| Bobby Simpson | |
| Occupation | Student Co-owner of the Bayside Diner |
| Gender | Female |
| Relationships | Frank Morgan (ex-husband) Greg Marshall (husband) |
| Family | Donald Fisher (father) Morag Bellingham (mother) Al Simpson (adoptive father) Doris Simpson (adoptive mother; deceased) Barbara Stewart (stepmother) Frank Morgan (ex-husband) Greg Marshall (husband) Sophie Simpson (adoptive sister) Charlie Buckton (stepsister; deceased) Rebecca Fisher (half-sister) Alan Fisher (half-brother) Bryon Fisher (half-brother; deceased) Sam Marshall (adoptive son) Gordon Stewart (grandfather) Isobel DuPre (grandmother) Sarah-Jane Stewart (grandmother) Clive Fisher (uncle) Alf Stewart (uncle) Celia Stewart (aunt) Debra Stewart (aunt) Colleen Smart (aunt) Mary Croft (aunt) Seb Miller (nephew) David Simpson (adoptive nephew) Tamara Simpson (adoptive niece) David Croft (cousin; deceased) Lucinda Croft (cousin) Lance Smart (cousin) Maureen Evans (cousin) Roo Stewart (cousin) Quinn Jackson (cousin) Duncan Stewart (cousin) Martha MacKenzie (second cousin) Ric Dalby (second cousin) Bryce Stewart (second cousin) |
| First Appearance | 17 January 1988 |
| Last Appearance | 9 June 1995 |
| Portrayed by | Nicolle Dickson |
Bobby Marshall (also Simpson and Morgan) was one of the best known characters in the early years of Home and Away. Originally a teenage tearaway who was fostered by Tom and Pippa Fletcher, she went on to become a central character in the show. She was fatally injured in a motorboat accident in 1993.
Backstory[]
Bobby was the result of an extra-marital affair between schoolteacher Donald Fisher and high-flying lawyer Morag Bellingham. Morag also happened to be Donald's sister-in-law, as he was married to her sister Barbara at the time. Morag kept her pregnancy a secret and when Bobby was born, she was adopted by Doris and Al Simpson. They moved away to the city.
Unfortunately for Bobby, Al Simpson was a violent alcoholic. He was eventually sent to prison for petty crime. Doris returned to Summer Bay with Bobby to stay with her parents. Doris died from cancer when Bobby was fifteen but already she had earned a reputation as a wild child. After Doris's death, her parents sold their store to newcomer Ailsa Hogan. A friendship slowly developed between Bobby and Ailsa. In late 1987 or early 1988 Bobby landed herself in hot water when she was accused of breaking into Donald Fisher's house. Floss and Neville McPhee stepped in and gave her an empty caravan to hide in. The caravan park wasn't in use at the time and the McPhees were looking after it for Alf Stewart.
Storylines[]
1988-1993[]
When the Fletcher family travelled to Summer Bay to take a look at the caravan park, Floss and Neville were caught unawares. Bobby was still hiding in one of the vans and young Sally Keating was snooping around. When Sally got too close for comfort, Bobby tried to flee but accidentally knocked Sally over in the process.
Bobby was later caught by Tom and his foster son Frank Morgan. Sally identified her as the person who had knocked her over. Bobby was placed under citizen's arrest by Donald Fisher. He had been searching for her due to his suspicions about her robbing him. Bobby was handed over to the police. She decided to harass the Fletcher girls at the beach and blamed them for her arrest. The night the Fletchers moved into the caravan park house, one of the vans burst into flames. The finger of blame was immediately pointed at Bobby but she insisted she had nothing to do with it. When Fisher tried to have her arrested again, Tom and Pippa refused to press charges. They believed Bobby was innocent.
Bobby clashed with Carly Morris, one of the other Fletcher foster family members. Carly objected to Bobby staying in the caravan park and a fight broke out between the two of them, just as Tarquin Pearce from community services called by. He had travelled to Summer Bay to assess the Fletchers' new living arrangements. They had moved to Summer Bay in the first place because Tom had lost his job and they were at risk of being split up. Bobby was worried that she might be responsible for splitting the family up so she travelled to the city to talk to Pearce. He was so impressed with what Bobby told him, he decided not to split the family up. He also persuaded Tom and Pippa to take Bobby on as their sixth foster child.
Bobby developed feelings for her foster brother Frank Morgan but he was in love with Roo Stewart. That didn't stop her dreaming about marrying him. In the meantime, her old schoolfriend Alan Fisher returned to Summer Bay along with his mother Barbara. They became very close and Bobby was heartbroken when Alan died from a brain aneurysm.
When Roo jilted Frank at the alter, he fled the church and drove away at speed in his new car. He was badly injured when he crashed the car and was hospitalised. Bobby decided she would be there for him in his time of need. After being good friends for a while, they began a relationship. Bobby was worried that Frank was on the rebound so he decided to show his commitment to her. He asked her to marry him and they got engaged. On the day of their wedding, Bobby's birth mother Morag Bellingham showed up the church. Bobby didn't know she was her mother at the time. Bobby and Frank's marriage soon began to run into difficulties. She could never let go of the thought that he was on the rebound and was proved to be right in the end. Frank decided to leave Summer Bay and move to New York City to reconcile with Roo.
Bobby tried to trace her birth parents but made no progress. Then things took an unexpected turn. When Morag was hospitalised, Alf decided it was time to tell Bobby the secret he had been keeping. Morag was her mother. Bobby was furious and pestered Morag for more information after she was released from hospital. Eventually Morag snapped and revealed that Donald Fisher was her biological father. Bobby was shocked and upset to learn this because of the bad blood between her and her headmaster. The news was also a big shock for Donald and at first, he struggled to handle the information. The two decided to let bygones be bygones and they went on to develop a close father-daughter relationship.
After her split from Frank, Bobby decided to give dating a try. She went out on a few dates with a man called Chris Reynolds before learning that he was married. She broke up with him but then discovered she was pregnant. When she learned that she was pregnant, she told everybody apart from Donald. She was afraid of what he would think and assumed he would disapprove. When Donald finally found out, he told her he was proud of her. After suffering from pains, Bobby collapsed in the diner and was rushed to hospital. She lost her baby, which upset Donald as well.
In 1991 Bobby decided that she wanted to become a foster parent herself. She had come to realise how Tom and Pippa had changed her life for the better and she wanted to help somebody else. At first her decision was greeted with horror by everybody apart from Pippa. She fell out with Donald for a short while and moved into the Beach House with her friend Marilyn Chambers. After being rejected by the department at first, she was eventually given a young boy called Sam Marshall to foster. Bobby and Sam became really close and she found it difficult to hand him back to his mother when the time came.
Eventually, Sam's mother Jackie decided to give him up permanently and he came back to live with Bobby. They were very happy until a complication arrived in the form of Sam's biological father Greg Marshall. Greg had abandoned Sam's mother Jackie when her learned that she was pregnant and he had never met his son. Now older and more mature, he wanted to get to know his son. Bobby was very hostile to him in the beginning, perhaps sensing that Greg wasn't going to go away. Perhaps as an overreaction to her hostility, Greg applied for sole custody of Sam. He and Bobby then agreed to cease hostilities.
Bobby and Greg became closer and eventually got married in 1992. In 1993, their marriage was rocked when Greg had an affair with the lady who was cleaning Donald's house. Bobby broke up with him but was persuaded by several locals to forgive him. She and Greg reconciled and decided to try for a baby.
In August 1993 a fair was held in Summer Bay. Bobby and schoolteacher Luke Cunningham decided to go for a ride in a speedboat with Adam Cameron. Adam failed to spot a large piece of driftwood in time and the boat collided with it. Bobby was launched at speed into the water and suffered severe injuries. She was taken to hospital where tests were run. They showed that Bobby was brain dead and would never recover again. After a few days, a heartbroken Greg made the decision to turn off her life support machine.
In the aftermath, Adam was treated like an outcast by most of the residents. When the case went to trial, he escaped a prison sentence and just had to pay a small fine. He decided it was time to move on when he saved Sam from a fire. Sam continued to live in Summer Bay for years to come but never forgot Bobby.
1995[]
In 1995 Bobby made a surprise return to the Bay as a ghost. Ailsa was having trouble getting over a mugging in the diner, and took some pills to steady her nerves. One night when she was alone in her house, she heard whispering. When she went into the kitchen, Bobby's head emerged from the fridge. Ghost Bobby told a rattled Ailsa that Alf loved her before vanishing again. It turned out that Ailsa had been taking some out of date pills and these were making her hallucinate.