Importantly, Lisa and Martha are both represented as characters who, rather than lack social skills, play "a central role within their families’ relationships" (David X. Cohen
describes Lisa as "the heart of the family", Davies describes Martha as a "sort of peace-maker within her family"); "Martha’s family," the article says, "and her relationships with them, are part of the narrative that runs throughout the series", who are her constant despite the time travel aspect of the series. "[H]owever fantastic and ‘unreal’ the experiences of Martha and Lisa might be, their characters are always situated within a set of family relationships that most viewers would recognise as being fairly commonplace." Whereas in The Simpsons, Lisa is the character most identified with knowledge and worldliness, in Doctor Who that character is the Doctor. The power relationship this affords the Doctor and Martha is challenged, in Martha's favour, for the first time in "42
", when an alien possession leaves the Doctor "scared"; according to Agyeman, Martha "has to take control". This independence is continued in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", of which Davies says "Martha is left facing the monsters alone. The whole story wouldn’t work if the Doctor didn’t trust Martha". Martha also is asked to save the world singlehandedly in "The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords
". When Martha next appears in Torchwood, as a UNIT officer and qualified M.D., "the audience has been able to follow Martha’s
career and watch her gain in both expertise and confidence." In their summary, the researchers concluded: "In discussing our analysis of [Lisa Simpson and Martha Jones] we have highlighted ways in which they could be viewed both as characters with which young people can identify, but also as characters that provide positive role models in terms of their relationship to STEM.
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
in the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
and its spin-off series, Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
. She is a companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
of the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
). 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
Doctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
, and to later make guest appearances in subsequent series and crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
appearances in the show's two spin-offs; Martha subsequently made guest appearances in Torchwood series two and Doctor Who series four
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
in 2008, and later cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
ed in the Tenth Doctor's two-part send-off The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
in 2010. Martha was also intended to make guest appearances in the 2009 series of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
, but could not due to the actress' other obligations.
Within the series' narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
, Martha begins as a medical student who becomes the Doctor's time travelling
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
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
Unrequited love
Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...
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
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
, and briefly Torchwood
Torchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
. In a later appearance, she takes the surname Smith-Jones after having married fellow companion Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Noel Clarke.Mickey is introduced as the boyfriend of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, and a recurring character on the programme...
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.
Television
Martha Jones is introduced in the 2007 seriesDoctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
of Doctor Who, first appearing in the episode "Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
". When the hospital she works at is teleported to the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, medical student Martha helps save the day alongside an alien time traveller known only as the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
(David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
). To thank her for her help, the Doctor invites her to join him for a supposed single trip in his time machine the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, but later accepts her as his full-time "companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
", admitting that she was "never just a passenger", and he even gives her the key to the TARDIS. Nevertheless, she becomes frustrated because the Doctor is oblivious to her feelings for him, and she expresses concern that she is simply a rebound
Rebound (dating)
A rebound is an undefined period following the break up of a romantic relationship. The term's use dates to at least the 1830s, when Mary Russell Mitford wrote of "nothing so easy as catching a heart on the rebound"...
after the Doctor's painful loss of his previous companion, Rose
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
). When the amnesiac Doctor falls in love in the "Human Nature
Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)
"Human Nature" is the eighth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
"/"The Family of Blood
The Family of Blood
"The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of Series 3 of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Preceded by "Human Nature", it is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
" two-parter, a pained Martha claims "You had to go and fall in love with a human... and it wasn't me". In the series finale
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
, in which the Doctor's nemesis the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
(John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
) takes over planet Earth, capturing both the Doctor and fellow companion Captain Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
(John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
), Martha is left alone to save the world as the Doctor and Jack are captured but she manages to escape by teleporting away. On the run from the Master, she spends a year travelling the world in a plan which restores the incapacitated Doctor and reverses time, undoing the Master's actions. Able to remember the events during the Master's reign, Martha then leaves the TARDIS of her own accord, telling the Doctor that she can't waste her life pining for someone when the relationship cannot happen, but promises that she will see him again. Martha, as voiced by Freema Agyeman, also appears in the 2007 animated serial The Infinite Quest
The Infinite Quest
The Infinite Quest is an animated serial based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was made by BBC Television, but does not share the same producers as the live-action series. It was aired in twelve weekly parts starting 2 April 2007 as a segment of the children's...
, which aired in twelve weekly segments during the run of the 2007 series.
The character reappears in the 2008 series of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which focuses on occasional Doctor Who companion Jack Harkness. First appearing in the episode "Reset
Reset (Torchwood)
"Reset" is the sixth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast by BBC Three on 13 February 2008, immediately after the broadcast of "Adam" on BBC Two...
" as part of a three-episode story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
, Martha has been temporarily drafted to the Torchwood
Torchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
organisation of alien-hunters by Captain Jack, requiring a medical expert on alien life. Through exposition, it is revealed that Martha has become a "medical officer" for international paranormal investigations agency UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
since qualifying as a Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
. Martha briefly joins the Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
-based Torchwood Three as its medical officer following the death of Owen Harper
Owen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
(Burn Gorman
Burn Gorman
Burn Hugh Gorman is an American-born English actor and musician. Burn is best known for his roles as Owen Harper in Torchwood and as William Guppy in Bleak House.-Personal life:...
), but later leaves the organisation in the episode "A Day in the Death
A Day in the Death
"A Day in the Death" is the eighth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Three on 27 February 2008...
" once she is satisfied that Owen is fit to return to duty following his resurrection. Later in the 2008 series
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
, Martha returns to Doctor Who for a three-episode arc beginning with "The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
" and ending with "The Doctor's Daughter
The Doctor's Daughter
"The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.- Synopsis :...
", in which she meets the Doctor's new companion Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
); in the first episode, a more assertive and engaged
Engagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
Martha summons the Doctor to Earth to help uncover a plot by the Sontaran
Sontaran
The Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...
s. Agyeman appears in the role again for the final two episodes of the series, "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
"/"Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...
", where she has been promoted to a US division of UNIT and is working on a top secret teleportation project based on Sontaran technology. She rallies alongside fellow companions Jack and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
(Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
) in an effort to face the threat of Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
' (Julian Bleach
Julian Bleach
Julian Bleach is an English actor who is best known as co-creator and "M. C." of Shockheaded Peter, a musical entertainment based on the works of Heinrich Hoffmann, which won the 2002 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.Bleach trained at LAMDA...
) plot to destroy reality. In facing Davros, Martha threatens to set off nuclear warheads
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
which will destroy the Earth in order to spare human suffering and curtail his plans, but is stopped. In the episode's dénouement, Martha leaves with Jack and former companion Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Noel Clarke.Mickey is introduced as the boyfriend of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, and a recurring character on the programme...
(Noel Clarke
Noel Clarke
Noel Anthony Clarke is an English actor, director and screenwriter from London. He is best known for playing Wyman Norris in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Mickey Smith in Doctor Who...
), with Jack saying to her "I'm not sure about UNIT these days... maybe there's something else you could be doing."
Despite the set up at the end of Doctor Who series four, Martha does not appear in Torchwood series three (2009). Martha's absence is explained when the characters interact with UNIT officers in Children of Earth; she is on her honeymoon. In lieu of Martha, the character of Lois Habiba (Cush Jumbo) was created. In The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
(2010), it is revealed that Martha married Mickey Smith instead of the previous fiancé, and has left UNIT to work freelance fighting aliens with Mickey. The Doctor appears to the pair shortly before his pending regeneration
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
to save them from a Sontaran sniper. Agyeman is credited as portraying Martha Smith-Jones.
Literature
Aside from television appearances, the character of Martha also appears in Doctor Who novels and comic books, some of which are ambiguous in terms of their canonicityCanon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
in relationship to the television series. In books, Martha appears in the "New Series Adventures" series of Doctor Who novels, published by BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
. The first book published was a "Quick Reads" novel, Made of Steel
Made of Steel (Doctor Who)
Made of Steel is a BBC Books original novella written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Martha. This paperback is part of the Quick Reads Initiative sponsored by the UK government, to encourage...
by Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
(published prior to her first television appearance), and the character subsequently appeared in all novels in the series, starting with Sting of the Zygons
Sting of the Zygons
Sting of the Zygons is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and based on the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones...
by Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole (writer)
Stephen Cole is an author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing...
and most recently in The Many Hands
The Many Hands
The Many Hands is a BBC Books original novel written by Dale Smith and based on the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. It was published on 10 April 2008, alongside Martha in the Mirror and Snowglobe 7.- Synopsis :The book opens...
by Dale Smith. Freema Agyeman physically represents the character on the cover of every novel. In late 2008 The Story of Martha
The Story of Martha
The Story of Martha is a BBC Books original novel written by Dan Abnett with David Roden, Steve Lockley & Paul Lewis, Robert Shearman and Simon Jowett and based on the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones...
, a collection of stories focusing on Martha's adventures between "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" was published.
In terms of comic book appearances, Martha has appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
strips from #381 onwards and the Doctor Who Adventures
Doctor Who Adventures
Doctor Who Adventures is a magazine based on the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is published by BBC Magazines and aimed at 6–13 year-olds, a different demographic from the Doctor Who Magazine readership...
comics from #28 onwards. The character also appears in the Battles in Time
Doctor Who - Battles in Time Comic Stories
Doctor Who – Battles in Time is a fortnightly magazine and card game based on the British television series Doctor Who, each issue containing a four page comic story...
series of comic books periodically. In 2007, American comic book publisher IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
(publisher of various Angel
Angel comics
Angel comic book refers to one of two series published by Dark Horse Comics during 2000–2002. Both of these series are based on the television series Angel, and were published while the television series was on air. The first volume was an ongoing series halted after seventeen issues. The second...
, Star Trek and The Transformers
The Transformers (IDW Publishing)
The Transformers is a comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's Transformers characters and toy line.Following Dreamwave Productions' bankruptcy in 2005, IDW picked up the rights and hired long-time Transformers writer Simon Furman to craft a rebooted Generation 1-based continuity,...
comic titles) announced their plans to do a devoted series of Tenth Doctor and Martha comics for an American audience. When asked about canonicity, IDW executive editor Chris Ryall
Chris Ryall
Christopher "Chris" Ryall is best known as the Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief of IDW Publishing , and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award-nominated series, Zombies vs. Robots, co-created with artist Ashley Wood, was optioned by Sony Pictures for...
dodged the issue by saying all the comics are "blessed" by Russell T Davies but it is up to the individual how canonical each story is.
Audio drama
Martha also appears in a BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Torchwood drama, "Lost Souls
Lost Souls (Torchwood)
"Lost Souls" is an original BBC Radio 4 audio play written by Joseph Lidster and is a spin-off from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who. It aired on 10 September 2008 in the Afternoon Play slot as part of Radio 4's Big Bang Day which celebrated...
" which aired in Summer 2008 as an Afternoon Play featuring the voices of the Torchwood cast and Freema Agyeman. Set between the events of the 2008 series of Torchwood but prior to the Doctor Who finale that year, Martha recruits Jack, Ianto
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television series Torchwood, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A series regular, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwoods parent show, Doctor Who...
(Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd is a Welsh actor best known for his role as Ianto Jones in the British science fiction television programme Torchwood.- Early life :...
) and Gwen
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
(Eve Myles
Eve Myles
Eve Myles is an award winning Welsh actress of stage and screen. She is best known to Welsh audiences for her portrayal of Ceri Owen in the BBC Wales drama Belonging, and to audiences worldwide for her role as Gwen Cooper in the science fiction show Torchwood, a spin-off from Doctor Who.-Personal...
) on Torchwood's first international adventure, as part of Radio 4's special celebration of the Large Hadron Collider
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
being switched on at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. The special radio episode's plot focuses on the Large Hadron Collider's activation and the doomsday scenario some predicted it might incite, as well as the Torchwood team's mourning of Toshiko
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
(Naoko Mori
Naoko Mori
is a British-Japanese actress known for roles as Sarah, Saffron's "odd" friend in Absolutely Fabulous, Mie Nishikawa in Casualty, and Toshiko Sato in Doctor Who and Torchwood.-Early life:...
) and Owen's recent deaths in the Torchwood second series finale
Exit Wounds (Torchwood)
"Exit Wounds" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 April 2008.-Synopsis:...
.
Conception
The introduction of Martha as the next companion after Billie PiperBillie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
's Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
was announced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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
Adjoa Andoh
Adjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress of Ghanaian descent. Andoh is known on the UK stage for lead roles at the RSC, the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and is a familiar face on British television Adjoa Andoh (born 1962) is a British...
plays her mother Francine, with Trevor Laird
Trevor Laird
Trevor Laird is an English actor.Born in London, Laird appeared in the 1979 film Quadrophenia as Ferdy, a drug supplier for the main character Jimmy. His breakthrough role was in the 1980 cult classic Babylon. He also appeared in the 1986 Doctor Who serial Mindwarp as the guard commander Frax...
as her father Clive (divorced from Francine), Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an English actress.- Life and career :Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha in 1983, in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. Her name, "Gugulethu", means pride in Zulu. Her mother, Anne, is an English nurse, and her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a South African...
as her sister Tish, and Reggie Yates
Reggie Yates
Reginald "Reggie" Yates is a British actor, television presenter and radio DJ of Ghanaian descent. He went to Central Foundation Boys' School.-Early career:...
as her brother Leo. Her cousin, Adeola Oshodi, is deceased, as Martha revealed to the Doctor in "Smith and Jones". 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
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
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
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
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. 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). In addition, Martha's family appears to be of a higher social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
than Rose; whereas Rose's family was fairly typically working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, Martha's family appears to be wealthier (her father owns what appears to be a late model Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
convertible, and the clothes worn by her family are substantially more in line with fashion), probably middle
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
to upper middle class
Upper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
.
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
Harriet Jones
Harriet Jones MP is a recurring fictional character played by Penelope Wilton in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Jones was introduced in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" as an MP who aids the...
in Doctor Who, Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television series Torchwood, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A series regular, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwoods parent show, Doctor Who...
and Eugene Jones
Random Shoes
"Random Shoes" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 10 December 2006. It is the ninth episode of the first series.-Synopsis:...
in Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
, Yanto Jones in Mine All Mine and Stuart Allen Jones in Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk (UK TV series)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...
. 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
Army of Ghosts
"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who which was first broadcast on 1 July 2006...
". Acknowledging this, the resemblance of the two characters was touched upon in "Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
" when Martha makes reference to her deceased cousin, also serving to connect Martha to the larger Doctor Who universe
Whoniverse
Whoniverse, a portmanteau of the words "Who" and "universe", is a word used to describe the fictional setting of the television series Doctor Who, K-9 and Company, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K-9, as well as other related stories...
.
Development
Throughout Doctor Who series three, Martha pined for the Doctor's affection. In its final story — "Last of the Time LordsLast of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
", 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
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
Series 2, before rejoining David Tennant's Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
alongside new companion Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
) 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
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
, a qualified doctor and bona fide expert on alien life. First appearing on the spin-off series in Torchwood episode "Reset
Reset (Torchwood)
"Reset" is the sixth episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was first broadcast by BBC Three on 13 February 2008, immediately after the broadcast of "Adam" on BBC Two...
", fellow companion Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
establishes Martha's credibility to her new peers, slyly commenting upon her vast experience. John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
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
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
, 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
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
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
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
" she cites her relationship with Thomas Milligan as a reason to stay on Earth, rather than join Donna and Doctor in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
- 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
Euros Lyn
Euros Lyn is a television director. He was born in 1971 and educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera and the University of Manchester.To date, he has directed nine episodes of Doctor Who. He won the BAFTA Cymru award for Best Director for "Silence in the Library" and the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic...
comments that the production team had intended for Agyeman and Clarke to join Torchwood for its third series, but their careers led them elsewhere. 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 doesn't 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
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
series two finale Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series...
in December 2008, but the character had to be replaced with classic series character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
(Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) "at the last minute" due to Agyeman's role in Law & Order: UK; had Martha appeared, the character would have appeared in all three programmes in the franchise.
Analyses
Academic analyses of the character typically focus on the character's ethnicity, her social class (middleMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
), and her status as a role model to young viewers. Martha has been described in newspaper reports as the "first ethnic-minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who" or the Doctor's "first black assistant" (Agyeman herself was born to Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian parents.) Martha's status as "first black companion" is "thrown into dispute" by consideration of Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Noel Clarke.Mickey is introduced as the boyfriend of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, and a recurring character on the programme...
(Noel Clarke
Noel Clarke
Noel Anthony Clarke is an English actor, director and screenwriter from London. He is best known for playing Wyman Norris in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Mickey Smith in Doctor Who...
) and his companion role in the 2006 series
Doctor Who (series 2)
The second series of British science fiction series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "New Earth" on 15 April 2006...
. In her introduction, Martha is represented as being 'normal' in ways previous Doctor Who companions were not. For example, she becomes the first character to use (light) swear words
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
when she exclaims "We're on the bloody moon!" Davies felt that this level of swearing was both normal and appropriate, citing a Harry Potter film
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
in which the young audience reacted with laughter rather than shock when a young character cursed "Bloody hell". In some instances, Martha's status as a middle-class woman distinguish her from earlier black companion Mickey Smith, who is male and, like Rose Tyler, working-class. Articles which focus on Martha's race normally attempt to make distinctions between Martha's social status and that of Mickey, and to what extent race or class do or do not play a part.
Racial issues
In contrast to Rose and Mickey, Martha is middle-class and university-educated; for Michael and Margaret Rustin of the University of East LondonUniversity of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...
, Mickey's constant struggle for respect and recognition from the Doctor in the first two series was a "subtle exploration ... of the dynamics of multi-ethnic life in contemporary Britain". The Rustins argue that in introducing Martha the series "catches hold" of the fact "that black women have in general been more successful educationally and professionally than black men in contemporary Britain." As a black time traveller, the series' writers have used the character's presence as a means of injecting social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...
, tackling social issues such as racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in both bygone eras as well as the present day.
As a black time traveller, the character of Martha allows Doctor Who to explore historical issues concerning race. In the episode "The Shakespeare Code
The Shakespeare Code
"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was...
", Martha wonders if she is safe in an era before emancipation
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
, but the Doctor is blasé. The Doctor points out to Martha (also the audience surrogate) that England in 1599 is "not so different from your time"; black women are seen walking amongst the crowd at home and safe, and Martha identifies several cross-dressing actors. Martha soon reacts with surprise and possible offence to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's use of Elizabethan
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
terms for black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
such as "blackamoor" and "ethiop
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
". For a moment, she thinks these terms could be racist (the Doctor quips that it is "political correctness gone mad
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
"), but realises Shakespeare is actually enamoured of her. At the end of the episode, he calls her his "Dark Lady", the name given to the woman the real Shakespeare referred to in a number of Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. Sonnets 138 and 144...
;Sonnets CXXVII
Sonnet 127
Sonnet 127 of SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS is the first of the Dark Lady sequence , called so because the poems make it clear that the speaker's mistress has black hair and eyes and dark skin...
-CLIV
Sonnet 154
William Shakespeare's Sonnet 153 and Sonnet 154 are based upon a poem attributed to the Greek poet Marcianus Scholasticus. The poem describes how Cupid has his love brand stolen by nymphs...
by implication, Martha is the Dark Lady. Lindy A. Orthia opines that such Tenth Doctor era representations of "Earth’s past as a place of happy and benign diversity" may be anti-racist in intention, but ultimately trivialise the racism that has infested Western society for centuries. Such representations include visions of "Depression-era New York [containing] mixed-race shanty towns led by a black man
Daleks in Manhattan
"Daleks in Manhattan" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 21 April 2007, and is the fourth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is part one of a two-part story, concluded in "Evolution of the Daleks"...
, while black women populate the streets and royal courts of Victorian England
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
France".
Other episodes such as "Human Nature
Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)
"Human Nature" is the eighth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
"/"The Family of Blood
The Family of Blood
"The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of Series 3 of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Preceded by "Human Nature", it is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature...
", set in 1913, depict the racism of an earlier era (Edwardian era). For Orthia, the few Doctor Who serials that explicitly depict racism "are remarkable by their presence: they carry rhetorical power because they are so rare in Doctor Who." In "Human Nature", in addition to the racist jibes of private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
boys, "we bear witness to how things have changed, when a white nurse refuses to believe that Martha is a medical student in the future, saying, "Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of your colour."" When the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
crew are nationally branded as terrorists in "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
", the Master (Simm) says that the Doctor's current companions "tick every demographic box" – referring to Martha's gender and ethnicity and Jack's sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. He later refers to Jack (Barrowman) and Martha as "the girlie and the freak", adding to the insult by claiming he is not sure which is which. Episodes set in the future, Orthia notes, are more often than not inclusive and "cosmopolitan" projections of societies which are as multi-racial (though not multi-ethnic) and sexually liberal as the present, if not more so.
Female role model
As a young medical professional, Martha has into the focus of studies which discuss young girls' perceptions of "gendered representations of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)". Through questionnaires, researchers for The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering Technology asked Key Stage 3Key Stage 3
Key Stage 3 is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14...
, KS4
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4 is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other exams, in maintained schools in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland—normally known as Year 10 and Year 11 in England and Wales, and Year 11 and Year 12 in Northern Ireland, when pupils are...
and KS5
Key Stage 5
Key Stage 5 is an unofficial label used to describe the two years of post-compulsory education for students aged 16-18, or at sixth form, in the United Kingdom, to align with previous Key Stages as labelled for the National Curriculum....
-age students to "identify three of their favourite television programmes and to try and recall, and describe, a television programme they had watched that was about science or included a scientist." The researchers narrowed down these selections to just two programmes which "feature within the favourite programmes for both boys and girls... The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
(Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
) and Doctor Who (BBC)." The research was further analysed "the representation of STEM-related topics" through the programme's two prominent, respective, female characters: Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
(Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
) and Martha Jones; these characters were selected in light of Steinke. et al.'s suggestion that "presenting positive televised images of women scientists may be a particularly effective strategy for providing role models to promote girls’ interest in science, particularly when direct interaction with human role models is not possible". The article points out that Martha and Lisa are quite different: primarily, "Lisa is represented as
being different from many of her peers... a ‘child genius
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
’... considered to be
‘extraordinary’", whereas Martha "is represented as being a comparatively ‘normal’ young woman", who unlike Lisa invites self-identification. Martha's attempts to diagnose a patient in her debut episode is criticised as faulty; it is her "responses to the extraordinary situations that she later finds herself in, rather than her everyday life" which distinguish Martha. Her "normal" status is also highlighted when she becomes the first character "to be heard swearing" in Doctor Who. In spite of their differences, however, many commonalities were brought to light by the research.
Importantly, Lisa and Martha are both represented as characters who, rather than lack social skills, play "a central role within their families’ relationships" (David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
describes Lisa as "the heart of the family", Davies describes Martha as a "sort of peace-maker within her family"); "Martha’s family," the article says, "and her relationships with them, are part of the narrative that runs throughout the series", who are her constant despite the time travel aspect of the series. "[H]owever fantastic and ‘unreal’ the experiences of Martha and Lisa might be, their characters are always situated within a set of family relationships that most viewers would recognise as being fairly commonplace." Whereas in The Simpsons, Lisa is the character most identified with knowledge and worldliness, in Doctor Who that character is the Doctor. The power relationship this affords the Doctor and Martha is challenged, in Martha's favour, for the first time in "42
42 (Doctor Who)
"42" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 19 May 2007, and is the seventh episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series....
", when an alien possession leaves the Doctor "scared"; according to Agyeman, Martha "has to take control". This independence is continued in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood", of which Davies says "Martha is left facing the monsters alone. The whole story wouldn’t work if the Doctor didn’t trust Martha". Martha also is asked to save the world singlehandedly in "The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
". When Martha next appears in Torchwood, as a UNIT officer and qualified M.D., "the audience has been able to follow Martha’s
career and watch her gain in both expertise and confidence." In their summary, the researchers concluded: "In discussing our analysis of [Lisa Simpson and Martha Jones] we have highlighted ways in which they could be viewed both as characters with which young people can identify, but also as characters that provide positive role models in terms of their relationship to STEM.