.
Character Profiles > Boyd Hoyland Kyal Marsh

Boyd Hoyland 2002-2007
Lived: 30, 32 Ramsay Street
Born: 1987
Parents: Max and Claire Hoyland
Siblings: Summer and Charlie
Marital Status: Janae Timmins (2006-2007; dissolved)
Family Tree: Hoyland
Occupation: Student, Carpenter's Mechanics Employee, Gym Assistant at Fitness For Life Gym, Medical Student at Erinsborough & District Hospital, Scarlet Bar Barman, Charlie's Barman

Boyd, a boy genius, appeared in Ramsay Street not long after his grandmother, Rosie and sister, Summer. He had been placed on the accelerated learning programme at Erinsborough High, moving up a year, where he began to struggle socially. He compensated for his age by becoming a smart alec, particularly when Libby Kennedy came to the school to give the class a career talk. Libby and Susan spotted Boyd's lack of confidence in his own abilities and Libby was talked into giving Boyd some extra tuition, in order to avoid him having to go back down to year nine. This led to Boyd developing a crush on Libby. Libby took a back seat, however, after Rosie's animal blessing service, where Boyd found a cage with an abandoned fox inside. After caring for the fox, Roxy, for a few weeks and receiving mysterious letters begging him to take care of her, Boyd finally met the owner, Dee's sister Cecile Bliss. However, when Harold discovered that they still had the fox - they had previously promised to report it to the RSPCA - he took them straight to the vet, who eventually agreed to help them house the native pest at a local wildlife park.

Boyd also befriended Saxon Garvey, whose mother, Isabella, had recently died after a long battle with cancer. Having also lost his mother, Boyd was one of the few people Saxon felt he could confide in. Boyd lost his new friend when Saxon decided to go with his father, Roger, to a boarding school in Sydney.At the same time as losing Saxon, Boyd's father, Max arrived in Erinsborough. Boyd and Max had a healthy relationship, with Max encouraging his son to take part in the local cricket team. Boyd was more interested in skateboarding, but went along to the cricket practice to please his father. Despite being a fairly competent cricketer, Boyd's disinterest continued, until Boyd noticed how friendly Max had become with the team captain, Adam Stevens, and Boyd decided he wanted his father to be impressed with him too. Boyd also learnt that his grandmother, Rosie, was being transferred to Byron Bay by the Bishop. He reacted badly to this decision and was pleased when, after various protests from local residents, the decision was reversed.

After spending a few weeks at a camp for gifted children, Boyd returned to Ramsay Street with a secret - a girlfriend named Heather Green. Since Heather attended Eden Hills high school, it was difficult for them to spend time together. Heather quickly brought trouble for Boyd, with him being grounded after being caught sneaking home and then his bragging about having a girlfriend leading to him being labelled a stud at school by cocky Daniel Clohesy. Unfortunately, after having shared his first kiss with Heather, she found out about his bragging when she came to the school for a netball tournament. She quickly dumped him, although the whole situation did lead to Boyd finding a new friend after Daniel asked him for advice on picking up girls.

After moping around for a few weeks, Boyd decided he was going to win Heather back. After some questionable advice from Susan Kennedy, Boyd and Daniel headed off to steal the street sign from Heather Street. On the way, they were chased by a gang of kids who Daniel claimed had attacked him and caused a bruise on his face. When they got back to Number 32, complete with street sign, Max caught them and demanded that they return it. He then got a friend in the sign-writing business to make up another sign for Boyd. Heather came over to Ramsay Street to pick up a sweater she had left at the Hoyland's place and Boyd took the opportunity to give her the sign. Heather was thrilled and Boyd convinced her to accompany him to Susan and Karl's wedding.

Things took a serious turn when Daniel admitted that his bruises had come from his father hitting him. Boyd explained the situation to his father and Max allowed Daniel to stay at the Hoyland house when he turned up one night. Having Daniel around led to Boyd getting up to lots of mischief, especially when they realised they could see into the Scully bathroom from Harold's back garden. They began spending more and more time over there 'looking for their lost cricket ball'. Even when Summer caught them, they didn't give up. Harold caught them in his back garden one afternoon and they explained that they were bird-watching. Harold quickly realised what was going on, although he made them sit through an afternoon looking at ornithology books anyway. When Max eventually caught them, he tried to see what they were looking at, but got caught by Joe and had to apologise to Steph, who he saw in the shower. This resulted in Boyd getting grounded. Daniel also moved out as his father had been receiving counselling. However, this didn't end their reign of mischief, as they began prank calling the pub, but they were caught again.

After a severe reprimanding from Max, Boyd continued the prank calls - using his neighbours as victims. He called them, telling them he knew their 'dirty little secret'. Their victims included Stuart, Karl, Dee and Jack, all of whom, coincidentally, had been keeping secrets from their loved ones. However, after a conversation with Boyd in the Coffee Shop, Jack realised who the prank caller was, but was more relieved than anything. A few days later, Max caught Boyd and Summer making another of their calls. He was shocked that they had disobeyed him again and forced them to apologise to everyone they had called, and also do any chores around their houses. A few weeks later, Summer confided in her brother that she was having problems on her paper round, with a girl called Jacinta. Jacinta was bullying Summer into handing over the round, by making complaints, stealing papers and threatening Summer. Boyd offered to help her out, using a couple of different methods - firstly by leaving dog mess on her porch, then by posting a letter to Jacinta's parents. Unfortunately, Jacinta intercepted the letter and sent it back, along with a threatening letter of her own.

Boyd was surprised when his grandmother, Rosie, announced she would be leaving Erinsborough to go to Papua New Guinea. However, he refused to show any emotion like his sister and instead organised a farewell party for his nana. Meanwhile, Boyd had his own problems when his girlfriend Heather asked him to accompany her to a prom at her school. At first Boyd was hesitant, but when Heather threatened to take the school spunk Liam instead, Boyd agreed to go. However, he later admitted to Summer that he couldn't dance and was afraid he'd make a fool of himself, so Summer offered to teach him.

After messing up the plans for a secret party after the formal, Boyd offered to hold it at his house, with Max finally agreeing after seeing what it meant to his son. The next day, Boyd was horrified when Steph returned to town, determined to make a go of things with Max. Boyd found it difficult to conceal his disgust at his father's younger girlfriend, not to mention the fact that she was taking the place of his mother. When Max, Steph and the kids decided to go to the beach, Boyd faked a migraine to avoid the trip. However, an irate Summer warned Boyd that she'd never speak to him again if he messed things up for their dad, and from then on, Boyd tried to make an effort. During a rescheduled trip to the beach, Boyd started teaching Steph to surf and he tried to join in with more of the family activities. However, when Rosie offered to fly one of the kids out to Fiji, and Max chose Summer, all of the hurt returned. After learning that Tahnee was going away to boarding school, Boyd announced that he wanted to go there too and asked Steph to help him approach his father about it.

As Boyd realised that he wouldn’t be able to escape to boarding school, his behaviour became more and more erratic, and he was rude to Max and Steph. When he wanted a new pair of trainers, his father bought him a cheaper alternative, but Boyd wasn’t satisfied, so he stole $100 from his father’s wallet, then allowed Summer to take the blame for the missing money. When Steph found out about this, Boyd’s animosity grew. Meanwhile, he also had problems with Heather, as he messed up her birthday dinner at Lassiter’s and she dumped him. In an effort to win her back, he stole Toadie’s car from the garage where he’d been helping out. She wanted nothing to do with him and in his anger, he drove off and hit a tree, wrecking one side of the car. This incident led Boyd to finally open up to Max about the pain he’d been feeling since witnessing his mother die. Max told Boyd that he wasn’t to blame for any of it and that Steph wasn’t trying to be a replacement for Claire. Boyd had thankfully learnt his lesson.

When Harold’s granddaughter, Sky, unexpectedly returned to town, Boyd found a kindred spirit. She opened up to him about missing her mother and they began spending a lot of time together. Although Boyd found Sky to be slightly weird sometimes, he grew to like her for it and together they had plenty of fun, setting up Candace Barkham on a blind date and following various people around the neighbourhood. But their friendship suddenly became strained when Sky joined Erinsborough High. School bitch Erin Perry made her feelings clear, calling Sky a freak, and Boyd found it difficult to defend his new friend, fearing he would become an outcast aswell. Eventually, Sky took him to one side, into one of the storage sheds, and had it out with him. Unfortunately, Erin and her friends heard voices inside and demanded to know who Sky was in there with. When they eventually opened the door, Boyd finally realised where his heart was and kissed Sky infront of everybody.

Since his dad had broken up with Steph, Boyd found himself resenting her more and more. He ended up accusing Steph of destroying his family on purpose and warned her not to go near them again. In a fit of anger, he then smashed the headlights on her bike, leaving him with a cut on his eye that required hospital treatment. It was while Max was at the hospital with Boyd that he stumbled upon the truth about Steph’s cancer. When Boyd learnt the truth, he was extremely supportive, offering to help look after his father’s girlfriend. Things were going great at home and with Sky, but Boyd was in for a nasty shock a few weeks later, when he found Steph collapsed unconscious at the garage. Fortunately, after he raised the alarm, Steph was taken to hospital where she quickly recovered.

Boyd and Sky seemed very happy together, but it was obvious that other people had their doubts about the relationship. After several people had commented to Boyd that he simply did whatever Sky told him to do, he began to have his doubts. Then, when Sky and Serena were hassled by a group of guys, Boyd hid and did nothing, ruining his confidence further. In the end, when Sky tried to drag Boyd to a fan club she’d created for the child actress Virginia Weidler, he decided he’d had enough and told her that perhaps they should see less of each other. Soon after, however, the Hoylands were watching the film Ghost World, when Boyd noticed how similar the character of Enid was to Sky. He confronted her and she admitted that she simply wanted some attention. The pair managed to make up and Boyd made a bold move when he told Sky that he loved her.

As the school year came to an end, Boyd and Sky attended the formal, and Boyd made it clear to Erin that he was proud of Sky for being an individual. Unfortunately, all the taunting got to Erin, who, along with her friends, pushed over a portaloo with Sky inside. The only person to stand by Sky through her ordeal was Boyd, and the couple spent the night talking, and even broke into the public swimming pool. As Christmas arrived, they proved that they were meant for each other when they both gave the same gift – dog tags.

When Sky admitted that she felt slightly out-of-place at number 24 since the arrival of her Uncle David and his family, Boyd asked her to spend a night at number 32. However, Max wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, making sure that Sky slept in the lounge room and that they were aware that he’d be listening out all night. Nevertheless, Boyd managed to sneak out and the couple ended up spending the night curled up watching tv. However, the incident led to Boyd thinking more and more about sleeping with his girlfriend. When Boyd caught Sky perving at Aaron, the garage’s hunky mechanic, he became paranoid about his image. And when Daniel started teasing him about his sexual prowess, he decided that he and Sky would have to take their relationship to the next level. However, a failed attempt to get condoms from the machine in the pub showed that his ego possibly wasn’t quite ready to take such a big step.

When Lou went away to Hong Kong, leaving Max with the keys to number 22, Boyd finally saw his chance to be alone with Sky. Having finally managed to get some condoms from the pharmacy, he invited her over, but was bemused when she only wanted to watch DVDs. As Boyd’s real intentions dawned on Sky, she stormed out, but later returned and apologised. The couple slept together for the first time that evening, but things went horribly wrong when Max burst into the house, believing it was being robbed. Sky and Boyd were horrified to be caught in a state of undress, but Boyd made it clear to his father that he knew what he was doing. The incident left Boyd and Sky feeling completely different, as Boyd wanted a repeat performance, while Sky felt that everything between them had changed. However, Boyd chose his dad’s mate, Gus, to confide in, and when word got back to Izzy, she wasted no time in taunting Sky. Luckily, it had a positive effect, as the young couple talked things through and decided that sex wasn’t enough of a big deal to throw away their relationship over.

However, their next hurdle wasn’t too far away, when Sky bumped into the man who had fatally shot her mother, Kerry. After meeting him, she came to the conclusion that her mother had been the one at fault, for abandoning her 3 year old daughter. Following this, Sky’s behaviour, and appearance, changed drastically, and Boyd was at a loss to understand his girlfriend. However, when Sky found an old diary of her mother’s, she came to realise that she had been the most important thing in Kerry’s life. Boyd was relieved when Sky went back to being her old self. Meanwhile, problems were also brewing at home, as it emerged that Gus had mental problems, and was trying to become a part of the Hoyland family. A fight broke out between Boyd and Gus following this revelation, and Max sent his old mate packing. However, a few weeks later, Boyd found Gus’ phone ringing in the bushes, and the family realised he had still been hanging around. The chase that followed saw Max injured in a fall, and Gus escape again, although he was later captured and sectioned, meaning that the Hoyland family’s problems were finally over.

Things settled down at home after that, and Boyd was thrilled to act as best man when his dad and Steph got married. He made a speech welcoming Steph to the Hoyland family, and they all went away to a resort for the honeymoon. Afterwards, Boyd went away to a school camp for accelerated learners. Upon his return to town, he was surprised to find a new face working in the Coffee Shop, Lana Crawford. She had a little flirt with him, and before long, was telling Serena that he’d come on to her. Boyd explained to Sky that this wasn’t true, but he decided to continue the flirting in an effort to make Sky jealous, as she didn’t seem too bothered. Meanwhile, Boyd got a new job putting up posters advertising gigs, and roped in Stingray to help him. But Stingray wasn’t about to follow the rules, and got the two of them in trouble when he pasted posters all over the back of a police car. Things only got worse when they put their posters over some existing ones, and an older guy, Travis Dean, warned them that they’d better stop covering his posters, or there would be trouble…

Having found out that Lana was gay, and had a crush on Sky, Boyd’s common sense went out the window, and he became determined to prove his masculinity by ignoring Travis’ threats. This time, Boyd found himself badly beaten up, and forced to hide the truth from his father by claiming to have had a skateboarding accident. This still didn’t put him off, and he started carrying a metal bar with him to defend himself. Stingray insisted that he simply stop posting, rather than get beaten up again, but Boyd was adamant that he wouldn’t be put off by a bully. Meanwhile, when Sky and Lana shared a kiss, word quickly spread around the school. Sky believed that Boyd was behind some cruel remarks written on the blackboard, but infact it had been Serena. Nevertheless, Sky decided to end things with Boyd, accusing him of being a homophobe. This caused the situation with Travis to get out of hand when Boyd hit him, and Travis retaliated by throwing a Molotov cocktail through the Hoylands’ kitchen window. Determined to get his own back, Boyd spotted Travis posting one afternoon and sneaked into the back of his ute. At Travis’ house, Boyd managed to hide out and record a confession from Travis on his video phone. Unfortunately, Travis let his rottweiler, Satan, loose and Boyd had to climb a tree. It was only due to his earlier calls home that Stuart was able to track him down and rescue him in time.

The whole incident made Boyd realise what an idiot he’d been, and, with some help from Lana, he was reunited with Sky. The couple seemed to be stronger than ever, until she shared a spontaneous kiss with Lana. Sky confessed to Harold, who accidentally let slip to Boyd. He was furious with her, and told her that he didn’t want to listen to any more of her excuses; their relationship was over for good.

Boyd ignored several attempts by Sky to get back together, and began growing closer to her cousin, Serena, as the two of them planned the end of year senior formal. This culminated in the two of them beginning a secret relationship, but Boyd couldn’t pretend that he felt the same way about Serena as he did about Sky. As she came to realise this, she managed to get the two of them back together on Christmas Day, and everything went back to normal. On Boxing Day, Boyd’s Aunt Izzy was due to get married, but an appearance by Gus Cleary, as well as Izzy doing a runner, meant that the whole thing was called off. When Gus later appeared in Ramsay Street, Boyd started to threaten him and Gus ended up doing a runner himself.

Following a massive fire at the pub that evening, Gus was found dead. A post mortem revealed that he’d died from a blow to the head, however, and Boyd soon became prime suspect. At first, he said he was staying over at Daniel’s place, but Daniel put his foot in it when he explained that he’d heard Boyd going out. Boyd then went to Sky and told her that he’d gone out looking for Gus that night, but hadn’t found him. Sky agreed to help her boyfriend with an alibi and together they made up a story using an old tv guide, claiming that they’d been at home watching the movie, Chinatown. As they presented this story to the police, however, they learnt that the movie had been cancelled, as the tennis had overrun that night, and it looked like Boyd was in some very hot water indeed. Following another serious interrogation, Boyd continued to protest his innocence, and, with no other evidence, the police were forced to drop the investigation.

The whole incident made Boyd take stock of his life and he decided to look for work rather than repeat year 12. He managed to score a job at Fitness For Life gym, where the manager, Krystal, encouraged him to beef up and enter the state junior bodybuilding championships. Although his family and friends mocked him as he became more and more serious about getting in shape, Boyd continued on his quest, alienating Sky as he grew obsessive over his eating habits. When Summer caught Boyd making himself sick, he threatened her into keeping quiet. But when Boyd found out that he was up against Mo Gorman in representing the gym at the championships, he suddenly felt out of his depth. Krystal continued to encourage him, offering him human growth hormones to inject himself with, in order to bulk up quickly. The hormones seriously affected Boyd’s moods and he ended up attacking Gino Esposito, who’d been doing the styling for a photoshoot at the gym. Following another dip in his confidence, Boyd decided to quit and pigged out on cake, but Sky talked him around.

However, when she caught him throwing up, she realised that things were more serious than she thought, and got Steph involved, since Max was working away from home for a few weeks. Sky began to wonder if Boyd had been taking steroids, which he strongly denied and agreed to Steph’s wishes to get blood tests from Karl. Although the tests were negative, Karl noticed the bruises on Boyd’s leg, where he’d been injecting himself. As Boyd finally came to his senses, he told Krystal that he wouldn’t continue taking the hgh. She was furious and warned him that he didn’t stand a chance. Realising what an idiot he’d been to ever listen to her, he quit his job, pleasing those around him. As they celebrated that evening, Steph agreed to Boyd having one celebratory glass of wine, if he’d think about going back to school. When she returned to the room, Boyd could barely stand up and Sky was hysterical. After a few minutes, he composed himself and assured Steph that he wasn’t drunk, but he was forced to tell her about the hgh, thinking it was probably the reason for his strange reaction.

As Boyd’s behaviour continued to cause alarm, things reached a head when he took Summer out with him one day after school, explaining that he had a surprise for her. Once there, he told her that their mother was coming to see them and he grew upset as Summer tried to explain that this was impossible. Boyd ran off into the bush and Summer chased him, eventually finding him curled up in a ball on the ground, crying. She got him home and phoned Steph, who contacted Karl and Boyd was taken into hospital. There, he had several consultations with psychiatrist Jeremy Levi, who made an initial diagnosis of adolescent schizophrenia. A terrified Boyd was desperate to keep Sky by his side, but in his delusional state, he believed her to be Serena and he started talking about their brief relationship at the end of the previous year. Sky was shocked, but realised that she couldn’t abandon him. As her visits continued, Boyd seemed to slowly settle down and one day, when she’d taken him home for a few hours, he told her that he couldn’t stand going back to the hospital and he wanted them to run away together.

Finding shelter in an abandoned house, Boyd and Sky found themselves being attacked and robbed by Reuben Hausman, a criminal mate of Stingray’s brother, Dylan. As he tried to defend himself, Boyd suddenly collapsed and started fitting, at which point Sky raised the alarm and Boyd was rushed back into hospital. It was discovered that he wasn’t mentally ill, but in fact he had a brain tumour. After more tests, he was rushed in for an emergency operation which took a turn for the worse, leaving Boyd lying in a coma. As Max was finally contacted on the oil rig, he rushed back to find his son critically ill and the rest of the family rallied round. After a couple of weeks, things were looking like they might never improve and the family were forced to discuss the possibility of turning off the life support machine. However, when Max and Izzy’s father, Bobby, arrived in town one day, his first port of call was the hospital, where he sat by Boyd’s side and urged his grandson to wake up. At that very moment, Boyd opened his eyes and the family were delighted to have him back, having suffered no serious after effects from the operation.

Out of hospital, Boyd was immediately met with the revelations that, not only had Sky kissed Dylan, but she also knew about Boyd’s brief relationship with Serena. As they came to terms with this, Boyd and Sky both realised that it wasn’t affecting them as deeply as they thought and maybe they should split up and just be friends. However, Boyd made Sky promise that she wouldn’t start dating Dylan. Almost immediately, Stingray and Dylan’s younger sister, Janae, who’d moved into the streets a few weeks earlier, started to go after Boyd. Unfortunately for her, it looked like it was too soon after Sky for Boyd to become involved with someone else.

Despite the lack of romance, Boyd and Janae developed a close friendship, attending aikido classes together, and their friendship only strengthened for Boyd when it looked like Sky and Dylan were about to start dating. However, he was quickly distracted by matters at home when it looked like his dad and Steph were about to become adoptive parents. But he became concerned when they brought homeless Kayla Thomas – whose baby they hoped to adopt – to stay at number 32. Boyd knew that this violation could prevent them from adopting the child, but the family seemed willing to take the risk. As he spent time with Kayla, Boyd began to realise that Kayla had doubts about giving up her child and had even given it a name – Ashley. When Kayla suddenly went into labour, Boyd insisted on taking her to the hospital as she couldn’t make the journey on her own in a taxi. Once there, Kayla asked Boyd to stay and gave him a fake name so that the Hoylands wouldn’t face trouble from the authorities. Boyd was extremely moved by the birth of baby Ashley and began to resent Max and Steph for taking Kayla’s baby from her. When it looked like Kayla was still going to give Ashley up, Boyd made a bold move and offered to help her by supporting her and being a father to the child. A delighted Kayla accepted, but breaking the news to his father and stepmother proved difficult for Boyd…

When Max and Steph found out what Boyd and Kayla were planning, it put a huge amount of strain on the family. Things only got worse when Boyd realised that the only way they’d be able to cope would be in Kayla and Ashley moved into number 32. As the issue almost drove Max and Steph apart, and Summer left home to study piano at boarding school, Boyd and Kayla started to think about finding a place of their own. However, everyone’s lives were turned upside down when the adoption authorities found out that Kayla had spent time at the Hoyland house, both before and after Ashley’s birth. Steph and Max were told that they would never be able to adopt and a guilty Kayla decided to go, leaving Ashley behind for Steph to look after. Both Boyd and Steph realised that they couldn’t keep the baby and eventually tracked Kayla down to the home of her boyfriend, and Ashley’s dad, Anthony Johnson. Kayla then admitted that Anthony knew nothing about Ashley and she wanted it to stay that way. However, when Anthony stumbled upon Kayla’s meeting with the Hoyland family, she was forced to tell him the truth and Anthony was thrilled to learn that he was a dad and immediately accepted his baby daughter. Fortunately, the happy ending extended to the Hoylands, where Steph and Boyd patched up their differences and he set off for a few weeks at study camp. Upon his return, Boyd had a new goal in life – to go to university and study medicine.

Over the weeks that followed, Boyd studied hard as he completed his final high school exams, as well as those he needed to go to medical school. He also started to see Janae in a different light and, with Kayla gone and Sky dating Dylan, he realised that there was nothing stopping him asking her out. After a few false starts – particularly as Janae was taking advice from her mother, Janelle – it took a tragedy to finally get them together. A plane carrying several Ramsay Street residents on a joy flight to Tasmania crashed into Bass Strait and Dylan was amongst the missing. As other survivors were found, Boyd comforted Janae and admitted that he loved her. He then proved to be a great support to her as the family planned a memorial service, only for Dylan to turn up in the middle of it, having been on the run since the crash. The bizarre turn of events caused Boyd to be late for his medical school entry interview, so Janae turned up and explained everything to the interviewer, only for Boyd to be left wondering whether his career as a doctor was over before it had begun.

In an attempt to prove to Janae that he really was serious about their relationship, Boyd arranged a surprise night away from Ramsay Street – in a tent. But she wanted to escape Erinsborough completely and, with Boyd having recently passed his driver’s test and the summer holidays ahead of them, they decided to take a road trip up the coast. However, their beach holiday soon turned into a nightmare when Janae’s ex-boyfriend, Mike Pill was there, along with Janae’s biggest enemy from her days at Colac High School, Karen Chambers. Although Karen did everything she could to taunt Janae, Boyd was impressed when Janae simply broke the news to Karen that Mike was one of her exes – and she’d dumped him – before walking away. Back in Erinsborough, Boyd was pleased to get some summer work experience when Karl took him on as receptionist at the surgery. But during his first week, he was faced with a massive ethical dilemma when he read Mike’s notes and found out that he’d just been diagnosed as HIV positive. As he tried to find out exactly how far Janae had gone with Mike, he aroused her suspicions with his questions and she stole his key to the surgery and broke in, reading her own file, followed by Mike’s. Although Janae had lied to Boyd, saying that she and Mike only kissed, they had infact had sex without any protection. A worried Janae decided that the only course of action was to break up with Boyd, so she lied again, claiming that she was still in love with Mike.

However, Boyd wasn’t about to give up that easily and he caught up with Janae just as her father, Kim, was taking her to be tested. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that she might be HIV positive and that he should be tested too. Boyd then burst in on Janae’s consultation with Karl, who had already jumped to the wrong conclusion, believing that Boyd had told Janae about Mike’s diagnosis. Having already passed year 12 with flying colours and been accepted to study medicine at Eden Hills University, it looked like Karl was about to pull the plug on Boyd’s career. Fortunately, realising that Boyd was going to stand by her no matter what happened, Janae told Karl that she had stolen the key and broken in, causing Karl to give him another chance, as the pair waited anxiously for the test results. Fortunately, the results were negative and both Boyd and Janae were able to move on with their lives as he began his medical degree. Although Janae claimed that the close call with HIV had changed her, it wasn’t long before she was jealously warning off Boyd’s new female uni friends. When Boyd found out, he decided to get his own back, claiming that he was struggling to make friends at uni and had decided to give up on it. Janae eventually worked out what was going on and played a joke of her own, telling Boyd that she was happy with his plans, as they could soon get married and start a family. Eventually, they were both honest with each other, and Janae agreed to try and keep her jealousy under control.

Boyd’s problems with Janae were quickly forgotten as it became clear that Steph’s health was failing once again. Heavily pregnant, but refusing treatment for breast cancer until the baby was born, Steph was keeping the seriousness of her condition from Max. When he flew out to Fiji to be with Summer, who was also ill, suffering from Dengue fever, Steph collapsed in front of Boyd and was taken to hospital. Boyd was put in an awkward situation as Steph pleaded with him not to say anything to Max and he reluctantly agreed. However, as Karl reported that Steph’s cancer was spreading and she needed to have a Caesarean section before starting cancer treatment, Boyd finally phoned Max and told him to try and get back. With Summer still running a temperature and not allowed to fly, it was a few days before Max could get back. In the meantime, Steph had a dream in which Charlie was growing up without her, and she realised that she had to have the operation straight away, so she could begin treatment. With the plans in place, Max and Summer flew back to Australia and Boyd collected them from the airport. As the problems piled up – the car ran out of petrol, then the phone battery died and Max took his anger out on his son – Steph suddenly went into labour and decided to have a natural birth, despite fear that she didn’t have the strength. After a tense wait, Max, Boyd and Summer arrived at the hospital and, after a labour that went through the night, Charlie Hoyland was finally born.

Janae’s jealousy returned when Boyd grew close to fellow student, Sasha Hennessy. Although Janae tried to hide it when Boyd was around, she became convinced that Sasha was trying to steal Boyd away. Following Charlie’s birth, Janae started to talk about having a child of her own, and Sasha overheard her talking about it with Janelle. Despite having a boyfriend of her own, Ethan, Sasha used the information to plant seeds of doubt in Boyd’s mind about whether Janae was really suitable for him, in the hope of splitting up the young couple. Although Janae quickly realised that it would be wrong to trap Boyd with a marriage and baby, she still gave him an ultimatum and asked him to stop spending so much time with Sasha. Not realising that Sasha really did fancy him, Boyd finally snapped and told Janae that he’d had enough of her jealousy. Soon after their break-up, Boyd was surprised by a visit from Sasha, who announced that she and Ethan had also split and, as she comforted Boyd, she tried to kiss him. Boyd realised that Janae had been right about Sasha all along, but it was too late to change things. Soon after, Boyd was jealous when Janae asked neighbour Ned Parker to her school ball. To prove that he was over her, Boyd decided to join Sasha as her date for the uni medical ball, but neither he nor Janae could really focus on anyone else that evening. Boyd did get some good news, however, as he won a placement at a rural hospital for a couple of weeks, due to his excellent grades. On that same evening, Karl, who had moved in with new girlfriend Jenny McKenna, was desperate to remove traces of Izzy from his life and decided to give Boyd a watch that had been a gift from Izzy, believing it to be a fake.

After a couple of weeks away, Boyd returned with a new determination to do well at university, but admitted to Max that he’d found it hard to think about anything but Janae. Boyd paid Janae a visit, but she refused to get back together with him. In a final act of desperation, Boyd sold Karl’s watch – which, it turned out, was worth $20,000 – and bought an engagement ring, before shocking Janae by getting down on one knee and proposing. After thinking it over, Janae accepted, but Max was horrified with this development. He decided to make them realise how difficult married life would be, by telling Janae that she could move into number 32. Janelle’s parents were impressed with the idea, well aware that the reality of living together was never as perfect as the fantasy. Steph, however, was wary about the game-playing going on around her, particularly when she realised that Boyd and Janae were onto them and were pretending to be extremely happy whenever Max was in the room. However, after Janelle and Kim’s self-titled “re-wedding” ended in disaster, with Kim on the run from the police, Max struggled to hide his disgust with the Timmins family. An argument with Boyd followed, which ended with Max telling his son to cancel his engagement or find somewhere else to live.

When Janelle gave a similar ultimatum to Janae, they ended up turning to Ned Parker for the use of the spare room at number 30. He and Toadie allowed them to stay, while Max offered them money to cover the rent, making it clear that Boyd could not find out. Toadie then saw an opportunity to get a little extra cash, and started taking rent money from both Boyd and Max as well as making Janae do all of the cooking and housework. Meanwhile, the young couple started planning their wedding, but quickly realised that very few of the neighbours actually cared. Boyd then decided that it might be best for everyone if they just eloped. Janae was shocked, but went along with it and only Bree and Summer, who had returned to help with the wedding, were told of the plan. Once at the town hall, Summer began to feel guilty and contacted her father. The wedding went ahead, with Janelle, Max and Steph arriving just as the register was being signed and, although Janelle and Steph were delighted for the young couple, Max couldn’t hide his disappointment. Back at number 30, an impromptu party was held for the newlyweds where Steph gave them some money for a honeymoon, while Boyd confronted Toadie after realising that he’d been taking two lots of rent money, and Toadie agreed to buy champagne for the party. Max, however, wasn’t so generous and turned up with proof that Janae had used a fake birth certificate and the union wasn’t even legal. Boyd stood up to his dad and said that he didn’t care, they were still married in their eyes and he would never split them up. They then headed off for a few days camping on the Wye River, with most of their friends and family waving them off, as Max looked on from a distance.

Upon their return to Erinsborough, Boyd and Janae’s relationship with Max continued to be strained, particularly when Max, out walking Charlie in the park one day, spotted Janae chatting intimately with a strange man. Janae quickly explained to Boyd that it had simply been a letting agent, Thomas Griggs, who she was attempting to charm into giving them a reduced rate on a rental property, but Boyd then decided to have a little fun. When Boyd next spoke to his father, he explained that Janae had told him everything – Janae was in West Waratah on a school excursion for biology. Max realised how stupid Janae’s excuse was, and that Boyd believed it, and became worried for his son’s marriage. However, after a few days of Janae having secretive phone calls, fully aware that Max was listening in, she’d had enough and told Max the truth. In an attempt to make it up to his son and daughter-in-law, Max approached Thomas, who was drinking in the bar one afternoon, and tried to put in a good word for Janae and Boyd. Sadly, it backfired when Max mentioned that Janae was 16, meaning she was too young to rent, and this almost ruined Max and Boyd’s relationship once again. However, when the Lassiter’s complex went on lockdown, due to psychotic Robert Robinson being on the run, Boyd, Janae, Steph and Max were all locked in the bar and took the time to talk things through and repair their friendships.

Boyd soon had something new to worry about, when Janae decided that their relationship was failing and dragged him off to marriage counselling. Convinced that their marriage was going to fall apart, she then got a part-time job as a cleaner at the hospital, so that she could be around Boyd all the time. It wasn’t quite as much fun for Boyd, however, as he felt smothered by her attention and, when Karl caught them kissing and threatened Janae with the sack, Boyd came up with a plan to get rid of her by being intimate with her in front of the staff. But this plan also backfired, as Boyd was told by the nursing staff that he and Janae were the talk of the staff room and Karl was just an old prude. From then on, things only got worse as Janae, who had been paying someone to write her essays at school, decided to quit during her VCE year and find permanent work.

Both Steph and Boyd were left shocked when Max ran over neighbour Cameron Robinson, believing him to be his insane twin Robert, escaped from prison. When Cameron later died, the whole family rallied around, with Boyd covering a lot of his father’s shifts at the bar. It was during one shift that a woman, Sally Herbert, became abusive after having too much to drink and Boyd was forced to throw her out. The next day at the hospital, he was dismayed to realise that she was Dr Herbert, his new lecturer and she proceeded to pick him up on every small thing that he did wrong. As he stayed behind in her office to try and smooth things over, she dropped her bag and Boyd was shocked when a vile of morphine rolled out. However, when he confronted Sally, she warned him that, if he even tried to tell anyone, his medical career would be over before it had even begun. And, later that day, it seemed like Dr Herbert was serious about her threats, when Janae found a vile of morphine – in Boyd’s bag. The next day, with security crawling all over the hospital, Boyd failed to return the drugs and he and Janae were almost caught with them during a locker search. As Janae asked for a moment to get changed, the security guards left and Boyd planted the drugs in the locker of Katya Kinski; Boyd held Katya responsible for Max’s predicament, since Max had been trying to help Katya when he ran down Cameron. Boyd eventually owned up to Katya, after she nearly lost her job, and she agreed to take the matter no further, when she realised how badly he’d been affected by recent events.

Over the weeks that followed, Boyd, Janae and Steph grew increasingly concerned about Max, who had been released on bail and was trying to get on with his life. His behaviour grew increasingly bizarre as he forgot things and even got confused about where his son, Charlie, was. The family then became worried as Max insisted that it was all the work of Paul Robinson, as an act of revenge, before changing his mind and deciding that Paul’s daughter, Elle, was behind it. However, Max was spot on with his suspicions, as Elle had been behind the whole thing, moving things, including baby Charlie, and generally leaving Max doubting his sanity. After one incident too many, and generally fearing that he was a danger to his family, Max admitted himself to the psychiatric ward of Erinsborough Hospital. After a couple of weeks, Max’s behaviour was becoming increasingly strange as the medication took effect and, finally, Max simply walked out of the hospital, deciding that he was a burden on everyone and needed to get away. Boyd felt terrible, and admitted to Janae that, when asked by some fellow students, he’d denied being related to Max. Boyd decided that he had to find his father and make things alright and started by making up some missing posters with a reward. The plan seemed to work when homeless Bob Mould contacted the Hoylands but, when they went to meet him, he explained that Max had already gone, but he’d left his wedding ring behind. With no further signs of Max in Erinsborough, Boyd then concluded that his father had gone on a pilgrimage to Cameron’s grave, and headed to Tasmania to look for him.

Upon his return to Erinsborough, without Max, Boyd was distracted and finally admitted to Janae that he’d kissed someone else – a girl named Glenn Forrest, who he’d rescued from drowning in a river. What Boyd failed to mention was that he and Glenn had actually slept together, and an oblivious Janae agreed to give their relationship a second chance. But Boyd struggled with the guilt, particularly as Glenn tried to keep in touch, leaving messages and even sending Boyd a Christmas card, completely unaware that he was already married. When Janae found out about the Christmas card that her husband had tried to hide, she realised that Glenn knew nothing about her and so phoned her and told her the truth. Boyd later rang Glenn to apologise for his wife’s behaviour, as Janae again decided that she had to be the grown up and forgive her husband.

Meanwhile, it was looking less and less likely that Max would return, and Boyd was even beginning to accept Steph’s relationship with Toadie that had been slowly developing for months. When he spotted Elle with a private detective talking about Max, he realised that his father’s suspicions had been correct and she had been the one behind it all, so he quickly got revenge, breaking into the Robinson house and stealing Elle’s credit card and sending texts using her phone. But the family was in for a massive shock when Max walked back through the doors of the Scarlet Bar one day. It turned out that, after spending weeks living on the streets, he’d stumbled into a church where a woman named April Gray had found him and given him a room at her house until he got himself sorted out. Elle had then spotted him with his new family and told Janae, who managed to convince Max that Boyd and Steph needed some closure on the matter. Although Boyd was thrilled to have his dad back, it seemed that Steph wasn’t quite so ready to forgive and forget, and the Hoyland family had another long battle ahead of them.

Boyd was angry and upset when Max and Steph announced that their marriage was over, and Max moved away to take a job on the Gippsland rigs. Boyd’s own marriage was facing some big problems, too, when he found out that Glenn, his Tasmanian fling, was an old friend of Elle’s, and was on her way to Erinsborough. Despite Boyd’s best efforts to stop her from coming, Glenn arrived in Erinsborough and, suffering car problems, headed straight to Carpenter’s Mechanics, where Janae worked as an apprentice mechanic. It wasn’t long before Boyd appeared, and the two women realised who the other was. Boyd assured Janae that he wanted to make his marriage work, though he struggled to keep his composure around Glenn. Vindictive Elle played on this and encouraged Glenn to fight for her man, though Glenn had no desire to ruin the young couple’s marriage. However, the attraction was too strong and, after Glenn gave Boyd a lift, and they were involved in an accident, Janae forced Boyd to address his feelings once and for all. She gave him two weeks to do whatever he wanted, with whoever he wanted, before making a decision. Janae was convinced that Boyd would come back to her, and was therefore devastated when he chose to be with Glenn, not even requiring the entire two weeks to decide. Janae moved back home, while Boyd found himself facing the wrath of the Timmins family.

When Stingray died suddenly – after developing an aneurysm following an operation to donate bone marrow to baby Kerry Mangel – Boyd was on hand to comfort Janae, though she wasn’t interested. As Glenn offered her support to Boyd, it made them both realise that they hardly knew each other and, despite their plans to move to Tasmania and be together, perhaps they were rushing into something that they would both regret. When both Janae and Glenn wrongly suspected they might be pregnant, the incident made Glenn realise that Boyd didn't love her the way she loved him. When Boyd then left Glenn on her own, despite her offer of support, during Stingray's funeral, she packed her bags and told him that she was returning to Tasmania, as things clearly weren't going to work between them.

Over the weeks that followed, Boyd gradually started to feel like he didn't fit in at 32 Ramsay Street any more, with his dad and Summer gone. With his relationship with Janae beyond repair, Boyd started to rely on his old friendship with Sky for comfort, but was unsettled when she became involved with a spiritualist, Terrence Chesterton, who claimed to be in touch with Stingray. Around the same time, Boyd started working for new doctor in town, Charlotte Stone, who used flattery to blind him to the fact that she was a fraud, working alongside Terrence to provide personal details about the locals so he could convince them he was talking to their dead relatives and con them out of money. However, as Terrence took advantage of Sky's vulnerability, she became suspicious and realised he was lying. After attacking him with a sugar shaker, she left him at the store, unconscious, where Charlotte found him and, furious that he'd messed up their plans by sleeping with Sky, she hit him again, killing him. When the body was found, Sky was convinced that she was to blame and found herself in prison, while Boyd got closer to Charlotte, who was desperate to keep him on side and suggested they leave town together. Boyd, however, had worked everything out and managed to get Charlotte to confess, recording it on his MP3 player, only for them to later crash their car. At the hospital, Charlotte tried to blame Boyd for everything, but the MP3 player was found in the wreckage and Charlotte was arrested, taken to prison just as Sky was released.

The whole incident brought Sky and Boyd closer together, and he was naturally concerned for her when she grew close to Caleb Maloney, the transplant patient who had received Stingray's heart. Caleb explained that he'd been in a drink driving accident, driving the car in which his best friend had died, and since then, his family and friends had turned against him. Suspicious Boyd tried to find out why Caleb was so cagey, and so he met with one of Caleb's old friends, Jamie, who revealed that it was Caleb who had turned his back on them. Stingray's mum Janelle was upset, feeling that, unless Caleb patched things up, Stingray's heart would be wasted, while Sky was more sympathetic and ended up sharing a kiss with Caleb. She quickly broke it off and told Caleb that she just wanted to be friends, as she wasn't ready for anything more, while Boyd later met Caleb, who accused him of trying to control Sky. During the argument, Caleb started suffering chest pains and, at the hospital, Sky reminded Boyd that they were just friends and he couldn't dictate who she should and shouldn't see. He then stood aside to give them some time and they decided to start seeing each other, but Boyd was worried when Caleb's chest pains continued, and Caleb begged him not to tell Sky. At the hospital, he was told that his anti-rejection drugs were failing, and he was being flown out to California for treatment. Boyd continued to keep the secret as Caleb ended things with Sky, who was confused by his behaviour, eventually getting Boyd to admit the truth. Sky and Caleb then said a difficult farewell.

When Sky mentioned to Boyd that she'd decided to move up to Cairns to be closer to Dylan, and give Kerry a chance to know her father, he came to realise that perhaps his time in Erinsborough was coming to an end too. He broke the news to Steph that he'd decided to get away and go travelling for a while, and his first port of call would be Cairns, where he'd be dropping off Sky and Kerry. An impromptu farewell party was thrown for the departees at Lassiter's, before Boyd and Sky drove off, together again, though this time, just as friends.

Trivia Notes
• Boyd and Janae's song is Arithmetic by Brooke Fraser

Tenure
4018-5270

Magic Moments
Episode 4018: Boyd's Arrival
Episode 4999: Boyd and Janae's Wedding
Episode 5270: Sky, Boyd and Kerry's Departure