.
Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Derek Morris Noel Hodda

Derek Morris 1987, 1988
Occupation: Journalist, Publicist, Troubleshooter

When a journalist approached Paul Robinson about his business dealings, it soon became clear that something was amiss. The man, Derek Morris, started probing about Paul’s past with Terry and it emerged that he was from a magazine called Disclosure. The intention of the magazine was to expose the truth behind big businesses to help smaller companies decide where to invest. Having been thrown out of the office by Paul, he then approached his brother Scott, who quickly realised what the man was doing. Morris then tried neighbour Mrs Mangel, who was only too happy to reveal the gossip about Paul and his secretary, Susan Cole. With the story about to be published by Morris’ new magazine, Paul and Rosemary Daniels attempted to bribe him, offering him a job at the Daniels Corporation. He turned this down, so Rosemary went one better. She approached the financial backers of the magazine and offered to buy them out, making her the owner of the magazine. However, Rosemary was forced to offer the unemployed Morris a job at the publicity department of the Daniels Corporation in New York.

The following year, Derek Morris was sent to Lassiter’s in Erinsborough as a trouble-shooter. When Rosemary found out that Paul had lied to her about the progress he’d made with some important deals, she decided that an internal investigation was necessary. To make matters worse, Henry Ramsay had been accused of assaulting a customer at the Waterhole pub, legal proceedings that Paul had also kept from his boss.

Within moments of arriving, Derek suspended Paul, banning him from hotel premises. He then asked to see Henry and his mother, Madge Bishop. He first sacked Henry for the assault, and then Madge for protesting at her son’s sacking. He also made it clear to secretary Jane Harris that he would only think about lifting Paul’s suspension if she agreed to go out on a date with him. Within the days that followed, he managed to insult many other hotel workers, as well as locals including Bronwyn Davies. He also caused Gail a great deal of upset when she had to cancel an IVF appointment so that she could work. When Morris then had a run-in with Des Clarke at the Coffee Shop, he explained that he would be terminating the shop’s lease.

As soon as Mike Young found out, he and Scott Robinson went straight to the office, where they found Morris once again attempting to seduce Jane. Mike was furious, but he couldn’t do anything as he was already on a two-year good behaviour bond. Scott, however, was not and he punched Morris in the stomach. Morris promptly sacked Jane on the spot and demoted a horrified Gail to the role of secretary.

The entire hotel staff were disgusted to learn of Jane’s sacking, and this final straw led them to take action. Gathering at the Ramsay house, they all agreed to go on strike outside the hotel. Meanwhile, Gail’s suspicions were aroused when Morris received a strange call at the office. When she dialled the number, Gail made the connection to a company called AZBO Developments, a rival of the Daniels Corporation. Gail also found out that Rosemary had just lost a lucrative contract to AZBO and she realised that Morris was infact a mole from the rival organisation. After telling Rosemary of their suspicions, and once AZBO had been tricked into confirming them, she and Paul confronted Morris, who promptly took off, while Paul was officially reinstated as manager.

By the end of the year, Rosemary had decided to sell the Australian end of the Daniels Corporation. Paul was desperate to buy it and secure his financial future with Gail, but she wasn’t so keen. However, when they learnt that Derek Morris was their rival for buying the business, they realised that they’d be sacked if he were to take over. After a few false starts, they managed to raise the cash and beat Derek Morris to buy the business.

Biography by Steve

Back