Faces of the Year - People who made a cultural impact on Britian in 2007
A dizzy year with the Doctor
Freema Agyeman made her debut as Dr Who’s feisty assistant, Martha Jones, in March. A former employee at Blockbuster Video, she will reprise her role for the fourth series next year
Elizabeth Day - Guardian Observer - Sunday 16 December 2007Agyeman has been answering my questions politely for almost an hour before she leans forward, smiles and asks, ‘So what’s this for again?’ I tell her that she’s one of our Faces of 2007. ‘Really? Oh that’s so nice!’
This exchange tells you two important things about the 28-year-old Agyeman. The first is that she’s genuinely surprised that anyone could be interested in her. The second is that she’s so impeccably well-mannered, she’ll happily chat away to a journalist for a considerable amount of time without knowing why, lest she might offend me by asking what exactly she’s doing there.
She’s clearly never been one to blow her own trumpet, or even manage a feeble self-congratulatory whistle on a school recorder. But she does acknowledge that 2007 has been ‘an incredible year. It feels like it’s been on fast-forward’.
In March Agyeman entered cult television folklore by debuting as the new assistant to the 10th Dr Who, David Tennant. There was a fever pitch of anticipation surrounding her appearance for several reasons, predominantly because she was replacing Billie Piper, who had proved extraordinarily successful in the role of Rose Tyler. But Agyeman was also the first black assistant in the programme’s four-decade history.
‘It’s an honour,’ she says, ‘but the flip-side of that is that you get labelled in a way that non-black actors never do. If we’re still making comments about “the first black this…” in 50 years, then there is a problem.’
In person, Agyeman is strikingly beautiful - an almond-eyed hybrid of her Iranian mother, Azar, and Ghanaian father, Osei. She grew up on Woodberry Down council estate in Hackney, north London, before studying drama at Middlesex University.
‘There’s this preconception that the estate was overrun by guns and drugs. Well, that wasn’t my experience. There wasn’t a gun in my life. I had a wonderful time. My days would be spent playing with neighbours and then being called in for tea.’
So how is a down-to-earth girl from Hackney coping with the surreal sci-fi Tardis time shifts and the motley assortment of obsessive Doctor Who fans?
‘I’ve just about got to the point where I can see myself as part of it without getting palpitations,’ she laughs. ‘I do get a couple of people stopping me in the street after every episode but it’s normally when I’ve gone out totally unprepared, without make-up.
‘It feels like I’ve been validated as an actress…’
She breaks off, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip.
‘If that doesn’t sound too egotistical.’
Well, thank goodness.
Freema always comes across as lovely, down to earth, and almost self-effacingly polite. She’s great! Nice pice by The Guardian, after that silly Mail article with it’s opinion masquerading as fact.
yay! She was definitely my face of 2007 but it’s hard to tell what public perception is in the UK from so far away.
yes cool she looks honest to me all the time you can realy trust her so well done freema but im still really anoded about that newspaper saying marthas 2nd best
if u look on results much more people want freema - martha than rose-billie rusel even imated on a paper that freema bossed series 3 rateings well done freema 
she’s wonderful. Listen to LOTT commentary with her and shes just like one of those people who wont be up themselves but wont shut up either which is why she is so loved.
Leaving aside the frequently made mistake repeated in the article that Martha was the Doctor’s first black assistant, it is right that Freema has been recognised as a face of 2007 for the cultural impact her character made and yet, at the same time, notoriously difficult to actually measure that impact. At least, though, just by virtue of the high profile role and her achievements in it, some good will have been done in terms of providing a postive image of black females in 21st century Britain.
Well done Freema!
I think it’s great that she’s being recognised like this.
great interview and pictures
I think that this is brilliant.
Cool pics.
I just can’t find the words…
I’ll have a go though… Freema seems to be “one of a kind”! You couldn’t not like this woman no matter how hard you tried!!!