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Fiona Thompson

Fiona Thompson

Fiona Thompson

Fiona Thompson

Fiona Thompson

First Appearance: Episode 1 (1982)


Last Appearance:
Episode 972 (1987)


Known Family:
Brother - George Reid; Niece - Janice Reid; Son (by Scott Thompson) - Terry Hansen; Granddaughter - Fee O'Donnel


Key Relationships:
Romance with Scott Thompson in the 1940s/1950s, rekindled briefly in 1982. Brief romances with Bert Wilkins and Barney Adams.


Key Storylines:
As the character who spoke the very first and the very last words in Sons and Daughters, Fiona Thompson inevitably had numerous storylines. Here is just a small selection:

In the 1960s, former prostitute Fiona owns a boarding house in Manly, Sydney. A young couple - David and Patricia - turn up on her doorstep: Patricia is pregnant and, a few hours later, gives birth to twins. After a few days, though, she runs away with the baby girl - Angela - and leaves the baby boy - John - for David to look after. The young and immature David turns to Fiona, who agrees to take care of the child. David eventually comes for him five years later.

Twenty years later, John turns up again at the boarding house, on the run after being accused of murder. Fiona, astonished to see him, takes him in again and helps him clear his name. She worries when he meets Angela, as he doesn't realise that she's his twin sister. She has to tell him the truth eventually in order to avoid very unfortunate consequences.

Jill Taylor is a teenage former prostitute who Fiona took under her wing. She lives with Fiona at the boarding house and does the cooking and cleaning in lieu of paying rent. She's almost killed, though, when a fire rages through the boarding house. She survives, but Fiona is left devastated by the loss of the place she's called home for so long.

Fiona and Jill move to Woombai. Shockingly, Jill is raped by local larrikin Terry Hansen. When Fiona finds out, she determines to call the police - but Jill stops her. At the same time, Fiona learns that a baby boy she gave birth to on 1 January 1953, but who died three days later, is actually still alive. She heads to Perth, where she's been led to believe she'll be able to track him down, but she's unsuccessful. Back at Woombai, Fiona is stunned to learn that Terry is her son. Jill finds herself pregnant as a result of the rape and ends up giving birth to Fiona's granddaughter, who she names Fiona - shortened to Fee - in honour of the woman who has done so much for her. It takes a long time for Fiona to get to know and forgive Terry, but they eventually develop a mother-son relationship.

When Fiona meets Barney Adams, a veteran of Vietnam, there's a hint of romance between them. Fiona helps Barney publish a series of diaries he kept during the war - but this leads to horror for Fiona when the diaries paint a very negative picture of a certain Colonel Bainbridge: the Colonel's son, Chris, starts terrorising Fiona, as he blames her for the publication of the diaries leading to his father having a breakdown. Chris is caught, but only after chasing Fiona maniacally through the bush around Woombai. Sadly, Barney is killed when a boobytrapped wheelchair explodes during a party for Patricia Morrell at David Palmer's house in Sunbury.

Fiona buys a share in a boarding house owned by Dr. Irene Fisher. She moves into one of the apartments, where she takes in a series of waifs and strays, including Kelly Burns and Nguyen Hung. Chris Bainbridge also comes back into her life, having had counselling to help him over what happened to his father. Fiona forgives him, and also helps him bond with Hung, to whom Chris was initially very hostile. Unfortunately, a financial investment in coffee futures goes wrong and Fiona and Irene both end up losing most of their money. They have to sell the boarding house. At the same time, Fiona is diagnosed with cancer - but the lack of money means she decides she's unable to have the operation that could save her life. It takes Wayne, with whom Fiona has had numerous run-ins over the years, to make her see sense. She has the operation and it's successful.

While she's recuperating, Fiona's brother, George, and his daughter - Fiona's niece - Janice Reid, visit. The strongly-religious Janice is shocked when she discovers how Fiona has lived her life, and she vows to turn her aunt towards a more righteous path! Fiona vows to ignore her! Nevertheless, when Fiona helps save a mansion that she used to work in during World War II, Janice moves into the place with her. Although they have numerous run-ins over the next few months, a very strong bond grows between the two women. The purchase of the mansion also brings Fiona back into contact with the woman who was the Madam at the bordello back in the 1940s: May Walters.

Janice falls in love with Englishman Neville Curtis and, when he eventually proposes marriage, she accepts and moves away from Sydney. Before she goes, she and Fiona share an emotional farewell in which they admit that they've had a huge effect on each other.

Ownership of the mansion switches hands between Alison Carr and Wayne Hamilton - but Wayne eventually gains control and tells Fiona that she can turn the place into a haven for homeless kids. The first couple that turns up consists of a young man and a pregnant young woman. A few hours later, just as happened 25 years earlier, the young woman gives birth - to twins.

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