Is Martha given too much air time?

[Mistified]

I really don't see what you're all talking about. She is still only in 3 episodes a week. For a long time there after Beth died I was sick and tired of flipping Lucas appearing all the time. He seemed to be involved in every story line going, and then they wrapped him in with Geoff and Annie too when they arrived.

If you ask me it's more consistently like "The Alf Show" as he is the one actor who is contracted to be EVERY episode, which is a load of nonsense. Give the man a few full on story lines and let him appear 3 times a week instead. He appears now just for appearance sake and that really brings a scene down for me. I'm sitting there enjoying it and then sure as eggs are eggs Alf has to appear and give his tuppence worth. A totally pointless cameo often ruining a good scene.

[chatter box]

I understand that you do not see what others are talking about. we all see things differently. On behalf of those of us who are suffering from what I shall call "Martha fatigue" I will try to explain more fully.

Martha is in three episodes a week. However, what seem to be the case is that in one single episode she gets more to do, has more scenes, and more lines say Leah or Irene, who are also contracted for three episodes per week, have in a month. Alf is as you say in five episodes a week, but he is often in only one scene an episodes and is used to help move things along. He is a part of the furniture on Home And Away. He has had one real story line this year, but it has not been over done. His eye sight has failed, but it has not been an issue in every scene or episode in which he has been in. It was done subtly, and the acting when he ran over Pippa was extraordinary. Martha on the other hand has had a lot of story lines this year. One finishes and before you draw breath another one comes along. The point that I think many of us are tying to make in this thread, which is not an anti Martha thread, is that there needs to be more balance and Martha should be given good story lines, but so too should every one else. In order for this to happen, there will need to be scenes, episodes, weeks, where Martha is not the main feature.

Maybe it is all about perception. Mine is that Martha is over used. As others have said you can over do something. I would rather be left wanting more than feeling that we have had too much and at present I feel that as far as Martha is concerned they have crossed the line into the realms of too much.

[claire_louise]

^ Totally agree. Martha may only be in three episodes a week (are we sure about this?! It seems like so much more...) but she dominates almost every one of these eps. She constantly has a big storyline on the go, while the highlight of Ada Nicodemou's day is putting salad on a plate in the diner - hardly challenging for an actress, especially when someone a lot less experienced and (IMO) talented is hogging the limelight. I don't understand why Martha can't have times where she's in the background like everyone else, it only seems fair.

[Danifan]

As a Martha fan i don't mind her being at the centre of the drama, but i can see it from the other side. As much as i like her, it would be nice if the likes of Matilda and Leah were able to be as heavily involved in storylines as Martha seems to be. Although personally i think there is someone else who seems to dominate the storylines just as much as Martha and that's Sally. People seem to cut her too much slack because she's been there so long, but she is definately on a par with Martha for hogging all the screentime. She seems to always be there, every little drama, every little heart to heart and you can guarantee somehow a storyline that starts of being someone else's will soon become all about one of these two. British soap Eastenders made the same mistake assuming we all loved this one character (Stacey, and believe me i for one can not stand her!)and therefore for almost a year or two every big storyline was hers and the rest of the cast just became supporting actors in this one woman show. Unfortunately H&A seem to have done the same thing with Martha and Sally at the expense of the other characters. Even when the likes of Leah and Matilda do (rarely) get a storyline about them i feel they are just weak storylines in attempt to keep fans of those characters watching before slipping back to the main focus of the show: Martha and Sally. Sally dominates the credits, while in Martha's current credit shot her picture is the main one while Brad and Matilda's has almost been cut off the screen. I think producers writers have over estimated their popularity but underestimated the popularity of all the other characters at the same time. The need to distribute the storylines fairly so that the whole cast is able to show off their talent.

[DinerLandlord]

What annoys me about Martha is that there is no alternative to her, if you know what I mean. There is no other young woman in her early 20's who gets involved in serious storylines. Ever since Tasha left Martha has dominated the show, and I was fully expecting a big female character of a similar age to Martha to join the show to replace Tasha in a way and to balance things out - how wrong was I? Like the way it is with Sally, Rachel and Leah, who make up the group of women in their late 20's/early30's, or Belle, Mattie and Cassie. I just think its unfair that if some audience members dislike Martha(like myself, at times) they have no alternative to her, whereas if you don't like Mattie you might like Cassie or Belle. or if you hate Drew(like me), you can follow Lucas's storylines, or Ric's. I think that during the first 5 months or so of 2007 while the whole story of Martha's downward spiral was unfolding we could have had a parallel storyline with another young female character going through something else. I suppose Kit filled that void at that time somewhat, but not nearly enough. A few years ago (around 2003/2004), Hayley was the same age as Martha and she had some huge storylines, but at the same time Dani was there with her big storylines, and the viewers had a couple of options at least. I suppose this era of Home and Away is like the mid-90's when Angel dominated the show. I just can't wait until Cassie and Belle leave school and aren't categorized as teens anymore so they can get some more adult storylines and hopefully shift the focus away from Martha a bit. Not too much though, sometimes I like Martha, but too mush of her makes me feel a bit sick.

[claire_louise]

As a Martha fan i don't mind her being at the centre of the drama, but i can see it from the other side. As much as i like her, it would be nice if the likes of Matilda and Leah were able to be as heavily involved in storylines as Martha seems to be. Although personally i think there is someone else who seems to dominate the storylines just as much as Martha and that's Sally. People seem to cut her too much slack because she's been there so long, but she is definately on a par with Martha for hogging all the screentime. She seems to always be there, every little drama, every little heart to heart and you can guarantee somehow a storyline that starts of being someone else's will soon become all about one of these two.

I agree with you that Sally has a lot of screentime, but most of the time she's in the background of other people's storylines, rather than having lots of big storylines of her own. Because she's at the heart of the community she's kind of involved with everyone else's problems. Sally isn't my favourite character but I don't mind her being on screen so much because it's not like they're shoving her down our throats, you know? But with Martha that's exactly how I feel.

[MissCongeniality]

Sally isn't my favourite character but I don't mind her being on screen so much because it's not like they're shoving her down our throats, you know? But with Martha that's exactly how I feel.

That's exactly how I feel about Martha. I don't dislike her, but I find self sighing and thinking "O no not her again". I feel like she is forced upon us all the time, we don't have any time to miss her between stories, nor is their any alternative to her. to In the old days there were three or four of her age group who given major stories, now it just seems to be Martha, which is now wearing a bit thin.

[Mistified]

Don't worry, she won't be around forever. That's why they are possibly milking her now, while they have her. When people are around forever, like Leah and Irene, they don't bother with them so much as they will get "their money's worth" over the years. Not so with someone like Jodi who will bring in viewers and thus advertising revenue, but could realistically leave the show next year.

[seph12]

I think that Dani Sutherland was milked in this Martha-style way. Dani seemed to have big storylines thoroughout 2001 and for most of 2003 and 2004. She had the KK saga/Prison/The Felix-Sarah Saga/The Guv Storyline...she just seemed to be used all of the time- loads, similar to the way Martha is now.

Although i agree then, there was Hayley and occasionally Kit in the same age bracket. I do remember ironically around the time of Hayley and Noah's wedding, Dani and Scott were taking up a lot more screen-time, but then Hayley had LOADS in 2005. It's just the way the storyline goes really....i do actually prefer Martha now than i did in 2005 and 2006 and she's actually one of my favourite characters nowadays. I kind of feel she needs to be closer to Cassie again, which i guess she will be now they're both working at the bar. She's also become closer to Rachel and to Sally, again which is a good thing, though they still seem older than her. It's also weird how Kit and Martha never really became friends, considering they were so close in age.

I only wish we saw a bit more of Leah and that Irene was doing something worthwhile, but i think the stuff coming up with Annie shows she may well be. Anyway, Martha's milking doesn't annoy me although..i find she's always in a disaster which suspends disbelief a lot....in 6 months she's been a/trapped in a burning building ......b/ lost in a storm on a farm c.

c/ Been shoved down a mineshaft with her worst nightmare.

d/been involved in a siege situation at the bank is it?

only so much one lass could take.

[Welshfan]

I am sure the young ones adore her. She is beautiful after all. I would like to think that the show has story lines for all age groups, not just those under 25. It certainly used to, but I have felt of late, that with the exception of Alf's eye's, my age group is not really considered. I like to watch the younger actors, I like Indiana and Jessica very much and think they are very good young actors; I am also interested in the stories which they are given, but I suspect that the younger viewers are less interested in stories around the older characters, therein lies the dilemma for the writers.