Originally Posted by Bloodphobia:
“New Park. "Platonic" means that the relationship is not sexual but at least there is a meaningful relationship. In much of series 5 and 6, Martin and Louisa seemed like two people living as roommates, under obligation to take care of their child, with nothing meaningful between them. We grasp onto nuances in the scripts to infer that there must be a sexual relationship between the two. But Martin may be a man with low testerone and limited interest in sex. His back story is that he was an ascetic, celibate surgeon with no interest in women. It was always Louisa who initiated even a kiss. At the marriage proposal Martin did not embrace Louisa She threw herself at him and likely initiated the sex. She later described their sexual relationship as "on the few occasions". In what was probably the four weeks before the first wedding, for a newly sexual couple to have sex only a few times is unusual. Lack of an intimacy with Martin could be one source of her frustration with him. I think that should be one of the first things the marriage counselor addresses, but I doubt that will happen in the show”
What a depressing scenario!
I prefer to think of Martin Ellingham as someone who is deeply inhibited on sexual matters as well as emotional, and very shy -- but in the right circumstances, very interested and even passionate. Judging from the legions of female fans who find him sex on a stick (or maybe that's just on FB), I'm not alone...
Now in S6, as it went on, I could see it -- he appeared depressed and libido often diminishes in that condition. And it well may have contributed to Louisa's frustrations. Though, judging from her p.j.'s. she didn't seem to be doing much about it.
Actually, I probably shouldn't be quite so cavalier about Louisa -- she's probably mostly exhausted and stressed, and that isn't exactly conducive to a flourishing sex life.
Mostly, I agree with Carol, above. The show has deliberately made the "private" lives, private. Some would say they've gone too far, and without the spice of knowing they are sexually interested in each other, it's hard to figure what exactly is keeping them together, given all their other incompatibilities. James Henry enough? only to a degree, I would think.