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Guest Character Profiles > Walter Mitchell Chris Haywood

Walter Mitchell (aka Dave) 2013

When the mysterious and charming Walter Mitchell arrived in Erinsborough, he quickly befriended Sheila Canning, the manager of local bar, Charlie's, and charmed his way into an invitation to dinner that evening. But he also had other business in Erinsborough, as he spent the day watching Sonya Rebecchi. When he arrived for dinner, Sonya was already there, with her husband Toadie, and Walter told her that he was her long-lost uncle. As Sonya had lost her parents to a car crash when she was young, it was a surprising reunion for her, but, despite some doubts from Toadie, she quickly accepted Walter into her life, as he showed her old photos and spoke about her childhood, explaining that he had tried to get custody of Sonya and her sister Jade when their parents had died, but had failed. When he also mentioned the name 'Supergirl' - the childhood nickname Sonya had been given by her dad - she became emotional, and it became clear that she was very keen to hold on to this link to her past.

Though he struggled to admit it, Toadie became jealous as Sonya started spending a lot of time with Walter, and the final straw came when she invited him, along with neighbours Karl and Susan Kennedy to a lunch that Toadie had been planning, intending for it to be just the two of them. When Toadie failed to hide his irritation, Walter decided to make his excuses and leave, and Sonya was furious with her husband for his behaviour. With Susan otherwise occupied, Walter headed straight to the Kennedy house, letting himself in and snooping around, before stealing Susan's watch and leaving. Not content with conning the Rebecchis and stealing from their neighbours, Walter had also managed to trick Sheila into paying for his breakfast that day, lying to her that he'd left his wallet at home. Sheila was only too happy to pay for his food, and was quickly becoming smitten with the newcomer, inviting him over for dinner. Meanwhile, Walter called at the Rebecchi house with some flowers, and found Toadie, who, after speaking to Sonya, had realised quite how important this family link was for his wife. When Walter mentioned that he was thinking about leaving town, Toadie convinced him to stay, then went to help Sonya get baby Nell to sleep. Left alone, Walter was once again snooping, and he found the keys to the men's shed, a local hangout for the blokes of Ramsay Street. Walter went off and let himself into the shed, to see if there was anything worth taking, but was caught by Toadie's friend and business partner Ajay. Walter had to think quickly, and claimed that he'd been looking for somewhere to sleep that night. When Toadie heard about this, he went to see Walter, who claimed that his pride had prevented him from mentioning it, but he was broke, and so Toadie asked him to come and stay at the Rebecchi house. Walter was happy to accept, but it later became clear that he wasn't who he claimed to be, when he bumped into an old friend at the bar, who called him 'Dave'.

Seeing Walter again inspired Sonya to get back in touch with her Aunt Robyn too. After speaking to Robyn, Sonya confronted Walter and asked why he hadn't mentioned his serious drinking problem. He tried to play it down, but Sonya's own past problems with addiction made her very sensitive to the issue, and she encouraged him to come to an AA meeting with her. Walter's guilt was starting to get to him, as he stole Sheila's new cash card, but then put it back before he'd had a chance to take any money. As he spoke at the AA meeting, Walter could see how much it meant to Sonya, piquing his guilt once again. After agreeing to have lunch with a delighted Sheila, Walter went to help out at the nursery and, once alone with the till, he hesitated briefly, before stealing all of the money and walking away. As Sonya realised that Walter had done a runner, she believed that he'd gone drinking, but as the till was found empty, and then Karl came over to tell her that it seemed Walter was responsible for stealing Susan's watch, she feared that her uncle had badly betrayed her. Kyle found Walter waiting for a taxi, annoyed as he realised that he was planning to disappear without telling Sheila or Sonya. Though Walter climbed into a taxi, headed for Flinders Street station, his guilt finally got too much and he returned to see Sonya. He explained that his name was Dave, and that he'd met the real Walter Mitchell some months ago in a halfway house. They'd exchanged life stories, and then Walter had disappeared on a bender, and Dave had decided to come to Erinsborough and try his luck. He gave back the money from the till, and tried to make Sonya see that the stories about her parents were all true, but she was devastated and Toadie threw him out. Walter later plucked up the courage to visit Sheila, too, who by that time already knew all about his scam. She put on a brave face and told him that she never wanted to see him again, but once Dave, it became clear that his scam had left both Sheila and Sonya completely heartbroken.

Three years later, the real Walter Mitchell arrived in Erinsborough and, despite Toadie's best efforts to keep him away, he managed to reunite with Sonya, revealing a few big family secrets to her in the process.