First Appearance: Episode 2 (1982)

Last Appearance: Episode 536 (1985). Seen hidden behind bandages up to Episode 545 (1985)

Known Family: Husband (1) - Gordon Hamilton (divorced 1983); Son (by Martin Healy) - John Palmer; Daughter (by Martin Healy) - Angela Hamilton; Husband (2) - Stephen Morrell (divorced 1984); Husband (3) - David Palmer

Key Relationships:
Relationship with Martin Healy in the 1960s led to birth of twins, John and Angela; Marriage to Gordon Hamilton; Affair with James Sheppard during the 1960s, while married to Gordon; Marriage to Stephen Morrell after divorcing Gordon; Fling with Matt Kennedy, following separation from Stephen; Fling with Jim O'Brien; Marriage to David Palmer which effectively ends after Patricia 'dies' in Rio de Janeiro

Key Storylines:
Patricia's storylines in Sons and Daughters are numerous, normally devious and always fun to watch! There are too many to go into in detail here, but the following list gives a flavour of everyone's favourite TV bitch!

Patricia has to prevent her daughter, Angela, falling in love with 'Scott Edwards' - who she discovers is really John Palmer, the baby boy she abandoned shortly after he was born, when she decided she couldn't cope with bringing up two children, and therefore Angela's twin brother. John coming back into Patricia's life leads to David Palmer coming back into her life as well. An affair ensues - but David breaks it off and returns to his wife, Beryl, leaving Patricia devastated. She then manipulates events with Gordon so that he tells her he wants a divorce. She moves away to the Toorak mansion in Melbourne that she's inherited from James Sheppard, with whom she had an affair in the 1960s.

A further affair with David follows - but again, Patricia is spurned. Furious at the way she's been treated, Patricia reveals to David angrily that he's not really the twins' father; it's actually Martin Healy, with whom she had a fling while she was seeing David in the '60s. When John finds out the truth about his paternity, he tracks Martin down. Patricia and Martin begin a relationship - but Patricia determines to take revenge on Martin after discovering that he was seeing her sister, Margaret, at the same time as he was seeing her twenty years earlier. When Martin proposes marriage, Patricia says 'yes' - but she plots to stand him up on their wedding day. Before things get this far, though, Martin discovers what Patricia is planning. Other events combine to lead him to commit suicide. Patricia receives a suicide note in the post, but she burns it and leaves David to be accused of murdering Martin, after he's the one Angela finds with the body.

It isn't long after she meets Stephen Morrell that Patricia marries him while on a trip to London. Back in Australia, she has to cope with Stephen's mother, Dee, and the fact that she has all the Morrell money while Stephen is virtually penniless. Dee tells Patricia that she and Stephen will only inherit a share of her wealth if they give her a grandson. Patricia tries to destroy the will, but is outfoxed. Dee dies suddenly from heart trouble - and Patricia is horrified when all she and Stephen are left is a portrait of Dee! Patricia tries several times to talk Stephen into challenging the will, but he refuses. He also warns Patricia that, unless she leaves things alone, their marriage is over.

Events become horribly clear when Stephen reveals that he has a son - someone who would have been Dee's grandson - all along: Andy Green. Patricia goes to see Andy to talk him into challenging Dee's will - and is surprised when he agrees. It then transpires, though, that Andy isn't Stephen's son, but is really the son of Roland Armstrong, Barbara Hamilton's (Stephen's sister) first husband, leaving Patricia stranded again. Stephen then catches Patricia in bed with psychiatrist, Matt Kennedy. Stephen and Patricia separate - but Patricia determines to make Stephen want to get back with her by faking events so that it look like Terry Hansen has attacked her. The plan works initially - but when Gordon tells her that he has a witness who saw her leading Terry on before the 'attack', Patricia realises things aren't going to work as she hoped. Stephen finds out the truth and tells Patricia that their marriage is over for good. Patricia begins to fall to pieces and Matt arranges for her to spend some time in a care home.

After some time spent recuperating - including recovering from Margaret's death when her heart gives out during an operation following a light-'plane crash - Patricia goes into business with Roger Carlyle. Roger provides financial backing for a company she's setting up - and he asks Patricia to give his son, Luke, a job on the quiet (at his father's insistence, Luke is training to be a lawyer, even though he doesn't really want to follow this path). Patricia does as she's asked - but when Luke discovers that her company is being financed by his father, he arranges to embezzle every single penny. He tells Patricia what he's done on the day she's due finally to marry David Palmer. Patricia is left devastated and tells David that she can't go through with the wedding.

A few days later, Luke is murdered, and Patricia finds herself the number one suspect. The police release her on bail, but Roger refuses to believe her plees of innocence and determines to take revenge against her for killing his son. He sends a hitman after her, and when he fails to eliminate Patricia, he hires crooked surgeon, Ross Newman, to befriend her and then try to kill her. His attempts fail as well, though.

David and Patricia do finally marry, and Patricia concludes that Jeff O'Brien was responsible for murdering Luke - but she also realises that her problems are too much for her and David to cope with, and she decides to flee Australia. Without saying anything to David, she heads to the airport and boards a flight to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. While over there, she becomes involved with a thug and is beaten-up, leaving her with nasty facial injuries. She has plastic surgery - which not only helps heal the wounds, but also leaves her looking completely different. A few months later, Patricia decides to return to Australia under a new identity - Alison Carr...