Samantha "Sam" Marsden is an old school friend of Ruth Osborne, and flatmate of Louise Bridges. In September 2001, Ruth came to stay with Sam and Louise in Northgate Mews, following friends Tony Hutchinson and Finn who had purchased a restaurant nearby. Sam's carefree nature meant that she was constantly job hunting, eventually enjoying working for a record company and began dating her boss Paul McDermott. However, she was let go as she failed to convince them that she could take the job seriously, and also broke up with Paul.