Bobby Marshall

Roberta "Bobby" Marshall (née Simpson, previously Morgan) [1]first appeared in the January 1988 Pilot Episode. She remained as a main character until August 1993 (Ep 1304). Bobby was one of the most popular characters in the early years of the show and played a pivotal role in many storylines. She was killed off in a boating accident in 1993. Infamously, she re-appeared as a vision to a hallucinating Ailsa Stewart in June 1995 (Ep 1709 and Ep 1710).

Bobby was played by Nicolle Dickson.

Biography[]

Bobby Marshall
Character Profile
Birthday:	19 March 1970 - 19 August 1993 (age 23)
Birthplace:	Australia
Father:	Donald Fisher
Mother:	Morag Bellingham
Siblings:	Alan Fisher (half) Byron Fisher (half) Rebecca Fisher (half)
Spouse:	Frank Morgan (1989-1990) Greg Marshall (1992-1993)
Children:	Sam Marshall (adoptive, 1992)
Occupation:	Diner owner
Played By:	Nicolle Dickson

Backstory[]

1970-1988[]

Bobby was born in 19 March 1970, the result of an affair between Donald Fisher and his sister-in-law Morag Bellingham. She was named after the titular character from the Janis Joplin song "Me and Bobby McGee". Bobby was adopted by Al and Doris Simpson and didn't find out who her biological parents were until 1989. She had a horrible childhood and became a tearaway. By the time Home and Away began in 1988, Bobby was secretly living in a caravan in the Summer Bay Caravan Park, with only the McPhees and Ailsa Hogan having any time for her.

1988-1993[]

Bobby frank wedding — Bobby and her first husband Frank

Bobby was fostered by Tom and Pippa Fletcher shortly after they moved to Summer Bay. By that stage, Bobby was 17 and had made plenty of enemies in the area. One of her biggest foes was the Vice Principal of the local High School, Donald Fisher. Neither of them knew that they were father and daughter - that bombshell didn't drop until the following year. With help from the Fletchers, Bobby began to change her ways and re-enrolled in school. She had an ongoing rivalry with fellow students Roo Stewart and Alison Patterson. At home, she had a sometimes turbulent relationship with her foster sister Carly Morris.

Bobby was fiercely loyal to Ailsa, who had stood by her when nobody else would. She later became close to Donald Fisher's son Alan, not knowing that they were half siblings. Alan died suddenly from a cerebral aneurysm in August 1988. Bobby came to realise that she was in love with her foster brother Frank Morgan and found it difficult to watch his relationship with Roo Stewart develop. After Frank and Roo broke up, Bobby finally got her man. She and Frank married in February 1989 (Ep 243).

A month after Bobby's wedding to Frank, she found out who her real parents were (Ep 274). Despite their earlier troubled history, she and her father Donald developed a loving, warm relationship. She and Frank moved into his house after their flat behind Celia's store was burned to the ground. Bobby never managed to make a connection with her mother Morag and they quickly became estranged. Speaking of estrangement, Bobby's marriage to Frank began to run into difficulties quite quickly. Frank had married Bobby on the rebound from Roo and their marriage soon began to unravel. In June 1989, she and Frank split and he returned to Roo.

In late 1988 Bobby went into business with Ailsa Stewart. The pair formed a partnership and in November of that year, they opened the Bayside Diner. Bobby went from smacking people in the face to serving endless hamburgers and milkshakes to the locals.

In 1990 Bobby became pregnant after a short-lived relationship with married man Chris Reynolds. The pregnancy ended in a miscarriage towards the end of the year, which had a profound effect on her. Bobby decided that she wanted to follow in Tom and Pippa's footsteps and to become a foster mother. After some hiccups along the way, she became foster mother to a little boy called Sam Nicholls. The pair quickly became very close and eventually Sam's mother gave him up for good. Bobby and Sam's future together was thrown into doubt when his biological father Greg Marshall arrived on the scene. Partly prompted by Bobby's reluctance to let him see his son, Greg applied for custody of him. Despite this unpromising beginning, Bobby and Greg began a relationship and married in 1992. They bought The Beach House from Marilyn Chambers, who had become a close friend of Bobby's.

Because of her upbringing, Bobby had a soft spot for young people who'd fallen on hard times. She took Tug O'Neale into her home, something that Greg found difficult to deal with at times. Bookish Sarah Thompson also lived with them for a while before she moved on to live with Alf and Ailsa.

In June 1993, Greg cheated on Bobby with Donald's housekeeper Fiona Harris. Bobby found out about the affair and they split up. Fiona left Summer Bay and after giving things some thought, Bobby decided to take Greg back. It turned out to be a short-lived reconciliation. In August 1993, she and Luke Cunningham took a ride in a speedboat being driven by Adam Cameron (speedboat....Adam....what could possibly go wrong?). The speeding boat hit a floating log and propelled Bobby into the air at high speed. She suffered a catastrophic brain injury when she hit the water and was put onto a life support machine in hospital. Tests revealed that she had suffered severe brain damage. She died without ever regaining consciousness.

Memorable info[]

Birthday: 19 March 1970

Died: 19 August 1993 (Aged 23)

Full Name: Roberta Marshall (nee Simpson)

Nicknames: Bobby

First Line: "Get rid of 'em."

Last Line: "Oh, this is fantastic!" (to Adam)

Trivia[]

Bobby was originally meant to be one of the Fletcher family's original foster children. It was later decided that she would be an outsider who is fostered by Tom and Pippa Fletcher after their move to Summer Bay.
Even though Bobby died in a boating accident in August 1993, it wasn't the last time she was seen on Home and Away. In June 1995 (Ep 1709), Ailsa Stewart took some 6-year-old anti-depressants which caused her to hallucinate. Bobby's ghost appeared to her, coming out through her fridge door(!) and speaking to her. She told Ailsa that Alf loved her and did not want to hurt her.
Being Morag's daughter, Bobby is one of the many descendants of the Stewart family.