| Rachel Armstrong | |
| Occupation | Doctor Psychiatrist |
| Residence | Boston |
| Gender | Female |
| Relationships | Kim Hyde (ex-husband) Hugh Sullivan (ex-boyfriend; slept with) Lewis (ex-boyfriend) Roman Harris (ex- boyfriend ) Tony Holden (husband) |
| Family | Robert Armstrong (father) Elaine Armstrong (mother; deceased) Brad Armstrong (brother) Tamsyn Armstrong (half-sister) Kim Hyde (ex-husband) Tony Holden (husband) Harry Holden (son) Jack Holden (stepson; deceased) Lucas Holden (stepson) Joe Morton (foster son; deceased) Emily Vincent (sister-in-law; deceased) |
| First Appearance | 16 January 2006 |
| Last Appearance | 11 August 2010 |
| Portrayed by | Amy Matthews |
Rachel Marie Holden (also Hyde; nee Armstrong) is a doctor, the sister of Brad Armstrong and the wife of Tony Holden.
She's also the ex-wife of Kim Hyde, the mother of Harry Holden and stepmother to Tony's sons Jack Holden and Lucas Holden.
She's an old school friend of Leah Patterson-Baker.
Storylines[]
Rachel is a doctor who is introduced as an old school friend of Leah Patterson-Baker. She has a brother, Brad, and half-sister, Tamsyn. Before starting her first shift Rachel finds Kim Hyde unconscious and saves him.
Rachel is assigned as Kim's psych registrar and she begins to feel attracted to him. She suggests he see someone else, but Kim decides to stay because he feels attracted to her. Rachel is sexually harassed by Doctor Brian Helpman. Rachel turns to Kim for comfort and they begin a relationship.
Helpman threatens to report Rachel for her affair with Kim if she doesn't sleep with him so she reports him and comes clean about her relationship. Rachel is struck off the psych registry, but is later given a new job in the Accident and Emergency department.
Rachel is annoyed when her father, Robert briefly works at the hospital. Kim's new friend Charlie McKinnon (Matt Levett) begins spending a plenty of time with them. Charlie soon becomes infatuated with Kim and starts dressing up like him and becoming possessive.
Charlie later takes Rachel kidnaps Rachel. Rachel hits Charlie with a pipe causing him to seizure, she decides to save his life. She blames herself for not noticing his issues sooner. At Martha MacKenzie and Jack Holden's wedding reception, Eve Jacobsen causes a massive explosion at the venue.
Rachel's mother Elaine dies in the explosion, leaving Rachel confused in her grief, however she carried on helping the injured. She arranged a helicopter to take the seriously injured including Kim to the City for further treatment. The helicopter crashes in a storm and everyone is presumed dead. Fearing death Kim sleeps with Kit Hunter.
Everyone blames Rachel for the crash and she believes it is her fault. She starts going on drinking binges and taking large amounts of tablets. She is arrested for drunk driving. Leah tries to help her, but an insulted Rachel slaps Leah in the face and tries to fight her. Brad tries to stop Rachel from her drinking. Rachel is later found passed out after an overdose of drugs and drink. Kim is saved and admits his affair, Rachel forgives him. Rachel wants children when she feels better but Kim doesn't which strains their relationship. Kim is accused of sexually assaulting Tara O'Neill, but it is revealed she had lied.
Kim and Rachel marry and try to adopt a baby called Joe Morton until his mother Lee (Natasha Lee) returns to take him off the pair. Kit reveals she is pregnant and when she has the baby Kim takes Kit's side on many things. Hugh Sullivan, Rachel's ex-boyfriend turns up, they sleep together. Hugh leaves Rachel alone after she refuses to leave Kim, she tells Kim the truth and he refuses to forgive her and tells her he is going to live with Kit because he loves her instead.
Brad's friend Henk Van Patten arrives in town and starts a relationship with Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson), leaving Rachel furious and reveals he sexually assaulted her when she was younger. A stalker becomes active targeting the hospital. Rachel starts a relationship with Lewis and becomes pregnant. He wants nothing to do with her, Rachel miscarries and Lewis decides he wants the baby after all. Sam Holden accuses Lewis of being the hospital stalker, Reverend Hall offers Rachel a lift home and she gladly accepts. He reveals he is the stalker and ties her up, gagging her. He tries to hurt her but collapses and has a fit, Rachel saves his life.
Rachel grows close to Roman Harris but after he reminds her of Kim she decides to date Tony Holden. Tony is told the likelihood he can help Rachel conceive for a child is low, however they later are delighted when she becomes pregnant. Rachel's patient, Jimmy Crawford begins to stalk her and Aden Jefferies (Todd Lasance) kidnaps her and tries to kill his father, Larry. Belle Taylor and Rachel talk Aden out of this and she is set free. Tony thought she missed the wedding because she loved Hugh still, but they later reconcile.
Baby Joe comes back into Rachel's life after his mother goes missing. She looks after him for a while, but he is sent away again leaving Rachel upset because she bonded with him again. Rachel later finds out he has died leaving her devastated. Following Jack's death Rachel and Tony's relationship becomes strained. Rachel starts to suspect that Tony is having an affair.[9] They later repair their relationship after Tony realises his anger is out of control.
Later in 2009 they married and had a baby son, Harry. She tries to get him in a routine but is annoyed at everyone for visiting. She feels like a bad mother because Harry never stops crying. Rachel begins to suffer post-natal depression, she becomes stressed and starts taking it out on those closest to her. Rachel contemplates smothering Harry and then her friends convince her to seek help.
She returned to work at the hospital to clear her head, a patient called Jane goes into labour but her baby dies. She blames Rachel because of her standard of treatment. Rachel is suspended whilst under investigation. She tries to ruin her career and harass Rachel. Jane kidnaps Harry and he is gone for days. Charlie Buckton eventually tracks Harry down and returns him home safely.
Rachel wrongly diagnoses a child with deafness, becomes friendly with the father, she becomes angry at Tony for selling his share in the gym because of the not so good financial status. Rachel becomes annoyed at Tony's feud with John Palmer and his subsequent obsession with boxing, all of which strains their relationship.
In August 2010, Rachel is offered a new job in Boston, in the United States. Tony refuses to go with Rachel, claiming that Summer Bay is his home and is angry with Rachel when she buys herself a plane ticket without telling him. Rachel then realises that Tony does not want to leave Summer Bay as his dead son Jack, is buried in the local cemetery. Rachel tells Tony that she will stay in Summer Bay for him. Feeling guilty, Tony then changes him mind and agrees to go to America with Rachel. Rachel and Harry accompany Tony to Jack's grave to say goodbye and they then leave.