Dodge in 1995
Brian Roger Forbes (aka Brian Knight) was better known by his nickname Dodge. He was a memorable guest character in 1989 and again in 1995.
Dodge was fostered by the Fletcher family from April to August 1989. Although it quickly became evident that he was a bit of a bad boy, nobody knew the extent of his misdeeds. In August 1989 he was arrested and jailed for the manslaughter of Philip Matheson. Surprisingly, Dodge returned to Summer Bay in 1995 to seek revenge on Steven Matheson, who had played a big part in him being sent to prison. In Episode 1806 he had a cliff side confrontation with Steven and both of them ended up in the sea. Steven survived but Dodge's body was never found...
Dodge remains one of the show's most memorable guest characters and one of the best baddies from the early years. He was played by Kelly Dingwall (later known as Kelly Dale).
Backstory[]
Brian Roger Forbes was born in about 1970 into a well-off family.
1989[]
Brian 'Dodge' Knight first appeared in the Bay in Episode 287 when he shopped at Celia's store and claimed he didn't have the money to pay for food. Celia let him off. He then went on to steal money from the Diner and tried to steal Lance Smart's car. Lance caught him in the act but was taken in by Dodge's broke and homeless sob story. Lance, who had fallen out with his best friend Martin Dibble and was feeling forlorn, took pity on him. He let him stay at his home; Dodge repaid his generosity by stealing money from him. He also tried to steal from the school dance but that didn't work out.
Dodge also stole Dr Philip Matheson's medical bag for the pills inside but was caught out by Celia Stewart. She had him handed over to the police. In revenge, Dodge returned the next night and firebombed the store. The store was burned to the ground along with the flat attached to it. Philip was killed in the blaze. Dodge wasn't a suspect because he had snuck out of the detention centre where he'd been staying, then returned unnoticed.
Shortly afterwards he was fostered by Tom and Pippa Fletcher. In a pattern that would repeat itself in the years to come, Pippa decided to foster a youngster without clearing it with her husband. At first Tom was furious that Pippa had gone over his head. Dodge arrived at Summer Bay House minutes after Tom had found out, leaving him with little choice but to go along with the fostering.
Dodge quickly befriended his foster brother Steven Matheson. Steven was grieving the loss of his uncle Philip and had concluded that Roo Stewart's new boyfriend Simon had burned down Celia's store. He had a record of arson. Keen to deflect suspicion and endear himself to Steven, Dodge encouraged him in his vendetta and persuaded Steven to frame Simon. His plan was that they'd burn down Morag Bellingham's mansion and leave Simon's gold chain (stolen by Dodge) at the scene. The two went to the cinema with Dodge quietly leaving so he'd have an alibi . Dodge poured gasoline through the mansion but was stopped by Steven who'd had second thoughts about actually burning the house down. Dodge agreed to leave it, since the gasoline would be enough to scare Morag. He dropped Simon's chain at the site and the ruse worked. The police arrested Simon who fled town rather than return to prison. This convinced most of the residents that Simon had burned down the store, leaving Dodge completely off the hook.
Dodge was welcomed into the Fletcher family and even made it into a family photo. Although the rest of the family were friendly, Sally took an instant dislike to him. The first time they'd met, Dodge had stolen a lollipop from her, and having him around made Sally uneasy.. Dodge may have been taken into the Fletchers but this did little to settle him. At school, he began to work as a loan shark and would steal items from the other kids when they couldn't pay their money back. This earned him a beating when several of his victims teamed up. Bobby and Stacey became concerned about the influence that Dodge was exerting on Steven. Tom and Pippa weren't worried because they were glad that Steven appeared to be moving on after Philip's death and had made a new friend.
Dodge had spent most of his life in the city and was desperate to return there. He decided to take Steven there for a visit and to expose him to the fun the place had to offer. After lying to Tom and Pippa about going on a camping trip, the two caught a bus to the city. Dodge took Steven to a strip club and arranged some 'after hours' fun with one of his friends. After that, they stole a car to get them to the location where they'd arranged to meet Tom.
A couple of weeks later, Tom and Alf went missing while on a fishing trip. As a huge search operation got underway, Dodge took advantage of the distraction to rob the Diner and Alf's liquor store. Between Dodge's presence and Tom's disappearance, Sally felt very unsettled and started talking to her imaginary friend Milco again. Although Tom was soon found, Dodge and Sally's feud intensified to the point where she ripped the patches off Dodge's jacket and blamed Milco. Dodge was furious to the point where he was ready to hit Sally, only to be stopped by Pippa. Dodge then decided to take care of Milco, and told Sally that Milco didn't want to spend time with her anymore. Dodge drove Sally to tears pretending that Milco was now his friend and forced her to admit that Milco wasn't real. Tom and Pippa were very unhappy at Dodge's harsh methods, although they had to concede that he'd got the job done.
Dodge decided to take Steven on another 'camping' trip, however was put out when Tom decided to tag along. While walking along the bush, Dodge failed to see a large drop and fell, getting his foot caught in a rock. Tom, despite still being injured from the fishing trip, lowered himself down the rock face and pulled Dodge back up. Dodge was genuinely grateful towards Tom, but was more grateful that this made Tom decided he wasn't well enough to camp and head home.
Dodge and Steven quickly headed to the city to make the most of the time they had left and met a runaway named Viv Newton who had escaped her abusive father. Dodge, who was attracted to Viv, promised to help her and took her back to Summer Bay where he claimed she was Lance's cousin. The lie was quickly found out however which also led to Tom and Pippa discovering the true nature of the camping weekends. Worried that he may get kicked out of the house and returned to the detention centre, Dodge offered to leave. This worked and Tom, who had been thinking about it, allowed him a reprieve. Dodge then stole a car with Viv only to end up crashing it. When the police came round to speak to Dodge about it, Steven claimed that he'd stolen it worrying that if Dodge was arrested he'd lose his new best friend. Tom and Pippa, finally realising just what a bad influence Dodge was on Steven, ordered the two to sleep in separate bedrooms. Dodge earned himself some brownie points when he saved Sally from drowning on the beach, and decided to take advantage of this to admit to stealing the car to get Steven off the hook and further convince Tom and Pippa that he wanted to be part of the family.
Dodge and Sally's enmity continued to fester to the point he even threatened to kill Dag Dog. Later he employed her as part of his child staff to clean Morag's garden, however when Sally found out how much of a percentage of the fee Dodge was keeping for himself she led her fellow workers in a strike. When Tom and Pippa sided with Dodge on the basis she'd already agreed to work the lower rate, Sally was so upset that she decided she didn't want to live with the Fletchers anymore and was ready to call the department herself to be rehomed. Knowing it wasn't an idle threat, Pippa was upset to realise just how unhappy Sally had been recently. Pippa, finally waking up to just how much disorder he'd brought to the family, made the decision to kick Dodge out refusing to even have a family meeting about it (since she blamed herself for Dodge being there in the first place). When Tom defended Dodge and this made Sally more upset, he and Pippa realised how unsafe she felt and offered to adopt her. Sally happily agreed, and even said Dodge could remain although she maintained she would never like him. Although she had been convinced to keep him on, Pippa was still uneasy about having Dodge live with them and couldn't shake the feeling she'd made a huge mistake agreeing to let him move in in the first place.
Sally and Dodge called a truce. However Dodge, knowing he was on wafer-thin ice with Tom and Pippa, decided to organise a surprise anniversary party for Tom and Pippa at the diner. At this point, things seemed to be plain sailing for Dodge however a couple of nights later he got drunk and admitted to new school caretaker Adam Cameron that he was the one to torch Celia's store. The next day, Dodge realised what he said and became so desperate to get Adam out of the way that he stole the school's VCR intending to frame Adam for the crime. However Fisher caught him in the act and was ready to call the police but agreed to talk to Pippa first. At this point, Pippa declared that she'd had enough and allowed Donald to call the police, causing Dodge to make a run for it.
Meanwhile Adam told Steven that Dodge was the one to start the fire that killed Philip. Filled with rage, Steven tracked Dodge down and was ready to give him a beating, but managed to be talked out of it by Fisher. Dodge was handed over to the police where the full truth emerged; 'Brian Knight' was actually Brian Forbes and Dodge had been using someone else's name and history to cause trouble. Rather than being the son of an absent father and alcoholic mother, Dodge was the son of a well-off couple and had a stable loving upbringing. There was no excuse for his behaviour; Dodge was nothing more than a petty thug who caused trouble for the sheer pleasure of it. With his alibi for the fire disproven, Dodge was quickly charged and eventually sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter and theft. Pippa ripped up the family photo with Dodge in it and burnt his possessions, feeling guilty over having ever let him into the house. Steven and Sally, wanting to make her feel better, painted his bedroom to get rid of the smell and allow them to make a fresh start.
1995[]
In September 1995, Dodge was given parole and returned to Summer Bay. An unsuspecting Michael rented him a caravan in the caravan park. When Pippa and Steven found out, they were horrified but there was nothing they could do to make him leave.
Dodge wanted to get revenge on Steven for his part in his jailing. He certainly succeeded in causing him trouble, even going as far as faking his own death so he could frame Stevo for murder. Philip wasn't the only person Dodge killed. Shortly before he reappeared in Summer Bay, Irene Roberts's unpleasant ex-husband Murdoch (Mud) was found murdered in the bush. It later turned out that Dodge was his killer and that he'd been paid to do the deed by Irene and Mud's eldest son Nathan. In a fun throwback to Dodge's original stint time in Summer Bay, his girlfriend was Lisa Matthews - a woman who was Vicki Baxter's doppelganger.
In Episode 1806, Dodge and Steve had a showdown on the cliffs. They fell several metres into the sea. Stephen survived unhurt and was rescued. Dodge, on the other hand, was never seen again.
Memorable info[]
Birthday: About 1971
Died: October 1995 (Body never found, presumed dead, Harold Bishop style lol)
Full Name: Brian Roger Forbes
First Line: "Give us a couple. Bleedin' hell!" (to Sally, as he stole her lollies)
Last Line: "Feelin' lucky, Stevo? Wanna see if we can fly?"
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