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Guest Character Profiles > Marty Kranic Darius Perkins

Marty Kranic 2013, 2014

After deciding that he had to get criminal Robbo Slade to leave Erinsborough, Paul Robinson started hatching a plan, involving card shark Marty Kranic. As Marty came to Paul's penthouse apartment, under the pretence of a poker game, he immediately asked Paul what he wanted him to do, to get rid of Robbo. After giving Paul a few lessons, Marty disappeared again, and Paul used what he'd been taught to con Robbo out of $5000 - but Paul agreed to wipe the debt if Robbo wiped out the money that was owed to him by Mason Turner. Mason was dating Paul's niece Kate, and Paul was determined to get rid of Robbo's criminal influence on Mason, in the hope that Kate could have a happy future. As far as Paul knew, the plan had worked, and he met up with Marty again, giving him a night in an executive suite at Lassiter's hotel to thank him for his help.

Soon after, Paul learnt that Robbo was blackmailing Mason, using a video of himself and Amber having sex, and threatening to put it online if Mason didn't pay him $10,000. Knowing how badly the video could hurt Amber, Mason did his best to raise the money, but eventually turned to Paul for help. Paul then contacted Marty and asked him to find out everything he could about Robbo. Marty learnt about the poker games, but was unable to get in on them, and Paul told him that he needed to find a way to deal with Robbo for good. A couple of days later, and Robbo was in hospital, having been run down by an unknown driver, and Marty went to see Paul for his payment, leaving Paul uncertain over whether Marty had been the person responsible for Robbo's injuries.

It then emerged that, on the night of the hit-and-run, Marty had warned Lucas Fitzgerald, one of the people he knew was taking part in Robbo's card games, that the cards were marked and he was being conned. Furious, Lucas had gone to confront Robbo but Marty had warned him off, then later that night, Marty had turned up at Lucas's garage with the money he was owed, having somehow taken it from Robbo. Realising that Marty could be the key to figuring out what had happened that night, Lucas tried to track him down, and Mason quickly realised who he was. Mason confronted Paul, who warned him that, if the police managed to find Marty, then he would almost certainly tell them exactly who it had been who was ordering him to deal with Robbo. Paul and Mason then met with Marty, trying to find out whether he had actually been the one who ran down Robbo, and telling him that Lucas had given his description to the police. Mason then lost his temper, telling Marty that he had to come forward, but Marty just laughed at him, warning Paul that he would make serious trouble for him if the police somehow ended up with his name. Unfortunately, Mason ignored the threats, secretly taking Marty's picture on his phone, then putting it under Lucas's door. With Lucas putting the picture up all over town, desperate to find the man who could clear his name, Paul worried that it was only a matter a time before the police came knocking on his door.

With Sonya, the wife of prime suspect Toadie now also circulating the photo of Marty, Paul realised that something had to be done, and he arranged to meet Marty, giving him money to disappear from town. But when hotel manager Terese Willis then remembered Marty, after seeing him in Paul's hotel room and again when he stayed at the hotel, she passed his name on to the police. With the net closing in, Marty then came forward, telling the police that threatened Robbo and got the money back from him, which he then gave to Lucas, explaining that he'd been in a similar position in the past and wanted the help. The police were sceptical, but Marty then lied that he'd seen the person getting into the car - who must have been the one who ran down Robbo - picking out Toadie's photo from the selection of suspects. Marty then disappeared again, and Toadie was arrested and charged, but it wasn't long until it was revealed that Hudson Walsh had been the person driving the car that night.

A few months later, Marty made a surprise reappearance in Erinsborough, on the day before Paul was due to battle it out with Karl Kennedy, to decide which of them would become the new Mayor. Marty decided to try his luck, threatening to reveal the truth about Paul unless he paid him, but Paul refused to be blackmailed, so Marty went to Karl instead. He offered Karl some information on Paul that would guarantee him a win in the election, and Karl was sorely tempted to accept the offer, but decided at the last minute that he'd rather win fairly than stoop to Paul's level.

Trivia Notes
• Darius Perkins was previously the first actor to play the character of Scott Robinson in 1985, before Jason Donovan took over the role
• All pre-publicity for the character of Marty gave his surname as Kranjancic, but when the character appeared on screen, it had been changed to Kranic
• Click here to read our 2013 interview with Darius Perkins