Felicity 'Flick' Newman is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by Jacqui Purvis. She is introduced to the show as Cash Newman's younger sister. Purvis auditioned for the role after losing another audition for Mackenzie Booth to Australian actress Emily Weir. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 19 August 2021.
Flick was initially billed as "a firecracker with an abundance of confidence and no filter – which can get her into a lot of trouble."[1] Her first scenes see her attract Tane's attention when she dances on top of a bar.[1] Purvis described her as "a kind of cannonball" and thought it was "a gift" to be given the chance to portray "a multi-layered character."[2] Flick and Cash's fictional backstory was slowly revealed to viewers after their introductions. Their father committed suicide after when he was left to raise them alone and his farm suffered from drought. Flick struggled to come to terms with what happened, causing her to make one bad decision after another.[2] Purvis felt privileged to play out the long lasting effects of suicide on the people left behind. She carried out her own research into the subject, wanting to portray it accurately and with sensitivity. She also spoke with people who had experienced a suicide in the family.[2] She told Harvey: "It's different for everyone, obviously, so I just had to choose something specific for Flick and how she would react to that situation. I just needed to cover all bases and make sure that I was doing it justice and was covering it sensitively. It is very hard, but also so enlightening at the same time."[2] Purvis reckoned Flick would always struggle with her father's death.[2] She added that she understands her character, but Flick often does things she would not consider, like dancing on a bar.[2] The show's 8000th episode, broadcast on 27 March 2023, featured Felicity's wedding to Tane.[3]
Storylines
Felicity was born at Wild Hospital in New South Wales. She grew up on a farm, along with her brother Cash who was three years older. While they were still young, their mother Jennifer died. In 2006 their father Anthony committed suicide after their farm was badly affected by a drought. The now orphaned Newman siblings were fostered by family friends Gary and Katherine Morrow. Felicity struggled to deal with the impact of her father's suicide and refused to believe that he had taken his own life. She never really settled in with the Morrows. She left home as soon as she could.
Felicity came to Summer Bay where Cash was now working as a policeman and moved in with him. She quickly ruffled some feathers by playing music too loudly and arguing with the neighbours. They were evicted and Cash had to move them temporarily into the Caravan Park. Felicity got a job working in Salt and had a one-night-stand with Tane Parata. Tane was shocked when he learned who her brother was, and began to distance himself from her. When he began to receive anonymous roses, he accused her of stalking him. Tane was then drugged and left for dead during a chemical attack. Things weren't looking good for Felicity when the police found evidence of chemical purchases in her van, but then she vanished. The real culprit was her colleague Anne Sherman who had the hots for Tane and was jealous that he only had eyes for Felicity.
After this ordeal was over, Felicity and Tane began to see each other. She stressed to him that wasn't the settling down type and didn't see herself having children. She also finally accepted that her father had committed suicide, after Cash brought his death certificate for her to see.
In early 2022, Felicity's boss Mackenzie Booth tried to let her go from her job because Salt was struggling financially. Felicity encouraged Mac to hold some illegal poker nights, like the ones an old employer had had back in the city. Although the poker night went well, things went pear-shaped when gangster Peter "PK" King twigged that he was dealing with amateurs. He sent thugs to trash the restaurant and tried to sleep with Mac. Tane was also stabbed during the attack on Salt. When PK was found dead, Felicity was one of the suspects. When the dust settled, Felicity used her inheritance money to buy into Salt and she became an equal partner with Mac. Felicity temporarily moved in with Tane when he was recovering from the stabbing, and then the move became permanent. Shortly afterwards, she invited some old friends of hers to play a gig in Salt. The band in question was Lyrik...
Felicity got engaged to Tane and they began to make plans for their wedding. She was uncomfortable when Cash invited their foster father Gary Morrow to come along and try and patch things up. She felt guilty about how she had treated Gary and his wife Katherine and they made their peace.
On the way to her wedding to Tane, she and her best friend Eden Fowler were involved in a horrific car accident. A bikie gang who Cash had tangled with had tampered with the ute she was travelling in. It ploughed into a petrol station and Tane had to rescue her from the burning wreckage. Eden was left in a coma for a while. Felicity went off the rails, breaking up with Tane and hitting the bottle big time. After being caught drunk-driving, she hitched a lift back to Gary's farm. He brought her to her parents' grave for the first time and she made her peace. She and Tane patched things up and she proposed to him on the beach. In the show's 8000th episode, they finally got married in an intimate Māori ceremony this time.[4]
In May 2023, Felicity's drink was spiked while she was supporting Lyrik at a Battle of the Bands event. She was then sexually assaulted. Her attacker (later revealed to be Jeremy Holding) tried to blackmail her, claiming he had footage of the assault. After arranging to meet him to give him some cash, Flick secretly photographed him. [5] Cash then was able to look through CCTV from the venue and this led on to Jeremy's arrest. After his arrest and confession, Jeremy asked to meet Felicity as part of restorative justice.
Later in the year, Felicity and Tane split up over the issue of having children. Tane had always been eager for them to have children and Felicity pretended she was willing to try with him. However she continued to take her contraceptive pills behind his back. When Tane found out, that brought their marriage to an end.
Felicity had a one night stand with a Salt customer and in the morning, was horrified to learn he was Tane's lawyer. Tane had landed himself in hot water over a baby he'd found on the beach (too convoluted to go into here). Bottom line is, Tane was annoyed at her for trying to run his life for him.
She then had a passionate fling with Rory Templeton, much to the horror of Cash. Rory was a member of the River Boys gang and he was one of the suspects in the murder of a police officer called Franklin McGrath. Felicity ignored all the warnings from her friends and continued to see Rory. She was horrified when he confessed to the murder of Franklin McGrath and of disposing of his body.[6]
In August 2024 Felicity went to Cash and Eden's engagement party. She and Tane had a slow dance and it looked like they might be about to rekindle things. However, it wasn't to be. She collapsed at the party and was rushed to hospital. She had suffered a brain aneurysm and tests revealed that she was brain dead. Cash had to make the heart breaking decision to turn the life support machine off, later donating her organs.[7]
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