19 Years Later, Doctor Who Officially Has a Chance to Fix Its Worst Mistake
Doctor Who fans have been given fresh hope that Martha Jones, one of the show's most underrated companions, could get the deeper storyline she deserves. In a new interview with Doctor Who Magazine, David Tennant said he would like to record Big Finish audio adventures with Freema Agyeman, who played Martha alongside his Tenth Doctor, having already done similar audio work with fellow former co-stars Catherine Tate and Billie Piper. This matters because Martha's original run was widely seen as poorly served by the show, with the Tenth Doctor treating her dismissively as he grieved the departure of previous companion Rose Tyler.
Martha debuted in 2007's "Smith and Jones" and left after just 13 episodes, later making only a brief cameo the following series, despite arguably saving the Doctor's life on multiple occasions, including in "Last of the Time Lords" and "The Family of Blood". Tennant's comments raise the possibility of new audio dramas reuniting Martha with either his Tenth Doctor or his later "Fourteenth Doctor" incarnation, the latter introduced via the show's bi-generation storyline, which some fans feel would better suit a reconciliation given that persona's greater focus on emotional resolution. No official Big Finish production has yet been confirmed.
- Tennant says he'd like Big Finish audio stories with Freema Agyeman's Martha Jones.
- Martha's TV run was short and marred by the Doctor's poor treatment of her.
- No confirmed production yet, but fans hope it addresses a fan-favourite grievance.
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Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction series in which the lead character, the Doctor, regularly changes actor and personality through a device called regeneration, while travelling with rotating companions. David Tennant played the Tenth Doctor between 2005 and 2010, alongside a series of companions including Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman, joined the show in 2007 but left after a relatively short run, and is often seen by fans as having been given a weaker storyline than other companions of the era.
Big Finish is a production company that makes officially licensed Doctor Who audio dramas, allowing former cast members to revisit their characters outside the television series. Tennant has already recorded such audio adventures with other past co-stars, and has also returned to the role on screen in recent years via a special storyline that gave him a new, parallel incarnation known as the Fourteenth Doctor. This background explains why any suggestion of new audio stories reuniting him with Agyeman has drawn interest from long-time viewers, since it touches on how the show has treated one of its companions and whether that could still be revisited.