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Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Luka Dokich Keelan O'Hehir

Luka Dokich 2004
Lived: 24 Ramsay Street
Born: 1986
Parents: Liljana Bishop and Ivan Petrovic (natural parents), Anna Dokich (adoptive parent)
Siblings: Serena

The product of a brief relationship between young Liljana Ristic and Ivan Petrovic, Luka was taken by Liljana’s mother, Svetlanka, as soon as he was born. She gave him to the Dokich family and paid a doctor to tell Lil that her baby had been stillborn, in the hope that it would save the family the embarrassment of having a teenage, single mother. Svetlanka was then made Luka’s godmother and everyone moved on. However, as Luka grew up, he began to feel out-of-place with his parents. Following an obsession with one of his female teachers, Luka set fire to her bag when she ignored him and the fire quickly spread to the rest of the school. Luka turned to Svetlanka, who provided him with a false alibi.

Still convinced that he was adopted, Luka tracked Svetlanka down to Erinsborough, where Liljana and her family were living. He tried to find out more about his past from Svetlanka, but she assured him that his beliefs were unfounded and tried to get him to go home. Unfortunately, Luka was also busy developing a close relationship with Liljana’s daughter, Serena, unaware that she was his half-sister. Desperate to keep the truth from being revealed, Svetlanka convinced Luka that he had to leave for Perth, explaining that she’d spoken to a nurse from the hospital where Luka was born, who had backed up her belief that he wasn’t adopted. Luka didn’t believe Sveltanka, but pretended to be going home, claiming that he would spend a week with friends in Adelaide on the way, to buy him some time. He then hid out in an old storage shed in Erinsborough, with only Serena knowing of his real whereabouts.

Luka and Serena were growing closer, little realising that the closeness they felt had nothing to do with them being soul mates, and he even confided in her about the fire at the school, neglecting to mention certain details. Serena decided that she wanted to lose her virginity to Luka and made plans to visit him after school. Only moments after arriving at the storage shed, Serena received a call to say that her mother had been rushed to hospital. It later became clear that Liljana required a liver transplant, as her condition was life-threatening. With Serena clearly distracted by everything that was going on, Luka felt that it would be better if he continued his search for his real parents elsewhere, and made plans to leave town. As he was leaving, Liljana had only hours to live and Svetlanka was forced to reveal to Karl Kennedy that Luka could be the person to save Lil. The rest of the family had been tested and no matches had been found, so it was incredibly important that they track Luka down. Svetlanka made up another lie for the rest of the family, claiming that she remembered Luka being in an accident as a child and his blood could be a match. With most of the Bishops out looking, it was Serena’s cousin, Sky, who had the bright idea of using the radio on a truck to put out a call for Luka. He heard her message and before long, he was back at the hospital, having tests.

Everyone was ecstatic when Luka was found to be a match, and he and Liljana were taken in for surgery. Serena was also delighted to see him back, and, as he came round after the operation, she was there to thank him. Svetlanka could see that the young couple were still as close as ever, and she tried to warn her granddaughter off, but Serena refused to listen. Svetlanka then blurted out the truth, leaving Serena stunned. She agreed not to say anything to anyone else, as it could hinder Luka and Lil’s recovery. A few days later, the patients were allowed home. Still desperate to get rid of Luka, Svetlanka told him that she’d found a very good lead, regarding his real mother, in Canberra. With Serena acting oddly and wanting to call off the relationship, Luka had nothing to lose and made plans to leave. The next morning, Serena was unable to keep the secret to herself any longer, and, as everyone was gathered to say goodbye to the boy who had saved Liljana’s life, she blurted out the truth – Luka was Liljana’s son.

Luka reacted happily to the news that he had finally found what he had been searching for for many months. He told Liljana that he had felt a bond with her from the start, though she struggled to find those same feelings for him. She decided that he would stay with a local Serbian family for a while as they came to terms with the news, and hopefully become a proper part of the Bishop family. Svetlanka, meanwhile, was sent back to Perth and told never to try to contact the family again. Luka and Serena managed to salvage some kind of friendship from the whole situation, and agreed to put everything that had happened in the past, behind them.

As Liljana and Luka got to know each other, his presence in the Bishop household caused a great deal of strain. Lil's husband, David, found it difficult to hear Liljana talking about her relationship with Ivan, while Serena found it hard to suddenly be sharing her mother with someone else. Things came to a head when Liljana suddenly invited Luka to move in to number 24, without consulting the rest of the family first. When David later spotted Luka looking at a car in Lassiter’s car park, which had a wallet on the seat, he told Lil that her long-lost son was not to be trusted. Liljana was hurt by his comments and she spoke to Luka, who admitted that he’d been tempted to break into the car. Lil and David managed to patch things up, though she didn’t reveal what Luka had confided to her. When Svetlanka called with news that Ivan had last been seen in a small town in Victoria, Luka was desperate to track him down. He and Liljana set off but as they made enquiries, it emerged that Ivan was dead. Luka struggled to cope with this news, but Liljana assured him that she had loved Ivan and that he had been a good man. Back in Erinsborough, however, Luka overheard Lil telling David how guilty she felt about lying, and this was enough to once again tip Luka over the edge.

Serena had long been suspicious of Luka’s odd behaviour and, armed with the knowledge that he’d burnt his school down, she made a crack when she saw him playing with some matches outside number 24. Luka decided to take his feelings out on David’s suitcase, setting fire to it on some wasteland and watching it burn. When policeman Stuart Parker visited number 24, having found the ruined suitcase, Serena realised exactly what had happened and she confronted Luka. He wasn’t about to give up on his new family, however, and assured Serena that she wouldn’t be able to prove a thing. A desperate Serena turned to her grandmother for more information about the school fire back in Western Australia, and she was shocked to find out the truth. After a heart-to-heart with Luka, in which she told him the truth about Ivan abandoning Liljana, Serena encouraged Luka to return to Perth and get some help. He realised that it would be for the best and broke the news to Lil that he would be leaving. Before he left, Lil assured him that she loved him and would always be there. The following day, the Bishop family waved Luka off, as he left Erinsborough, having changed their lives forever.

Just before Christmas, Luka suddenly went missing from his home in Perth, and his frantic mother, Anna, phoned Lil to see if he’d turned up in Erinsborough. Although Lil hadn’t seen him, Serena was quick to point the blame when a fire broke out at Lassiter’s around the same time. Fortunately, Luka was off the hook when he returned home – having decided to go surfing with some mates for a couple of weeks, without telling anyone.

Magic Moments
Episode 4567: Nina's Departure (Luka's Arrival)
Episode 4592: Serena's Confession: Part 1
Episode 4593: Serena's Confession: Part 2

Biography by Steve

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