Sara Martins

Shortly after graduating from high school, Martins was hired by Roger Planchon for a local production of Le Radeau de la Méduse at the Théâtre National Populaire in Villeurbanne.[4] She appeared in a play at the Young Vic in London called Le Costume (The Suit) and in a French-language production of David Mamet’s Race.[6]

Martins' television debut was in 2001, in the French police series Police District.[1] She appeared in the series Pigalle, la nuit as Fleur. While filming Death in Paradise, Martins worked on the French TV crime series Détectives as Nora Abadie.[6]

In April 2011, BBC One announced that Martins would appear in the crime comedy-drama Death in Paradise, co-produced with France Télévisions.[7] The series was Martins' debut in both comedy and on British television.[8] Martins did have experience playing a police officer.[9] Death in Paradise premiered on 25 October 2011. Martins played Camille Bordey, a detective sergeant on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie. Camille and other local officers help British Detective Inspector Richard Poole (played by Ben Miller in the first two series) solve murders. During a stunt for a first series episode, Martins tore her achilles tendon.[8] She has said that during the production of Death in Paradise she discovered that some of her mannerisms are distinctly French.[10]

The third series killed off Inspector Poole in the first episode and he was replaced by another British Detective Inspector, Humphrey Goodman (played by Kris Marshall). The fourth episode of the fourth series "Until Death Do You Part", was Martins' last; her character was written out as moving to Paris. Of her departure from the show, she is quoted as saying: "I’ve loved everything about the show. But the only way to grow in life is to take risks, even if it means losing something you love, or leaving a place that’s comfortable".[11]