Martha Kane | |||||||||
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Hollyoaks character | |||||||||
Portrayed by | Carli Norris | ||||||||
Duration | 2012–2013 | ||||||||
First appearance | 18 January 2012 | ||||||||
Last appearance | 8 November 2013 | ||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
Introduced by | Emma Smithwick | ||||||||
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Martha Kane is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks , played by Carli Norris. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 18 January 2012. The character was introduced as the mother of Ash (Holly Weston), Callum (Laurie Duncan) and Lacey Kane (Georgia Bourke). Martha is portrayed as a feisty female and a liberal parent. Martha is an alcoholic and has been used to portray the effects the issue has on involved family members. Her addiction causes trouble and affects her youngest daughter, Lacey, following a violent altercation. Despite attempting to overcome her addiction, Martha failed to stop drinking.
The character has also featured in comedy scenes and struck up friendships with fellow older characters. She has also feuds with Ash's boyfriends. Martha dislikes Ally Gorman (Dan O'Connor) and eventually exposes him as a fraud. She later sets out to prove Will Savage (James Atherton) is a murderer and succeeds. After two years at Hollyoaks, Norris filmed her final scenes, which aired on 8 November 2013. Laura Morgan from All About Soap branded Martha as soap opera's worst mother, while reporters from Digital Spy and What's on TV believed that the character left in "high regard".
In January 2012, the serial's producer Emma Smithwick said that she wanted to explore Ash (Holly Weston) and Callum Kane's (Laurie Duncan) backstories. She revealed that she planned to introduce "satellite" family members in the process. [1] Martha appeared on a semi-regular basis. [2] On the serial's official website, Martha is described as being "loveable but feisty, straight-talking and fun". Martha is more of a "liberal parent than a strict one". [3] Martha is a single mother, she dislikes the father of her children who wealthy and lives in Dubai. [4]
Martha is the feisty mother of Callum, Ash and Lacey. Not the most conventional of mums, she can often be found accompanying (an unwilling) Ash on a night out... she even danced on the bar at the Spring Fling! There's a dark side to Martha's party animal ways though.
Martha is immature for her age but tries to do the right thing for her children. Norris believes that Martha is "very immauture" because she became pregnant with Ash at a young age, subsequently losing her own childhood. [4] Martha's behavior can alienate people and Norris felt challenged with her scripts to make Martha more likeable. She did so by feeling sympathetic and attempting to understand Martha's behaviour. The character has also been used to portray comedic scenes which drew praise from viewers. Some were shared with Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher) and Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane) and Norris claimed that fans pestered her wanting more scenes featuring the trio. [4]
In one storyline, Ash is diagnosed with meningitis, which leaves Martha unable to cope and she turns to alcohol. Weston told Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy that the storyline shows that Martha is "not quite the good mum that she pretends to be". [6] This was the first time that viewers were made aware of Martha's alcohol problem. Weston opined that viewers did not understand the reasons they complained about Martha. The scenes gave "a good picture" as to why Ash and Callum had made her out to be a "nightmare mum". Callum is left to deal with Martha's behaviour alone, which proves to be "quite difficult for him". [6] Norris told Alison Slade from TVTimes that Martha "would die for her children" but she still behaves like a child herself. She cannot deal with "anything that requires her to step up and be a mother". [7] Norris said that Martha keeps deserting her family and leaving them to cope with alone. Martha "manipulates Callum and wraps him around her little finger, like she always does." Martha cannot cope with the situation and even misses a meeting with a doctor. The actress added that she Martha would "rather it was Callum sorting it out". [7]
Martha later begins a relationship with her boss. When he cancels their date, Martha begins drinking. However, her daughter Lacey Kane (Georgia Bourke) intervenes by pouring her wine down the sink. [8] Bourke told TVTimes' Slade that "Martha's a bit drunk by that point and lashes out". The following morning Martha is "breezy" and acts as though nothing has happened. Lacey forgives Martha because she attempts to apologise by making her breakfast and taking her shopping. Bourke added that Martha's actions bring Lacey to the realisation of what her mother is "capable of and that her drink problem is worse than she thought". [8] Martha's drinking becomes more frequent in the weeks that followed. Norris told a writer from Inside Soap that her character is in "terrible denial [because] she doesn't think that she drinks too much". Martha is aware of the upset is causes her children, but she "just laughs it off and makes a joke out of the situation". [9] Norris said that it was "awful" of Martha, as her drinking begins to affect Callum and Lacey in different ways. As Lacey is only fifteen, not being able to wake her mother up leaves her "particularly scared". But Callum is "really angry" and when Martha regains consciousness he tells her that he "has had enough" and will not take any more of her behaviour. [9] In July 2012, Norris appeared on The Wright Stuff, explaining that she researched the storyline during filming with help from Hollyoaks bosses. "I did as much [research] as I could. Fortunately for me, I haven't had that kind of lifestyle - I'm not a big boozer myself, and it wasn't a big thing in my family. "But I was really lucky, while we were filming, to come into contact with somebody who was a teenager with a mother who had a serious alcohol problem. He shared some stories with me, and nobody should have to go through that, particularly at that age. And unfortunately she did pass away and left the family in devastation." [10]
Martha decides to stop drinking alcohol and begins to rebuild her life. Norris told Kilkelly that it would be positive message if Martha never drank again. She noted Martha will always be an alcoholic and would dislike Martha having occasional drinks. Norris preferred portraying the storyline to addressed correctly and preferably when it conveys the effects on families. [4]
Martha takes a dislike to Ash's boyfriend Ally Gorman (Dan O'Connor). Susan Hill from the Daily Star reported that everyone had been fooled by Ally and Martha helps to expose it after preventing Ally sleeping with Lacey. A spokesperson for the show stated: "Martha does what any mum would do when she catches them together and all hell breaks loose. Ally has no choice but to admit everything. Lacey is distraught and struggles to come to terms with it all." [11]
Martha's remaining on-screen children, Ash and Callum, were killed-off during October 2013. [12] The storyline saw Martha arriving at their memorial service drunk and accuses Ash's boyfriend Will Savage (James Atherton) of killing her. Digital Spy released an article announcing that Martha vows to expose Will's lies. [13] When Leah Barnes (Ela-May Demircan) hands Martha a necklace belonging to the deceased Anna Savage (Saskia Wickham) she questions how she came to be in its possession. She explains that Will was hiding it in Martha's flat and is not disabled as he claims to be. Martha realises the extent of Will's lies. [14] Atherton told Digital Spy's Kilkelly that Martha begins to uncover the truth that he murdered Anna and Texas Longford (Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove). Martha tells Dennis Savage (Joe Tracini) and Dodger Savage (Danny Mac) of her suspicions and they decide to expose him. But Will overhears there conversation, Atherton said "the wheels are really starting to come off the wagon for him, so he acts in the only way he knows how." [15] Martha's discoveries culmulate with Will taking Martha and his family hostage. [16] The show aired the Martha's final scenes on 8 November 2013, when she leaves to stay with her sister and Lacey. [12] Norris had to keep her departure a secret until transmission. [17] Norris told Kilkelly that "I was originally only meant to be in Hollyoaks for a few episodes, so to be asked to stay for two years was a blessing." While Kilkelly noted that Martha was determined to move forward with her remaining family. [12]
Martha first appears when she asks Callum where he has been overnight. She assumes that he spent the night with Maddie Morrison (Scarlett Bowman) when he was actually helping homeless George Smith (Steven Roberts) out. Martha agrees to let George stay with her for aslong as he needs to. When Martha finds a new home, she goes missing leaving Callum and Ash to sort out the moving. She then welcomes home her youngest daughter, Lacey. Martha embarraces Ash by going on a drunken night out with her friends. Ash is taken to hospital and diagnosed with meningitis, unable to cope Martha goes home to get drunk. Martha starts calling in sick and is fired from her job. She interferes with Callum's revision to get him to help with interview preparations. She gets a new job and immediately sleep with her boss after a night of drinking. When her boyfriend cancels their date Martha get drunk and ignores Lacey, who decides to pour her wine down the drain. Martha insults Lacey and slaps her, the following day she tries to bribe Lacey with breakfast and a shopping trip. She later discovers that Lacey has stolen money from the Savage family. Martha takes the money for herself to pay the bills and Lacey uses this against her to have more freedom.
When Martha gets drunk again her children force her to leave the house. Ash invites her boyfriend Ally to move in. Martha returns and tells her children that she is back for good. Martha becomes suspicious of Ally as does Callum. When Martha gets drunk Ally insults her which makes her more determined to rid of him. Martha pretends to be drunk and Ally uses the opportunity to be nasty to her, thinking she will not remember. But as Martha needs to expose him after it is discovered he has lied about his identity. Phoebe Jackson (Mandip Gill) informs Martha that Lacey plans on sleeping with Ally. She manages to get home in time to prevent it and he is arrested for identity fraud. Martha is known to hate the character Callum Ash because he betrayed her for Michael.
The deaths of her children Callum and Ash devastate Martha and she turns up at a memorial for Ash drunk, she begins to suspect Will was responsible for the deaths of Anna and Texas. Will, worrying that his crimes will be exposed holds his family hostage with a shotgun at Anna's house, including Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) who was holding Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) hostage, Martha is also taken hostage by Will and when he tells her she can go he shoots her, however, Martha was only wounded and alerts the police which brings about Will's downfall as he and his brother Dodger Savage (Danny Mac) fight on the roof of the house and both fall from the roof, Dodger is unharmed but Will is paralysed from the fall and is arrested. Martha decides there is nothing to stay in Hollyoaks for and after saying goodbye to the Savages she leaves the village to go and live with her sister and Lacey.
Laura Morgan from All About Soap said that Martha "if there were ever an award for soap's worst mum then Hollyoaks' Martha Kane would be a sure-fire contender. Immature, irresponsible, alcoholic… The list just goes on and on." [18] Morgan stated that Martha should confront her problems and pay her bills. Martha's "reckless behaviour" has a "massive effect" on Callum and it was not his responsibility to sort Martha's problems. The writer concluded that Martha would not solve her problems because "it'll be left to Callum to pick up the pieces while she drowns her sorrows in another bottle of cheap plonk!" [18] In a poll run by Hollyoaks' official website to discover the best mum out of Martha, Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane) and Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher), Martha received the fewest votes, with over 240 votes and only 3% of the total votes. [19] A writer from TV Magazine said that drinking champagne around Martha was not the greatest idea because she "is struggling to stay away from the demon drink". The writer was unsurprised that "troubled Martha" cannot resist a drink and falls "off the wagon big time". They concluded that "one thing's for sure - it's going to be a while before the Kane's are playing happy families again." [20] A writer from the Metro said that Martha had a "gentle exit" which was a "more low-key fashion" than the more dramatic departures Hollyoaks had been airing in 2013. They added that many viewers were disappointed that Norris had left. [21] Kilkelly opined that the character left in "high regard". [12] A reporter from What's on TV said it was a shock exit and also agreed that the character left on a "high". [17]
Myra McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nicole Barber-Lane. She made her first screen appearance during episode 1796, originally broadcast on 12 June 2006 and was introduced by producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of the McQueen family. The character is initially designed to play a supporting role in her family's stories. She is characterised as a no-nonsense matriarch who is "fiercely protective" of her family and puts her children first. Myra has a series of failed relationship, leading to her many children. One of her early stories introduces Niall Rafferty, Myra's abandoned son who returns for revenge on his mother. The story concludes in a stunt when Niall explodes a church, killing Myra's daughter Tina Reilly. Barber-Lane left the soap in 2013 and Myra fakes her death after being shot. In November 2024, it was announced that the character would make a temporary return to facilitate Theresa McQueen's temporary exit storyline.
Carli Jo Norris is an English actress, known for her roles as Anoushka Flynn in Doctors, Martha Kane in Hollyoaks and taking over the role of Belinda Peacock in EastEnders.
Texas Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 May 2010. Texas was introduced by producer Paul Marquess as the on-screen sister of India Longford. Texas was initially portrayed as a "quite light and quite daft" character. Her first main storyline began in the aftermath of India's murder, her subsequent grief storyline and later being targeted by Silas Blissett. Texas has also featured in the online spin-off series, Hollyoaks: Freshers. In February 2013 it was announced that Texas would depart the serial as she was murdered in a "whodunit" storyline. She departed in a flashback on 13 May 2013 after it was revealed her husband, Will Savage, had pushed her out of the window at the wedding venue.
Maddison "Maddie" Morrison is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Scarlett Bowman. Maddie is an old friend of Bart McQueen. Bowman's casting was announced in June 2011. Maddie was introduced to Hollyoaks along with her friends, Tilly Evans and Jono. Maddie made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 21 June 2011 and departed on 15 November 2012 when the character was killed in the highly publicised Enjoy The Ride storyline.
Emma Smithwick is an Irish television producer. Smithwick worked at the BBC for six years where she was involved with several shows for the teen brand BBC Switch and moved on to write for its in-house teen soap The Cut. For the final year of BBC Switch, Smithwick was a commissioning editor. In 2011 Smithwick moved to Hollyoaks to take on the role as Series Editor and later replaced Gareth Philips as the series producer of the soap opera Hollyoaks.
Joel Dexter is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks. The character made his debut during the episode broadcast on 22 November 2011, portrayed by Andrew Still. Still was attending the Scottish Youth Theatre when Lime Pictures presented the establishment with a casting opportunity for Hollyoaks. The actor secured two auditions for the role and after the second audition he was offered the part. Joel has been characterised through themes of violence. He is on probation for assault, and he loses his temper with various characters. Despite this, Joel does not like domestic violence because his stepfather hit his mother. His dislike of such violence played a role in his early storylines. He was written out of the series in 2012 and departed on 9 January 2013. On 18 August 2016, it was confirmed that Joel would be returning to Hollyoaks with the role recast to Rory Douglas-Speed; he returned on 8 September 2016.
Phoebe McQueen is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Mandip Gill. The character made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 January 2012. Phoebe was involved in many of the shows main storyline, such as her friendship with fellow homeless teen George Smith, her relationship with gay refugee Vincent Elegba, being involved in the 2014 train crash which killed Carmel McQueen and being accused of murdering her aunt Mercedes McQueen. Gill left the role in 2015 and Phoebe made her last appearance on 16 June 2015 when she was killed by the Gloved Hand Killer, Lindsey Roscoe.
Mark "Dodger" Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 serial drama, Hollyoaks, played by Danny Mac. He made his first on-screen appearance on 7 April 2011 and was introduced as part of the Savage family by creator Paul Marquess. Dodger is played as being a bit "cocky" and as thinking he has "got it all". For his portrayal, Mac has won and been nominated for various awards. In November 2014, Mac opted to leave the role and Dodger made his last appearance on 20 January 2015. Dodger is the biological son of Jez Blake (Jeremy Sheffield) and Anna Blake, the twin brother of Sienna Blake, the adoptive son of Anna's husband Dirk Savage, the half-brother of Will Savage, Liberty Savage and Minnie Minniver and the father of Nico Blake and Myra-Pocahontas Savage-McQueen.
George Smith is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Steven Roberts. George debuted on-screen on 5 September 2011. George was introduced alongside the characters Neil Cooper and Callum Kane ; forming a new group of sixth-form college students. George is homosexual and is characterised as a "sharp tongued fashionista" with an unusual dress sense. He is best friends with Maddie Morrison and Tilly Evans, Roberts has said that George acts like their "lap-dog". However, George lacks confidence around the series' male characters.
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Ash Kane is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Holly Weston. Ash debuted on-screen on 26 September 2011. Weston attended a late audition for the role and was later told she had secured the part. Weston was signed to the serial on an initial six-month contract which was later extended by impressed producers.
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