One of the most important characters in Apple TV’s sci-fi hit “Silo” doesn’t exist in the show’ssource material … not quite, anyway.
A skilled mechanical engineer and important ally to Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) as she strives to uncover Silo 18’s secrets, Martha Walker (Harriet Walter) is a gender-swapped version of Walker from Hugh Howey’s novels. In a 2023 interview with Collider, series creator Graham Yost shared why he felt making Walker a woman was the right move.”I wanted Juliette to have a mother figure,” he said.
Yost also said that Howey has been receptive to the changes made while adapting “Silo” from the page to the screen. “We hit it off, before we even got together in any kind of room, and then … I saw how more than amenable to change he was, and that he was eager to make changes,” he said. “There’s a part of him that loved the idea of getting to rewrite the books and try something new, and he was really just open to everything.”
Walker’s role in Apple TV’s Silo is even more pivotal than Walker from the books
Having known Juliette since she was a troubled teenager and mentored her as an apprentice, Martha Walker functions as a maternal presence for Juliette, whose biological mother died before the story’s present day.Theharsh environment of Silo 18 most negatively impacts women, who are forcibly sterilized unless permitted by the government to have children. As a result, close relationships between female characters in “Silo” carry a different weight than other dynamics.
Speaking to Supanova before the premiere of “Silo” Season 1, Harriet Walter described Martha’s perception of Juliette with regard to their lengthy history and similarities as individuals.”She has a sort of tough love for Juliette,” Walter said. “Which is also in balance with her sort of admiration of Juliette as Juliette grows up into this quite extraordinary human being.”
Audiences can look forward to seeing how Juliette and Martha’s relationship evolves in “Silo” Seasons 3 and 4.
