Barbara Marten

Barbara Marten (born 31 January 1952) is a British actress. She is most known for playing Eve Montgomery in Casualty. She has appeared in various soaps, including EastEnders and Brookside, as well as many other drama serials, such as Harry, The Bill and Band of Gold.

Early life Marten was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up in County Durham. She went to the all-girls William Newton School in Norton, then Stockton and Billingham Technical College. She went to drama school at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art as a teenager for three years, ), The Winter’s Tale (at the Royal Exchange), Get Up & Tie Your Fingers (Customs House), The Awkward Squad (West End), Heldenplatz (Arcola), The Enemies Within, Some Kind of Hero (at the Young Vic), The Glass Menagerie (Lyceum, Edinburgh), Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes (York Theatre Royal ) and a touring production of An Inspector Calls.

From 1997 to 1999, she played the part of nurse Eve Montgomery in Casualty. Since then, she has appeared in many TV dramas, receiving much acclaim for her work in dramas such as Bob & Rose and Fat Friends. Marten played the lead role of Ellen in the film Between Two Women (2000), and then in A Passionate Woman (2010) as Moira. She appeared in the 2012 series Public Enemies.

Marten then played Hannah Greg in the period television drama series The Mill (between 2013 and 2014) which was about life at Quarry Bank Mill during the Industrial Revolution.

Marten appeared as Elizabeth I in the fantasy television series A Discovery of Witches, and has played Sylvia Chambers on the drama thriller television series The Devil's Hour since 2022. In 2024, Marten began portraying Sister Avila in the HBO science fiction series Dune: Prophecy.

Personal life Barbara and her husband, Mike Kenny, (writer of The Railway Children play) have three sons, Theo, Josh and Billy. Marten met Kenny in the 1980s, while acting in a student pantomime in Birmingham, when they were studying to become teachers. 1997–1999 Casualty Eve Montgomery / Tamara Redpath (1 episode in 1989) 39 episodes 1995–2006 The Bill Laura Meadows / Joan Barnwood / Barbara Dean 12 episodes (10 episodes as Laura Meadows)

Band of Gold Mrs. Richards 3 episodes 2021 A Discovery of Witches Queen Elizabeth I 2 episodes 2022–present The Devil's Hour Sylvia Chambers 8 episodes 2024 Dune: Prophecy Sister Avila 6 episodes

Film Year Title Role Notes 1987 A Month in the Country Mrs. Sykes Irish drama film 1989 Home Run Bill's wife The Fifteen Streets Hannah Kelly (TV Movie) 1990 Shoot to Kill Stella Stalker (TV Movie) 1996 Goodbye My Love Jean Humphry (TV Movie) 2000 Between Two Women Ellen Hardy 2002 Flesh and Blood Barbara (TV Movie) A Is for Acid Emily Haigh (TV Movie) 2003 The Debt Gwen Dresner (TV Movie) In Search of the Brontës Tabitha Aykroyd (TV Movie) 2005 Faith Doreen (TV Movie) 2008 Florence Nightingale Fanny, Florence's mother (TV Movie)2010 Capture Anthologies: Fables & Fairytales Margaret Travis (Video) Oranges and Sunshine Mary 2015 I Hamlet Gertrude 2020 The Turning Mrs. Grose 2022 The Twin Helen

Awards In 2018, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in People, Places and Things at National Theatre/St. Ann's Warehouse.