12 AWFUL TV Shows Doctor Who Actors Want You To Forget
11. Undercovers - Gugu Mbatah-Raw
Mbatah-Raw become a popular recurring character in Doctor Who's Season 3, starring alongside Freema Agyeman as Martha's sister Tish. Mbatah-Raw proved to be a strong addition to the series and clearly caught the eye of JJ Abrams, being cast in his new TV project Undercovers. The show went to great lengths to emphasise the sex appeal of Mbatah-Raw, but unfortunately didn't place the same efforts on the scripts or a decent story arc.
The central premise for Undercovers was very much in the vein of the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie starring flick Mr & Mrs Smith, with a married couple who happen to be spies forced to work together, despite having previously exiting the world of espionage. Abrams directed the pilot episode for the series, but unfortunately went for a more lightweight style that made the show extremely missable. The deliberately lightweight style is what undoes the series from the start, with no real tension or decent series arc able to be built.
Mbatah-Raw isn't terrible and her American accent holds up well, but there is just so little chemistry with her co-star Boris Kodjoe that the attempts of 'sexy thrills' consistently falls flat. Abrams had come under fire for his previous series in Alias and Lost becoming too self serious, but this show unfortunately went way too far in the other direction.