Martha MacKenzie (also Stewart and Holden) is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Jodi Gordon. Martha made her first on-screen appearance on 8 September 1988. She was originally played by Burcin Kapkin. In 2005, the character returned to Home and Away, played by Jodi Gordon. Gordon was a model and she took acting lessons before auditioning for the role. Gordon won a Logie Award for "Most Popular New Female Talent" in 2006 and she earned several more award nominations for her portrayal of Martha. Martha returned on screen on 30 March 2005.
Martha was described as being friendly, feisty and fun loving. Martha's appearance has evolved throughout her time in the show: she was initially a tomboy who loved sport, but she later became a stylish woman. Upon her return in March 2005, Martha's storylines saw her surviving a helicopter crash, having an abortion and a miscarriage, battling alcoholism, being diagnosed with breast cancer and becoming a widow after her husband was shot. In a controversial storyline Martha worked as a pole dancer; the scenes were criticised by the broadcasting regulator for their content. Whilst playing Martha, Gordon was at the center of a number of personal scandals, which put her future in the show in doubt. In January 2010, it was announced that Gordon was leaving the show and Martha departed on 9 June 2010.
Casting The character was created as part of Roo Stewart's (Justine Clarke) teenage pregnancy storyline. The character's on-screen birth aired on 8 September 1988. The writers added some jeopardy to the storyline as Roo goes into labour prematurely and there are medical complications, leaving both Roo and the baby in danger. Clarke filmed around fifteen scenes of her character in labour, before she gives birth to a baby girl. The role of Martha was originally played by Burcin Kapkin, who was one-month old when she was cast.
In 2005, the character was reintroduced to the show and the part was recast to model Jodi Gordon. Gordon took acting lessons before successfully auditioning for the role. Gordon later revealed that she was initially nervous about auditioning due to her lack of acting experience. However, producers gave her two months prior to filming so she could learn her scripts and gain more acting skills. Gordon said: "I'd never done any acting. So I did a few little acting course things and then I kind of fluked the part".
During March 2007, Gordon was written out of the show indefinitely after her partner, Chris Burkhardt, died from cancer. The Home and Away writers had previously rewritten several scripts to allow Gordon to spend as much time as possible with Burkhardt.
In 2009, Gordon became the center of media attention due to a series of scandals in her private life. The serial's home network Channel Seven decided to support Gordon through the ordeals. The scandals cast doubt over whether Gordon would be staying with the serial and it was reported that she wanted to leave Australia for other roles. However, it was later confirmed she would be staying with the show and a spokesperson said, "Jodi is looking forward, not backward, and is hard at work on the set of Home and Away". Gordon was backed by her fellow cast members and fans of her character, who voiced their support for her. At the time Gordon was signed to appear in the serial for another two years after she had signed to a three-year contract.
Character development
Characterisation Channel Seven described Martha as being "Friendly, straight down the line, and with a great enthusiasm for life", and Jetstar magazine called Martha "a feisty addition to the Stewart family". Gordon described Martha's persona stating: "Martha's pretty feisty all of the time but in the sense of always fighting for what's right and keeping up a strong perspective on where I want to go, things like that." Gordon says that she feels Martha always makes bad choices when it comes to her love life, because she never knows what she wants. Gordon said that Martha is "messed up" but with a "warm side" to her persona, and that overall Martha is "fun loving, easy going girl-next-door" type character. Of her portrayal, Gordon says that she enjoys the challenge of playing Martha because she gets to shout a lot when showing her crazy and fun side. Gordon later said that "There will always be a little bit of trouble attached to Martha. She will always be a little bit mischievous". On the character's appearance, RTÉ said "Martha was a self-confessed tomboy, loving sport and anything physical. Now she has grown into a stylish woman with great taste in clothes which range from shorts and strappy tops to gorgeous summer dresses."
Relationship with Jack Holden Most of Martha's storylines were central to her on-off relationship with Jack Holden (Paul O'Brien). Viewers saw the couple go through marriage, divorce, a second marriage and Martha being widowed. Holy Soap said that Martha and Jack proved to be one of the "best loved couples", before they married for the first time. However, their marriage does not last long and they split. Martha and Jack start to lead separate lives, but Jack is there for Martha after she has an abortion. Martha is feeling low at this point and kisses him; Jack's girlfriend Sam Tolhurst (Jessica Chapnik) sees this. O'Brien stated: "I think Jack felt like 'Oh this is nice, but I've moved on, I've finally moved on and found someone', but deep down he still wants Martha." Martha is left "shattered" after Jack plans to marry Sam. Martha was caught trying on Sam's wedding dress as she tried to figure out if she still had feelings for Jack. Gordon said that from day one, Jack and Martha have wanted to be together, but "they're never in the same headspace". O'Brien added that he believes Jack was always in love with Martha, even whilst he was in a relationship with Sam. Both O'Brien and Gordon agreed that when Jack and Martha first broke up it was a bad time for Jack, as his life was spiraling out of control, he needed her, but she left him when he needed her the most. They later become friends; O'Brien believed it was hard to understand how Jack could be so forgiving toward her.
Although the characters were separated on screen, they had gained a fan base on the Internet that believed Martha should be with Jack and wanted the pair to reunite. Gordon herself backed the pairing, stating that she believed they should be together. She said: "I actually love Jack and Martha together, I'm a sucker for romance so, I want want them to be together [...] I want them to continue on, [...] the timing is not right, they are not mature enough. Jack's in a relationship with someone else as Martha is, there just seems to be things getting in the way of them getting back together all the time." Gordon also hoped for a happy ending for the two characters if they were to ever leave the serial adding: "If I had it my way, and I got to write the scripts then I'd make it happily ever after, Martha and Jack riding off into the sunset." Gordon has spoken of her understanding from the audiences point of view, that together Jack and Martha are "the ultimate couple". She also reiterated her belief that it would be to tough at the time of Martha's downward spiral for them to work together, but if Martha is to get through her troubles and have a happy ending, that it would be with Jack. The Daily Telegraph commented on the Martha and Jack situation, saying it is played out in a "classic soapie technique". They said "Bring the characters together, push them apart, but always leave open the possibility that they could get back together. It has worked for Days of Our Lives' John Black and Marlena Evans".
On-screen Jack and Martha later reconcile, after he helps her through her hard times. Gordon believed that their relationship was at its strongest peak whilst Martha had breast cancer. She added that Martha would do anything to avoid jeopardising their happiness.
Downward spiral and stripping One of the most notable story lines for Martha was her secret life as a pole dancer and subsequent road into alcoholism. This was a result of her abortion and failed relationships with Jack and Ash Nader (Ben Geurens) along with her new relationship with Cameron "Cam" Reynolds (Ashley Lyons), who was leading her astray. The story line began playing out from the 2006 "cliffhanger" episode, when Ash reveals that he is married with children and leading a double life. Gordon branded Martha as ignorant to the situation she has got herself into: "I think she is so naive, she wants to believe that she's found a great guy and she keeps giving him second chances. She wants to make it work." Martha fails to cope with the situation, as Gordon describes: "It's this whole emotional roller-coaster that, if you don't deal with your life, can be terrible." Their relationship falls apart after Martha aborts Ash's child, causing Martha to begin her transition into a party girl. Gordon commented that "I think everyone in this show begins as a scruffy bum and gradually they turn you into a glamour puss."
Martha begins a downward spiral and is manipulated by new boyfriend Cam, who has a hold over her due to his power and money, and her vulnerable state - he "swept her off her feet". Cam always got the better of Martha because "The worse it got with her family, the better it got with Cam." O'Brien, who played Jack, said that he felt that Martha was trying to reinvent herself as a different person.
Gordon pointed out that Martha was not stripping, just pole dancing. Gordon took pole dancing lessons for a period of a few weeks funded by Channel Seven, and found the experience embarrassing and physically challenging. She found it hard dancing in front of her fellow cast members, commenting that "There's even one scene when all of the boys turn up at the club and they're looking at me – it's like having your mates seeing you half naked. It's not very nice, a bit intimidating but it's always exciting to have a challenging story line like that. It's worth while in the end knowing that you've put everything into it." Gordon believed that the storyline was a turning point in Martha's development, as she has to hit rock bottom to realise who she is and what she really wants from life.
After everyone finds out about Martha's situation, they try to stop her working in the club. Kate Ritchie who plays on-screen friend Sally Fletcher discussed how Martha would not take any advice from those closest to her and how Sally and Alf have to pick up the pieces for her in the end. She compared Martha's pole dancing to many real life experiences ordinary people go through. Sally's interference made Martha's situation worse, of this Ritche added: "It's been hard for Sally to realise and Alf as well, just that you just have to stand back and let it run its course and be there at the end." Of Martha's downward spiral and pushing her friends away, Gordon stated: "Now she's found herself in this hole, she ruined all these relationships with her family, her friends, Jack, everyone's trying to help her and she's really against everyone, she's in a really bad place at the moment".