Home and Away is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 1989, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's executive producer Des Monaghan. The 2nd season of Home and Away began airing on 23 January 1989. The first introduction of the year was Martha Stewart in January. Rebecca Fisher made her first appearance in April. Emily Symons joined the cast as Marilyn Chambers in May. In June, the serial saw the birth of Duncan Stewart, the first child of Alf and Ailsa and Mat Stevenson took on the role of Adam Cameron a fortnight later. Mouche Phillips joined as Viv Newton in July and September saw the arrival of Dannii Minogue as Emma Jackson.
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart initially appeared from 25 January to 13 February 1989, played by Alison Mulvaney. Martha was introduced as Alf Stewart's (Ray Meagher) first wife through a series of flashbacks. The character was reintroduced on 27 March 2018, and the role was recast to Belinda Giblin, who previously played Cynthia Ross in 1991. Meagher told Simon Timblick of the Radio Times that he may have suggested Giblin for the role, saying "When it was first mentioned to me they were thinking about bringing Martha back, they hadn't started looking and I said Belinda would be terrific. I don't know whether they looked any further, it was the perfect choice." Martha has the longest gap between appearances of any character on Home and Away.
Martha was reintroduced as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations. Alf tells their daughter Roo Stewart (Georgie Parker) that Martha did not die as previously thought, but she had in fact disappeared as she was unhappy with her life. Roo tries to find her mother, but is unsuccessful, until Martha makes her own way to Summer Bay. The character returns the following year, after receiving a phone call from Alf, which leads them to reconcile romantically. Meagher thought that Martha was probably the love of his life, despite his marriage to Ailsa Stewart (Judy Nunn). He also joked about that Martha being alive may have made Alf a bigamist. Martha temporarily leaves after her borderline personality disorder causes her anxiety.
Martha was married to Alf Stewart and is the mother of their daughter, Ruth "Roo" Stewart (then Justine Clarke). She was presumed drowned after a sailing accident in 1985. Martha appears in flashbacks when Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson) reads her diary entries while searching for leads on her biological parents. It is revealed that Martha knew that Alf's sister, Morag Bellingham (Cornelia Frances) was Bobby's mother and subsequently had her adopted out to Al (George Leppard; Terence Donovan) and Doris Simpson.
Decades later, when he thinks he is going to die following an explosion, Alf tells Roo that Martha did not drown, as Roo had been led to believe, and is still alive. Martha comes to Summer Bay House and meets Ryder Jackson (Lukas Radovich), who asks if she wants to rent a caravan from Alf. She leaves, but later returns and comes face-to-face with Alf and then Roo. Martha explains that a friend informed her Roo had come looking for her. Roo and Martha talk, but when Roo asks why Martha left her all those years ago, Martha tells her she is tired and leaves. Martha later reveals that she has borderline personality disorder. She struggled to connect with Roo and could not face up to her condition, so she left. After seeking help and treatment, the guilt and fear stopped her from coming back, but she knew Roo would have a good life. Roo tells Martha that she gave Alf a hard time and had a daughter when she was sixteen, who she named after Martha. Roo asks Martha to have dinner with Alf, but she fails to show up. The following day, Martha comes to Summer Bay House to leave her contact details for Roo and she apologises to Alf, before explaining why she left. Roo tells Martha that she needs to leave, as her presence is hurting Alf, but she will visit her.