Marty Kirkby is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, portrayed by actor Shaheen Jafargholi. He first appears in the thirteenth episode of the thirty-fourth series, first broadcast on 17 November 2018. Jafargholi's casting was announced on 1 August 2018 and he was invited to read for the role shortly after finishing filming on EastEnders. Marty is characterised as a young and fashionable student nurse with a "razor sharp wit". He is a confident nurse who has a blunt bedside manner and excellent clinical skills.
Marty is introduced alongside fellow student nurse Jade Lovall (Gabriella Leon) and writers paired them as a double act tackling their final university placement in the emergency department (ED). Their "frenemies" relationship was used as light relief from the show's serious stories. Marty's stories include him lying to his boyfriend about being a single father and coming out to his parents. A negative response from his father sent Marty on a lonely "path of self-destruction", where he starts partying and having casual sex with strangers. Writers used the story to challenge his friendship with Jade, which Jafargholi disliked. His casual sex leads to him being the subject of racism and learning he may have contracted HIV.
The character was given a family link to Kian Madani (Ramin Karimloo), a character on the show's spin-off series Holby City. Producers chose to explore their relationship and Marty appears in an episode of the show's twenty-second series. The character departed the serial in the thirty-seventh series episode "The Straw", first broadcast on 18 March 2023. Television critics and viewers alike spoke positively about the character, with Helen Daly from the Radio Times calling him her "favourite nurse". Marty's friendship with Jade received a more mixed response; Sue Haasler of the Metro thought they made "an excellent double act" but disliked them being placed at odds. His partying story garnered an emotive response from critics, but a same-sex kiss featuring the character received 111 complaints.
Casting
On 1 August 2018, Sophie Dainty, writing for entertainment website Digital Spy, reported that actor Shaheen Jafargholi had joined the cast of Casualty as new nurse Marty Kirkby. Jafargholi expressed his delight at joining the cast as he had been a fan of the show, and later called it "an honour [...] to become a small part of this legacy". On Jafargholi's casting, Lucy Raffety, the show's series producer, commented, "He is a huge talent with such a warm screen presence and we know he will bring so much to the show."
Jafargholi was invited to read for the part in early 2018, shortly after he concluded filming for his role as Shakil Kazemi at EastEnders. He had planned to have a break but upon reading the script for Casualty, he decided to read for the part. He then went on holiday and upon his return, he learnt he had been offered the role. He then began filming in July 2018. The actor commuted between Cardiff, where the show is filmed, and his home in London for the role. While filming for the show, Jafargholi would stay in a hotel before returning to his home at the weekend. He did not mind doing this as he found the commute easy. The actor is also Welsh and expressed his delight at working in Wales. Jafargholi joined the cast alongside actress Gabriella Leon, who portrays Jade Lovall. She was pleased about this and dubbed him her "partner in crime". He also liked this and thought it would have been scary to start alone, so he was pleased to work with Leon to start with.
Jafargholi was attracted to the role of Marty as it differed to the character of Shakil. He liked that Marty was older and a similar age to himself, but also found that the change in age meant he had to alter "mindset". Jafargholi was employed to the regular cast and hoped that Marty would establish his own "place" on the show. The actor struggled to learn the medical terminology involved with the show and often relied on the medical advisors on-set for help. He also found himself not knowing what the terminology meant when he was saying it. Jafargholi explained that he spends a lot of time researching the terminology to understand it better, and spoke to his mother, who works in a hospital, for advice on how to make the dialogue appear "natural" and "smooth". He received positive feedback from his mother's colleagues about his pronunciation.
Jafargholi previously appeared in Casualty, as a patient in the eighteenth series episode "Inside Out", when he was six years old. He had forgotten about the role until he auditioned for the role of Marty, and joked that he believes that the patient grew up to be Marty. Jafargholi found that he could relate to co-star Maddy Hill, who portrays Ruby Spark, as she appeared on EastEnders before joining Casualty like him. He said that he "[looked] up" to Hill and enjoyed working with her.
Development Characterisation
Marty is introduced as a 22-year-old student nurse who is billed as "sassy", funny and fashionable. Jafargholi described him as "sharp-tongued and witty", "sarcastic" and sometimes too much. Similarly, Raffety said that Marty has a "razor sharp wit". On his character's sarcasm, Jafargholi commented, "He never misses an opportunity for a sarcastic comment!" He also labelled the character "mischievous", "cheeky", fun and "playful". Marty's wit and intensity can sometimes cause him to clash with other people. Jafargholi thought that Marty's persona makes him appear as a "know-all", and believed that he should be less divisive. He told Katie Baillie from the Metro that Marty has good intentions, but his actions do not always reflect this and he can often speak out of turn. He added that his inexperience, resulting from his young age, means he sometimes "puts his foot in his mouth". Jafargholi thought that although Marty is "very hardworking", he does not focus enough and instead "combines work and pleasure".
Marty is a confident nurse who is ambitious about his career. Despite his blunt bedside manner, which some patients dislike about him, he has "flawless" clinical skills and technical ability, which establish him as a perfect fit for his job. In Marty's eyes, nursing is the "holy grail of occupations". Jafargholi stated that in his job, Marty is "eager and keen to do well". He added that Marty has much "energy and enthusiasm" for his job. In his career, Marty always wants to improve and achieve a "position of power"; he plans on becoming a nursing manager before he turns 36 years old. Jafargholi explained that Marty will eventually organise himself and become the nurse he needs to be. The character's fictional backstory states that he decided to become a nurse at a young age and his ambition to achieve this set him apart from his peers at school. However, his social skills and trend-spotting prevented him from becoming a "social outcast".
Marty is openly gay and is quick to fall in love, which is his Achilles' heel. He is often left heartbroken after the breakdown of his relationships and has to remind himself that he cannot plan out of his love life. Despite this, Marty wants to "settle down" and have a family of his own. Jafargholi dubbed Marty a "hopeless romantic".
Introduction Marty is introduced in the show's 1106th episode, which is within the thirty-third series, broadcast on 17 November 2018. He arrives at Holby City Hospital's emergency department (ED) for his final university placement as a student nurse. Jafargholi told Laura Donaldson of OK! magazine that Marty is excited to start work. He also explained that Marty wants to perform well at work and impress his new colleagues. To capture his first day at the ED, Marty uses his smartphone to record video messages. Marty is mentored by senior staff nurse Louise Tyler (Azuka Oforka) and joins the ED with fellow student nurse Jade Lovall (Leon). Jafargholi explained that Marty and Jade create an unexpected "burst of energy and life" when they arrive in the ED. The character's introduction was previewed in the show's seasonal trailer, released on 5 October 2018. A preview clip of Marty's debut was released on 16 November 2018 to further promote his introduction.
Marty soon learns that his new work environment is tougher than initially expected. Raffety noted that Marty would soon realise that his new job requires more than "a cheeky wink and a clever one-liner". Jafargholi told the Radio Times David Brown that Marty is quickly "put through [his] paces" after he joins. Following his introduction, Marty finds himself in trouble with Louise and staff nurse Robyn Miller (Amanda Henderson), who he works closely with. Jafargholi explained that Louise would start reprimanding Marty for his inappropriate behaviour. Marty develops an admiration for the department's clinical lead, Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing), and her fashion sense. Jafargholi told Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap that Marty likes Connie's vigour and personality and sees her as "a goddess", but often forgets that she is his boss. He added that he wanted writers to establish a friendship between Marty and Connie. In his early scenes, Marty compliments Connie's high-heels, which Jafargholi thought summarised his personality. Marty shares scenes with charge nurse Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and Jafargholi said that he enjoyed filming with Thompson.
Writers reintroduced "dishy doctor" Joshua Bowers (Gareth David-Lloyd) as a love interest for Marty. When he takes Robyn's daughter Charlotte to the hospital creche, Marty meets Joshua, who assumes that Marty is Charlotte's father. He decides not to correct him, so he can get closer to Joshua. They continue to grow closer and go on dates involving Charlotte and Joshua's daughter. Inside Soap 2019 preview for Casualty revealed that Robyn would discover that Marty has been claiming that he is Charlotte's dad in upcoming episodes.
The story concludes when Robyn and Joshua meet at the hospital creche. Marty is unable to collect Charlotte as he is experiencing a shift with the paramedic team and becomes worried that his lies will be exposed. Robyn and Joshua discovering the truth coincides with a bad day for Marty as he lets down Louise with work and paramedics Iain Dean (Michael Stevenson) and Ruby Spark (Maddy Hill) eject him from the ambulance for his poor attitude. All these events leave Marty "ashamed and remorseful", so he decides to apply for a new placement elsewhere. However, he changes his mind following encouragement from Louise.
Friendship with Jade Lovall Writers paired Marty with Jade as a double act tackling their first months working in the ED. They used them for light relief from the show's serious storylines. Simon Harper, the show's executive producer, thought they made a "brilliant, comic partnership", and Raffety opined that Marty and Jade would bring "a whirlwind of life and fun" to the ED. The characters regularly clash and were dubbed "frenemies" who share an "interesting Clash of the Titans friendship" by Leon. The actress pointed out that there is a difference in "attitudes and personality" between Marty and Jade. Jafargholi confirmed that the rivalry between Marty and Jade would develop into a friendship, and said that he enjoyed portraying comedic stories within a "predominantly serious" drama. Writers established the relationship between Marty and Jade in his first two episodes. Jafargholi noted that the pair's relationship "on a friendship level and a work level as colleagues" is explored. He enjoyed exploring the dynamics of the friendship and thought that comedic moments were created between them.