Mia Bennett

Name:

Mia Bennett

Species:

Human

Place of Origin:

Earth

Appearance:

The Waters of Mars

Main Actor:

Gemma Chan

Mia Bennett (born 2032) was the geologist at Bowie Base One on Mars from July 2058 to November 2059.

Mia was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother died in a car accident shortly after her birth, so she was raised by her father who relinquished his position as an astronaut to bring her up. She was fascinated by his work. After graduating from Stanford, she followed him into his research in planetary geology. Working with with her father and using soil samples from Mars, she proved that Earth plant life could grow on Martian soil with the help of chemicals. This was a major breakthrough in Mars colonisation. Her research dovetailed with Andy Stone’s and the two worked together.

She travelled to Mars in 2058. After seventeen months, one of the crew, Stone, was infected by the Flood. The Tenth Doctor arrived at the same time. Mia witnessed six of her fellow crew members be infected by the Flood. The Doctor knew her death was a fixed point in time, but he saved her and two other members of her crew. He took her back to Earth in 2059, where she ran off in shock, followed by Yuri Kerenski.

In the altered timeline, Yuri and Mia revealed the events of Bowie Base One and Adelaide’s heroic actions to the world. Both Yuri and Mia later travelled with Adelaide’s granddaughter, Susie Fontana Brooke, into space. (The Waters of Mars)

BEHIND THE SCENES

The details of her pre-Bowie Base career can be seen briefly in her obituary.

Despite the obituary stating she was American, the character speaks with an English accent.

A deleted scene reveals that she and Yuri were in a secret relationship until The Doctor exposed it, as AdelaideAdelaide, who chose to ignore it until The Doctor exposed it. This forced Adelaide to take steps to separate them. This relationship is briefly implied in the episode when at one point, she and Yuri briefly hold hands during the crisis.