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Character Profiles > Agnes Adair Anne Charleston

As an exhibition, The Story of Erinsborough, was taking place at the Lassiters Complex, JJ Varga-Murphy started chatting to a stranger about how his girlfriend, Nell Rebecchi, was the artist who'd designed the graphic novel on which the images were based. As he chatted to the woman, Agnes Adair, he was struck by how much she looked like the woman in the image they were looking at. Agnes told JJ to have a lovely day and, later, he asked Nell about the woman in the picture - Nell explained that it was Madge Bishop, the late wife of Harold, who still lived nearby at retirement home Eirini Rising. When Nell and JJ later spotted Agnes again, they took some photos from a distance and, as Nell showed them to Karl and Susan Kennedy, who had both known Madge well, JJ tracked her down and told her about Eirini, as he worked there part-time as a residents' assistant.

Intrigued by this meeting, Agnes went to Eirini Rising, where Harold, as well as Hilary Robinson who'd also known Madge, were stunned and confused by the striking resemblance, both in appearance and her husky voice. When Karl and Susan, who both worked at Eirini, then arrived, they were also amazed, leaving Agnes feeling very uncomfortable with all of the attention. After being given a tour of the building by JJ, Agnes admitted to him that it felt strange, having lived in Eden Hills West and driven through Erinsborough for so long, to feel like there was someone who looked just like her, and who clearly meant so much to so many people. She decided that it would be best if she left, as she was clearly stirring up memories for people, particularly Harold.

Having enjoyed her previous visit to Lassiters, Agnes returned the following week for a coffee, where she bumped into JJ. He offered to buy her a panini by way of apology for everything he'd put her through with Harold, and she reluctantly agreed, though told JJ that he had nothing to apologise for and that she would pay for their food. As they ate together, Harold walked in, with Max, the son of Shane, Madge's nephew. Agnes quickly offered to leave, but Harold was drawn to her, despite everything, and asked her to stay for a chat. He told her that Madge's brother, Tom, had sent down some family documents from Queensland and that he, JJ and Max were going to look through them the following morning, to see if they could find a connection between Agnes and Madge. Intrigued about her own family history, and admitting that, as a retired psychiatrist, she also found the doppelgänger aspect interesting, Agnes joined the others at Eirini Rising the next day.

Unfortunately, Harold quickly became overwhelmed by the constant reminders of Madge and made his excuses to leave, with Agnes left worried that she was traumatising him just by being there. JJ persuaded her to stay so that they could try and get to the truth and soon they found letters sent by Agnes' great-grandmother, Agnes Robinson, who she was named after, to Fred Ramsay, the brother of Madge's grandfather, Jack. Agnes and JJ quickly found out that Agnes Robinson had been pregnant after an affair with Fred, who had then gone away to war, and that Agnes' husband, Richard Adair, had raised the child, Roger, as his own. As Roger was Agnes' grandfather, it meant that she and Madge were second cousins, once removed. Though happy to have found a solution to the mystery, Agnes told JJ that she was going to keep the information to herself for a while, as it could have an effect on a lot of people.

A few days later, Agnes was surprised to learn that her daughter, Jacqueline, had been in touch with Susan and told her how her mum was about to finalise the sale of her house and had nowhere to go. Susan and Karl then met with Harold, telling him how Agnes felt that Eirini Rising was perfect for her, but she was worried about how it would affect Harold if she moved in. Harold insisted that he would be fine with it, admitting that he'd come to realise that, although Agnes looked and sounded like Madge, she was nothing like her in any other way. Susan then contacted Agnes and they met up, with Agnes delighted to find out that nothing was preventing her from buying one of the Eirini apartments. The following day, she was shown where she'd be living and it wasn't long before an intrigued Harold passed by and was invited in for a chat. As they chatted about Madge, as well as Agnes' late husband, William - who had died 12 years earlier - they quickly bonded over not wanting to feel like a burden to their families, and Agnes finally admitted that she'd found out that she was actually related to the Ramsay family. This revelation, coupled with Agnes absentmindedly putting her hand on his as they chatted, left Harold feeling like he wasn't quite as comfortable with her presence as he'd initially thought.

Just a few days later, Agnes was surprised when Harold visited her to explain that he'd decided to move back to Queensland and that he was leaving the next day. He told her how his granddaughter, Sky, and her wife, Lana, had built a flat for him in the garden at their home in Port Douglas and, after deliberating for a while, he'd decided that he needed to be around his family. He also admitted that he'd been finding it difficult to tell people, as he didn't want Agnes to think that he was leaving because of her. She told him that she'd been looking forward to getting to know him and he came up with the idea that they could be penpals. When a farewell party for Harold was then arranged by Karl and Susan, Harold invited Agnes along, taking the opportunity to show her 24 Ramsay Street, where he and Madge had lived as a married couple.

Whilst Agnes enjoyed exchanging letters with Harold in the weeks that followed, she also found herself struggling to fit in at Eirini Rising. When Jacqueline then delayed a planned visit from Tasmania, Agnes felt more lonely than ever, explaining to Susan that she needed a distraction, as she was waiting for a response from a publisher about her psychology book that she'd been working on for a decade. Agnes was frustrated when fellow resident, busybody Moira Tohu, then joined her and tried to encourage her to involve herself in some of Eirini's many clubs and activities. With nothing piquing her interest, Agnes eventually made it clear to a deeply offended Moira that she'd had enough of her and this, coupled with a rejection from the publisher, left Agnes admitting to Susan that she was worried that she simply didn't fit in at Eirini and had made a mistake by moving in there. Soon after, Agnes was disappointed when Jacqueline cancelled another visit, this time on Mother's Day, as she was unwell and didn't want to fly. Fortunately, Max called by, admitting that Harold had asked him to check in on Agnes from time to time. Agnes was touched by this, but admitted that she still hadn't patched things up with Moira and didn't want to go to the Mother's Day Fete at Lassiters, as Moira was running one of the stalls. Max persuaded her to go anyway and, despite their best efforts, they saw Moira coming their way, grabbing hats and sunglasses from one of the stalls in an effort to disguise themselves - a disguise that Moira quickly saw through. Though Agnes was amused by the whole thing, she admitted to Max that she was struggling to fit in at Eirini, but became thoughtful when he said that it was a shame that Harold had now moved away to Queensland, as they seemed to be developing a strong, long-distance, friendship.

Trivia Notes
• Anne Charleston previously played Madge in regular stints between 1986 & 1992, and 1996 & 2001, returning to make guest appearances in 2015 and 2022

Episodes Featured
9208-

Biography by Steve

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