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Character Profiles > Jim Robinson Alan Dale

James 'Jim' Robinson (Junior) 1985-1993
Lived: 26 Ramsay Street
Born: c. 1940
Parents: James and Bess Robinson
Marital Status: Anne Daniels (died 1973), Beverly Marshall (1988-1991; divorced)
Children: Paul, Glen, Scott and Lucy; Julie (adoptive)
Family Tree: Robinson
Occupation: Engineer
Died: 1993

An only child, Jim Robinson lost his father, James, at a young age when he was killed during the Second World War. His flighty mother Bess coped with her loss by travelling around the world leaving Jim behind with various relatives. This caused unease between mother and son in later life.

While studying Engineering at university, Jim fell in love with Anne Daniels. They quickly married and set up home at No. 26 Ramsay Street, Erinsborough and Anne gave birth to a son, Paul in 1963. Things were going well for the couple until an event which would change both their lives forever. Jim was working at an engineering firm at the time and the couple became close friends with Jim's boss Roger Bannon and his wife, Joyce. However, one night while Jim was away on business, Roger and Anne found themselves alone. Anne was shocked when he propositioned her but politely turned him down. Fighting back, Bannon raped Anne and she became pregnant. Jim was so upset by what had happened that he moved out for a time until he eventually patched things up with Anne and agreed to raise the child as his own. The result was a daughter, Julie.

Anne gave birth to another son, Scott, in 1968 but the family was disrupted again when Jim was called up for service in the Vietnam War. He was away from his family for a long time. He sought comfort in a nurse he met there, Maureen Donnelly, and they slept together. Once Jim had returned to Australia, Maureen discovered she was pregnant and later gave birth to a son, Glen. She never told Jim of this and he never knew Glen existed.

Things were really coming together for the Robinsons as they entered the 1970s. In late 1972, Anne was delighted to find out she was pregnant again and Jim went into partnership with an old uni mate, Ross Warner, in an engineering firm. But tragedy struck when Anne died after giving birth to baby Lucy in 1973. Jim was so grief-stricken that Anne's mother, Helen Daniels, moved in to help Jim raise the children. From then on, Jim and Helen became life long companions to each other and a strong bond developed between the two.

It took Jim a long time to date again. He had a brief relationship with Anna Rossi, sister-in-law of his best friend and next door neighbour Max Ramsay, before committing to his first relationship since Anne's death with son Paul's secretary Zoe Davis. His relationship with Zoe caused problems for both Paul and Lucy due to her being twenty years Jim's junior. Lucy took the relationship so badly that she did everything possible to break up the two including plaguing Zoe with nuisance phone calls for several weeks. Paul was against the relationship mainly because he was secretly in love with Zoe himself. Nonetheless, the relationship continued and Zoe became pregnant. Jim proposed but after Zoe miscarried and was told she'd never be able to conceive again, she left Erinsborough. Jim's next romance came with British traveller Ruth Wilson, who he met on a plane returning from America. Ruth stayed at No. 26 for a few weeks, where she was welcomed into the Robinson family - even by Lucy, before returning to London.

Over the years, Jim saw his children grow up and fly the coop. Julie left Erinsborough in 1986 to marry bank manager Philip Martin and Paul moved out when he became manager of Lassiter's Hotel, owned by Anne's sister, Rosemary. Friction developed between Jim and youngest son Scott when, at the age of 18, Scott announced he was going to marry childhood sweetheart Charlene Mitchell. But Jim gave the couple his blessing after Helen reminded him that he was the same age as Scott when he and Anne married.

Jim always had a love for cars and was thrilled when he had the opportunity to buy and race an old motor racing car. The only problem that stood in his way was the theory that the racing car was jinxed. Although Jim maintained it was nothing but superstition, his family urged him not to race it for fear of what might happen to him - after all, this car had killed its three previous owners - one of whom was the ex-husband of Paul's fiancee, Gail Lewis. Nonetheless, Jim insisted he would race the car and asked Gail's mechanic father, Rob, to help him restore her. But when Jim finally came to sit behind the wheel, he began to think about the pleas of little Lucy begging him not to race it and so, put aside his dream of racing in the Classic 500. Jim did satisfy his love of cars, however, by buying 50 percent of Rob's garage. And after Rob's death, Jim bought the whole business - renaming it Robinsons Repairs.

Love blossomed for Jim when his cousin Hilary introduced him to her friend from Adelaide, Dr. Beverly Marshall. The couple initially couldn't stand to be around one another but eventually realised they were made for eachother and married. Their honeymoon was short lived due to the arrival of Bev's niece and nephew, Katie and Todd Landers whose parents where having marriage problems. Jim reluctantly agreed to let them stay at No. 26 while their parents sorted out their marriage and eventually grew fond of the two, particularly Todd, who became like a son to Jim.

Beverly desperately wanted a child of her own but Jim was always more reluctant now that his kids were all fully grown. Nonetheless, Beverly became pregnant but miscarried. This caused a serious rift in their marriage and even more so when Beverly wanted to foster an abandoned child she found at her surgery. Jim agreed for the sake of their marriage but after a few months, baby Rhys was returned to his mother. Bev was heartbroken and inconsolable. She started to push Jim further and further away until she discovered she was pregnant again. Her happiness was short-lived though when she miscarried for a second time. The couple separated after this and Beverly moved into the flat above her surgery, taking Todd with her (Katie had returned to her mother in Adelaide). When Beverly's old flame, Ewan O'Brien, arrived in Erinsborough to work with Beverly on a research project on the ageing process, Jim and Beverly realised that there was no future for their marriage and Beverly left for Perth with Ewan. The couple managed to part on amicable terms though and Jim even agreed to let Todd stay with him in Erinsborough.

Alone again, Jim was shocked by the arrival of long-lost son Glen on his doorstep because he never knew he existed. However, having come to terms with the fact that he had fathered another son, Jim welcomed Glen into the family and they made up for lost time. Paul, however, refused to accept Glen as his half-brother and a rift developed between him and Jim that lasted for months. Youngest daughter Lucy also returned from boarding school and the Robinson house was full of life again. But tragedy struck when Todd died tragically after being knocked down by a van. Jim was devastated to lose Todd and delivered a moving eulogy at his funeral.

Jim had a brief romance with Caroline Alessi but because she was younger than him, he ended it fearing he'd make the same mistake he had with Zoe. Soon after, daughter Julie returned to Erinsborough with her new family just as Paul, Lucy and Glen had left Erinsborough. The arrival of Julie and her family gave Jim a new lease of life and he got the chance to spoil his eldest grandchild, Hannah. But health worries surfaced for Jim when he had a massive heart attack following a bike race one day. He recovered after bypass surgery and was advised to take things easy. Next door neighbour Pam Willis, a nurse at Erinsborough Hospital, helped Jim get back on his feet and as they spent more and more time together, began to develop feelings for each other. Pam and husband Doug, a mate of Jim's, were separated at the time due to Doug's infidelity but it was clear from the start that there was no future for Pam and Jim and she eventually reunited with Doug.

When scheming Fiona Hartman arrived in Erinsborough, she set her sights on Jim immediately knowing he was a reasonably wealthy man. Jim was oblivious to the fact that Fiona was a gold-digger, ignoring warnings from his family. Fiona managed to persuade Jim to invest in a hair salon with her and it wasn't long before she wrangled her way into No. 26. Helen and Julie warned Jim that she was only out for what she could get but Jim refused to believe them. The stress he experienced as a result of all the feuding resulted in another heart attack, this time fatal. While playing with little Hannah in the garden, Jim developed chest pains and decided to go inside for a nap. But once he got in the door, he collapsed on the kitchen floor of the home he had lived in for over 30 years and died.

Trivia Notes
• Jim read Mark Twain’s book Huckleberry Fin to Paul as a child and used different voices for all the characters
• Jim was a keen amateur geologist
• He enjoyed golf and jogging