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Guest Character Profiles > Felix Rodwell James Beaufort

Felix Rodwell 2024
Siblings: Andrew (Adoptive)

The younger brother of Erinsborough Police Sergeant Andrew Rodwell, Felix couldn't have been more different to his sensible, level-headed, law-abiding sibling. Having been in and out of prison, Felix had been caught up in some robberies and spent eighteen months, his longest stretch yet, in prison. Having had no contact with Andrew, his wife Wendy or their daughter, Sadie, during that time, he wrote to Andrew and asked if he could come and stay with them when he was released on parole.

Andrew had several concerns about the idea, not least the fact that it might not be a good look for a Police Sergeant to have a criminal living with them. But his main issue was that he was concerned that Felix might be the father of their teenaged neighbour, JJ Varga-Murphy. JJ and his family had moved to Ramsay Street the previous year, with JJ having planned the whole move as he believed that Andrew was his father - something that was then disproved with a DNA test. JJ had read the diary of Phillipa Wade, the best friend of one of his mums, Cara, which revealed that Andrew, another of Phillipa's good friends, had donated sperm to her to help her and her girlfriend get pregnant. Phillipa had then changed her mind about using it and had given it to Cara, but when Andrew told her that he'd also had second thoughts, Felix had suggested that he could donate instead. Andrew thought that he'd talked his brother out of it, but he then read in Phillipa's diary that Felix had gone to a party with her - and the next few diary entries had been ripped out. Though Felix assured Andrew that he hadn't donated his sperm to Phillipa, it soon emerged that, before her death, she'd sent the missing diary pages to him in prison. These pages confirmed that she'd given Felix's sperm to Cara and, as Andrew returned the next day to confirm that he'd be supporting his brother's parole, Felix was left wondering if he was about to move in across the street from his long-lost son.

The following week, after receiving parole, Felix arrived to stay with the Rodwells, immediately becoming distracted when he spotted JJ playing basketball across the street. With Andrew making it clear that there were rules that Felix would need to abide by, and he'd need to look for work, if he was going to stay, they were interrupted by JJ, who wanted Andrew's help with some boxing training, hoping that he could use some moves to defend himself from gang leader Slade, who'd been causing trouble in the area. Though JJ's mums Cara and Remi were worried about the boxing, and Remi was especially concerned to learn that Felix had just come out of prison, JJ went ahead with the lessons, where Felix was shocked to see that JJ had a birthmark on his back, which was very similar to his own.

Andrew was then in for a shock one day when he came home to find Felix sharing the spa with a woman, who he introduced as his girlfriend, Jools Halliday. He explained that he'd met her before his most recent stint in prison and she'd been a great support to him. Once Andrew had gone inside, Felix chatted to Jools about the JJ situation, making it clear that he had no interest in being a father and, when Jools was leaving later, they spotted JJ across the street. Felix then told Jools that, if he managed to get the labouring job he was applying for, he'd save for a few weeks and then take her to the Philippines, even if it meant skipping his parole. After he then stood up for JJ when he caught him being set upon by Slade and his mates, Felix found himself enjoying offering advice to the teenager. As the pair got chatting, they once again ran into Slade, staring him down and watching him run off, before giving him a taste of his own medicine by putting a nail into one of his car tyres.

When Slade and his mates then grabbed young Hugo Rebecchi from the side of the road and put him into the boot of their car, before taking off on a joyride, Felix became worried that the tyre might blow out, telling JJ not to say anything as it could land him back in prison. Fortunately, Hugo was found and nobody was injured, and when JJ successfully stood up to Slade again, he tracked Felix down at the Eirini Rising worksite and thanked him for his advice. As JJ spoke about how great it was to have someone on Ramsay Street who seemed to understand him, Felix panicked, doubling down on his plan to get some money and leave town as soon as possible. When he then spotted Slade on the worksite, he confronted him and suggested that they could rob some gear from the worksite and split the money, allowing them both to get out of town.

As he began his attempts to get some of his dodgy mates to buy the goods he was planning to steal, Felix started to feel guilty about letting down Andrew and Wendy. As they did some boxing training together, Felix told Andrew about how he'd always felt like their parents put all of their time and effort into Andrew, whilst expecting Felix to be a failure. Andrew realised that this had become a self-fulfilling prophecy for Felix, as he lived up to the low expectations everyone had of him. As he continued his plans to rob the worksite, Felix was touched when Andrew and Wendy arranged a 'Welcome to Ramsay Street' party for him. However, when Harolds Cafe was trashed, Andrew was forced to question Felix about his whereabouts when it had happened and, unable to provide an alibi, Felix became defensive and walked out of the house. When he later returned to find the welcome party in full swing, Felix again found himself cornered by his brother, looking for an explanation, but was in for a shock when JJ suddenly piped up and claimed that Felix had been with him on the night in question.

Felix was grateful, and Andrew accepted the excuse that Felix had been helping JJ with some techniques to get rid of bullies, with JJ wanting to keep it quiet as he knew that his mums wouldn't approve. When Jools later turned up, Felix admitted to her that he was starting to wonder if he wanted to stick around and be a part of JJ's life after all. However, when Cara and Remi then told him that they didn't want him spending time with JJ, Felix changed his mind. After Jools then overheard Holly Hoyland asking Felix out on a date, she confronted her, causing a scene as she dumped cake on her head before leaving. As Felix showed Jools to her taxi, he said that the original plan - to rob the building site and leave for the Philippines - was back on. Unfortunately, as the taxi drove away, Felix realised that JJ had overheard everything. He was then forced to lie that he was being forced to rob the worksite in order to pay back some of his old criminal accomplices, who were demanding money now that he was a free man again. JJ accepted this and, after thinking it over, he agreed not to say anything, but asked a surprise Felix to consider staying around in Erinsborough once the job was done, as he liked having him around.

After attempting to apologise to Holly and then accidentally pouring coffee over her book, Felix tracked down another copy to make it up to her, unaware that he'd left a map of Eirini Rising inside. The robbery plan continued to have problems when JJ caught Felix talking to Slade. Felix was forced to admit that Slade was his accomplice, and he'd requested his help in exchange for him leaving JJ and Dex alone. JJ was pleased that Felix seemed to have his back, so when Slade was caught out in a citizen's arrest by Cara, he offered to take his place. With few other options left to him, Felix reluctantly agreed, but quickly realised that it was a mistake and lied to JJ that he'd found someone else. After cooking dinner for Wendy and Andrew, with them unaware that it was Felix's way of saying thank you and goodbye, he went to the building site the next morning, surprised to find that JJ had turned up anyway. As they began emptying the site into a van, back on Ramsay Street, Holly had found the map in her book and worked out what was going on. She alerted Andrew, who went down there and caught Felix and JJ in the act, causing a panicked JJ to reverse into some scaffolding, which fell onto Andrew, knocking him out.

At the hospital, Andrew was diagnosed with a few broken ribs and a concussion, and when he woke up, he told Wendy who was responsible for what had happened. As a worried JJ turned up at the hospital to check on Andrew, Wendy went home to see if there was any trace of Felix. She found a packed bag and as she started to look through it, she was stunned to find the missing pages from Phillipa's diary. When Felix then walked in, she asked him if he was JJ's father and he admitted that it was looking likely, showing her the birthmark and explaining that JJ had an identical one in the same place. As Felix then disappeared, unable to face JJ or Andrew, it was left to Wendy and Andrew to tell Remi and Cara what they'd found out about JJ's paternity, and about his involvement in the robbery.

With Jools arranging to meet Felix, telling him that she had the money for them to get out of Erinsborough, he was in for a shock when it turned out to be a set-up and the police arrested him. He then faced questioning and a return to prison after breaking his parole, but first he found himself confronted by Andrew, who told him that he couldn't forgive him this time and never wanted to see him again. To make matters worse, Remi visited Felix before he was taken away - she and Cara had told JJ the truth about his paternity, but were determined that Felix would have nothing to do with his son. She told Felix that, even if JJ asked, he should have no contact with him, and Felix agreed, leaving JJ devastated when he found out.

Episodes Featured
8996, 8997, 9002, 9003, 9006, 9007, 9008, 9011, 9012, 9013, 9016, 9017, 9018, 9019, 9020

Biography by Steve

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