Fans worried as Sally Bretton breaks silence on Beyond Paradise exit rumours – but something feels off
Sally Bretton has previously spoken about leaving D.e.a.t.h in Paradise in an interview on This Morning.
Martha’s stint on D.e.a.t.h in Paradise didn’t last long (Image: (Image: BBC))
Sally Bretton, best known for portraying Martha Lloyd in the BBC’s D.e.a.t.h in Paradise and its spin-off Beyond Paradise, has opened up about her reluctance to leave the sun-soaked detective drama back in 2017.
Stepping into the role of detective Humphrey Goodman’s (played by Kris Marshall) fiancée-turned-wife, Sally first appeared as Martha in 2017, swiftly winning over viewers as her character reignited a past romance with Humphrey, ultimately persuading him to swap Saint Marie for London.
During a candid appearance on This Morning, Sally admitted she would have happily stayed on the show.
When quizzed on whether she “was ready” to stop filming in the Caribbean, she emphatically replied, “No!”
She elaborated: “I was only out there for four or five weeks. I didn’t get any of the hurricanes; I got it at just the perfect time. I had an amazing time,” reports the Mirror.
Sally wasn’t ready to leave D.e.a.t.h in Paradise (Image: BBC)
Reflecting on Martha’s storyline in the spin-off Beyond Paradise, Sally offered an insight into Martha and Humphrey’s new beginning in Shipton Abbott, Devon, where the couple embark on fostering following their emotionally charged IVF journey.
Visibly enthusiastic, Sally conveyed her delight at returning to the role of Martha in the BBC One spin-off.
“I was part of Kris’ exit storyline from the Caribbean, and then we were in the first lockdown, and the phone rang,” she told This Morning presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary. “I was like, ‘Oh my God!’. Even if it doesn’t happen, it was just three weeks of thinking about that while the world had stopped. It was to have something to sink my teeth into.”
The programme also stars Open All Hours’ Barbara Flynn as Anne, depicting Martha’s mother, alongside Zahra Ahmadi portraying DS Esther Williams, Humphrey’s colleague at Shipton Abbott police.
Humphrey and Martha on Beyond Paradise (Image: BBC)
Completing the ensemble, Dylan Llewellyn and Felicity Montagu feature as fellow officers and teammates of Humphrey.
The latest series of the Cornwall-set drama is presently broadcasting and follows Martha and Humphrey following their marriage in the Christmas special.
In an exclusive conversation with Reach PLC, Kris and Sally offered fans a glimpse of what they can anticipate from series four. Nevertheless, while the couple is now contentedly married, matters are poised to take an emotional direction.
Revealing details regarding Martha and Humphrey’s storyline, Sally remarked, ‘Was this a bit of an unexpected twist anyway? Going to live on the boat as it wasn’t really the plan originally’.
“And maybe now that they’re married and they want to focus a lot on settling a little bit more, and maybe it’s time to start having a look at a house, and I think they want to focus on each other and have all of the fun and everything that they always have done, but they’ve been knocked off center a lot.”
Kris continued: “I think it’s being thrust into making a decision about moving forward. You know, and the fact that it comes right at the beginning of episode one.
“In the last episode, we saw them get married. They sort of reaffirmed their commitment to each other as a couple, despite everything else that’s happened to them during the fostering journey, living on a boat, and living with her mum. You know, all the other outward factors that influence them, they’re always just the two of them together.
“They come back to this sort of like a solid base, and then to have the sort of almost immediate need to change their life again as soon as they’ve been married.
“Humphrey’s very much like, ‘I go off and solve some puzzles, solve some murders, solve some crimes, perfect, and then come back live on my boat’. He would never change. He wouldn’t change a thing, you know, he wouldn’t even think about it. He doesn’t think of life progression or anything like that.”
Beyond Paradise is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
