User:Conquistador2k6/List of Home and Away characters (2004)

Home and Away is an Australian soap opera. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the Australian soap opera Home and Away in 2004, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's series producer Julie McGuaran. The 17th season of Home and Away began airing on the Seven Network on 12 January 2004. The first arrivals were the Hunter Twins, Matilda (Indiana Evans) and Henry (Tobi Atkins), the youngest of Beth's (Clarissa House) children in January. New Principal Barry Hyde (Ivar Kants) and his son Kim (Chris Hemsworth) debuted in February. Josh Lawson began playing Felix Walters in April. Christie Hayes began playing Laura DeGroot, biological twin of her existing character Kirsty Sutherland in the same month. Sarah Lewis (Luisa Hastings-Edge), Felix's girlfriend was introduced in May. June saw the birth of Pippa Saunders, the first child of Sally Fletcher and Flynn Saunders and Nicholas Bishop debuted as Detective Peter Baker. Laurie Foell began her third role on the serial as Josie Russell in August. Tim Campbell and Mark Furze arrived as Peter's brother, Dan and Ric Dalby, respectively in September.

Matilda Hunter
Matilda Hunter, played by Indiana Evans, made her first appearence on 21 January 2004 and departed on 24 June 2008. Evans was filming the television show Snobs when she was asked to audition for the role of Matilda on Home and Away. In April 2008, it was announced that Evans was to leave Home and Away after producers decided not to renew her contract. Matilda is described as a "bit of a snobby brat" who can also be a "drama queen" by serial's official wensite However, she is not necessarily mean. For her portrayal of Matilda, Evans was nominated for "Best Young Actor" at the 2007 Inside Soap Awards. The following year, Evans received two nominations for "Sexiest Female" and "Best Couple", along with co-star Mark Furze. At the 2008 Dolly Teen Choice Awards, Evans won the "Queen of Teen" award.

Henry Hunter
Henry Hunter, played by Tobi Atkins, made his first appearance on 21 January 2004 and departed on 16 June 2005. David Jones-Roberts originally auditioned for the role but lost out to Atkins.

Henry arrives in Summer Bay with his twin sister Matilda (Indiana Evans) after their mother Beth (Clarissa House) pulls them out of their posh boarding school due to lack of funds. On their first few days in the bay, the twins are frequently rude to Beth's fiance Rhys Sutherland (Michael Beckley) and his children while struggling to adjust to the blending of both families. Henry is unimpressed with having to share a room with Rhys' nephew Max (Sebastian Elmaloglou). Henry and Max constantly bicker and fight, which culminates in a boxing match at school which Henry wins after Max is distracted. The boys later put their differences aside and become friends.

Henry later becomes a target for school bully Eric Dalby (Mark Furze) and Wazza Stevens (Israel Cannan), due to his tap dancing abilities. In order to get them off his back, he decides to join them. They coerce him into vandalising the surf club and burning down the kiosk as revenge against Rhys who is cheating on Beth with his ex-wife Shelley (Paula Forrest). Ric and Wazza leave Henry to take the blame and he receives a criminal record as a result. When the news of Ric alledgedly killing his father gets out, Henry begins taunting him as revenge. Henry's abilities later earn him a place at a dance school in the city and he leaves.

For his portrayal of Henry, Atkins was nominated for "Best Young Actor" at the 2005 Inside Soap Awards.

Barry Hyde
Barry Kimberly Hyde played by Ivar Kants, made his first appearance on 10 February 2004 and departed on 31 May 2006.

Barry arrived in Summer Bay as the new principal of the school at the start of the school year, taking over from Sally Fletcher, the interim principal who succeeded Paris Burnett (Rhett Ghiles). Barry's teenage son, Kim (Chris Hemsworth) also arrives with him and enrols as student. It is clear The two have a difficult relationship, but later work to work out their differences.

Barry's hard-line approach to discipline and dress codes does not sit well with his new sutdents and he is perojatively nicknamed "Jekyll". After witnessing Max Sutherland (Sebastian Elmaloglou) and Henry Hunter (Tobi Atkins) fighting, he suggests they have a boxing match in the gym. Henry's mother Beth (Clarissa House) is opposed to the fight but it goes ahead anyway and Max is knocked as a result when he is distracted. He frequently clashes with Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger), who eventually quits as his secretary. Things are not eased when Jade Sutherland (Kate Garven) and Seb Miller (Mitch Firth), along with several of their fellow students arrange a weekend lock-in at the school. As punishment for the rebellion, Barry excludes both Seb and Jade.

He takes a liking to Irene but things go no further. While organising a character-building excercise involving war games, Hyde is shot in one of his eye by Duncan Stewart (Brendan McKensy), which requires him to leave the bay to undergo surgery in the city for several months. When Barry returns he brings Brooke McPherson (Alyssa McClelland), Kim's ex-girlfriend and her son Charlie with him. Kim initially thinks Barry is trying to bring him and Brooke closer together but in reality he is trying to get Brooke out of Kim's life as Kim is not Charlie's father. After the truth comes out, Barry and Kim become closer. However, Kim drops out of school and the two butt heads after Barry refuses to allow Kim to perform at Noah Lawson's (Beau Brady) tribute concert. After Eskimo Joe fail to appear, it is up to Barry and Kit Hunter (Amy Mizzi) to close the show as performers.

Barry grows closer to Beth, prompting Kim and Robbie Hunter (Jason Smith) to worry. The pair enjoy playing jokes on their respective sons about their relationship. He reluctantly lets troublemaker Ric Dalby (Mark Furze) join the school due to his swimming prowess. Barry and Irene begin a relationship and he moves in with her. The relationship breaks down and he moves out. When Kim tries to track down his mother, Kerry, Barry is devastated and tries to deter Kim. After a fruitless search, he comes clean to Kim telling him that he had killed Kerry after she tried to drown Kim in the bath when he was a baby, like she had done to his older brother, Jonathan.

Barry is later revealed to be the killer of Josh West (Daniel Collopy) after confessing to Morag Bellingham (Cornelia Frances). It is revealed in flashbacks that Barry had come into Josh's office to confront him about blackmailing him over his wife's murder and there was a struggle between the two after Josh had pulled a gun on Barry – during which the gun went off, killing Josh. . Barry is subsequently arrested for both the murders of Kerry and Josh and he is bailed. He begins lodging in the flat above the diner but after harassment from many local residents, Barry decides to move to the city to await his sentencing.

Kim Hyde
Kim Hyde played by Chris Hemsworth made his first on screen appearance on 17 February 2004 and departed on 3 July 2007. Hemsworth originally auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter, but he was turned down by the Home and Away producers and the role went to Jason Smith. Hemsworth was then asked to return and try out for the role of Kim Hyde. He won the role and had to relocate to Sydney to film his scenes. Of joining Home and Away, Hemsworth said "The role in Home and Away is consistent work for me and is a great experience. It is so fast-paced and basically it allows me to learn a lot a lot about the industry." Hemsworth appeared in 171 episodes of Home and Away, before leaving in 2007 to focus on his film career. For his portrayal of Kim, Hemsworth won the Most Popular New Male Talent award at the 2005 Logie Awards, he also received a nomination for Most Popular Actor. The following year, Hemsworth was again nominated for Most Popular Actor. At the first Digital Spy Soap Awards, Hemsworth earned a nomination for Best Exit. Hannah Rand of The Daily Telegraph said Hemsworth was "born to play hunky high school dropout" Kim, due to his physique and pin-up looks.

Felix Walters
Felix Walters, played by Josh Lawson, first appeared on 7 April 2004.

Felix is the president of the Student Action group at Yabbie Creek University. He leads a demonstration against the large Number of Mature students who have enrolled, which does not sit well with Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger). Dani Sutherland (Tammin Sursok), who works on the Campus Newspaper investigates him and speaks to Damien Brownlow (Robert Jago) who runs against Felix for Student Action president. It emerges that Felix is a known troublemaker who takes payments to organise his protests and had Damien beaten up for threatening to expose him. Dani tries to interview Felix but he warns her off. Dani, however, persists with the interview.

Felix crashes the joint birthday party of Dani's stepbrother, Robbie Hunter (Jason Smith) and Hayley Lawson (Bec Cartwright) and begins chatting up Robbie's sister, Matilda (Indiana Evans), who convinces him she is eighteen and he offers her a lift. Kim Hyde (Chris Hemsworth) steps in and Felix leaves. He then continues playing mind games with Dani. Scott Hunter (Kip Gamblin) and Kane Phillips (Sam Atwell) warn Felix off Dani but find themselves under suspicion of assault when the police tell them Felix has been beaten up. Felix steps up his campaign against Dani and begins stalking her, causing her to panic, which leads to her lashing out at the Dean when he startles her and is suspended as a result. He then invades her home and trashes the place to let her know he has been there and then plants fish paste and rotting prawns in Dani's car.

He then has his girlfriend Sarah Lewis (Luisa Hastings-Edge) impersonate a police officer and tell Dani that Scott has died, devasting her and their family. Scott emerges safe but the police cannot prove Felix was involved. Dani takes out an AVO against Felix and he threatens her again. He begins pulling further stunts including a pile of manure to be dumped outside the house. Felix is then beaten up by a mysterious assailant with a baseball bat, sent by Viv "The Guv" Standish (Maggie Kirkpatrick) and left comatose in hospital. Realising the evidence is against them, Kane and Scott break into Felix's house to try to find evidence to exonerate themselves but discover that Felix and Sarah are Crystal Meth addicts. Felix dies later in hospital and it looks like he was murdered but it is later revealed that a Crystal Meth overdose, administered by Sarah in an attempt to make him better.

Laura DeGroot
Laura DeGroot, played by Christie Hayes made her first appearance on 14 April 2004 and departed on 3 November 2004. Laura is the biological twin sister of Kirsty Sutherland (also played by Hayes). It is revealed that on the night she and Kirsty were born, Laura was swapped with Jade Sutherland (Kate Garven), who was consequently raised by Rhys (Michael Beckley) and Shelley Sutherland (Paula Forrest). When Kirsty undergoes kidney surgery, Rhys asks Laura to donate hers but she refuses and Shelley donates hers instead. Laura then makes amends with the Sutherlands.

Laura returns when Kirsty is taking her HSC exams and agrees to swap places with her. The ruse works until Dan Baker (Tim Campbell) catches them but does not report them. Laura then returns to the city to be near Rhys and Shelley.

On Laura's introduction, Jaci Stephen of The Daily Mail referred to her as the "real" jade and quipped "that might be a relief; surely she can't be as irritating as the old one".

Sarah Lewis
Sarah Lewis, played by Luisa Hastings-Edge made her first appearance on 14 April 2004 and made her last on 30 August 2004.

The climax of Sarah's storyline served as a cliffhanger ahead of the serial's break for the 2004 Summer Olympics. Sarah seeks revenge on the residents of Summer Bay for causing the death of her boyfriend Felix Walters (Josh Lawson), when in fact she is responsible, after injecting him with crystal Meth and an armed siege takes place at a safehouse. Nicole Brady of The Age commented on the police's failings to keep order. "Alert but not alarmed at news of the madwoman's imminent arrival, the local constabulary decides the best way to guarantee the safety of the town's spunky young residents is to gather them all in a single safe house then leave them in the care of a single officer. D'oh! Problems arise for the gang when Detective Peter Baker (Nicholas Bishop) leaves them alone and unprotected while he heads out on reconnaissance with the other blockheads in blue, who seem similarly intent on botching the protection job."

Felix asks Sarah to pose a policewoman and tell Dani Sutherland (Tammin Sursok) that her boyfriend Scott Hunter (Kip Gamblin) has died while at sea. Scott resurfaces and it becomes clear that this is a hoax. When Felix is attacked by an unknown assailant, Dani, Scott and Kane Phillips (Sam Atwell) look for evidence to clear their names. Dani spots Sarah and recognises her as the policewoman who told her of Scott's death. Scott and Kane discover Sarah has many pictures of Dani and flee when Sarah arrives.

In spite of the evidence amassed, Peter warns Dani, Scott and Kane to let the police handle it. When Peter visits Sarah, All the incriminating evidence seemingly disappears. Felix dies in hospital and Sarah wants revenge. She begins playing mind games, first by making it seem like Kane is cheating on his wife, Kirsty (Christie Hayes). She then disguises herself as a stripper for Noah Lawson's (Beau Brady) bucks party and tells Kane, who is in attendance he can get to him, Scott or Dani at any time. Sarah plants powder in the air conditioning the day before Noah's wedding to Hayley Smith (Bec Cartwright) but Peter find the powder. She is then questioned but released.

Sarah then plants acid on Dani's soap causing her to burn her hands and steals Tasha Andrews' (Isabel Lucas) handgun. She then arrives at the Surf Club, where Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) is locking up the gym. When Tasha, Kane and Robbie Hunter (Jason Smith) arrive, Sarah shoots Jesse in the head and flees. She is arrested and sent to a psychiatric hospital. Peter arranges for Sarah's victims to confront her and she apologises and admits to killing Felix by injecting him with Crystal Meth. Several weeks later she escapes the hospital and returns to the Bay. News of her escape filters to town and everyone uses Leah Patterson's (Ada Nicodemou) home as a safe house. Sarah retrieves the gun and begins her quest to find Scott and Dani who are planning to leave for Paris, she confronts them and ties Dani up and demands Scott take her to Leah's and he drives here there at gunpoint. Once at the house, she holds them hostage and demands that Felix's killer come forward. Flynn Saunders (Joel McIlroy) tries to reason with Sarah after she knocks Peter unconscious with the gun, sending him into a fit, but she refuses to let him tend to Peter. She then begins a 20-minute countdown. Several people try to wrestle Sarah to the ground for the gun and several shots are fired and she makes a run for it. Noah follows her and she comes face to face with Dani who arrives with her father, Rhys (Michael Beckley). Sarah turns and shoots Noah, killing him. She then turns the gun on herself.

Several months after Sarah's death, Eve Jacobsen (Emily Perry), Sarah's nurse and former lover arrives to avenge Sarah's death and plan a similar campaign against the Bay. She murders Zoe McCallister and assumes her identity and begins playing mind games with Peter and Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie). Peter starts to believe Sarah is still alive at one point. Eve's schemes come to an end when she arranges a large explosion at the wedding of Jack Holden (Paul O'Brien) and Martha MacKenzie (Jodi Gordon) and is killed in the process.

Sarah's reign of terror was nominated for "Best Storyline" at the 2005 Inside Soap Awards. Channel 5 chose The episode dealing with Sarah's siege and the aftermath as two of their best ever episodes of the last twenty-five years. Mark Juddery of The Sun-Herald described Sarah shooting Noah as the "Biggest Event" in the serial's history in his article about television characters being killed off in order to boost ratings.

Pippa Saunders
Pippa Saunders made her screen debut in the episode broadcast on 4 June 2004. The character was played by twelve young actors, including Chloe Marshall who took over the role in 2007. Pippa departed on 3 April 2008, but will return on 15 July 2013. She a was played by twelve different child actors from her introduction in 2004 to her departure in 2008. The actors were Riley Stevens, Anouk Povaly, Noah Fraser, Isabelle Bell-Dickson, Jessica Taylor Lorenxo, Mia Szczenpanik, Leila Szczenpanik, Bojanna Main, Tameka Main, Phoebe Falconer, India Falconer and Chloe Marshall. The character will return along with her mother on 15 July 2013. For her portrayal of Pippa, Chloe Marshall received a nomination for Best Young Actor at the 2008 Inside Soap Awards. The episode which dealt with the aftermath of the accident and Pippa's subsequent hospitalisation earned Sam Meikle a nomination for an Australian Writers' Guild Award in 2008.

Peter Baker
Peter Kevin Baker, played by Nicholas Bishop, made his first appearance on 15 June 2004and departed on 22 May 2007. Bishop made 80 guest appearances before becoming a regular.

Peter arrives in Summer Bay to replace Mike Carter (Stephen Leeder) as a new detective at Yabbie Creek Police station. He investigates an attack on Felix Walthers (Josh Lawson) and suspects Kane Phillips (Sam Atwell), Scott Hunter (Kip Gamblin) and Dani Sutherland (Tammin Sursok) of the crime. They are cleared when Viv Standish (Maggie Kirkpatrick) admits to ordering the attack on Felix but later evidence discovers Felix died of a Crystal meth overdose, not a head injury. Leah Patterson (Ada Nicodemou) recognizes Peter and he tells her he went to the same high school as her brother Dimitri (Salvatore Coco), this is quickly revealed to be false and Peter admits he was in the courtroom when Leah's husband Vinnie (Ryan Kwanten) was prosecuted for fraud.

Sarah Lewis (Luisa Hastings-Edge), Felix's girlfriend is revealed to be his killer. Knowing of her mental instability, Peter advises the residents of Summer Bay to be careful. Sarah begins a revenge campaign against Summer Bay and Peter is in the thick of the investigation. Peter is able to apprehend her after she holds Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) hostage at the Surf club. Sarah is sectioned but escaped and heads towards town. Peter arranges for everyone to use Leah's home as a safehouse. During a patrol, Sarah arrives with Scott at gunpoint and holds everyone hostage. Peter tries to tackle her but she pistol-whips him sending him into shock. With once remaining ounce of strength, Peter tells Leah that Vinnie is still alive before falling into a coma. Sarah then shoots and kills Noah Lawson (Beau Brady) before turning the gun on herself and committing suicide.

Peter spends three months in a coma and awakes. He arranges for Vinnie to visit Leah but he is in disguise as teddy bear for his and Leah's son VJ's third birthday party. Peter discovers his brother, Dan Baker (Tim Campbell) is now in relationship with Leah. When a series of events begin occurring at the hands of a stalker, Peter becomes convinced Sarah is alive. Senior Detective Clare Brody (Katrina Campbell) arrives and investigates the case alongside Peter. This is uncomfortable as they are former lovers. It soon becomes apparent that Eve Jacobsen (Emily Perry), using the identity of Zoe McCallister is responsible. Eve begins playing mind games with Peter and this culminates in the kidnap of Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie). Peter rescues Sally from an old abbatoir which explodes and Eve is presumed dead.

Peter attends Dan and Leah's wedding and reconnects with his estranged parents Kevin Baker (Andy Anderson) and Noelene (Kris McQuade). Shorly after he and Clare return to the city. However, Peter returns alone and makes a play for Leah and they share a kiss. Dan is furious when he finds out. Peter begins acting strangely and behaving erratically, to the extent he snaps at fellow officers and punches Jack Holden. Jack suspects him of being involved in shady business but Peter quickly reveals that Eve apparently survived the fire and is still causing trouble. Tracey Thompson (Sarah Enright) arrives from the city to assist Peter in the case. Peter's stress levels rise during the case as Eve resumes her campaign, setting off real and fake bombs. He and Jack eventually arrest her but she escapes and invades Jack and Martha MacKenzie's (Jodi Gordon) wedding and takes Tracy hostage. It soon becomes clear that Tracy helped Eve escape from custody. An explosion occurs killing both Tracy and Eve, as well as Elaine Armstrong (Julie Hudspeth). Dan is devastated when doctors tell him Peter has died.

Dan discovers Peter has a son, Drew Curtis (Bobby Morley) and tracks him down. Drew is later kidnapped but is shocked to find Peter is the culprit. It emerges Peter faked his own death and hid out in witness protection to avoid a family of gangsters. Dennis Gillen enters the barn and Peter tells Drew to get away and gunshots are heard. Drew is devastated but it turns out Peter shot Gillen dead before he had the chance to kill him.

Peter grows closer to Amanda Vale (Holly Brisley), Dan's ex-wife after they are held hostage by Johnny Cooper (Callan Mulvey) and his gang at Amanda's place. Drew is disgusted as he previously had an infatuation with Amanda himself several months earlier. Peter and Amanda then become engaged but on the wedding day Amanda's vengeful sister, Kelli (Alexa Ashton) sabotages the day by sending her boyfriend Ethan Black (Patrick Brammall) to the reception to expose an "affair" he and Amanda have allegedly having. Peter leaves Amanda, who professes her innocence. Kelli is soon exposed and arrested after attempting to kill Amanda. In spite of realizing Amanda's innocence and still loving her, Peter is unwilling to reconcile. Amanda decides to leave for the city. Drew and Dan encourage Peter to go after Amanda and he does and the couple reunite in the city. They are later joined by Drew and when Amanda returns in 2009, she reveals she is pregnant with Peter's child.

Josie Russell
Josie Russell, played by Laurie Foell, made her first appearance on 9 August 2004 and departed on 29 June 2005. Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury, described Josie as Angie's scarily-lookalike sister. A Writer from What's On TV described her as "Twisted" and stated that Foell caused trouble in twice in the show in both her roles as Angie and Josie.

Dan Baker
Dan Baker, played by Tim Campbell, made his first appearance on 1 September 2004. The actor had previously starred in the series playing the role of Brad, a soccer player for Yabbie Creek. In an interview published on the website Campbell called his character a "no nonsense" type of person. Dan has some issues to resolve, but he does not let it interfere with his lifestyle. He continued: "I think he is a likeable and fun guy, and when faced with conflict, Dan is good in finding a quick resolve between himself and other people." Dan is "pretty grounded and has great integrity", he is also "even-tempered", which Campbell said he could relate to. On 30 September 2007, Fiona Byrne from the Herald Sun reported that Campbell would be leaving the series. He filmed his final scenes on 5 October. The episode in which Dan becomes lost at sea earned a nomination in the category of "Best Single Episode" at the 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards. Jim Schembri of The Age said that Dan "unintentionally emasculated" Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) by making Leah "so happy so quickly". A writer from the Birmingham Mail chose the episode in which Dan is released from hospital and trashes his house in their "pick of the day" feature.

Ric Dalby
Eric "Ric" Dalby, played by Mark Furze, appeared in the series from 15 September 2004 until 24 July 2008. Mark Furze joined the cast of Home and Away in 2004 after his agent informed him about the role and Furze read the character run through of Ric. He liked the role because he had never played a "baddie" before. In 2007, Furze took part in singing contest Soapstar Superstar and insisted that he was staying at Home and Away for a while longer. However, in 2008 Furze revealed that he had left the serial to concentrate on a career in music. For his portrayal of Ric, Furze was nominated for in the "Most Popular Actor" category at the 2007 Logie Awards. He was nominated in the same category the following year's ceremony. Furze said the recognition was an honour and opined that it reaffirmed that he was doing a good job on the serial. At the 2007 Inside Soap Awards Furze was nominated for "Best Actor". He subsequently received a nomination for "Sexiest Male" at the 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards.