Martha’s mental breakdown
SHE’S HAVING HALLUCINATIONS OF HER SON KIERAN…
Alf and Roo realise that all is not right with Martha this week, after they spot her having a heated conversation with thin air!
There’s been tension within the Stewart family ever since Martha’s troublesome son Kieran rocked up in the Bay, and Martha now blames Alf for the fact that her son has left town. However, it seems that Kieran’s reappearance has had a huge impact on Martha’s mental health…
“Martha has borderline personality disorder,” Belinda Giblin, who plays Martha, reminds us. “So when Kieran arrived out of the blue after 15 years or so, and said, ‘Hi Mum, I’m back’, it was destabilising for her. All sorts of things started to happen, and we realised that Martha was actually scared of her son.”
It was after alcoholic Kieran started drinking again, and became violent, that Alf reported him to the police, prompting him to flee town. Martha’s devastated that her husband has driven away her son, and there remains a frosty atmosphere at Summer Bay House – which results in Martha declaring that she’s leaving! “Martha feels guilty that she hasn’t been a good mum to Kieran,” Belinda tells us. “She hasn’t managed to have a proper relationship with him, ever, and that starts to undermine her emotionally. She’s been fit and healthy, and mentally stable for a while, but Kieran coming back throws her. She starts blaming Alf for everything, which is shocking for both him and Roo.”
Although Roo counsels her mum, and seemingly talks her into staying in the Bay, it’s soon apparent that Martha’s mental health is in decline – so much so that she arrives at the Diner, and tells Irene that Alf and Roo are keeping her prisoner in the house!
Both Irene and Marilyn try to calm Martha down, and she eventually returns home to the Caravan Park. Later that night, Martha is delighted when Kieran arrives, and she gets the chance to apologise – but all is not as it seems…
“Martha starts to imagine that Kieran’s there when he’s not,” confirms Belinda. “She so desperately wants him to be around, so imagines that they’re having these wonderful mother-and-son conversations. Then Alf and Roo come past and go, ‘What’s Martha doing behind the caravan? She’s talking to a tree!’
“I cannot tell you the fun we had filming those scenes!” adds the star. “Rick [Donald, who plays Kieran] would come in and do a take, then he’d move out of shot and I’d have to replay the whole thing with nobody there. It was great for me, but it’s a really harrowing time for Martha…” Sarah Ellis