I admit that Martine did annoy me somewhat on ‘Eastenders’. Her cockney sparra accent with that squeaky pitch just began to grate after a while, but her acting skills and her looks were undeniable. She played a perfect Tiffany and was no doubt one of the most memorable Eastender characters ever to grace the show.
The book is an honest account of her life and career so far and as it was published in 2001 it doesn’t cover her stage debut in ‘My Fair Lady’ or the rave reviews she got. In fact that’s where it finished, she had just got the role of Eliza, she was happy with her boyfriend and had just had a number one hit with her ‘Perfect Moment’ single. She had perfomed in the Albert Hall and her Eastend days were over. Martine was looking forward to a successful career. However, as this is a story about life things started to fall apart for Martine just after she had signed the last dot on her autobiography. Her boyfriend did the dirty on her, her stage performances suffered due to her ill health, she was knocked in the press and her second album flopped resulting in the loss of her recording contract. All this is worthy of another book!
But her story is a tough one and I grew to like Martine by the time I had finished reading the book. Her childhood was hell, beyond hell, and like Kerry Katona she was a survivor. She came through it with the help of a Mum who gave up whatever she could to get Martine a decent life. It was Martine’s talent that got her into the famous Italia Conti School but as the family had no money and the grant they had been promised was taken away by an uncaring council, it nearly didn’t happen for her. They managed to get a charitable sponser who paid the fees that saw Martine through the school. She did adverts, bit parts and various other projets while at the school and slowly began to work towards her dream of fame. Towards the end of her school days she joined a band called Milan and tried her hand at music. Milan was a disaster and got her nowhere. She had no choice but to take a job in ‘Knickerbox’ to keep the money coming. It was while she was working here that she got the call from her agent about the part of Tiffany in ‘Eastenders’. The rest as they say is history. She was hurt and upset when the BBC decided to kill Tiff off without consulting her, but she did say that she felt the character was becoming stale. It was a bit stupid of the BBC to kill her off though as there would have always been a part for Tiffany Mitchell, the public loved her.
Martine has suffered terribly with her health. Pneumonia, depression and Glandular Fever have not been good to her and although she said she was getting over their after effects at the end of her book, it was obvious that during the run for ‘My Fair Lady’ her problems came back to haunt her. Glandular Fever can stay in your system for years and it is only fair that she get sympathy. I admit I wasn’t impressed with her taking all that time off from playing Eliza, and then picking up an award for outstanding performance, but you should never read what Is in the press because it doesn’t give you the whole story.
I for one hope she gets back onto the showbiz radar because she undoubtedly is a talented young woman.
Score Board: 10/10. Down to earth, honest and likable. This book is worth picking up.
The book is an honest account of her life and career so far and as it was published in 2001 it doesn’t cover her stage debut in ‘My Fair Lady’ or the rave reviews she got. In fact that’s where it finished, she had just got the role of Eliza, she was happy with her boyfriend and had just had a number one hit with her ‘Perfect Moment’ single. She had perfomed in the Albert Hall and her Eastend days were over. Martine was looking forward to a successful career. However, as this is a story about life things started to fall apart for Martine just after she had signed the last dot on her autobiography. Her boyfriend did the dirty on her, her stage performances suffered due to her ill health, she was knocked in the press and her second album flopped resulting in the loss of her recording contract. All this is worthy of another book!
But her story is a tough one and I grew to like Martine by the time I had finished reading the book. Her childhood was hell, beyond hell, and like Kerry Katona she was a survivor. She came through it with the help of a Mum who gave up whatever she could to get Martine a decent life. It was Martine’s talent that got her into the famous Italia Conti School but as the family had no money and the grant they had been promised was taken away by an uncaring council, it nearly didn’t happen for her. They managed to get a charitable sponser who paid the fees that saw Martine through the school. She did adverts, bit parts and various other projets while at the school and slowly began to work towards her dream of fame. Towards the end of her school days she joined a band called Milan and tried her hand at music. Milan was a disaster and got her nowhere. She had no choice but to take a job in ‘Knickerbox’ to keep the money coming. It was while she was working here that she got the call from her agent about the part of Tiffany in ‘Eastenders’. The rest as they say is history. She was hurt and upset when the BBC decided to kill Tiff off without consulting her, but she did say that she felt the character was becoming stale. It was a bit stupid of the BBC to kill her off though as there would have always been a part for Tiffany Mitchell, the public loved her.
Martine has suffered terribly with her health. Pneumonia, depression and Glandular Fever have not been good to her and although she said she was getting over their after effects at the end of her book, it was obvious that during the run for ‘My Fair Lady’ her problems came back to haunt her. Glandular Fever can stay in your system for years and it is only fair that she get sympathy. I admit I wasn’t impressed with her taking all that time off from playing Eliza, and then picking up an award for outstanding performance, but you should never read what Is in the press because it doesn’t give you the whole story.
I for one hope she gets back onto the showbiz radar because she undoubtedly is a talented young woman.
Score Board: 10/10. Down to earth, honest and likable. This book is worth picking up.
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