Martha Lloyd: Beyond Paradise & Death in Paradise (Sally Bretton)

Who is Martha Lloyd? Martha's return to her home area gives the series its emotional and community anchor. Her ambitions, family ties and history with Humphrey connect the police stories to everyday Shipton Abbott life. Martha is played by Sally Bretton and first appeared in Death in Paradise.

Martha in Death in Paradise

Martha Lloyd first appears in the Series 5 finale, 'Flames of Love' (Episode 8, 25 February 2016). She is on Saint Marie while travelling, Humphrey nearly runs her over during a case, and they recognise each other from London, where she worked in a sandwich shop he used to visit.

A date falls through when Humphrey is busy calming JP's wedding nerves, but the two are pushed back together and begin a relationship at the start of Series 6. They take a romantic break at a hotel where staff take them for honeymooners.

Martha goes back to London to take a job at a newly opened restaurant. Humphrey follows a case to England, the pair reconcile, and he resigns to stay with her (Series 6, Episode 6, February 2017).

Five Death in Paradise episodes across Series 5 and 6 (2016-2017).

See every Death in Paradise connection →

Martha in Beyond Paradise, series by series

Each series moves Martha’s personal story on. Open a series below — these notes cover character arcs only and never reveal who did it in any case.

Series 1 (2023)

Martha brings Humphrey home to Shipton Abbott, where her widowed mother Anne lives, and chases her dream of running her own food business. When the bank turns her down, her former fiancé Archie Hughes offers to come in as a partner, and Ten Mile Kitchen opens. Her IVF pregnancy ends in a miscarriage and the couple's differing hopes about a family come close to splitting them, until she follows Humphrey to Saint Marie and they reunite.

Series 2 (2024)

Martha and Humphrey start the process of becoming foster carers, worry about Anne's online dating, and see their wedding plans swallowed up by Anne's ambitions. The big day is cancelled and replaced by a low-key beach gathering.

Christmas specials (2023–2025)

In 2023 she tries to help a troubled boy over the festive period; in 2024 the couple foster teenager Jaiden for Christmas; in 2025 she and Humphrey finally marry.

Series 3 (2025)

Ten Mile Kitchen expands, Archie's return stirs up the past, and Martha becomes a foster mum to young Rosie. At one point she even falls under suspicion in a case. Rosie's return to her mother at the end of the series is a painful goodbye.

Series 4 (2026)

Newly married and back under Anne's roof after losing the houseboat, Martha wants to put down roots. With fostering on hold, she helps Anne and Margo dig into the wrongdoing behind the threatened cuts at Humphrey's station.

Ten Mile Kitchen

Ten Mile Kitchen, Martha's café-restaurant in Shipton Abbott, which Archie Hughes co-owns and supplies with wine from his vineyards. Esther's daughter Zoe works there. In Series 1 and 2 it was filmed at The Stables Cafe on the Port Eliot estate (St Germans, Cornwall), about ten miles from Looe; from Series 3 the Old Sardine Factory on West Looe quay plays the restaurant.

Where Ten Mile Kitchen and the rest of Shipton Abbott are filmed →

Family

Mother Anne Lloyd (Barbara Flynn), widowed; Martha's late father is referred to in the series, including in Anne's wedding planning. Husband Humphrey Goodman (married 2025 Christmas special). Former fiancé Archie Hughes.

Personality

Warm, practical and community-minded, more rooted than Humphrey and the one who brings him home to Devon.
Ambitious about food: her long-held dream is a place of her own, realised as Ten Mile Kitchen.
Longs to be a mother, which drives her storylines from IVF through to fostering.
Loving but sometimes exasperated with her strong-willed mother, Anne.

Relationships

Humphrey Goodman — partner
Anne Lloyd — mother
Archie Hughes — former partner and business connection

Martha: questions fans ask

Who plays Martha Lloyd?

Martha is played by Sally Bretton, who is also known for Not Going Out, where she played Lucy. She first appeared as Martha in Death in Paradise in 2016 and became a lead in Beyond Paradise from 2023, appearing in every episode of the spin-off's first four series.

Is Martha Lloyd in Death in Paradise?

Yes, briefly. Martha turns up on Saint Marie in the Series 5 finale, 'Flames of Love' (February 2016), and appears in five episodes across Series 5 and 6. Her romance with Humphrey is the reason he leaves the island in February 2017, which in turn sets up Beyond Paradise.

How did Martha and Humphrey meet?

They first knew each other in London, where Martha worked in a sandwich shop Humphrey frequented. They properly met again on Saint Marie, when Humphrey almost knocked her over while chasing a case. After a false start, the two began dating at the start of Death in Paradise Series 6.

What is the name of Martha's café in Beyond Paradise?

Martha's business is called Ten Mile Kitchen. It opens in Series 1 with Archie Hughes as her business partner and grows in Series 3. In real life the café scenes are filmed at The Stables Cafe on the Port Eliot estate in St Germans, Cornwall, rather than in Looe itself.

Did Martha and Humphrey adopt Rosie?

No. Rosie was a foster placement in Series 3, staying with the couple while her own mother got well. In the Series 3 finale she goes home to her mum, and Humphrey and Martha tell her she is family and only a phone call away. In Series 4 their fostering is on hold.

Did Martha lose her baby in Beyond Paradise?

Yes. In Series 1 Martha becomes pregnant through IVF but suffers a miscarriage, and the grief tests the relationship, especially as she and Humphrey want different things for their future. That loss is what leads them to look at fostering in Series 2.

Martha Lloyd