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Character Profiles > Miranda Parker Nikki Coghill

Miranda Parker (née West) 2007-2009
Lived: 26 Ramsay Street
Born: c. 1962 (later altered to 1963)
Parents: Yvonne West
Marital Status: Steve Parker
Siblings: Nicola
Children: Riley and Bridget (adoptive)
Family Tree: Parker/West
Occupation: Real Estate Agent, Events Organiser, Erinsborough Veterinary Clinic Employee, Janitor at Erinsborough High School

Organised and punctual, if not a little controlling, Miranda Parker was originally a real estate agent in Sydney, but gave it up to start her own event management business, perfectly suited to her personality. Her home life was less perfect, however, as she and husband Steve found out that they couldn’t have children of their own. They decided to adopt and were delighted to be introduced to six-year-old Bridget, though slightly taken aback to realise that they would also be taking on her twelve-year-old brother, Riley. But they quickly fell in love with both of their new children, though Riley never forgot that brief moment of hesitation, believing that Steve and Miranda had only adopted him because they felt an obligation and, as soon as he was old enough, he left for university, later dropping out to go travelling and only staying in contact with Bridget.

In July 2007, Steve, Miranda and Bridget moved up to the Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, where Steve’s younger brother, Ned, had put down roots, having left the Parker family’s hometown of Oakey in 2005. Miranda soon settled in, getting herself involved in everyone else’s business and volunteering to organise a farewell party for departing Ramsay Street residents Sky Mangel and Boyd Hoyland. She also quickly befriended Susan Kinski, another resident of Ramsay Street whose daughter, Libby, had once been married to Steve’s best mate Drew Kirk. Miranda also managed to put her matchmaking skills to good use, finally forcing Ned to admit his feelings to Janae Timmins. Before long, Ned and his young son, Mickey, had moved in with Janae, and the rest of the Parkers weren’t far behind, when their rented apartment in Anson’s Corner flooded and Janae was soon asking them to move in on a permanent basis, as Ned required all of their support when Mickey’s mum, Kirsten, turned up, determined to fight for custody.

Having organised everyone else’s lives, Miranda struggled to hide her hurt as Riley continued to phone Bridget, but always hung up whenever it was suggested that he might like to chat to his parents. Eventually, Miranda forced Bridget to find out where Riley was, so that they could go and visit him, and so they headed up to the town of Eden, where Riley had been spending his days surfing, living in a caravan. Though he was reluctant to return to the family fold, Bridget pleaded with him to at least spend a few days with them back in Erinsborough. Things then got awkward when Steve, a vet, learnt that Riley had decided to drop out of his vet sciences course at university, only months short of graduating. Riley explained that he was considering a career in journalism, but Miranda could sense that it wasn’t just his career choices that were troubling him, and concluded that perhaps he’d started thinking about tracking down his birth parents. Riley finally opened up about the feelings of rejection he’d been harbouring for ten years, with Steve and Miranda assuring him that they’d just been surprised, but they had never been insincere when they told him that they loved him and saw him as their real son. A confused Riley started thinking about leaving once again, but after chatting to neighbour Elle Robinson, herself having family problems, he decided that Steve and Miranda had done nothing but love and support him, and he agreed to stay on.

With Riley close by, Miranda found time to concentrate on her career and organised a book launch for celebrity chef Tony Aristedes. Miranda was delighted to meet her idol and started fawning over him, much to Steve's disgust, and he was even less impressed when his wife agreed to help Tony cook up some canapes for the bar. Back at home, Steve dressed up in a tuxedo and whipped up a few snacks of his own, reminding Miranda that she needn't look elsewhere, before the pair retired to bed with a bottle of champagne.

As Riley settled in, it was Didge's turn to cause worry for her parents when she was caught joyriding with Declan Napier from number 22. The teens were banned from seeing each other, but when Miranda intercepted a text from Declan, asking Didge to meet him, she struggled to muster up any sympathy, even though Didge insisted that she wasn't going and couldn't stop Declan from sending messages to her. However, when Didge went out, Miranda grew suspicious that her daughter was seeing Declan, particularly as she failed to answer any of her calls, but was later horrified to finally get through and find out that Didge had been run down and left for dead. At the hospital, Miranda, Steve and Riley anxiously waited as Didge was rushed in for emergency surgery to relieve bleeding on her brain, which was a success, but left Didge in a coma, with no guarantee that she would ever wake up. When Mickey admitted that he'd seen Declan's car driving away from the accident, everyone was horrified, but things got worse when Susan came forward about admitted that she'd been test driving the car, fallen asleep at the wheel and driven off, thinking she'd simply hit the kerb. Miranda made it clear that she wanted Susan to be punished for what she'd done, and the Parkers could only watch as a comatose Bridget then suffered a fit. Riley, meanwhile, decided to achieve his own form of justice by writing a newspaper article that made it look like Susan, only just released from police custody, had been out drink driving, which led to a brick being thrown through Susan's window, hitting her stepdaughter Rachel. Though Miranda showed some remorse when she found out what had happened, she made it clear that this changed nothing, but things started to pick up when Didge awoke from her coma, though she was left paralysed down one side of her body.

As Didge came home and started her physiotherapy treatment, she was shocked to learn that it had been Susan who had run her over, but made it clear that she didn't blame her for one terrible mistake. Miranda struggled to share her daughter's optimism as she watched her struggle to get around the house with the aid of a walking stick, but when Karl called by and begged Miranda to speak to Susan, and change her mind about pleading guilty in court, Steve and Didge made her see that separating Susan from her own family wouldn't change anything now. Miranda went to see Susan and told her to plead not guilty, but said that she hadn't changed her mind about anything else - their brief friendship was over.

Trivia Notes
• Miranda’s recipe for gnocchi is considered by her to be the ideal romantic meal

Tenure
5261-5740

Magic Moments
Episode 5261: The Parkers' Arrival

Biography by Steve