| Nick Parrish | |||||||||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Bruce Roberts | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1991–94 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 4 March 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 10 June 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Des Monaghan | ||||||||||||
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Nicholas Jasper "Nick" Parrish is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away , played by Bruce Roberts. [1] He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 March 1991 and departed on 10 June 1994.
In late December 1990, a reporter for TV Week confirmed Bruce Roberts had been cast as Constable Nick Parrish, a new police officer for the serial. [2] Roberts received the role of Nick a day after he left drama school. [3]
In one storyline Nick begins a relationship with Julie Gibson (Naomi Watts). However, when Julie's brother Revhead (Gavin Harrison) learns of their romance he is not happy. [4] As Tom Etherington from TV Week reported, Revhead "didn't do anything by the book" and "his head nearly exploded" because Nick is a police officer. He "tried his best" to separate the pair but they end the relationship on their own terms. Etherington added that "it became obvious they were better suited to being just good friends". [4]
After his relationship with Lucinda Croft (Dee Smart) ended, Nick fell for Roxanne Miller (Lisa Lackey). [5] A writer for the TV Times commented "The soap's unlucky-in-love copper Nick appears to have fallen in a big way for Roxy". [5] They added that Nick might be embarking on a new relationship too soon, while Roxy also believed Nick still loved Lucinda. [5] Roxy was wary of getting involved with Nick and when his ex-girlfriend Sandy (Claudia Black) turned up in the Bay, she decided to put him to "a love test", which Nick passed. [5] Of Nick and Roxy, Roberts said "On the outside, Nick looks as if he got his act together after Lucinda left him, but underneath he's vulnerable. He fancies Roxy, but doesn't want his heart broken again." [5] Nick and Roxy eventually shared a "passionate kiss" signalling the beginning of their relationship. [5]
Roberts quit the serial in 1994 to relocate to the UK to be with his girlfriend, Suzanne Dando. [6] He met her while starring in a pantomime during the 1993 Christmas production break. Roberts told Lisa Anthony from BIG! that his girlfriend was just one of the reasons why he had chosen to leave. [7] Roberts filmed his final scenes for the show on 15 April 1994. [8]
Nick arrives in Summer Bay and rents a room from Marilyn Chambers (Emily Symons) at the beach house. Their housemate Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson) believes he is attracted to Marilyn but he soon befriends Julie, a young disabled woman. Julie's brother, local criminal Revhead, is unhappy about his sister spending time with a police officer and tries to get Nick into trouble with his superiors. Nick is concerned when Julie develops feelings for him but before he can put her straight Julie's father Alec (David Baldwyn) dies of a heart attack and he has to support her in the aftermath. Nick eventually admits he only has feelings for Julie as a friend. Julie soon leaves the Bay to attend college.
Nick is not single long as Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn) plays matchmaker between him and his niece, Lucinda Croft, who arrives to live with him. Nick and Lou begin dating but when Lou's brother, David (Guy Pearce) dies in a car accident, she turns to David's best friend, her former boyfriend Ryan Lee (Alistair MacDougall), for support and breaks up with Nick. Nick tries to get over Lou by dating another girl, Isabelle Britton (Collette Roberts), but realises he still loves her. As Lou is about to return to Perth with Ryan, Nick appears at the roadside and convinces Lou to stay. Ryan leaves, defeated, and Nick and Lou become engaged.
Ryan returns and causes trouble for Nick and Lou by stealing a nude painting Lou has done of Nick and persuading Simon Fitzgerald (Richard Norton) and his friend Blake Dean (Les Hill) to publicly display it. Nick's teenage brother Shane (Dieter Brummer) arrives in the bay and causes trouble by taking Donald's car for a joyride. Nick discovers that Shane is hassling Ryan because he believes he is having an affair with Lou. Lou admits to sleeping with Ryan and Nick tries to forgive her but the relationship collapses and Lou and Ryan leave the bay separately. Sometime after Nick dates Roxanne Miller for several weeks, but the relationship does not go anywhere.
When Shane is accused of a burglary at a house where he was doing community service, Nick is sceptical of his protests of innocence at first but eventually believes Shane and supports him in court. Shane is jailed but later released when Tug O'Neale (Tristan Bancks) confesses. Nick helps convince Shane not to go back to his old self-destructive behaviour. Nick later convinces Shane to do work experience at the police station but this blows up in his face when Shane uses Nick's password to access confidential records and finds that his girlfriend Angel Brooks (Melissa George) has a son. Nick then mediates between the couple after Shane finds the discovery hard to take.
Nick is involved in a minor car accident when Sam Marshall (Ryan Clark) runs out in front of him. He then joins a yoga class as part of his physiotheraphy, where he befriends local teacher Beth Armstrong (Toni Pearen). The pair arrange a date but Nick is shocked when Tug, one of Beth's pupils, confronts him and reveals he and Beth are in love and will start a relationship once he leaves school. Nick talks to Beth and she admits it is true. Beth leaves and Nick realises he wants to see more of the world than Summer Bay. He takes a posting in Africa and leaves.
The character made it into the news when a female fan from the United Kingdom, named "Kate" mailed a letter addressed to "PC Nick Parish, Summer Bay, Australia". Even though the letter did not have an official stamp, the British post office mailed it for free. Australia Post realised who the letter was meant for and delivered it to the Network Seven studios. Roberts said that he received plenty of fan mail from the UK, but he had never had one like Kate's letter. The letter simply read "Dear Nick We will be married next week Kate." [9] Alex Cramb writing for Inside Soap said that Nick, Lou and Ryan were involved in a "tortured love triangle" that boasted scenes of "fantastic action". [10]
Kirk Sutherland is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. The character first appeared on-screen as "Mark" during the episode airing on 22 May 2000, played by an uncredited walk-on actor. He was renamed Kirk and has been played by Andrew Whyment since October 2000.
Jack Wilson is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Daniel Amalm. He made his first appearance on 1 April 1994. Jack was introduced as a new foster child for the characters of Michael and Pippa Ross. Amalm auditioned for the role in the place of his friend, who could not attend. Many actors auditioned to play Jack, but Amalm was eventually cast. Jack is characterised as a "bad boy" and a "wild child" and Amalm enjoyed playing the role of the "baddie". Jack's storylines feature racial abuse, rebellious behaviour, joy riding and various romances. In 1996, Amalm quit the series to concentrate on a music career. The actor did not like the monotony that accompanied playing the same role, but he remained open minded about a future return. He did so in 2000, when Jack returned as part of episodes centred on foster sister Sally Fletcher wedding.
Shane Parrish is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Dieter Brummer. He made his first on-screen appearance on 28 May 1992 and he departed on 13 March 1996.
Rob Storey is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Matthew Lilley. He appeared in the series from 13 July 1994 until 12 May 1995.
Ryan Lee is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Alistair MacDougall. He made his first screen appearance on 22 August 1991. Ryan was MacDougall's first television role after previously working as a model. Ryan is characterised as a rich, good time guy with a selfish and manipulative personality. The character was introduced into the series as the ex-boyfriend of Lucinda Croft. He arrives hoping to reconcile their relationship but is shocked to find her coupled with Nick Parrish. Writers played the two characters as complete opposites and Nick the dependable policeman.
Roxanne "Roxy" Miller is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Lisa Lackey. She made her first screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 13 October 1992 and departed on 9 February 1995.
Sarah O'Neale is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Laura Vasquez. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 26 January 1993. Vasquez's screen-test for the role was one of her career highlights. Sarah is characterised as a "real good goody" female who is "very intelligent" and she arrives to study in Summer Bay. Sarah's main romance storyline is with Tug O'Neale. Subsequently Vasquez and Bancks became fixtures in the media, as interest increased about the nature of the actor's off-screen relationship. Mary Fletcher from Woman's Own wrote that Home and Away producers were infuriated by the reports because they felt it discredited the show's image. But the actors later denied any romance occurring off-screen.
Angel Parrish is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by Melissa George. She made her first on-screen appearance on 30 March 1993, arriving as a teenage runaway. The character became popular amongst viewers when she was paired up with Shane Parrish, and to this day they remain one of the soap's most loved couples. George departed Home and Away on 30 August 1996. Angel said goodbye to Summer Bay and left for England with her children and new boyfriend.
Lucinda Claire "Lou" Croft is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Dee Smart. The character made her first screen appearance on 13 June 1991. Smart successfully auditioned for the role in her final year of drama studies and began filming in April 1991. Lucinda is characterised as a "tomboy" who rides a motorbike and has a self-assured persona. Lucinda arrives in Summer Bay to live with her uncle, Donald Fisher. Writers soon introduced her estranged brother David Croft and set up a romance with Nick Parrish.
Adam Cameron is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Mat Stevenson. Stevenson had previously filmed a guest role on a rival soap opera when he was cast. Adam first appeared on-screen 28 June 1989 until Stevenson left the series in 1994. Adam was reintroduced into the series for a short time in 1999. Adam is characterised as an "intelligent and good-natured guy", though Stevenson said he is a "layabout" who will not do anything that "interferes with having a good time".
Blake Dean is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Les Hill. Blake debuted on screen during the episode broadcast on 26 July 1990.
Simon Fitzgerald is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by Richard Norton. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 25 September 1991. Norton was cast in the show after appearing in fellow soap opera Neighbours just a few months prior. Simon is characterised as a "joker" who enjoys playing pranks on his friends. Simon was introduced alongside his criminal father Bill Fitzgerald, who soon abandoned him. Writers paired Simon with Sophie Simpson for his first relationship story, although she is pregnant with another man's child. Producers decided to write Norton out of the show after one year, which shocked Norton. This led him to accuse the show's production of promoting other cast members better in storylines. Simon departed during the episode broadcast on 24 July 1992.
Kyle Canning is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Chris Milligan. The actor successfully auditioned for the six-week recurring role of Kyle and he made his first on screen appearance on 26 November 2008. Milligan was later asked back every couple of months to do a few weeks filming. After eighteen months of playing Kyle on a part-time basis, Milligan was given a full-time contract deal and he and his character were promoted to the regular cast. Milligan said he was ecstatic about his promotion and looked forward to developing his character further. In August 2011, Milligan had to be written out of Neighbours temporarily so he could recover from an injury he sustained off screen.
Finlay "Fin" Roberts is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by Tina Thomsen. She made her first appearance during the episode airing on 18 September 1991 and departed on 20 May 1994. Thomsen made return guest appearances in 1996 and 1997. Jessie Bullions portrayed a young Finlay in a flashback in 1997.
Peter "Tug" O'Neale is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Tristan Bancks. The actor was selected from 200 people who had auditioned for the role and was contracted to appear for one month. Bancks soon joined the regular cast and Tug became a prominent character. Tug fills the role of the villain and is characterised by his "hardened, streetwise tough kid" image. The serial created a backstory consisting of a mother who abandoned him and an alcoholic father. Bancks has credited Tug's troubled childhood as the reason viewers were able to relate to him.
Alex Bennett is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by Nick Freedman. The serial's producers thought of Freedman for the role of "easy-going hippy" Alex, having seen his previous work in other television dramas. Freedman was hesitant about accepting the role due to his career as a musician, so he only signed a year-long contract. He found the demands of filming the weekly serial intense, especially as he was used to late nights while performing with his band. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 October 1995.