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Character Profiles > Adam Rhodes Benjamin Hart

Adam Rhodes 2007
Occupation: Police Officer, Builder

Born in Essex, England, happy-go-lucky Adam Rhodes was working as a police constable when one tragic incident turned his life on its head. Whilst attending an emergency call-out late one night, Adam left his partner, Catherine, alone to check out the disturbance and soon heard gun shots behind him, returning to find Catherine had been murdered. Unable to cope with the guilt over what had happened, Adam decided to leave the police force, and England, heading to Australia and scraping by with part-time work as a builder and odd job man.

Whilst in the Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, Adam started working for Stephanie Hoyland, renovating the Scarlet Bar, the business that she had recently taken over. During his time there, he met local P.E. teacher Heidi ‘Pepper’ Steiger and there was an immediate spark between them, though she was loathe to admit this. As she was out one evening on a date with the lecherous Davo Mather, Adam quickly came to her rescue when he came on strong, but Pepper still refused to thank Adam for his efforts. After another argument – this time over the loud music Adam was playing as he did some work at Steph’s house, next-door to Pepper’s – Pepper agreed to go on a date, but was unimpressed when he took her back to his house for a steak cooked on the barbie. But by the end of the night, she was forced to admit that it was one of the most romantic first dates she’d ever been on and the pair grew closer as she opened up about a recent incident in which she’d been held captive by the unhinged Mary Casey, which was why she had found it so difficult to trust Adam to begin with.

Meanwhile, Pepper’s overprotective father, Senior Sergeant Allan Steiger, returned to Erinsborough from a spell working in the Solomon Islands, distressed to hear about her experience with Mary, and untrusting when he met Adam. Though Adam got off on the right foot with Steiger, Pepper’s dad still wasn’t won over and expressed concerns that Adam was a criminal, hiding out in Australia after committing illegal acts in the UK. When Pepper noticed that Adam had a bandage on his hand, she couldn’t get her father’s words out of her mind and started to grow concerned that she was involved with a violent ex-prisoner. Realising that Pepper didn’t trust him, and unable to forget his past with her dad constantly hassling him, Adam decided to leave town. After leaving a note for Pepper explaining that she didn’t know the whole story, she turned up at his house and he finally opened up about Catherine. But, as Pepper realised that she’d made a terrible mistake, Adam told her that he still intended to leave. Despite a last-minute dash to the bus stop by Pepper, Adam gave her one final kiss and walked out of her life, with Pepper angrily taking her frustrations out on her dad.

Unable to stay away from Pepper for long, Adam returned to Erinsborough the following week, eager to make a go of their relationship and get his head sorted out. But it wasn’t long before the couple were facing fresh problems when Adam realised that his Visa only had a couple of months left to run and he’d have to leave the country to re-apply. Pepper wasn’t too keen when he suggested that they move to Italy to stay with his brother and, with no other ideas, she decided to propose marriage. Adam accepted but Rosie’s fears about the legal implications, not to mention Pepper’s mum, Chris, pointing out that a registry office wedding went against everything Pepper had dreamt of, put a dampener on proceedings. After going to the registry office and seeing how formal and unromantic it all was, they called off the idea. The next suggestion came from Steiger himself, who had since moved up to Cairns, but called to suggest that Adam could get residency by joining the Australian police force. Not keen on the idea at first, and annoyed when Pepper tried to keep it from him, Adam soon realised that, as it might be their only option, he was willing to put his demons to rest and return to being a cop.

As he arrived at the police station for an application form, Adam quickly stepped in to help when a criminal was being brought in and went to grab the gun belonging to Senior Constable Sophie Cooper. Being around the other officers quickly made Adam see that he was making the right decision, but things went badly during his interview with police psychiatrist Denise Nicoll and he considered giving up on it. But Denise visited him at home and explained that she'd like to give him some intense therapy to help him move on from the trauma in his past, and this would hopefully help him to pass his entry exams. He agreed to this and, after being interviewed and confronted about whether he had only signed up to gain Australian residency - something he could not deny - he anxiously waited to hear if he'd been successful. As Adam found out that his application had been accepted, Pepper was going through an anxious wait of her own, following a pap smear test that she'd been trying to put off. The results weren't good, but, desperate not to ruin Adam's big moment, she lied to him that it was all clear, only later admitting that the hospital wanted to see her. Adam accompanied her and Dr Olenski explained that she had stage 2 cervical dysplasia, which could be treated with a minor operation and regular check-ups.

As he arrived at the police station for an application form, Adam quickly stepped in to help when a criminal was being brought in and went to grab the gun belonging to Senior Constable Sophie Cooper. Being around the other officers quickly made Adam see that he was making the right decision, but things went badly during his interview with police psychiatrist Denise Nicoll and he considered giving up on it. But Denise visited him at home and explained that she'd like to give him some intense therapy to help him move on from the trauma in his past, and this would hopefully help him to pass his entry exams. He agreed to this and, after being interviewed and confronted about whether he had only signed up to gain Australian residency - something he could not deny - he anxiously waited to hear if he'd been successful. As Adam found out that his application had been accepted, Pepper was going through an anxious wait of her own, following a pap smear test that she'd been trying to put off. The results weren't good, but, desperate not to ruin Adam's big moment, she lied to him that it was all clear, only later admitting that the hospital wanted to see her. Adam accompanied her and Dr Olenski explained that she had stage 2 cervical dysplasia, which could be treated with a minor operation and regular check-ups.

Unable to have sex for a month, Pepper started to grow increasingly insecure in her relationship, particularly when Adam was partnered with Sophie, who, during high school, had made Pepper's life hell. Not realising this, Adam grew close to Sophie and, as they investigated Paul Robinson's claims that he'd killed someone in his past, they grew even closer, with a confused Sophie eventually trying to kiss Adam. Adam told Pepper about the kiss and Pepper finally realised that she had to stand up for herself, though was left embarrassed as Sophie admitted that she'd had no idea how awful she'd made Pepper's life back in high school and now she was lonely whilst Pepper had a great boyfriend and network of friends. A few weeks later, just as things were settling back down again, word came from Cairns that Pepper's dad was seriously ill. She started making plans to fly up there, but, just as she was due to go, Adam was shocked to find out that she'd applied for a job up north, and been accepted. Pepper tried to explain that she hadn't made up her mind about the job but, furious at apparently being nothing more than her back-up plan, Adam stormed off. However, as Pepper said her goodbyes to her friends in Ramsay Street, Adam turned up, bags packed, and told her that if she was going, he would go with her.

Soon after, Adam returned to Erinsborough to organise his transfer up to Cairns and, during drinks with Rosie and Frazer to say goodbye, he announced that he'd bought a very special Christmas present for Pepper - an engagement ring.

Trivia Notes
• Adam recalls Dr. Who, with Tom Baker as the doctor, being his favourite TV show as a child

Tenure
5234-5354

Magic Moments
Episode 5234: Adam's Arrival

Biography by Steve

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