Tom Fletcher

Thomas Edward Fletcher is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Roger Oakley. He made his first screen appearance in the pilot episode broadcast on 17 January 1988. The character departed on 30 April 1990, but reappeared briefly in 2008 as a ghost in Sally Fletcher's near-death experience following her second stabbing. Development The character of Tom was conceived by the creator and then executive producer of Home and Away Alan Bateman. New Zealand actor Roger Oakley was cast in the role and Bateman commented "He is so good on the screen, when people see him they will be asking where he has been all their lives." Oakley had appeared in various dramas, including The Sullivans, and a few films, but appearing in Home and Away was the longest he had worked "in one stretch". He considered it to be his breakout role, saying "It shows that it can happen to anyone. I feel also that, in a sense, it's my turn. I've served my time." Storylines Tom originally lived in the city with his wife, Pippa (Vanessa Downing; Debra Lawrence). As Pippa had rheumatic fever as a child her heart had been weakened, and had been warned that if she fell pregnant there was a good chance the strain would kill her. Tom had a vasectomy to stop her from falling pregnant, but the two were desperate to become parents and decided to start fostering. They receive their first charge in 1978 in the form of an eight-year-old tearaway named Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), whose parents Les (Mario Kery) and Helena (Lee Sanderson) are a criminal and an alcoholic, respectively. Mr. Jarvis (John Stone) of the Department of Child Services warns Frank is difficult but the Fletchers are able to provide a stable home for him. Ten years later, Frank is still living with the Fletchers and they have since taken on four more children; Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson); Steven Matheson (Adam Willits); Lynn Davenport (Helena Bozich); and Sally Keating (Kate Ritchie). Following Tom's 40th birthday, his boss informs him he has been retrenched. Jarvis worries about the children's welfare but the Fletchers are determined not to lose them so they sell the house, pack up and move to the coastal town of Summer Bay. Shortly after the Fletchers arrive, Tom and Pippa purchase Summer Bay House and the Caravan Park from Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher), who had lived there with his late wife, Martha (Alison Mulvaney), and their daughter, Roo (Justine Clarke).