Jim O'Brien

First Appearance: Episode 401
Last Appearance: Episode 609

Key Storylines:
Jim is Mike O'Brien's brother. The two men were in business together in Perth, but when the business was going downhill, Jim took the last of their working capital - his share of the business - and put it on a horse. The horse failed to come in and Mike, furious with his brother for his recklessness - decided to sell the company. He and his family then moved to Melbourne to start life afresh, leaving Jim in Perth. His remaining money soon ran out, though, and he headed for Melbourne as well. In the city, he initially just makes contact with Katie, as he doesn't want to trouble Mike, but Mike and the rest of the family soon find out that he's there and they reluctantly invite him to stay with them.

Jim quickly finds himself caught between two women: Beryl and Patricia. He meets Beryl and looks upon her as a good friend. However, he then meets Patricia and is instantly attracted to her. Patricia makes it clear that nothing can happen between them, though, as she's still getting over Stephen, and she pushes him back towards Beryl. He finds himself back with Patricia again when she needs help while recovering from a nervous breakdown, but he is humiliated when she reveals in a moment of pique that she purposefully took him away from Beryl. Jim frequently turns to drink to solve his problems, and he leaves a bottle of scotch in the room of his nephew, Jeff, while inebriated one night. Jeff drinks it as a way of trying to forget his own problems, and when Mike and Heather find out they are furious with Jim. With this coming on top of previous confrontations, including Jim keeping quiet about the fact that Jeff was using steroids, Jim decides to move out and try his luck somewhere else.

A few weeks later, Patricia calls him and tells him that Jeff has become an alcoholic, and he decides to return to Melbourne to see if he can help. He becomes implicated in the murder of Luke Carlyle, but is cleared. He also manages to rekindle his romance with Beryl, and the two of them decide to head up to Queensland to see if they can work out a life together. However, Jim then meets David Palmer's niece, Leigh, and when she starts coming-on to him, he can't resist. The two of them are caught together by Beryl, who immediately walks out on him and returns to Melbourne. Jim comes after her a few months later and Leigh admits that she set Jim up. Jim asks Beryl to marry him and she says 'yes'. The relationship hits another rocky patch when they visit Sydney and Jim discovers that Beryl has set him up with a job working for Gordon. Beryl heads back Melbourne on her own, but Jim, wanting another go at things, grabs a lift from David in his truck. Unfortunately, the truck is booby-trapped and explodes en route. Jim's clothes catch fire and he's badly burnt. He's taken to hospital but dies from his injuries as Beryl holds his hand.

Brian O'Donnel

First Appearance: Episode 218
Last Appearance: Episode 318

Key Storylines:
Brian, an Irishman, is hitchhiking in the country when he's picked up by Fiona, Jill and Beryl. Fiona gives him a job at Woombai, where he helps Bert Wilkins with the horses. It emerges that Brian is in Australia illegally, and Bert tries to help him stay in the country by finding a woman who will marry him. Brian isn't interested, though - until Jill offers to marry him. Unbeknown to her, however, she looks just like Brian's ex-fiancée in Northern Ireland, Maureen. Brian helps Jill through the shock arrival on the scene of the mother she thought was dead, and her equally abrupt departure, and everything seems to be going fine until Wayne threatens to tell Jill about her likeness to Maureen. Brian refuses to give into blackmail and tells Jill the truth himself - including the fact that he's really fallen in love with her. Jill suggests that they can see how things go, but Brian then learns that the Immigration authorities have been tipped-off about his lack of a visa, and he goes on the run.

Brian lands some jobs, but is shocked when he sees Jill and Wayne pictured together in a newspaper. He returns to Sydney just in time to stop their wedding and discovers that everyone thought he was dead (his bags had been stolen but the thief was then killed in a car accident). Jill realises that she loves Brian rather than Wayne, and they agree to give their marriage a go; Brian agrees to be a father to the baby Jill is carrying as a result of her rape at the hands of Terry Hansen. The two of them move down south, where Brian has lined up work as a labourer. While down there, Brian's brother, Michael, turns up and tells Brian that their father has been killed by an IRA bomb. He talks Brian into returning to Belfast to avenge their father's death. After a few months, Brian writes to Jill to say that he's returning to Australia; just after he posts the letter, though, he's gunned down outside the Post Office.