Martha Jones

Martha Jones was a female Human who worked as a medical student at a London hospital. The twenty-three-year-old Martha was working at the hospital when she encountered the Doctor, and later joined him as his companion on his adventures. The Doctor insisted, however, that he had not brought Martha aboard the TARDIS as a replacement for his previous companion, Rose Tyler. (DW: [Smith and Jones]])

Alongside the Doctor
Martha Jones first met the Doctor in the street on the way to work; she had been on the phone to several members of her family when she bumped into him. He took off his tie, saying "like so!" before getting on his way. She looked momentarily confused before making her way to her work: she was a nurse at the Royal Hope Hospital in London. As she entered the building, she spots two men appearing like motorcycle couriers, and, soon after, when getting her jacket from her locker, she receives a strong burst of static electricity.

Then, Martha was one of those present to review the Doctor's case. She examineed him using a stethoscope and was shocked to discover that he has two hearts, though she did'nt say anything to anyone else about it.

She later helps him defeat the Plasmavore "Florence" when the hospital was transported to the Moon by the Judoon, and later joined him on his travels. Her first meeting tuned out to be a way for him to prove that he could use his TARDIS to travel through time as well as space. (DW: Smith and Jones)

Trivia

 * The introduction of Martha as the next companion after Billie Piper's Rose Tyler was announced by the BBC in a 5 July 2006 press release. An article in The Times speculates that, since Agyeman has martial arts skills, she may have "a more physical approach" to the role.

First ethnic minority companion?

 * Martha has been described in newspaper reports as the "first ethnic minority companion in the 43-year television history of Doctor Who" or "first black assistant" (Agyeman herself was born to Ghanaian and Iranian parents.) The recurring character of Mickey Smith (played by Noel Clarke), who travelled in the TARDIS with the Tenth Doctor and Rose from School Reunion to The Age of Steel in Series 2, is also from an ethnic minority background and is referred to as a Doctor Who companion in Doctor Who Magazine.


 * Doctor Who stories in other media have previously included minority ethnic companions, including Alison Cheney in the webcast animation Scream of the Shalka (played by Sophie Okonedo; 2003), Sharon in the Doctor Who Weekly comic strips (1980), Roz Forrester in the Virgin New Adventures novels (1995) and Anji Kapoor in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels (2001). Like all spin-off media, their canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear.

Appearances

 * Smith and Jones
 * The Shakespeare Code
 * Gridlock
 * Daleks in Manhattan / TBA
 * The Lazarus Experiment
 * 42
 * Human Nature / The Family of Blood
 * Blink
 * Utopia
 * The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords