Freema Talks About Surviving Dr. Who

[The Wormhole]

It actually seems to me that the role of the Doctor's companion is only supposed to last a season in nuWho anyway. Martha left after a season, and so did Donna. I suspect the main reason Rose stayed for two seasons was because season 1 ended with Eccleston leaving, and with Tennant taking over as the Doctor in S2, they decided to keep the same companion so that they could have at least one star the audience was already familiar with.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^I think there's more to it than that. I don't think there's a set limit or anything, it's more about the stories RTD wanted to tell, and the schedule of Catherine Tate, they didn't even think they could get her for a series, never mind 2.

 

[Brendan Moody]

RTD has said that he was still deciding whether or not to keep Martha for a second full series as he planned "Last of the Time Lords." He wanted to retain Agyeman, but ultimately decided that the unrequited love angle wouldn't work for another full year, so he worked out the Torchwood/Doctor Who plan to keep the character and actress while resolving that arc.

By the time Catherine Tate was being considered as the series four companion the plan for the standalone specials was already in place, so there was no way for her to do another series in any case. But for that, RTD and Tate have both said that they would have loved to have another year of Donna.

 

[Winterwind]

And I'd have loved another year of Donna myself.

 

[bigdaddy]

I think she was a wooden boring character on Doctor Who besides the Hospital on the Moon episode. So maybe that is her, maybe it's bad writing.

 

[Starkers]

Its funny but I thought she was great in Smith and Jones, but the longer the season went on the more I noticed her limitations. She has two modes- rabbit in headlights on the verge of crying, or blank faced 'possessed'

She never seems to belive in her performance for me. David Tennant loses himself in being the Doctor, Billie was Rose, Tate Donna....for me Freema always seemed to be Freema playing Martha if that makes sense.

As for her appearances in S4...seriously aside from the Sontaran 2 parter she was essentially pointless. You could remove her from the Doctors Daughter or the finale without losing anything. Similarly with Torchwood, she had a purpose in the first episode but after that just seems to hang around the sidelines.

Sorry but I'm sticking with my initial assesment that her appearances in S4 and TW smacked of a contractual obligation, and I'm really glad she isn't going to be in torchwood.

 

[Winterwind]

I'll agree with everything you said there, Starkers.

One things I've always wondered about was that I've heard it said she was cast as the companion for S3 based on the strength of her appearance as the ill-fated TW1 employee in the S2 finale.

I simply can't see anything she did, at least on screen, that merited that S3 role.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Actually, the production team credited Agyeman's versatility across three auditions for roles in series two (Sally Jacobs in "The Christmas Invasion," later-dropped character Esme in "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel," and Adeola in the finale) as first bringing her to their attention. I believe her general energy on set, as opposed to just her performance, was also a factor.

 

[Winterwind]

Well, that makes more sense than just the S2 finale appearance being the basis. I don't agree with the decision but it's more understandable now.

 

[Sci]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

I don't know what the people who criticize Agyeman's acting are talking about. I don't see it at all.

 

[Starkers]

^ fine that's your opinion and I do respect it (seriously) I guess acting, like so many other aspects of life, is about individual interpretation, for me I've never been convinced by Freema, and I know I'm not alone, similarly other people think she's great.

Apples and oranges I guess.

 

[DWF]

Freema's fine when she's her self but I do think that Martha was alittle stiff as a character at times and sometimes too emotional at other times. She needs more experience in acting and greater variety in her roles, so I think getting away from Martha is a good thing.

 

[Winterwind]

All I can base her acting on is what I've seen in DW. As Martha, she leaves much to be desired. That's my opinion. We're all entitled to our own.

 

[captcalhoun]

my sister thinks she's a brilliant actress and is saying that she's going to complain to the BBC for being racist in killing off Jenny in Survivors and says she doesn't blame Freema for going to ITV...

basically, she thinks the sun shines out her ass.

me, i think she's an alright actress, but she's not been given a lot to work with on Who.

 

[Starkers]

my sister thinks she's a brilliant actress and is saying that she's going to complain to the BBC for being racist in killing off Jenny in Survivors and says she doesn't blame Freema for going to ITV...

basically, she thinks the sun shines out her ass.

me, i think she's an alright actress, but she's not been given a lot to work with on Who.

Ha ha, given that there are two asian and one black character left in Surviors I don't think that complaint will go far!

 

[Bob The Skutter]

my sister thinks she's a brilliant actress and is saying that she's going to complain to the BBC for being racist in killing off Jenny in Survivors and says she doesn't blame Freema for going to ITV...

basically, she thinks the sun shines out her ass.

me, i think she's an alright actress, but she's not been given a lot to work with on Who.

Ha ha, given that there are two asian and one black character left in Surviors I don't think that complaint will go far!

But she was the only ethnic woman, so maybe it's sexracism?

 

[Starkers]

^Ah but the black female Govt minister turns up next week so that's out too.

Unless it's Freema-ism??

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^Ah but the black female Govt minister turns up next week so that's out too.

Unless it's Freema-ism??

It's not-following-the-original-to-the-letterism...

 

[Bacl]

I think people need to remember that actors don't write their own lines, nor do they come up with the plots for the show.

Freema worked with what she was given. If Billie Piper or Catherine Tate had been cast as "Martha Jones" then they'd been given the exact same script with the exact same lines.

Rewatch a Martha episode, and imagine Catherine or Billie instead in Freema's place, but saying the same lines and doing the same things. Nothing added, and nothing taken away.

I don't think they gave Freema a lot to work with is all.

 

[Winterwind]

A good actor can do more than just memorise their lines. They can also act. While I agree that they didn't give her much to work with some can rise about that, some can't. She couldn't.