Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2001 - Present |
Freema Agyeman (born Frema Agyeman on 1 January, 1979 in Finsbury Park, London[2] ) is an English actress of Ghanaian and Iranian descent whose first notable appearance was in the ITV soap opera Crossroads in 2001[1]. She is best known for playing medical student Martha Jones, companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Background
Freema Agyeman grew up on the Woodberry Down council estate in the London Borough of Hackney.[3] Her mother, Azar, is Iranian and her father, Osei, is Ghanaian. They divorced when she was a child. She has a younger brother, Dominic, and an older sister, Leila.[3] She attended Our Lady's Convent, a Catholic school in Stamford Hill and the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington. She studied performing arts and drama at Middlesex University, graduating in 2000.[3]
Career
When Agyeman began her professional acting career she chose to use a different spelling of her birth name, Frema, as her professional name, to avoid pronunciation problems. [4]
Before securing the part of Martha Jones, Agyeman's most famous role was playing Lola Wise in the revived series of Crossroads. She also had small parts in other TV series such as Casualty and The Bill.
Agyeman secured the part of Martha Jones after an audition which she had been told was for a guest role in Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. She had previously portrayed what was later revealed to be Martha Jones's cousin Adeola Oshodi, who was killed by the Cybermen in the Doctor Who episode "Army of Ghosts". During her first series in the role of Martha, there was a tabloid article that reported she had been axed from the show, but despite her character's departure from the TARDIS in season finale "Last of the Time Lords", she returned in Series Four for five episodes, which included "The Sontaran Stratagem", "The Poison Sky", "The Doctor's Daughter" and "Journey's End".
She also appeared in three episodes of Torchwood.[5], appearing in "Reset", "Dead Man Walking" and "A Day in the Death", before her character departed to return to her job as a Medical Officer with UNIT.
Agyeman can often be seen on The Bedtime Hour on CBeebies reading the story shortly before 7pm.
Agyeman is also narrating BBC Three's Bizarre ER. She will also host a Doctor Who-themed portion of the BBC Proms on 27th July.
On the 25th April 2008, Agyeman appeared on The Paul O'Grady Show. She confirmed that she will be starring as Tattycoram in the upcoming BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit.
As confirmed by the BBC Press release, Agyeman will also play the role of Jenny Collins in the BBC 1 remake of the cult TV series Survivors to be released mid autumn 2008.
Filmography
- Casualty (TV Series) as Kate Hindley
- Mile High (2003, TV Series)
- Crossroads (2003, TV series) as Lola Wise
- The Bill (3 Episodes, 2004-2006) as Shakira Washington
- Silent Witness (1 Episode, 2005) as Mary Ogden
- Doctor Who (2006, Episode "Army of Ghosts") as Adeola Oshodi
- Doctor Who (2007-, TV Series) as Martha Jones
- Doctor Who animated special The Infinite Quest (2007, TV Serial) as Martha Jones (voice)
- The Omid Djalili Show (2007, TV Series) as Herself
- Torchwood (2008, TV Series) as Martha Jones
- Bizarre ER (2008, TV Series) as the Narrator
- The Friday Night Project (2008, TV Series) as Herself
- The Paul O'Grady Show (2008, TV Series, chat show as Herself
- Little Dorrit (2008, TV serial) as Tattycoram
- Survivors (TV Remake) (Autumn 2008, TV Series) as Jenny Collins.
References
- ^ a b Actress Archives
- ^ "Smith and Jones", Doctor Who Magazine Series 3 Companion, p. 22, August 2007
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c Jury, Louise (2007-03-23). "From council estate to Tardis: rise of the Timelord's sidekick". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Hugo, Simon (June 2008), "Where's Your Head At? Freema Agyeman", Torchwood Magazine, p. 60
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "More Martha!". BBC Official Doctor Who site. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
External links
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