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Character Profiles > Zoe Davis Ally Fowler

Daphne Lawrence’s exuberant friend from childhood, the two hadn’t spoken in years when Zoe suddenly arrived in Erinsborough. It seemed that Zoe had left home at an early age when her parents, both lawyers, wanted their daughter to follow them into the profession. Realising that she was never going to be academically smart enough, she decided to leave home and make her own way, surviving on part-time jobs, good friends and her own cunning. After arriving at the airport, Zoe spotted Shane Ramsay, in his role as chauffeur and quickly targeted him. She approached Shane, claiming to have mistaken him for someone else, then took his wallet. When she later surprised Daphne in the Coffee Shop, Daphne told her assistant, Mike Young, to call the police. Daphne softened as Zoe charmed her, and gave her back the $150 which she owed her friend. Zoe then arranged for the two of them to have dinner together, but made sure it was at Daphne’s house to avoid too much expense. Once at number 28 Ramsay Street, Zoe learnt that Daphne was getting married to Des Clarke, and the next day, she managed to convince them to let her move in until after the wedding.

Zoe’s mischevious behaviour then came back to haunt her in a bizarre way. When Max Ramsay tired of his new neighbour, Clive Gibbons, playing loud music at all hours of the day, he decided to get his own back. Max got up at 4am and blasted out a tape of animal noises, waking up everyone in the street (apart from Clive who was out late). When all of the neighbours gathered in the Ramsay kitchen to complain, Shane spotted Zoe and chased her across the street, back to number 28. When he finally caught up with her, he agreed to give her seven days to pay back the $300 from his wallet, or he would contact the police about it. Desperate for a job, a permanent home and some money, Zoe, being Zoe, decided that her best option was to buy a scratch card. Amazingly, she won $1000, and managed to return Shane’s wallet to him, complete with the money she owed. She also paid Daphne back for her rent, and decided to spend the remaining money on more scratch cards. Ending up with nothing again, Zoe managed to convince Daphne to give her a trial at the Coffee Shop, offering to work there whilst the couple were on their honeymoon. Her ability to land on her feet every time was proven once and for all when she also managed to convince Clive to rent out one of his spare rooms to her.

Zoe and Daphne’s relationship suffered once again after Des and Daphne’s disastrous first wedding day, when the wedding party was kidnapped by a bank robber. By the time they reached the church, Des had gone, convinced Daphne had jilted him. Daphne decided to move in with Zoe and Clive, but the house began to seem overcrowded. When Eileen suggested to Des that she move in with him for a while, Des was horrified and quickly covered by saying that Zoe was moving back in. Unfortunately, Zoe misunderstood and thought she really was moving in, and Des hardly had a chance to stop her before she was moved in. Daphne was less than pleased about the situation, but continued to employ Zoe whilst she went away on holiday. With Zoe in charge of the Coffee Shop, it wasn’t long before disaster struck. Zoe hired her old friend Lampchop to be the new chef, but he walked out on his first day, and Zoe had no idea how to cook. She ended up closing the shop while she tried to find someone to help her, then she bought a case of champagne from one of the food reps, leaving Daphne seriously down on her takings when she returned.

Zoe managed to talk Daphne into keeping her on, but with both Scott and Mike also employed at the shop, Zoe began to realise that Daphne was paying out more money in wages than she was taking. Zoe agreed to resign as soon as she found another job to go to. When Paul Robinson agreed to manage the Australian branch of the Daniels Corporation for his Aunt Rosemary, Zoe was quick to spot an opportunity. She had been spending a lot of time with Paul, accompanying him to corporate dinners, and the couple had grown quite close. Zoe had a word with Rosemary, who tried to convince Paul to give Zoe the job. However, the pressure they were putting on him led to Paul giving the job to another applicant, Sue Wright, and Zoe was heartbroken. Luckily, Sue turned out to be an appalling secretary, turning up late and answering back, so Paul gave in and offered Zoe the post on a temporary basis.

When Des’ ex-girlfriend, Andrea Townsend and her son, Bradley, moved into number 28, Zoe found herself being gradually pushed out. Although Des wasn’t keen to get rid of her, Andrea felt that she was a threat and tried to convince him to ask Zoe to leave. Meanwhile, Zoe had been spending a lot of time with Paul’s father, Jim, trying to work out where she stood. Jim slowly became a confidante to Zoe, and they ended up going out for dinner together, much to Paul’s disgust. When Jim was unable to accompany Zoe to Shane and Daphne’s fancy dress engagement party, she asked Paul instead. However, when Paul found out that he was second choice, it put further strain on their friendship. In the end, it was Paul’s business problems that brought Jim and Zoe together as a couple. When Rosemary phoned from America to check that some important documents had been signed and sent, Zoe realised that Paul had got his dates mixed up. However, he was 100km away looking at some land for the corporation, and was unable to be contacted. Jim agreed to drive Zoe out to the site to give Paul the papers. Paul was less than impressed to see the two of them together again, and quickly set off back to the city to see his solicitor. However, moments after he left, Jim realised that his car wouldn’t start, and he and Zoe were stranded. They had no other option but to walk to the nearest town, where they found a garage who picked up the car, but told them that it would be the following day before the necessary work was done.

Jim and Zoe had dinner together and decided to look for a motel, but first, Jim phoned home, which he’d been trying to do for most of the evening with little success. Finally able to speak to Helen, Jim was shocked to hear that his youngest child, Lucy, had been rushed to hospital after a bee sting on her neck nearly killed her. He rushed home in a taxi, and Paul was ready to accuse him of running off with Zoe instead of looking after his own children. The next day at work, Paul laid into Zoe about what had happened and an argument began, with Paul kissing Zoe to try and prove that he was more of a man than his father. This only served to make Zoe more determined to see more of Jim, so she bought a new dress and called him up to arrange dinner at Lassiter’s. They had a wonderful evening and Zoe opened up about her past and her problems with her parents. As they left the restaurant, it began to rain heavily and they sheltered outside the hotel, where they shared their first kiss.

Unfortunately, Paul’s dislike of Zoe and Jim’s relationship had started to spread to the rest of the Robinson family. The following day, Easter Sunday, the Robinsons all went out for a picnic, but as soon as they returned, Jim went to see Zoe, giving Paul and chance to poison the minds of his siblings, Lucy and Scott. When Jim and Zoe returned later that evening, the children made their feelings quite clear and Lucy was devastated when Zoe accidentally broke her pet egg, Eggward. Zoe started to wonder whether her relationship with Jim was worth all of the angst and she received conflicting advice from the various friends she spoke to. In the end, it was Zoe’s sworn enemy, Andrea, who convinced her that it was her own happiness that mattered most, and it proved to be a turning point, as Zoe and Andrea managed to be civil to each other. Meanwhile, Zoe was shocked to learn that Paul was behind a plot to take over the building that housed Daphne’s Coffee Shop. She was torn between telling Daphne the truth and losing her job. In the end, she decided to resign and told Jim everything. Naturally, word got back to Daphne, putting the girls’ friendship on the line. Luckily, everything worked out well for Zoe when Paul gave her a second chance at work and Daphne forgave her, realising what a terrible position she’d been in.

With Paul now more interested in Andrea, it looked like things were also picking up for Zoe and Jim. However, they still had one hurdle to cross – Lucy. When Jim announced he would be going on a weekend business trip, Zoe convinced him that she should go along. When Lucy got to hear about this, she was disgusted, so Jim was forced to placate her by letting her join them. The weekend was a disaster from the beginning, as Lucy refused to do anything with Zoe whilst Jim was working, then deliberately split ice cream on Zoe’s dress, and the three of them ended up coming home early. Lucy’s behaviour only got worse in the weeks that followed, as she continued to get in the way and poured a glass of water on Zoe while she was spending time with Jim. When Zoe confided in Andrea that she was beginning to reach the end of her tether, Bradley overheard and told Lucy. This was enough information for Lucy to believe that her poor treatment of Zoe would eventually drive her away, so she started a new tactic – crank calls. Although everyone told her not to think too much of it, Zoe was worried by the calls, unable to work out who would want to put her through something like that.

As the calls continued, and Zoe began receiving threatening letters, she began to think back over the people she’d known and wondered if it could be her ex-boyfriend, Gavin. Meanwhile, Jim decided to propose to Zoe and she confided in Daphne and Madge that she wasn’t sure if she was ready to become a stepmother to all of his children. As she thought over his offer, she was horrified when she got home one day and found a dead rat in a shoebox, left on her pillow. At the same time, the phone rang again and a voice told her to get out of town. Zoe grabbed a whistle which Madge had left for her and blew it down the phone. At the same time, Lucy was found on the kitchen floor in agony and when Zoe heard about it, it didn’t take long for her to realise who was behind the campaign against her. As she explained her fears to Des and Andrea, Bradley finally confessed that he and Lucy had done it all, to try and get her to leave Jim alone.

Zoe went to the hospital and explained everything to Jim. He immediately blamed Bradley for influencing Lucy and went straight over to number 28 to have it out with Andrea. During the confrontation, Zoe tried to intervene and Jim turned on her, blaming her for everything. A distraught Zoe went to see Daphne and Clive and explained that maybe she was to blame, and it would be for the best if she ended things with Jim. She stayed up all night trying to write a letter to him, before visiting the Robinson house the next morning to break things off. Zoe then made the decision to leave town for a while, clearing things with Paul and Des first. She then got Clive to drive her to the station, while Jim, who had only just found out she was leaving, tried to stop her. As the car left Ramsay Street, Zoe spotted Jim chasing after her, but told Clive to carry on driving.

After a couple of weeks at a guesthouse in the mountains, Zoe returned to Ramsay Street, but was much more subdued than usual. Her friends were worried about her, particularly her health, but she insisted that everything was fine. Clive wasn’t fooled, however, and when Zoe almost fainted in his kitchen, he asked her if she was pregnant. She denied it, but later admitted to Andrea that she was and she didn’t know what she was going to do or how she could ever tell Jim. As Des and Daphne also found out what was going on, Zoe asked them all to keep her secret for the time being. However, a huge argument over Bradley led Andrea to blurt out the truth to Jim, who immediately suggested to Zoe that they should get married. She told him that she didn’t want to get back together and that he should back off. Jim was devastated and Zoe decided that she had to get away from him and from Ramsay Street, so Paul suggested that she go and stay at the flat of a friend of his, who was out of the country. He took her there that evening and the next morning, as she was making breakfast, Zoe suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach and collapsed.

When Zoe didn’t turn up for work, Paul thought she was probably just settling in at the new flat, but by lunchtime, he decided to go and check on her. She was taken in for emergency surgery, having suffered an eptopic pregnancy. The doctors informed Paul and Daphne what had happened and that Zoe might never be able to have children, information which they gently passed on to her. After a good cry, Zoe tried to get back to her old self and, after a week, she was released from hospital and went to stay with Clive and Daphne. As Zoe returned to her normal routine, she was shocked when an old boyfriend, Tony Chapman, who’d been living in England for two years, walked into the Coffee Shop one day. As Paul was beginning to develop strong feelings for his secretary, he was shocked when she came into work with Tony to introduce him. As Zoe and Tony attended Des and Daphne’s wedding together, the old feelings between them quickly resurfaced and he asked her to accept a new job as his secretary. Out of loyalty to Paul and the Daniels Corporation, she turned him down. However, Paul’s jealousy led to a huge argument when Zoe was late back from lunch that afternoon and she announced that she would be quitting her job to work with Tony.

Tony was delighted when Zoe accepted his offer and he was determined not to lose her for a second time, so he proposed. After all the emotional upheaval of the last few months, Zoe took some time to think about it and told Tony that before she answered him, she needed to tell him about her miscarriage and the fact that she probably would never be able to have children of her own. Tony was unable to respond to this revelation and Zoe took this at face value and walked out on him. However, Tony later confided in Clive that he simply couldn’t put his thoughts into words quickly enough and that Zoe’s admission hadn’t changed his feelings at all. Clive told this to Zoe, who was promptly reunited with Tony and announced her plans to leave Ramsay Street and move in with him a few streets away. After tying up loose ends – saying goodbye to Jim and Paul – Zoe packed up her things and drove out of the street.

A few weeks later, Zoe was back when Daphne was admitted to hospital, suffering from meningitis. She was relieved to find out that Daphne’s condition had taken a turn for the better, but seemed to have arrived at the perfect time for Paul, who had been forced to sack Madge as his secretary. Zoe agreed to fill in for a few days and organise the office’s new computer. Although Zoe was only around for a week, she couldn’t resist getting herself into a couple of new predicaments. When Paul was out one afternoon, Zoe agreed to help single mum Susan Cole, by looking after baby Sam, whilst Susan went for a job interview. Unfortunately, Paul returned with an important client and Zoe was forced to hide Sam underneath the desk. Sam then started gurgling and although Zoe started singing to cover up the noise, Paul noticed the baby and warned Zoe not to make a fool of him like that again. The next day, Zoe announced that Tony needed her to return to work for him, so she’d have to leave. But before she went, Des caught up with her to speak about her finances. A few months earlier, Zoe had taken out a Pacific Bank credit card and had been using it well over its limit, owing the bank hundreds of dollars. So, before letting her get back to her happy, new life, Des wrote up a financial plan for Zoe and forced her to cut up her credit card in front of him.

Tenure
171-303, 327-333

Biography by Steve

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