Marty Kirkby (born 1996/1997) is a staff nurse who currently works in the emergency department of Holby City Hospital. He joined the department as a student nurse in November 2018.
Biography
Early life
Marty's mother Bibi fled her home country of Iran to escape persecution. However, she later became part of a community which possessed conservative views on homosexuality; being gay, Marty found this problematic. He also struggled to express himself to his father Graham who is a patron of a rough working men's club. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 42) On several occasions, Marty tried to declare his homosexuality to his parents, but he bottled it every time. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 25)
Time as a student nurse
In November 2018, Marty started his first shift in the ED alongside fellow student nurse Jade Lovall. They were tasked with treating a large group of a cappella singers who were suffering from food poisoning, and Marty asked Jade to get sick bowls. After she failed to do so, Louise reprimanded her. Later, after Jade was asked to discharge Ernest Maxwell, Marty found a rash on his arm and alerted Alicia; it soon transpired that Ernest had meningococcal septicaemia. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 13) Later that day, she and Marty treated an attractive male patient named Rufus, and, unsure whether he was gay or straight, they competed to be the first to receive a ticket to their gig at a concert. Determined to win, Jade locked Marty in a storage cupboard, but her plan soon backfired after his inhaler ran out, and he struggled to breathe. When Marty admitted that, out of excitement, he forgot to fill his inhaler, Louise reprimanded both of them for their carelessness. Although Jade won the competition, upon learning that Rufus was the vocalist for a gay folk band, they encouraged him to take another patient named Lenny, who was already interested in him. After talking to Robyn earlier that day about the prospect of her dating, Marty offered to babysit her daughter Charlotte so she could go out more; she said that she might take him up on his offer one day. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 14)
In December, Robyn asked Marty to take Charlotte to the creche. There, he met consultant obstetrician Joshua Bowers. Later, when he returned to pick up Charlotte, he asked Joshua out for a drink. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 15) The next day, Jade encouraged Marty to talk to Joshua, but she struggled to keep a straight face when his attempts at flirting left a lot to be desired. That afternoon, he found Joshua at the ED's coffee shop, and they decided to go out on a date together. Robyn agreed to let Marty babysit Charlotte, and he took her with him on the date. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 16)
In January 2019, Jade got Marty into trouble with Louise when he tried to get her to work. Louise forced Marty to work with her in resus, and she was unimpressed when he made callous remarks about a patient. Later, Jade pulled him over to her cubicle to help her when she accidentally glued a pillow to a patient's head, and they were both reprimanded. When Marty told her that she made him look bad, she took offence and fell out with him. He tried to tell Louise that Jade was responsible for their mistakes earlier, but she told him to stop passing the blame onto others and prove that he deserved to work in the ED. Although he proved his worth professionally as he assisted in performing a cricothyroidotomy, he and Jade remained on bad terms. Later, after she answered an advert for a spare room in shared accommodation, neither of them was happy to learn that they would be living together. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 18)
The following week, Robyn reprimanded Marty after he gave Charlotte a temporary tattoo. Elsewhere, he treated a young boy named Jake, and Rash told him to get Duffy to help clean and dress his head wound. However, when he asked her for help, she told him that he could do it on his own. As a result, Marty couldn't control the bleeding and, having forgotten to put up the bed's rail, had to hold Jake after he fainted. Afterwards, Duffy encouraged him to test his clinical judgement, prompting Marty to express his concerns about Jake's eating habits. Jake's mother insisted that he had not been taking anything, but it later transpired that she had been lacing his food with weight loss drugs. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 19)
Marty after Iain left him on the side of the road. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 20)
Later that month, Joshua continued to believe that Marty was Charlotte's father, and the two arranged to go out on another date. As it was his day off, Louise asked him if he could lend a hand in the ED, but Marty told her that he was spending the day observing the paramedics. He then changed his mind and lied to her about Iain allowing him to drop out. Marty also agreed to pick Charlotte up from daycare. However, Iain and Ruby forced him to come with them. On the road, they reprimanded him for his disrespectful attitude towards patients, and, when Marty said that he had other commitments, an exasperated Iain left him on by the side of the road. Marty ran back to the ED and insisted on working, but Louise told him to go home. He then tried to apologise to Robyn for not being able to pick up Charlotte, but, after Joshua told her that he thought Charlotte was Marty's daughter, she didn't accept it. Elsewhere, he found Joshua and told him that he was ashamed of himself for his actions, but Joshua broke up with him and asked him to never contact him again. Later, Louise told Marty that he needed to think about the consequences of his actions and reminded him that he didn't need to prove himself to everybody all the time. She comforted him when he told her about his breakup with Joshua. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 20)
In February, following Connie's attack, Louise encouraged Marty to talk to Jade if he found himself struggling. Meanwhile, he and Jade treated a man named Rob with end-stage COPD who was refusing to use a CPAP machine. When he wanted to sign a DNR, Marty told him that he wasn't helping his girlfriend Ceri by leaving her and encouraged him to let her be with him. Rob agreed to see her, and she convinced him to use the machine. Later, after Rob asked Ceri to marry him, Dylan praised Marty and Jade for going the extra mile. They asked him if it was possible for Rob to have a lung transplant, but Dylan told them that he wouldn't be accepted. Louise praised them for working together and told them that they didn't need her anymore; she later resigned and left the ED. Marty thanked Jade for her help, and they agreed to be frenemies. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 24) In March, Marty and Dylan took Sacha Levy's daughter Beka to AAU after she was involved in a car crash, and they both worked together to reduce her open femur fracture. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 26) Later, Marty, Rash and Gem freed Connie, David, Fletch and Iain from the lift after the hospital's infrastructure software was compromised by a computer virus. (HC: "Powerless")
Coming out to his parents
Later that month, Marty went on a new placement elsewhere. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 29) On 18 May, he returned from secondment as a fully qualified nurse. Jade complained about him not contacting her at all, but he assured her that he was looking forward to seeing her again. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 35)
In June, Marty decided to apply for the Wyvern Nursing Bursary and approached Jacob and David for references. Later that month, he submitted his application. On that day, David assessed him and Jade on taking care of adults with minor injuries or illnesses by having them treat a man named Logan who had accidentally stabbed himself with a screwdriver whilst trying to remove his ankle tag. Jade took issue with Marty putting her on the spot when David asked them what tests to perform, but she subsequently garnered praise after she used a breathing exercise she learned in obs and gynae to help calm Logan down. Later, Jade was furious to learn that Marty had applied for the bursary without telling her and asked other members of staff for references. He apologised to her and claimed that he would un-apply if he could, but she told him to forget it. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 40)
On 6 July, Marty was euphoric to learn that he had been awarded the bursary and decided to turn his achievement into an event. Jade took issue with his boastful attitude, but David insisted that, given his difficult history, he deserved the bursary and encouraged her to read his personal statement for herself. Marty deduced that she had viewed his application when she started using his background to prove a point to a patient and confronted her, and she explained that she only read his personal statement out of interest and wanted to hear more about his family. However, Marty opted to return to work and accidentally left his phone in the staff room. His father Graham subsequently started calling him, and Jade answered and apprised him of Marty's award.
Charlie presents the bursary to Marty. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 42)
In reception, as Marty was posing for a photographer Noel had found for him online, Graham arrived and congratulated him. Restless, Marty insisted on getting through the presentation of the award as quickly as possible. However, when Charlie called Marty "an inspiration to [them] all", Graham asked David to elaborate, and he unintentionally outed him as a homosexual. Jade tried to apologise Marty for his mistake, but he refused to accept it. He later explained that his parents were parts of communities that were not very accepting of his sexual orientation and that he would never be who they wanted him to be; Jade assured him that she liked him how he was. After they managed to rebuild the relationship between two elderly patients, Jade gleefully hugged Marty. Outside the department, Graham offered to take Marty and Kian to a football match to celebrate his award, but Marty claimed that he was too tired. Graham subsequently asked him to clarify what David meant by "his sexuality", and Jade pretended that she was Marty's girlfriend and kissed him, causing Graham to laugh hysterically. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 42)
On 19 July, Marty took Jade to his parents' 30th wedding anniversary. She tried to impress them by pretending to be interested in the arts and poetry, but his mother Bibi believed that she was not right for Marty. When she collapsed as a result of "heart palpitations", she was taken to the ED, and Marty assured her that she would be fine. When Ethan informed her that she required temporary pacing, she asked to be left alone with Marty. She implored him to live his own life and affirmed that Jade was not the right person for him as she was aware of his homosexuality. Marty apologised to her for "being gay", but she assured him that she just wanted him to be happy. He asked her if Graham was aware of his sexuality, and she urged him not to come out to him for the time being. After agreeing to be honest with each other, they shared a hug.
Outside Bibi's cubicle, Marty apprised Jade of his conversation with her, and he allowed her to keep the dress he had bought for her. In the relatives room, Ethan informed them and Graham that Bibi's procedure was successful. Despite Jade's warnings, Marty prepared to come out to Graham, but he believed that he was going to announce that he and Jade were engaged. Unfortunately, when Marty told him that he was gay, he struggled to process the revelation and left. Outside the department, Marty insisted that their relationship did not have to change, but Graham claimed that he was not "the son that [he] envisaged" and decided that they should not speak to each other. Jade later found Marty outside and offered him her sympathies, and he sobbed on her shoulder. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 45)
Personal life
In December 2018, Marty met consultant obstetrician Joshua Bowers as he picked up Charlotte Miller from daycare, and the two decided to go out for a drink. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 14) The next day, they started dating. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 16) However, Joshua broke up with him the following month after Marty allowed him to believe that Charlotte was his daughter. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 20)
Behind the scenes
Shaheen Jafargholi made his first appearance as Marty in November 2018.
Trivia
- Marty is a cousin of Kian Madani - a cardiothoracic surgeon who works on Holby City Hospital's Darwin Ward. (HC: "Vinegar and Honey")
- When Marty was in sixth-form, he volunteered at a care home one afternoon every week. (CAS: Series 33, Episode 40)
Appearances
- See also: Character appearances.
Marty first appeared in the 13th episode of series 33.
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