Al Simpson, not Doug Willis lol.
Al Simpson was a minor character in Home And Away in 1988 and 1990. He was the father of Sophie Simpson and adoptive father of Bobby Simpson. An unpleasant character, he was later revealed to have accidentally killed teenager Shane Wilson (older brother of Matt) and allowed Donald Fisher to take the blame. Al was played in 1990 by Terence Donovan whose family has strong links to Neighbours.
Backstory[]
Al Simpson married a woman named Doris in the 1970s and they adopted baby Bobby Simpson. Bobby was the result of an affair between Donald Fisher and Morag Bellingham. The truth about this didn't emerge until 1989. In 1974, Al had an affair and and fathered a daughter called Sophie. Never a pleasant man, Al clashed with teenager Shane Wilson who was appalled at the way he was treating Bobby. In 1981, Al was shooting rabbits when he accidentally shot Shane dead. Knowing how unpopular he was in the area, he fled and left Donald Fisher thinking he was the one who had accidentally killed the lad. In 1983 Al committed armed robbery and was sent to prison. At some time after this, he reconnected with Sophie and the pair began to move around from town to town.
1988, 1990[]
Al and Sophie
In 1988, Bobby visited Al in prison to invite him to her wedding to Frank Morgan. (In this episode, Al was portrayed by George Leppard). Al broke the news to her that he was not her biological father.
Al was released from prison and returned to Summer Bay in January 1990. He now had Sophie in tow and it became clear he was no better a father to her than he had been to Bobby. He bullied and occasionally beat her to keep her in line. Al had blackmail in mind and tried to frame Donald Fisher for Shane Wilson's death. Reluctantly, Donald gave him $10,000. The usually tough Don allowed himself to be pushed around by Simpson for some reason, perhaps Don knew he was dealing with a ruthless criminal so played it smart.
Bobby and Matt began to do some digging into the past and found Al's name scribbled into an old comic book of Shane's. They decided to confront Al. Although things didn't seem to go well (he captured them), he unwittingly confessed to Shane's murder within earshot of some police detectives. Sophie also finally spoke up and said he had confessed to killing Shane. Al was arrested and sent to prison. A ballistics expert found that the gun used to kill Shane and the gun Don used while hunting in the woods did not match. This bought an end to the matter.
Memorable info[]
Birthday: Unknown
Full Name: Alan or Albert Simpson
Family[]
Spouse Doris Simpson (??-1985)
Children Sophie Simpson (1974)
Adoptive children Bobby Marshall
Grandchildren Tamara Simpson, David Simpson
Appearances[]
1988 (played by George Leppard)
1990 (played by Terence Donovan)