Luke, suited and booted for the interview for his own job
Luke Cunningham was a regular from Ep 1147 (12 Jan 1993) to Ep 1518 (27 Jul 1994). He was a teacher who supplemented his income by busking with his saxophone. Luke was played by John Adam.
Biography[]
| Luke Cunningham | |
|---|---|
Character Profile
| |
| Birthday: | |
| Birthplace: | NSW, Australia |
| Father: | |
| Mother: | Janet Cunningham |
| Siblings: | Bill Cunningham |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | |
| Occupation: | Summer Bay High School teacher |
| Played By: | John Adam |
Backstory[]
Luke Cunningham was born to Janet Cunningham and her husband. Luke was the eldest of 2 children. He had a younger brother Bill who was born in 1976. After nearly drowning in an accident as a young child, Bill was left with an intellectual disability.
1993-1994[]
Luke ruffled some feathers in Summer Bay upon his arrival. Nobody was expecting Summer Bay High School's latest teacher to be a laid back, long-haired hippy who liked to busk with a saxophone. Indeed, Michael and Alf jumped to the conclusion that he was a layabout and told him to leave town. Donald Fisher wasn't too impressed with his new recruit either and questioned his professionalism. He soon had to eat his words. Luke turned out to be a talented teacher who taught Geography, Biology and Maths. He had an on-off relationship with Roxanne Miller but ultimately the pair split for good. After initially renting in the caravan park, Luke moved into the Beach House.
Luke became good friends with Nick Parrish and in 1994, they toyed with the idea of buying the Norfolk Boatshed when it went up for auction. He took the troubled Tug O'Neale under his wing and helped keep him on the straight and narrow after Bobby Marshall's death. Luke, incidentally, was sitting beside Bobby when she took the ill-fated speedboat trip which cost her her life.
In May 1993, Luke's younger brother Bill came to stay with him for a while. As a result of an accident when he was a young child, Bill had special needs. Luke was protective of his brother and got caught up in the crossfire when Bill fell for Finlay Roberts.
Luke left in 1994 when his mother fell ill. He resigned his job and moved away to look after Bill. It was probably time for him to leave anyway. He had just had a brief relationship with Donald Fisher's daughter Rebecca and it hadn't ended well.
Memorable info[]
First Line: "Excuse me, I'm after a bit of advice. Is there somewhere cheap to stay around here, you know, a youth hostel or something?" (to Bobby)
Last Line: "I appreciate it." (to Don, when he gives Luke a good reference even though they parted on bad terms)
Luke left Home and Away around the same time as Tug, Sarah and Roxy. TV Week magazine claimed all four characters had been axed by the show's producers and that the first the knew of it was when they saw it in the magazine. This has been denied but if nothing else, it makes for a good story.
Family[]
Father Mr Cunningham Snr
Mother Janet Cunningham
Siblings - Bill Cunningham
Aunts Aunty Maxine