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 a brief 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. Doris was a loving parent but sadly, she died while Bobby was still a child. Al, on the other hand, had no time for her and treated her very badly. Bobby turned against the world and became a teenage tearaway. By the time Home and Away began in 1988, Bobby was hiding out in the Summer Bay Caravan Park. She was on the verge of being sent to a remand centre after committing a litany of petty crimes. Only the McPhees (caretakers of the caravan park) and Ailsa Hogan had 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 now 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 yet that they were father and daughter - that wasn't revealed until 1989. With help from the Fletchers, Bobby began to change her ways and re-enrolled in school. Still, she continued to have rivalries 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. When Donald Fisher's son Alan came to live in Summer Bay, she became very close to him. Neither knew, of course, 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. She was on hand to comfort him after he was badly injured in a car crash. This happened in the aftermath of him being jilted at the altar by Roo and being told that the child she was carrying wasn't his.

In late 1988 Bobby went into business with Ailsa 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. It didn't stop the diner itself being

After the dust settled on his drama with Roo, Frank and Bobby became a couple. They married in February 1989 (Ep 243) and moved into the flat behind Celia's store. She had learned before the wedding that her father Al wasn't actually her biological father. She began the search for her actual parents and learned that Morag Bellingham was her mother. It was a minor scandal at the time and made the tabloid newspapers. Bobby and Morag couldn't stand each other and that never changed. She then found out that Donald Fisher was her father. Donald himself only learned the truth shortly before Bobby and was surprisingly accepting of this. Despite their chequered history, Bobby and Donald quickly developed a loving father-daughter relationship. Unfortunately for Bobby, her short-lived marriage was already unravelling. Frank had married Bobby on the rebound from Roo and they both knew it. Bobby confessed that she didn't feel like trying to fight for their marriage. In June, they broke up and Frank moved away to the city to be with Roo.

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, though her baby was old enough to be given a name. Bobby called him Tom. The loss of her baby made Bobby reflect on how her life would've gone if she hadn't been fostered by the Fletchers. She decided she wanted to follow in Tom and Pippa's footsteps and to become a foster parent. She was turned down at first by the department and briefly fell out with Donald who wasn't sure she was doing the right thing. This simply fuelled her determination to prove them wrong. She moved into the Beach House with her good friend Marilyn Chambers and at the third time of asking, she was accepted. She fostered a little boy called Sam Nicholls whose mother Jackie could never keep things together long enough to give her son a stable life. She and Sam became very close and Bobby found it very difficult to part with him when he was returned to his mother. Eventually, Sam's mother gave him up for good and he returned to live with Bobby. Bobby and Sam's future together was thrown into doubt when his biological father Greg Marshall came looking for him. Partly prompted by Bobby's reluctance to let him see his son, Greg applied for custody. Despite this unpromising beginning, things began to thaw between Bobby and Greg. They began a relationship and married in 1992. They bought The Beach House from Marilyn, who had moved away in the meantime.

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 broke up with him. 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.