Alan Fisher

Alan Donald Fisher was Donald Fisher's son from his first marriage to Barbara. He first appeared in Episode 121 (4 July 1988) and was last seen in a flashback scene in Episode 164 (1 September 1988). It was revealed in 1988 that he had recently been diagnosed with an inoperable cerebral aneurysm. It erupted in Episode 158 and he died soon afterwards. Alan was played by Simon Kay (later known as Simon Bossell)

Biography[]

Alan Fisher
Character Profile
Birthday:	1970 - 26 August 1988 (age 17, aneurysm)
Birthplace:	Summer Bay, NSW, Australia
Father:	Donald Fisher
Mother:	Barbara Fisher
Siblings:	Bobby Simpson (half) Byron Fisher (half) Rebecca Fisher
Spouse:	N/A
Children:	Seb Miller (1985)
Occupation:	Student Surfer
Played By:	Simon Kay

Backstory[]

Alan Donald Fisher was born in 1970 to Donald and Barbara Fisher (nee Stewart). Barbara was originally from Summer Bay and was one of the Stewart siblings. Alan's aunts and uncles on his mother's side of the family were Alf Stewart, Celia Stewart, Debra Stewart and Morag Bellingham. Alf's daughter Roo was his first cousin. In 1985, Alan had a brief fling with a girl called Anna Miller and fathered Seb Miller. Alan never knew that he had a son during his lifetime, nor did he knew that Colleen Smart and her son Lance were also related to him. After his parents divorced, he grew up in the city with his mum and sister Rebecca. Alan had never got along with his father, the two having personalities which grated on each other, and this only got worse after his parents divorce.

1988[]

Alan Fisher and his surfboard — Alan doing what he liked best

Alan came Summer Bay in July 1988 to visit his mother Barbara who had recently taken a teaching job in Summer Bay High School. He quickly made friends in the area and became particularly close to Bobby Simpson, who he still remembered from when they were much younger. Barbara enrolled Alan in the school but ever the prankster, he wasted no time in causing headaches for both his parents, especially his father who he took a perverse pleasure in rubbing up the wrong way. After an argument about not wearing a school uniform, he showed up to class wearing a girl's uniform.

Alan was an avid surfer and was considered good enough to turn pro. He had been diagnosed with an unruptured cerebral aneurysm and had been informed that it could rupture at any time. The risk would be greater if Alan became stressed. Although his mother worried about Alan's surfing and how it could bring about his demise, he continued living his life his way. He explained that it could happen at any time anyway. In the midst of an argument Barbara accidentally told Donald about Alan's condition. Although Alan wanted to keep news of his aneurysm secret, it soon became semi-public knowledge. When Carly Morris overheard and told Celia about it to put her off chaperoning her on a trip to the city, Alan assumed that Donald had been telling people and punched him in the school corridor in front of a group of other students. Although Alan soon realised he was wrong, he couldn't bring himself to apologise.

Still desperate to make life miserable for his father, Alan realised that if he could get him to hit him in front of witnesses and report him he would lose his position as Headmaster. Needing to do something that would infuriate Donald enough, Alan organised an elaborate practical joke with the help of Bobby. He forged his Donald's signature on a letter which was circulated to students. In it, he stated that Lolita would be recommended reading in Year 12 and that there would be safe sex demonstrations to all students over the age of 15. Furious, Donald went in search of his son and confronted him at Ailsa's store which Alan had arranged to be full of people by pretending a pro surfer was coming to see him. When the fake letter didn't provoke Donald enough Alan pretended that his aneurysm had ruptured, leading his father to panic and rush to his aid. Then Alan laughed in his face. Enraged, Donald lost his temper and struck him in front of everybody. Alan wasted no time in reporting him to the education department, leading to Donald's suspension. Bobby found out about Alan's aneurysm and was disgusted with him for such a cruel trick, leading to the two becoming estranged for a while. Realising how much he'd upset his father, Alan confessed the truth to Barbara who kicked him out of the house. Alan withdrew his complaint and briefly moved away.

Alan returned a few weeks later and started building bridges with Bobby and his mother. Bobby and Alan became close and he made her promise that if the aneurysm ruptured, she wouldn't let him live in a vegetative state and would turn off the life support machine. Although the pair showed romantic interest in each other and even kissed, things never went any further (much to her, Donald and the viewers relief when the truth of their relationship was revealed the next year).

Donald and Alan made an uneasy truce and began to slowly improve their relationship. When Donald learned that Alan planned to become a pro-surfer, he was delighted that his son was finally showing some ambition and wanted to encourage him. Donald approached Brett Macklin about the Macklin Group becoming a sponsor for him. Alan was ready to accept upsetting Bobby as Ailsa had been driven out of town through her opposition to the Macklin Group's plans for Summer Bay and angrily told him if he took the offer they would no longer be friends. Alan decided to turn it down, however found out that Donald had arranged the offer (something Donald had wanted to keep secret) and was heartened to know that his father had faith in him after all. He headed down to the beach and spotted his parents taking a walk together. Tragically, before he could speak to them his aneurysm erupted. He collapsed on the beach, unconscious.

Alan was taken to hospital but had suffered severe brain damage. Bobby confided in Frank Morgan that she had promised Alan she wouldn't allow him to linger on and would unplug his life support machine. She was spared having to follow through with her promise when Alan had a massive seizure in the middle of the night. His parents made the decision to switch off the machine and he died shortly afterwards.

Following Alan's death, Donald returned immediately to work much to everyone's disbelief. Was he really that heartless? Bobby saw things differently, as she had secretly witnessed him crying at Alan's bedside the night before. At Alan's funeral, Bobby was asked personally by Donald if she would accompany himself and Barbara into the crematorium. Reverend Flowers presided over the funeral and when Barbara gave the nod, "Wipe Out" by The Safaris (although most likely not their version) was played. His aunt Morag found it distasteful and Donald believed was a final, deliberate act of defiance. However after everyone else had left and the Reverend was about to turn the music off Bobby commanded "No, let it play, Rev! Let it play".

The package which was bequeathed to Barbara was a manuscript for an autobiographical novel. Alan had started writing it when he found out about the aneurysm. Although Barbara had been given instructions to do as she saw fit with the novel, she asked Donald to read it first as it wasn't exactly complimentary towards him. After reading Alan's autobiography, which ended with the words "So now all I do is surf and laugh and wait. And wish only if it ends soon to hear in the final second the infinite sound of the sea.", Donald gave Barbara his blessing for the book to be published. Even though it didn't show him in the best light, he agreed with Barbara's assessment that the book was superbly written and deserved to be published.

Alan's Will[]

After the funeral, Alan's will was read by Morag. The bequeathment started:

“To my Uncle Alf, a good guy and a good pal, I leave nothing. Because you Uncle Alf are the man with everything".

To his cousin Roo Stewart (who had expected to get Alan's surfboard) he left a piece of advice, "You're basically a good kid. Don't ruin your life by being a two-faced manipulator. Sometimes you're just great. Try to make it always." (it would take Roo quite a long time after this to fully accept Alan's gift).

To Barbara he left a package with instructions to decide whether it was worth saving or throwing out. He also left her instructions to use any money in his bank account and from the sale of his surfboard to have a party for all his friends, including Donald. Donald saw the whole thing as a final ploy to get even at everyone, especially himself. At this suggestion Barbara gave Donald short shrift.

To Bobby, Alan bequeathed his old teddy bear "Benjamin" plus a letter which read "Dear Bobby, I don't know when you'll read this, or even where you'll be. Maybe it'll only be a few months after I've written it. Maybe it'll be years. Maybe you're forty years old with a house full of kids wondering who on Earth that Alan Fisher guy was. Or...maybe you're my wife. I've got a very strong feeling about you and me. I feel we're going to become more and more important to each other as time goes on. There's no one else in the world who understands me like you do. And I hope that one day you'll say that out of all the people in your life I'm the one who understands you most too. Anyway...I wanted you to have "Benjamin", my lovable old teddy bear. He was a great friend when my parents were arguing or when I was feeling blue. He's lost one eye but he's really ace at cuddling. I hope you and he will be great mates. I love you, Bobby. And I guess the fact that you're reading this means I'm gone. Don't forget me. All my love, Alan. P.S. Prick Dad's conscience and find out whether he's done what I asked him to do on the videotape. P.P.S. Give Ben a big cuddle for me."

Alan left a pre-recorded videotape to his father, in which he appeared and had a last request for him. He asked Donald to take his ashes down to the beach and to get one of the surfers to scatter his ashes whilst riding a wave. He said "If I can't be part of life, then I want to be part of the water; part of the surf. And I want you to arrange it for me". Donald carried out his son's final wish, watching sadly as a surfer brought the box out into the sea on his surfboard.

Aftermath[]

Donald Fisher and Bobby Fisher Awards — Fisher and Bobby with their end of year awards

Through Alan's death and Fisher's belief in Bobby's academic potential, the pair of them made amends. After Bobby lost her memory because of a bungled robbery at the Summer Bay House, Donald helped her study and regain her memory in time to sit her HSC exams. Alan was posthumously awarded the "Most Popular Student" award at the Summer Bay High Year 12 Formal. Donald accepted the award on his behalf. The "Student of the Year" award was awarded to Bobby Simpson by the teaching staff who feel she has made the most determined effort and significant improvement in her studies. The last scene of the Year 12 formal was of Bobby and Donald hugging and holding up their trophies to cheers and applause. As the show progressed Donald tried to convince Bobby to attend university. She dithered between going and not going as she was due to marry Frank and had an opportunity to become a part owner in the The Bayside Diner. When she received excellent marks on her HSC, she turned to Donald to celebrate and he gifted her a pre-publication copy of Alan's autobiography "On the Crest of a Wave".

Trivia[]

The song that Alan wished to be played at his funeral is "Wipe Out" originally performed by The Safaris. Ironically, Ron Wilson, who had played that famous drum part on the song and was a founding member of the band, died of a cerebral aneurysm less than a year after this storyline was concluded. This was the same cause of death as Alan.

At Alan's funeral Bobby is wearing a black armband on her left arm with a stylised Circle-A on it. The "A" may stand for Alan but a Circle-A is a known symbol for anarchy.

When Alan Fisher was killed off, there was a fan backlash. The producers regretted their decision and tried to come with ways in which actor Simon Kay could make a believable return. One idea was that Simon would show up as an actor "with a moustache" to audition for the lead role in the film that was being made of his autobiographical novel. Simon Kay did make one more appearance on Home and Away but it wasn't until 2007, when he played Jazz Curtis's ex in one episode.

Goof: To Fisher's chagrin, Alan was cremated. His ashes were scattered at sea by a surfer. In March 1991 (Episode 724) Pippa gave Donald a lift to the local cemetery so he could visit his son's grave

Memorable info

Birthday: 1970

Died: 26th August 1988 (Brain aneurysm [1])

Full Name: Alan Donald Fisher

Family[]

Father Donald Fisher

Mother Barbara Fisher

Siblings Rebecca Nash (full), Bobby Marshall (Half, same father), Byron Fisher (half, same father)

Grandfathers R.J. Fisher, Gordon Stewart

Grandmothers Sarah Jane Stewart, Isobel DuPre

Children Seb Miller (1985)

Aunts/Uncles Celia Stewart, Alf Stewart, Morag Bellingham, Debra Stewart, Colleen Smart (Half), Clive Fisher, Mary Croft

Great aunts/Uncles Sophie

Cousins Bobby Marshall, Duncan Stewart, Owen Dalby, Quinn Jackson (full, they share 2 grandparents) Lance Smart (Half, share 1 grandparent which is Gordon Stewart)

Appearances[]

1988

Flashback Appearances

Episode 164 (1 September 1988) (flashback)
Ep 2699 (9 Sep 1999)