Hannah Martin

Hannah Martin
Neighbours character
Portrayed by	Rebecca Ritters
Introduced by	Don Battye
Duration	1992–99, 2005
First appearance	20 July 1992
Last appearance	27 July 2005
Classification	Former, regular
Profile
Date of birth	18 August 1983
Home	London
Occupation	Student at Erinsborough High (1994-99)
Family Father Philip Martin Mother Julie Martin Half brothers Michael Martin Half sisters Debbie Martin Grandfathers Roger Bannon Grandmothers Anne Robinson Uncles Paul Robinson Scott Robinson Aunts Jill Ramsay Lucy Robinson Cousins Amy Robinson Andrew Robinson Cameron Robinson Elle Robinson Robert Robinson Daniel Robinson Madison Robinson Kate Ramsay Harry Ramsay Sophie Ramsay Other relatives Helen Daniels

Hannah Martin is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Rebecca Ritters. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 1992. Hannah is the only child of Philip and Julie Martin and the younger sister to Michael and Debbie. The Martin family were written out in 1999 and Hannah departed on 21 October 1999. In 2005, Ritters reprised her role for a brief cameo in the show's 20th anniversary episode.

Casting

Ritters joined the cast of Neighbours when she was eight years old. Her school teacher had suggested that she join an agency and she got the part of Hannah within a couple of months, after her first professional audition. Ritters said "It was all a bit unexpected. I never had acting classes, but I did a school play once."

Ritters took a five month break from the show in 1998 and she said she really enjoyed it. She added that she had the chance to go to school every day and have a social life, instead of being tutored on set with her co-stars. In February 1999, Inside Soap reported that producers were going to give Hannah a makeover to make her appear more mature, before Ritters stepped in front of the cameras again.

In September 1999, Inside Soap reported that the Martin family had been written out of Neighbours and that they had already filmed their final scenes. In April 2005, Ritters reprised her role as Hannah for Neighbours' 20th anniversary episode in July of that year.

Storylines

Hannah hated living in an urban area when she first arrived on Ramsay Street. One of Hannah's first story lines began when she was nearly kidnapped by a stranger selling lollipops, but was ultimately saved by Toby Mangel (Ben Geurens), this made her determined to move back to the countryside. Hannah didn't like her half-brother, Michael Martin (Troy Beckwith). He spiked her drink with Jim Robinson's (Alan Dale) vodka knocking her unconscious. After Michael tried to kill Julie Martin (Julie Mullins), his plans were rumbled forcing him to flee, when Hannah next saw him she reported him to the police giving him six months in a detention centre. She and her brother never got on together until later years. Hannah nearly died in a burning cottage along with Beth Brennan (Natalie Imbruglia). She later fell off a cliff but was saved by Philip Martin (Ian Rawlings). After Julie died, Hannah often could not accept her father's later relationships with women. She was devastated when Jen Handley (Alyce Platt) left her father.

During her years at school she received unwanted attention from fellow student Robert Dong (Nelson Leongue), Hannah later had ongoing obsession with Billy Kennedy] (Jesse Spencer), whom she longed for a lengthy period of time. He became wary of her following him around all the time. Heartbroken, Hannah eventually learned to get over him.

From 1998 to 1999 she dated Paul McClain (Jansen Spencer), became good friends with Tad Reeves (Jonathon Dutton) and John 'Teabag' Teasdale (Nathan Phillips). Teabag led Hannah into believing he liked her, he also began to harass the Bishop family, and vandalise Billy's workshop. Hannah decided to move in with Teabag after her family decided to leave Ramsay Street, she later changed her mind when she found out Teabag's crimes.

She was the last member of the Robinson family to appear on screen, before Paul Robinson's (Stefan Dennis) return in 2004. Hannah made a brief cameo in Annalise Hartman's (Kimberley Davies) documentary in 2005 where she was revealed to be living in London.

Although Hannah's parents met on-screen in 1985, the character was SORASed in the mid-nineties and celebrated her 15th birthday in 1998.

Reception

For her portrayal of Hannah, Ritters was nominated for "Best Young Actor" at the 1999 Inside Soap Awards. The BBC said Hannah's most notable moment was "First noticing that Helen had died."

In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary British satellite broadcasting company, Sky, profiled twenty-five characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history and Hannah was included in the list. Sky were critical of her storylines making note that her plots were limited, stating "Neighbours isn't exactly great at pre-teen characters – just look at the current nails-down-the-blackboard lot – and Hannah Martin wasn't any different, just longer-lasting. Most plots revolved around one of three scenarios: either Hannah was crying because no-one liked her at school; Hannah was crying because she was fighting with Debbie; or Hannah was crying because dad Phil was out on a date. She was last seen in the 2005 anniversary video living in London, so if you see an Australian crying there, you know what's going on."

External links

• Character profile at the BBC