22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Beyond Paradise Margo Martins star has famous daughter who's worked with BBC
Felicity Montagu has appeared in Beyond Paradise from the start as Margo Martins and has a very famous daughter who is also an actress and has appeared in a BBC show with her
Margo Martins is a key part of hit BBC drama Beyond Paradise. While her on-screen persona is all about business and their police work, the actress who brings her to life, Felicity Montagu, boasts a special family history.
Born into a large family of five siblings, Montagu is descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors. Her father, Lieutenant-Colonel John Drogo Montagu, is the son of Admiral George Montagu, a respected Royal Navy officer.
This illustrious lineage stretches back further still to James Montagu, who served as MP for Huntingdon alongside Oliver Cromwell in the English House of Commons in 1628. James, in turn, was a descendant of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, a prominent judge, politician, and peer infamous for condemning Sir Walter Raleigh to death.
Felicity's own family has produced another talented actress, her daughter Olivia, with whom she has shared the airwaves in the BBC Radio 4 series Guilt Trip, where they portrayed a mother-daughter duo. This collaboration was inspired by a memorable joint holiday to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, reports the Express.
Their unique bond is something that Felicity has spoken candidly about, revealing: "We've always had a rough and tumble relationship. Forever catching up with each other because I was grieving when I gave birth and then I got very ill and was in hospital for weeks."
Felicity opened up about the tough period surrounding the birth of her daughter, Olivia, which occurred just three months after the death of her own mother from cancer. Gina Ford, who would later become a renowned childcare expert, was Olivia's baby nurse at the time.
"She was whisked away and taken home because I couldn't breastfeed her. It was an odd start," Felicity reflected. She then compared these early hardships with her more privileged upbringing, recalling how her parents supported her acting ambitions despite their concerns.
Felicity shares Olivia and Luke with her former husband, TV and radio producer Alan Nixon, whom she wed in 1984. Despite parting ways in 2006, she confessed: "We're still a team," and added, "My children make me laugh a lot."
Speaking about the new series, Margo becomes like a mother figure to young Kelby, who is trying out online dating for the first time.
"Margo is still at the helm, running the Shipton Abbott police office. She tolerates Humphrey - she's fond of him but finds him unpredictable. She really admires him, his skill set and his eccentricity but she still can't get over the fact that he relies on scraps of paper to solve crimes," Felicity said of her character.
"Margo likes to be in control, she prefers the steamship to just puff along steadily and get to its destination in the end. Her relationship with Esther is interesting. They're becoming closer. Margo always wants Esther's daughter Zoe to be independent and fly free but Esther, understandably, is very protective of her."
She added: "Of course, Margo feels very motherly towards Kelby and their relationship grows a lot this series. There's this wonderful mix of bewilderment and fondness between them - they're very fond of each other but they don't always understand one another."
