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Guest Character Profiles > James Linden Tim Ross

James Linden 2009
Occupation: Music Promoter

When a strange man in his twenties started chatting to young Sophie Ramsay in Harold's Store, he immediately aroused the suspicions of her older brother, Harry. Then when the man asked Lucas Fitzgerald for directions to Ramsay Street, claiming he knew someone who lived there and wanted to surprise them, and he was later spotted by Harry and Ringo outside the Ramsay house, there were further concerns. The man claimed that he was looking for a house to buy in the area, before quickly leaving. He later returned, however, to the deserted street and started checking the names on the letters in each mailbox. When Ringo spotted the man at Lassiter's, again chatting to Sophie, he approached him, asking why he was following little girls around. The man quickly responded that he was actually looking for someone named Donna Freedman, as he believed that he was her brother.

As Donna's boyfriend, Ringo was immediately suspicous of James and his intentions, probing him for information. But all he learnt was that James was a music promoter with a company named Chunky Mango, and had seen Donna's vlog, which had been an online plea for her real dad to get in touch, and realised that Donna's father could also be his father, as the facts in both cases matched. He refused to say anything else until he had spoken to Donna, who Ringo claimed was out of town. But when James went to her house, he was surprised when she answered the door. Donna was equally shocked to realise that she had a brother, but was more than willing to listen as he explained that their dad had died a year ago, but had often tried to get in touch, only to be knocked back by Donna's mum, Cassandra. Since her mum was well known for her lies and manipulative behaviour, Donna didn't think this suspicious at all, and was delighted when James told her that she had lots of relatives who'd like to meet her. Soon, James was winning over most of her friends, leaving only Ringo with doubts. James soon dealt with this by telling Donna about Ringo's lie that she was out of town, and Donna confronted her boyfriend, warning him not to mess this up for her.

Ringo, however, continued his search for the truth and confronted James when he couldn't find a music company called Chunky Mango on the internet. James explained that they were quite new, and even got a guy named Brett, who managed one of Chunky Mango's bands, The Holdover, on speakerphone to prove his identity. Meanwhile, James also enjoyed flirting with Donna's guardian, Elle Robinson, even defending her from her ex-boyfriend Lucas and, in an effort to prove himself, even agreed to a DNA test when Donna suggested it. But when the tests came back inconclusive, James explained that there was another test that could be carried out, but it would come at a cost of $8000. Donna realised that it was their only hope and offered to pay half, before sorting through her belongings, looking for things to sell. When she only came up with $250, she begged Elle to lend her the rest, but Elle refused. Panicking that she was about to lose the only decent family member she ever had, Donna told James that Elle had agreed to transfer the money to him and got his bank details. She then got into Elle's online account and transferred the money herself.

Both Elle and James were shocked by what Donna had done, and Elle was left wondering if James had pressurised her into stealing. He denied this, and even paid Elle back the $4000 and offered to cover all the costs of the new DNA test. A few days later, he turned up with the new results which proved that he and Donna were indeed siblings. Alone in the kitchen, he then inserted a USB stick into Elle's laptop and used a programme to download all of her details, later emptying her bank account. Donna, meanwhile, was thrilled at the news that James was her brother, and even started thinking about changing her surname to Linden. But, that evening at Charlie's bar, everyone was gathered waiting for Drastical, a band James had offered to book for bar manager Rebecca, but James was mysteriously absent from proceedings. As the band failed to show up, Declan went looking and returned with news that James' hotel room was empty and there was no sign of him at all.

Episodes Featured
5765, 5766, 5767, 5770, 5771, 5774

Biography by Steve

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