Born: 20th March 1979 (as Frema Agyeman)
Episodes Broadcast: 2006-2008, 2010

Frema Agyeman was born in Hackney, London and became interested in acting while in high school. She graduated from Middlesex University in 2000, having studied performing arts and drama; she modified the spelling of her first name to “Freema” for professional purposes, to avoid the inevitable consternation over how it should be pronounced. Agyeman worked various odd jobs, including at a Blockbuster Video, while she established her acting career. She quickly gravitated towards television, which she felt offered better financial security, and Agyeman soon won acclaim for her debut role in Crossroads. Other early projects included episodes of Casualty, Silent Witness and The Bill.

Agyeman was under consideration for several roles in Doctor Who, including Sally in 2005's The Christmas Invasion and a character ultimately dropped from 2006's Rise Of The Cybermen / The Age Of Steel. Finally, she portrayed the ill-fated Adeola in the 2006 finale, Army Of Ghosts / Doomsday, which saw the departure of the popular companion Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. Although this appearance would seem to rule Agyeman out of the running to replace Piper, in fact she had deeply impressed the production team, who auditioned her for Rose's successor, medical student Martha Jones. Agyeman got the part, making her first appearance as Martha opposite David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in 2007's Smith And Jones; Adeola was duly acknowledged to be Martha's cousin.

Her work on Law & Order: UK precluded Agyeman's involvement with the third season of Torchwood

Agyeman's tenure on Doctor Who lasted one season, but executive producer Russell T Davies had further plans for Martha: she appeared in three installments of spin-off series Torchwood during 2008, plus a Torchwood radio play, and then returned to Doctor Who for five more episodes. The same year, Agyeman won a principal role in an adaptation of Little Dorrit. She then became one of the original stars of Law & Order: UK, although this precluded her planned involvement with the third season of Torchwood. She did, however, make a cameo appearance in Tennant's final Doctor Who episode, The End Of Time, on New Year's Day 2010.

Leaving Law & Order: UK after three years, Agyeman joined the cast of the children's series Old Jack's Boat alongside fellow Doctor Who regular Bernard Cribbins. She then departed the UK for Hollywood, where she co-starred in The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to Sex And The City. More lead roles followed, in the offbeat Sense8 and the medical drama New Amsterdam. In 2017, Agyeman made her West End debut in Apologia. She could also occasionally be seen on the silver screen, including the horror Eat Locals and the science-fiction sequel The Matrix Resurrections. In 2021, Agyeman reprised her Doctor Who character for The Year Of Martha Jones, an audio anthology from Big Finish Productions.