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Character Profiles > Lyn Scully Janet Andrewartha

Lynette 'Lyn' Scully (née O'Rourke, prev. Scully, Robinson) 1999-2006, 2008, 2009-
Lives: 26 Ramsay Street
Lived: 22, 28, 32 Ramsay Street
Born: 1957
Parents: Valda Sheergold and Charlie Cassidy (biological); Connie and Henry O’Rourke (adoptive)
Marital Status: Joe Scully (1978-2004; divorced), Paul Robinson (2006; annulled)
Siblings: Michael; Marnie (adoptive)
Children: Stephanie, Jack, Felicity, Michelle and Oscar
Family Tree: Scully/O'Rourke
Occupation: A Good Hair Day Salon Hairdresser/Manager, Beauty Tree Salesperson, Life Coach, Assistant to Paul Robinson, Salon Owner

Brought up on the family homestead in Shelley Bay, Lyn O’Rourke had a happy childhood, surrounded by family. She grew up a devout Catholic, desperate for a family of her own. Marrying labourer Joe Scully in 1978 made that dream come true for her. They had four children together – Stephanie, Felicity, Jack and Michelle. A trained hairdresser, Lyn always aspired to something better for her family, so she was thrilled when they made plans to move to Erinsborough, the type of middle-class suburb where she’d always hoped they would live.

Moving into number 26 Ramsay Street only minutes after previous occupants, the Martin family, had moved out, meant that the Scullys made an immediate impression. Lyn tried very hard to be polite and thoughtful, but somehow managed to insult everyone on the first day. As time went on, Lyn found other worries, aside from getting along with her new neighbours, as she struggled to find work. She worried that her age might be going against her, but was thrilled to get an interview for the manager’s job at the new hair salon at Lassiter’s. Soon after, while the neighbours were all celebrating Millennium Eve, Lyn received the news that she’d got the job. The day took a dramatic downturn however, when Lolly Carpenter accidentally set fire to the Scully house while Michelle was supposed to be babysitting. The damage was mainly restricted to the kitchen, but due to the family’s tight budget, Joe was forced to repaint it using leftover paint from the garage.

Lyn quickly found a friend in Susan Kennedy from next-door, but for their husbands, it was harder to get along. As things began to get out of hand between Karl and Joe, the wives decided to put an ‘intimacy ban’ on them, which quickly sorted the problem out! Meanwhile, Lyn was also eager to prove herself with Ivan Hart, her boss at the salon, but found it difficult to keep running the house and working. As problems built up – with Flick sneaking out to clubs and Michelle trying every way possible to see Paul McClain – Lyn announced that she was going on strike. The family soon realised the pressure she’d been under.

Lyn was distraught as Flick’s behaviour became more and more rebellious and the gap between her husband and her middle daughter caused a great deal of tension at home. As her parents, Connie and Henry, arrived on a surprise visit, Lyn found herself acting as mediator between Joe and Flick, but trying to pretend to her visitors that everything was alright. As the truth about the Scully’s financial situation came out into the open, Lyn’s parents decided to move on, rather than become any more of a burden.

In the midst of all this, Lyn learnt that Ivan Hart had skipped town, leaving his wife Katrina to run the salon. In an attempt to drum up extra trade, Lyn offered Geri Hallett free hair care, in return for plugs on the radio. Meanwhile, Lyn and Katrina managed to get the business back in shape and Lyn’s attentions returned to problems at home. Relations between Joe and Flick hit an all-time low. The revelation that Flick had been secretly seeing an older boy, Sean Edwards, proved very difficult for Joe and he tried to stop them seeing each other. After Sean dumped Flick, due to her father’s temper, she decided to leave, but Joe found her at the bus station and convinced her to return home. Lyn was relieved to finally have some harmony restored to her home.

However, tragedy struck a few weeks later when Steph crashed her bike, with Libby Kennedy on board. While Steph escaped relatively unscathed, Libby was in a serious condition and Lyn offered her support and prayers to the Kennedy family. As Steph worried her mother as she sank into depression, Michelle also caused problems when she started hanging around with Damon Gaffney, the owner of ‘the scary house’. As time went on, Lyn began to notice a change in Steph and realised that her eldest daughter had developed a crush on Drew Kirk, the fiance of her best friend. Despite Steph’s protests to the contrary, Lyn’s intuition told her that Steph was heartbroken.

As things got back to normal for the Scully family, Lyn found herself worrying that Joe was straying, as she spotted him going into number 32, the home of attractive young teacher Tess Bell, on several occasions. After finally confronting her husband, she was embarrassed to learn that he’d been secretly planning a second honeymoon, at Pelican Point, the location of their first. Although the trip wasn’t as romantic as hoped – their caravan park had become a chemical plant – Joe made sure it was memorable by presenting Lyn with a new engagement ring, replacing the one that she lost on their first honeymoon.

Deciding she needed a new interest in life, Lyn stumbled upon Beauty Tree, an organisation selling cosmetics. After spoiling Madge’s reunion night for her basketball team, The Grey Growlers, Lyn wondered if she was doing the right thing. However, Richie Hampson, from the Beauty Tree company, began to play on Lyn’s lack of confidence, telling her what an amazing saleswoman she could become and she started to fall for their tactics. Joe wasn’t convinced and realised that Lyn was being taken for a ride by these people, but her newfound confidence was difficult to crush. However, when Tess started dating Richie, she realised what a creep he was and also managed to talk Lyn into ending her dealings with Beauty Tree.

Lyn was later shocked to learn that Katrina was selling the salon, but was even more shocked to discover who was buying it. Gino Esposito, who Lyn had had previous dealings with in hair competitions, took over and Lyn immediately worried that she was too old for the image he wanted. Further worries came when Jack returned from playing soccer in England. Although Lyn was thrilled to have her son home, she was worried when he announced plans to quit his sport and join his dad on the building site. After one day on the site, Jack was soon heading back to the soccer. Elsewhere, the old feud between Joe and Flick had re-surfaced when she started seeing Joel. The situation gradually got more and more out-of-hand, when Joe discovered that Flick and Joel had continued to go out, despite his ban. Lyn was devastated when Flick announced that she’d be going to live at number 30 with her boyfriend, but found herself having to back up her husband. She did make sure to call in on a regular basis and clean the kitchen. Flick found things very difficult at number 30, however, and after a heart-to-heart with her dad, she returned home.

As she began to feel more and more ousted at the salon, in favour of younger and trendier workers, Lyn decided to quit and become freelance. Gino wasn’t about to allow his best worker to open up in competition to him, however, and he made sure that she wouldn’t do any work without a licence. After a few close calls, with Gino almost catching her working illegally, Lyn was surprised when he begged her to return to work at ‘A Good Hair Day’. At first she refused, but she later realised how difficult and time-consuming building up her own business would be, and agreed to return to work for Gino.

After Steph had experienced months of problems with her ex-jailbird boyfriend Woody, Lyn was horrified when Steph decided to leave with him, and join a witness protection scheme. However, she changed her mind in the end, and Lyn was forced to watch her heartbroken daughter say farewell to the man she loved. However, Steph and Woody couldn’t be apart for long and he later arrived with a plan for them to run away together. Despite the huge reservations of her parents, Steph set off with Woody, only for a shocking car crash to end their journey. With Woody presumed dead, Steph returned to town alone.

As Flick left school, Lyn managed to get her a job helping out in the salon. But Flick’s attitude left a lot to be desired, as she was rude to customers and constantly belittled her mother’s profession. This left Lyn in the awkward position of having to let her own daughter go. She then found herself in another family drama as Joe and Michelle found themselves drifting further apart. Michelle’s new attitudes, towards people and the environment, caused big fall-outs when Joe found out that she’d been helping an illegal immigrant who’d been squatting in Lou’s house. Michelle was devastated when her father reported him to the police. Then, while Joe was running for council, Michelle deliberately helped Evan Hancock, who was running in opposition. Fortunately, it all worked itself out as Michelle realised how much she was hurting her dad.

Lyn was thrilled when Steph put Woody behind her and met Marc Lambert, who she later became engaged to. However, Lyn’s old fears about her image and status came to the fore when she met John and Chloe Lambert, Marc's parents and new owners of Lassiter’s hotel. As the big day got closer, Lyn noticed that Flick was behaving very oddly, and believed her to be jealous of her sister’s happiness. As time went on, Lyn realised that Flick had feelings for Marc, but warned her not to do anything to destroy Steph’s big moment. Unfortunately, the seeds had already been sown and it all came out on the day of the wedding. Lyn was horrified by Flick’s behaviour and found it extremely difficult to forgive her. Flick disappeared to Sydney and when she came back things were extremely strained. Meanwhile, Lyn’s aunt Valda Sheergold had also turned up, but Lyn found it very difficult to spend time with her, so Valda stayed with the Kennedys and with Harold before leaving on a cruise.

A recent arrival at the Scully house, Connor O’Neill, a friend of Jack’s, had also been causing problems when he started seeing Michelle in secret. However, when their relationship was revealed, Lyn was amazed at Joe’s calm reaction, and glad not to have lost another daughter in the process. Although relations between Flick and her parents gradually improved, things with Steph did not, and Flick decided to go away for a while, to join Tad on his tour of America.

Meanwhile, Joe shocked Lyn with the announcement that he wanted them to try for another baby. Although Lyn was completely against the idea at first, she began to come around and realised how much it meant to Joe, who was doing his best to convince her. After the decision was made, the girls were told. While Flick and Steph were happy for their parents, Michelle was disgusted, but later admitted she was just worried about no longer being the youngest. With Steph and Flick working on improving their relationship, everything in the Scully house seemed fine.

Lyn was upset when Michelle was accepted onto an exchange programme in New York, and further upset when Flick announced plans to go to New York herself and work for Lassiter’s out there. As Michelle’s departure got nearer, it became evident that she wasn’t too keen on going, and fate stepped in on the day, as the organisers phoned to explain that the insurance had fallen through and Michelle wouldn’t be able to go. Lyn was thrilled to have all her daughters at home, and everything was perfect when Jack unexpectedly arrived home from England. The arrival one week later of Jack’s girlfriend Lori Lee brought everything out into the open – Jack had quit soccer some months ago and they’d been living in Lori’s home in New Zealand. Jack and Lori decided to stay on. Meanwhile, during a weekend away, Flick and her new boyfriend Stuart had a terrible accident and he almost died when their camper van crashed over a cliff. Returning to Erinsborough, Flick decided to abandon her plans to move to New York, but Stuart talked her into going, to avoid him feeling guilty for making her stay. Lyn was delighted when, on the day before her departure, Flick announced her engagement to Stuart.

With Flick gone, after an emotional farewell at the airport, Lyn found herself struggling to get to know Lori. However, the pair finally had it out with each other and managed to bond over Susan’s wedding dress. When the wedding day came, Lyn had a big bombshell to drop, as she told a stunned Joe that she was pregnant for the fifth time!

As the family came to terms with the news, Lyn was surprised by Joe’s admission that he’d like to stay at home and look after the baby. Lyn wasn’t entirely keen on the idea, and was worried about how he’d cope, but he was adamant. After all the joy of recent months, tragedy struck when Lyn heard that her mother had suffered a stroke. Lyn rushed up to Queensland to be with her, and was heartbroken when she died shortly afterwards. Although the incident help tighten the bond between Lyn and Lori, Lyn was nevertheless heartbroken that her mum wouldn’t be there for her when her baby was born.

Meanwhile, Jack confided in his mum that he had feelings for someone else besides Lori. Lyn was quite taken aback by her son, as she had believed his relationship to be very strong. Meanwhile, as Connor was threatened with deportation, he and Michelle ran away together, further worrying Lyn. After threatening to get married, they sheepishly returned, but Lyn and Joe asked Connor to move out. Shortly afterwards, Michelle was given another opportunity to go to New York when Tahnee was thrown out of the exchange programme. With two daughters now in New York, Lyn was starting to feel like everyone was abandoning her, although the return of her aunt Valda soon filled the gap. After a shocking accident which left her paralysed, and the revelation that Jack had been seeing Nina, Lori also moved out, to stay with the Kennedys.

When it came to finding out the gender of their baby, Lyn and Joe had a disagreement, but they eventually decided they didn’t want to know. However, going behind each other’s back, they learnt that they’d be having another girl and were both thrilled and started eagerly preparing the nursery. However, disaster struck when Lyn heard noises next-door and popped round to investigate. As she walked up to the back door, an intruder burst out and knocked her backwards, causing her to fall unconscious. She was rushed to hospital, where she gradually began to recover, but was frustrated to have forgotten the vital information of who her attacker was. While Harold’s friend, Ruby Dwyer was arrested for the crime; Lyn was convinced that it had actually been a man. She decided to visit Darcy Tyler and undergo hypnosis to see what else she could remember. Strangely, the process revealed that Lyn had witnessed an argument, when she was a child, between her mother and Valda. However, she didn’t see the face of the attacker. However, soon after, Lyn accidentally bumped into Darcy at the surgery and the memories came flooding back. After revealing this to Susan and Karl, who insisted she must be mistaken, Lyn became very distressed and Joe took her to the police station.

After Darcy was arrested, Lyn and Susan found that their friendship had been seriously damaged. Lyn was especially distraught as she had recently asked Susan to be godmother to her child. Meanwhile, while Lyn had been in hospital, Valda had suddenly left the area, although Lou and Steph managed to track her down, in a terrible state, and bring her back to Erinsborough. Lyn was delighted to have her aunt around again and visited her in hospital. With her birthday approaching, Henry sent down a surprise package containing old home movies. Watching them on the projector, Lyn got a horrible shock when she realised that the film was made only a few weeks before she was born, and that Connie wasn’t pregnant in it, but Valda was!

Lyn found this revelation extremely hard to cope with, and pushed Valda out of her life, forcing her to move out and stay with Lou. However, Lyn was keen to find out information about her natural father, so went and had an icy meeting with her new-found mother, who revealed the little information she knew about Charlie Cassidy. Coincidentally, Henry also showed up to visit Lyn before the birth of the baby, and Lyn was forced to reveal what she knew. Henry was horrified as Lyn threw accusations around, and so he decided to go and stay at Lassiter’s. Meanwhile, Lyn had tracked down Charlie’s fishing business in Shelley Bay and she phoned him and they arranged a meeting at Lou’s Place. When Charlie didn’t show up, Lyn was angry, deciding that her real father was selfish and untrustworthy. However, a call from Shelley Bay hospital revealed that Charlie had been rushed to hospital, so Lyn quickly headed down there, pursued by Valda. When Lyn broke down, Valda picked her up and took her to the hospital.

After meeting Charlie, several revelations followed; he revealed that he had never loved Valda and that Henry had blackmailed him into leaving her alone and pregnant, as he couldn’t give Connie any children of her own. It seemed that Henry had learnt of Charlie cheating with a girl named Catherine, who he later married, and ran him out of town. Charlie also revealed that he only had a few months to live. These shocking home truths forced Lyn and Valda to talk about their feelings. Valda admitted that she had realised that nobody had ever really loved her, but Lyn explained that she did and all the other members of the Scully family did. Their relationship finally mended, they headed back to Erinsborough. However, soon after, Valda was offered a short contract working at a resort in Broome and made a temporary farewell, the incident leading to Lyn calling her ‘mum’ for the first time.

As the birth of the new Scully baby got closer and closer, Joe decided that Lyn needed a final break before she completely lost her freedom. However, after a couple of days at the beach house, Lyn started experiencing terrible stomach pains and Joe rushed her to hospital. After recovering from this, Lyn was told that the baby was in breach position and so they would have to give her a Caesarean section rather than a natural labour. Lyn was adamant that all her children would be natural births and went home and proceeded to practice her exercises to turn the baby around. The next morning she returned to hospital and was informed that the baby had indeed turned. Elated, Lyn returned home, but after only a matter of minutes, her waters broke. Back in hospital for the third time in 48 hours, Lyn proceeded to give birth, but it proved very hard-going for her and needed to be completed using forceps. The final surprise of the day came when the new Scully baby was revealed as a boy.

Immediately after the birth, Lyn was finding it hard to bond with her child. She decided against breast-feeding, and felt left out when Joe named the baby Oscar without consulting her. Taking the baby home, Lyn was met with a barrage of visitors, which she found hard to cope with, but Joe simply put it down to the ‘baby blues’, something she had always suffered with. However, as Lyn found more and more excuses to avoid being with her child, it quickly became evident that this was more than just a case of the ‘baby blues’.

Although Lyn managed to keep her feelings to herself at first, her behaviour gradually became more bizarre. She was thrilled when Valda returned to town for Oscar’s baptism, but towards the end of the ceremony, Lyn found it hard to cope and made the excuse of going to buy more champagne. While at the mall, Lyn found herself absent-mindedly placing a silver rattle in her bag. She was shocked when she found it and put it back the following day. Shortly afterwards, Lyn was out shopping when she suddenly realised that she’d left Oscar in the car. Returning to the carpark, she found that the car wasn’t where she left it and called the police. She also called Joe, who arrived at the scene with Steph, deeply concerned about his wife’s actions. Luckily, the police found Oscar in the car on the other side of the car park, where Lyn had actually parked.

The same detective was called in the following week when Lyn once again shoplifted in her distracted state. This time she was caught, but the detective picked up on her symptoms and called in her GP, Karl. Karl soon diagnosed Lyn with post-natal depression and recommended that she explain things to the family. They all offered their support and Lyn found things a lot easier with her condition out in the open. She began seeing a counsellor and was put on anti-depressants, while Joe arranged another baptism for Oscar, since Lyn had been so unhappy during the last one. Lyn finally had a breakthrough with Oscar and over the following weeks, despite a few teary moments, Lyn found her depression slowly lifting. Her only worry was Steph’s odd behaviour – and she was stunned to find out that her daughter had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

When Max found out about Steph’s cancer, Lyn let him take over the majority of the support, allowing her to step back and recover from recent events. However, her life was turned upside-down yet again when Charlie Cassidy phoned and announced he’d be coming to visit. Once there, Charlie contacted Henry and convinced him to come down aswell. When Charlie met Henry from the bus, the two men started fighting in the street and Lyn was forced to stop them. Once the two men met their new grandson, the situation soon eased and Lyn managed to make peace with both of her fathers. As the weeks went on, the Scullys needed to save more and more money and things were tight with a new baby and Christmas approaching. Once Christmas did arrive, Valda came to stay for her first Christmas with her daughter. However, when Mick’s farm was threatened by bush fires, he and Jack were forced to go and help out, leaving mother and daughter alone for the holidays. Before going to spend Christmas Day at the Hoyland house, Lyn and Valda exchanged gifts and were both grateful to finally be able to spend time together after the shocking year they’d just experienced.

As life began to settle down after the holidays, and Joe and Jack returned to the family home, Lyn began to focus her attention on everyone else’s problems. Having tried to talk to Max about his unwillingness to have a baby with Steph, she was quickly told to keep her nose out. However, she was thrilled when, a few days later, Steph announced that they’d be trying for a family. Then, when Lyn saw Izzy Hoyland and Karl Kennedy getting out of a taxi and entering number 28 late one night, she was unsure what to do with this information. She confronted Izzy one day, warning her that what she was doing to the Kennedy marriage was wrong. When Susan returned to town, Lyn told her what she’d seen and provided a shoulder to cry on. Meanwhile, the Scullys decided to get involved in reality TV when a flyer for a new show, Making Mansions, came through the door. After a disastrous video application, they figured that they probably wouldn’t hear anything back. However, when things finally came to a head between Lyn and Izzy, in the form of a verbal slanging match in the middle of the street, the presenter of the show, Sindi Watts, arrived to announce that the Scully family had been chosen…

Only a few days into the makeover, it was all change in the Scully house when Joe was called away to Bendigo to care for his injured brother and father. The Valda returned to town to teach at a catering school in Anson’s Corner and Lyn’s home was plunged into chaos by the arrival of Sindi and her crew. Whilst her house was being redecorated, Lyn also found plenty of time to support her friend Susan, and assert a little independence of her own. The pair signed up to some psychology classes, as well as starting up the book club again with Liljana Bishop and attending self-defence classes at the school. Meanwhile, Lyn was also thrilled when Michelle returned to town for a few weeks. Despite all these distractions, the work on the house finally got completed and Lyn was delighted with the finished product.

Soon after, Lyn was in for a surprise when Joe’s brother, Tom, arrived in town, as the new priest at a local church. It seemed that Lyn was slightly uncomfortable around Tom, but she had something else to worry about when Making Mansions finally debuted on channel 44. On the original date it was due to be shown, Sindi was embarrassed when it was replaced with a Portugese Rock Eisteddfod. However, a few days later, it finally screened, and Lyn was in for a nasty shock as her family were portrayed badly, with Lyn facing the tagline – ‘Housewife or fishwife?’. Lyn took her anger out on Sindi, but was in for a pleasant surprise when the show resulted in her receiving mysterious love letters in the mail. Unfortunately, Jack believed they were for him, and Lyn never got to meet her admirer, Troy. Meanwhile, Lyn grew concerned about Tom’s developing friendship with neighbour Susan. It was clear that Lyn wasn’t just worried about Tom forgetting his religion, she was also jealous. As she admitted to Tom that she had been in love with him when she’d been dating Joe, she also made attempts to stop the two friends from getting any closer…

Lyn’s concerns were not unwarranted, as Susan and Tom eventually slept together and Tom announced that he would be leaving the priesthood. Lyn was horrified by this, and found it very difficult to even talk to Susan, let alone forgive him. More family problems surfaced for Lyn when Jack began spending all night out clubbing and things at the family building business went downhill. Lyn was forced to confront Jack about his problems, and asked him if he was on drugs. He assured her that he wasn’t, and promised to try to sort himself out. With all the negative problems in her life, Lyn tried to focus a lot of her attention on Steph’s upcoming wedding to Max. However, whilst her intentions were good, it seemed that the interference for her and Valda was about to cause the young couple to elope. Fortunately, Lyn, along with most of Ramsay Street, made it to the venue in time to witness the wedding. And Lyn was in for an extra shock when Charlie proposed to Valda, and the couple married at the mansion Steph and Max had rejected. Soon after the wedding, Lyn and Oscar left to spend a few weeks with Joe on the farm.

When Lyn returned to Ramsay Street, she found that there had been a lot of changes in her absence. But first, she had to share her news; Joe had been given his inheritance early by Pat, and had decided to buy into the farm and take over its running. She explained to Steph and Jack that she would just be staying around to arrange the sale of the house and tie up loose ends, then she’d be moving to Bendigo. Meanwhile, Jack was forced to reveal to his mother that he’d not only wrecked her car, but also the family business, due to his problems with drugs. Lyn found it extremely difficult to accept this, but realised how much he’d struggled and accepted his apologies. When number 26 then became infested with wasps and had to be fumigated, Lyn, Jack and Oscar were forced to stay at number 32. Whilst there, Lyn couldn’t help but interfere in Steph and Max’s lives, as they argued over having a baby. The final straw came for Max when Steph walked out and Lyn accused him of being selfish for not wanting to have a child with his wife. He had finally had enough of her interference and told her to get out…

Lyn was delighted when Max and Steph were reunited, as he agreed to try IVF, although the relationship between Max and Lyn continued to be strained. Meanwhile, her daughter’s own happiness made Lyn feel worse as she began to wonder if her own was failing. Jack noticed that his mum was making very little effort to quit her job or put the house on the market and she admitted that she was finding it difficult. After a gathering at number 28, Lyn broke down in tears, admitting to Susan and Libby that she didn’t want to leave Erinsborough, but didn’t know how to tell Joe. She then finally admitted to Jack and Steph that she wasn’t sure if she even loved Joe anymore. Despite all of this, her plans to move to Bendigo continued apace, but her state of mind began to suffer, and she started to shoplift again. When she was spotted by Izzy on one occasion, word got back to Susan. As Lyn prepared to leave, Susan forced her to admit her true feelings; her marriage was over and she didn’t want to leave. With the difficult decision made, Lyn set about picking up the pieces. Steph found it difficult to accept and went to spend some time with Joe, whilst Jack remained in Erinsborough to support his mother. Lyn announced that they would still have to sell number 26 and that she had decided to change her life by finding a new career – in life coaching.

As she began to put her life back together, Lyn was thrilled when her father, Charlie, paid a surprise visit with his sister, Doreen. They were planning to spend Christmas in Erinsborough, but Lyn was in for a cruel shock when she discovered the Charlie only had weeks to live. As she came to terms with this, Lyn tried to make sure that he was as comfortable as possible and refused to believe that he was about to die. As the rest of the family wanted him to spend him last days at the Scully house, Lyn fought them but realised in the end that it was what Charlie wanted. After spending a pleasant Christmas with the family, Lyn said goodbye to her son, Jack, as he left Australia on Boxing Day to be reunited with Nina. She then went to collect Charlie’s son, and Lyn's half-brother, Michael, who had been out in China. As the two of them returned to Ramsay Street, they walked in to find Steph leaning over Charlie, adjusting his pillows. As Steph announced that Charlie was gone, Michael immediately accused her of killing his father. Lyn was confused by what she’d seen and, as a police investigation began, she turned on Steph, accusing her of murder. Lyn turned to her friend, Susan, for advice, but was shocked when Susan admitted that she had committed euthanasia on her own mother many years ago. Lyn quickly ended their friendship and threw Susan out of the house.

As time went on, and it looked as though Steph would end up in jail, everyone tried to talk some sense into Lyn. She grew more and more distant from her daughter and even suggested that the Hoyland family stay away from Charlie’s funeral. Steph, Max and the kids turned up, however, at the same time as Valda, who’d been at home, suffering from DVT for several weeks. Michael was horrified to see Steph at his father’s funeral and, during the wake, Lyn was stunned when Steph was arrested. With Valda back, Lyn started to realise the importance of her family and, after a word from Max, she thought about changing her police statement. As Steph’s bail hearing came, Lyn had a heart-to-heart with her daughter and Lyn realised that she’d been in the wrong. She agreed to change her statement, however difficult it would be, and told Michael that if it came to it, she would claim that he’d pressurised her into lying. Another shock came when Charlie’s will was read, and he’d left 70% of his estate to Steph and 20% to Lyn. Michael was outraged, and vowed that he would see the family in court. Although Steph was found guilty during the trial, she was let off with a suspended sentence and Michael was once again outraged. Lyn decided to have a word with him, reminding him that they were still family and, before he left Erinsborough, he made peace with them all by bringing over some old home movies and assuring Steph that he wouldn’t appeal against the verdict.

As Lyn’s life coaching continued, she found herself helping out several Ramsay Street residents with their problems. Max reluctantly came to her when he realised that he had a problem controlling his temper, whilst Toadie turned to her when he secretly took up wrestling and needed help with a costume. However, another client, Andy Tanner, seriously tested Lyn’s morals when he came to her about his marriage problems. As time went on, the attraction between Lyn and Andy was clear and he told her that his marriage was over and he wanted to be with her instead. Lyn was torn between her feelings for the younger man and the fact that she would be dancing on the grave of another woman’s marriage – just like Izzy Hoyland. In the end, she decided to throw caution to the wind, but things became complicated when Andy’s wife, Sandy, served Lyn with a slap in the salon one day. It was only as her friends, and especially Steph, gave the relationship their blessing that Lyn decided to go public. It didn’t look like it would be plain sailing, however, when the words ‘Lyn Scully Husband Stealer’ appeared spray-painted on Ramsay Street one morning. After a long chat, Lyn and Andy decided that their happiness was the most important thing and that they’d give the relationship a try. However, only days later, that happiness was shattered when Sandy turned up in Ramsay Street with her two children, asking Lyn how she could take a father away from his kids like this. Lyn was stunned, since Andy had told her he didn’t have any children, and this lie was enough for her to call the whole relationship off.

In the midst of all this, Janelle Timmins, mother to Stingray, who’d been a good friend of Lyn’s the previous year, turned up on her doorstep. Janelle had seen an ad for an apprentice hairdresser at A Good Hair Day and had come from Colac to apply. Janelle provided a happy distraction for Lyn from her own problems and soon Janelle had won the apprenticeship and moved her four children, Stingray, Dylan, Janae and Bree, into number 26.

Despite having sworn off men following the problems with Andy, Lyn was amazed when she started receiving attention from Bobby Hoyland, Max’s father who had recently returned to Australia after working as an engineer in Finland. However, as they began an affair, Lyn made Bobby promise to keep it quiet, worried about what Steph and the rest of the family would think. Bobby was only too happy to do this, as he had also been out on a date with Janelle and was see Susan on the side. Just as Lyn was beginning to fall under Bobby’s spell, she became concerned that the affair could destroy the family and decided to call things off. Bobby, however, wasn’t quite ready to end things and he convinced her to spend some time with him at a cabin in the country. As Lyn was once again falling for him, Bobby’s lies started to unravel within his family and he quickly called off the relationship, leaving Lyn devastated. As she finally owned up to Susan and Janelle about what had been going on and the three women were shocked to realise that they’d been played for fools. They hatched a plan whereby Janelle called Bobby over to number 26, then the three women tied him up in his underwear and told him how much they’d hurt him, before throwing him out onto the street. Although Bobby left town the next day, it would be a while before Lyn was able to forget the incident, especially when Max found out the truth.

Despite having sworn off men, Lyn’s head was soon turned once again when Sky Mangel’s stepfather, Joe, returned to Erinsborough. At first, Lyn found it weird to be dating another man named Joe, but she soon decided to give the relationship a chance. Janelle, meanwhile, realised that Lyn didn’t deserve another bad relationship, after Andy and Bobby, so she took it upon herself to test his fidelity and honesty. During Sky’s 18th birthday party, Janelle and Joe fell asleep on the couch together. When Janelle awoke first the next morning, she put some of her lipstick on Joe’s lips and, as he woke, she claimed that they’d been kissing all night. Janelle told Lyn what she’d done and they waited to see if Joe would own up. Luckily he did and Lyn’s new romance got off to a strange start with a date at the greyhound races. Things continued to stall as neither Joe nor Lyn was sure whether the other was truly interested and, in the end, Janelle had to once again take charge and force the pair to kiss. With everything finally sorted out, Joe bought Lyn a gift – a greyhound named Bouncer 5. As Joe spent most of his time trying to turn Bouncer 5 into a winner, Lyn grew frustrated at the amount of time they were spending together. Joe then pointed out that, if it weren’t for Janelle and her four children, they’d have the house to themselves most nights. It was then that Lyn realised that she’d have to ask the Timmins family to leave.

Janelle and her brood reluctantly left and moved into a rented bus at West Waratah caravan park. Although Joe and Lyn enjoyed having the time together at first, Lyn’s guilt got the better of her and she agreed to let the family move the bus to Ramsay Street and use the facilities at number 26. The feud between Joe and Janelle then deepened, as Janelle kidnapped Susan’s dog, Audrey – who Bouncer 5 had been happily chasing around the neighbourhood as part of his training. Joe then decided to email Janelle’s novel – The Bogan’s Tipped Hair – which featured badly-disguised versions of most of the local residents, to everyone in Lyn’s email address book. Joe’s plan backfired though, as Janelle complained that she wasn’t safe from the mobs of people out in the bus, so Lyn let her and family move back into the house.

Ramsay Street was then thrown into turmoil when a plane, carrying several Ramsay Street residents to Tasmania, crashed into Bass Strait. Joe was left to support Harold and Sky as David, Liljana and Serena were amongst the missing. With Dylan also presumed dead, Janelle’s husband, Kim, returned, and Lyn began to realise how much she, and Oscar, needed Joe around. However, when talk turned to marriage and Lyn proposed, Joe admitted that he wasn’t about to marry for a fourth time and didn’t need a piece of paper to prove his love. Staunch Catholic Lyn found her beliefs compromised and decided that she would have to end the relationship. However, during the Bishops’ memorial service, Joe realised that life was too short to lose Lyn and he proposed. However, in the days that followed, Lyn realised that Joe was compromising by marrying her and they agreed to try and simply live together and see where it took them. The next day, Joe received a call from his son, Toby, in Western Australia. Toby had acquired his own land and needed help setting up his farm, but Joe opted to stay in Erinsborough with Lyn. When Joe explained the situation to Lyn, and mentioned that he’d earlier promised Toby that he’d always be there, she talked him into going to be with his son for however long it took. And so, following a tearful farewell, Joe left Ramsay Street and Lyn was once again left to care for Oscar alone.

As she realised that she was never going to earn a decent wage with Gino at the salon, Lyn started looking around for some extra work. When she spotted an advert looking for a personal assistant, she reluctantly applied and was shocked to find that her prospective employer was Paul Robinson. Although she almost walked away, Paul talked her into staying and convinced her that her CV was underselling her skills. He agreed to give her a chance and challenged her to get $5000 from one of his associates named Larry Erlich. Lyn quickly found Larry’s soft spot – his love for building model planes – and talked him into handing over the money. Paul was impressed, giving her 10% of the money she’d made, along with the job, with flexible hours. Those hours came in useful as, during Christmas, a heavily pregnant Steph discovered that her cancer had returned. Lyn was distressed as Steph refused treatment, fearful that it might harm her baby, but was equally shocked when Max arranged to have his wife committed against her will. Although Paul was angry that Lyn was spending so much time with her family, she stood up to him and made it clear that her daughter’s health and crumbling marriage was her first priority. In an effort to save Steph from some of the stress she’d been under, Lyn took her away to Queensland for a couple of weeks, once she was realised from the psychiatric ward.

Upon their return to Erinsborough, Lyn was pleased as Steph’s health appeared to be improving and her daughter’s marriage finally got back on an even keel. However, she was in for a shock when she returned to work at the salon and Gino informed her that her services were no longer required. Lyn grew anxious as, although she thought she could rely on Paul for a job, she didn’t want her friends and family see her working for him, especially as he was in the middle of a café war with Lou and Harold’s General Store, having opened his own emporium, Lucinda’s, with much lower prices. But after asking around for work, and with the mortgage repayments due, Lyn realised that she had no choice but to become Paul’s assistant again. And she immediately began to wonder if she had made the correct choice when one of her first assignments was to take a letter to Harold, which turned out to be an eviction notice.

Lyn’s work problems were quickly forgotten, however, when Steph collapsed in the street, just as Max had left to join an unwell Summer in Fiji. At the hospital, Lyn realised that Steph had been pretending that her health was fine ever since she returned from Queensland, but in fact, she was fading fast. With Steph still refusing the cancer treatment until baby Charlie could be safely delivered by Caesarean section, Lyn was forced to put her trust in God and hope that everything would work out for the best. The news was starting to look very bleak, as the cancer was spreading, when Steph had a dream that Charlie was growing up without her around. She suddenly decided that she had to have the operation, even without Max around. Luckily though, he and Summer had managed to get a flight back and were on their way to the hospital when Steph suddenly went into labour and decided that, despite having little strength left, she would go through with a natural delivery. Later that evening, Max arrived at the hospital and, by morning, Lyn had her first grandchild in the form of little Charlie Hoyland.

Although Lyn then decided to stay with Max and Steph for a while to help out, it soon became clear that her advice and assistance wasn’t really needed. But when she learnt that the new parents had decided not to have Charlie christened, Lyn found it difficult to keep her nose out. After calling on the advice of Father Capitola, Lyn even went as far as to arrange her own christening when looking after Charlie one day. Although she was talked out of it by Susan, Steph and Max were furious when they found out, and Steph told her mother to keep out of their business completely. As her family pushed her away, Lyn found herself growing closer to Paul. However, Lyn managed to repair some of the damage with Steph when she saved Charlie and Izzy from a gas leak at number 22, and also encouraged Steph to make a deal when a baby utility belt she’d created from an old tool belt was noticed by Paul, who wanted to manufacture it. It wasn’t until Steph had signed a contract that Max realised that she would only be getting 5% of the profits. Lyn was upset to have been a part of it, but Paul easily convinced her that she was too much of a doormat where her family was concerned, and upped the deal to 7%. In the end, however, Lyn decided to fund the project herself by taking out a second mortgage on her home, and they found themselves some new manufacturers in the form of mother and daughter team Deidre and Letitia McNair.

Lyn’s attempts to win Paul’s respect continued when she was waiting for an important appointment, but had to take Oscar along with her as she had no childcare. The receptionist mistakenly believed that Lyn was there to interview for the position of nanny and so the partners spoke openly in front of her about a plot to wrong-foot Paul and con him out of a great deal of money. Lyn quickly left and told Paul that she had some information for him, but it would cost him. Paul was impressed with Lyn’s new ruthless streak, but her problems with Oscar continued. Paul ended up volunteering Elle to look after him, but she got distracted and Oscar ended up wandering off in the direction of Lassiter’s Lake. Fortunately, he was found by Ned Parker before any damage was done, which led to Lyn offering an unemployed Ned the job of Oscar’s nanny. Although Lyn was delighted to have someone reliable to look after her son, she was left annoyed when Ned told her that she shouldn’t simply dump Oscar on him whenever she felt like and that he needed a better routine. Lyn reminded Ned that she had been a mother four times before and now, as a single mother, she needed more help than before but would not be lectured to.

When Paul found out that Izzy had been flirting with his son, Cameron, a recent arrival in Ramsay Street, he was left devastated and confided his feelings of betrayal to Lyn, who was happy to have any opportunity to get closer to her boss. Lyn, however, was left upset when she saw Paul taking Letitia McNair back to his room and felt even worse when he told her to back off, as he didn’t need a mother figure in his life. Things became further complicated with revelations that Cameron was actually his evil twin Robert, who had been plotting against Paul for weeks, and had engineered both the gas leak and Paul’s split from Izzy. Although Lyn was more than willing to listen to Paul’s problems, she was upset when he admitted that he still had feelings for Gail, the mother of Elle, Robert and Cameron, who had returned to town. And she couldn’t manage to hide her feelings of relief when Paul was found safe and well, after being tied up and left to die in an old mineshaft by Robert. At the hospital, Lyn tenderly told Paul that she would take care of everything and he, with a new zest for life, jokingly kissed her, further messing with her emotions.

When Paul found out that he was being sued for copyright infringement for the baby belt idea, he had to think quickly and, with the seed planted in his head by Izzy, he decided to pass the blame on to Lyn. After signing over the entire idea to Lyn and making her believe that it was a promotion that she’d worked for, she was left stunned when she was served with a writ. It didn’t take long for her to realise that she’d been set up, but as she angrily told Paul that she had enough dirt on him to bring him down, he suddenly kissed her, impressed with her new tougher attitude. Lyn was quickly won over by Paul, who blamed Izzy for the whole mess and agreed that they should work together to beat it. And with Paul now single – having got rid of both Izzy and Gail – Lyn realised that she finally stood a chance with the man she’d fallen in love with. Although it was obvious to her family and friends, Lyn failed to realise just how far under Paul’s spell she had fallen, but when Izzy got to hear about the new relationship, she snapped and told Lyn that Paul had murdered Gus Cleary. When confronted, Paul simply brushed it off as another of Izzy’s fabrications and went on to impress Lyn by organising a huge street party, complete with pony rides, for Oscar’s birthday. However, the party ended badly as Steph confronted her mother about her relationship with Paul, furious that she could ever consider being with someone so evil.

As Lyn and Paul struggled to find a loophole in the law, she admitted that the company that was suing them had some very dodgy dealings of their own. Paul decided that they would break into their offices and find proof of this to blackmail them with. And despite the horrified reaction of her best friend, Susan, Lyn went along with the scheme, though she backed out at the last minute, realising how ludicrous it was. Thoughts about court cases were quickly forgotten, however, when Cameron was run down by Max, who had wrongly believed him to be Robert, escaped from prison. When Cameron later died from his injuries, Lyn promised to keep the business ticking over as Paul attended the funeral in Tasmania. However, after a disastrous meeting with the businessmen who were suing her, Lyn realised that it was now inevitable that she would lose her house, and she admitted to Carmella that she had fallen in love with Paul and felt like she had seriously let him down.

Upon her return to Australia, Lyn decided to spend some time in her childhood home of Shelley Bay, with Valda and Doreen, ultimately opting to stay there rather than return and face Paul in Ramsay Street. Some months later, Valda returned to Erinsborough with news that Lyn had opened up her own salon and was doing well for herself, but it seemed that, in reality, she was struggling to cope. In 2008, Paul was in a new relationship with Rebecca Napier, but had started an affair with hotel employee Kirsten Gannon, when he began receiving blackmail notes about his secret liaisons. Around the same time, Lyn paid Steph a surprise visit, happy to have some time away from the salon while Oscar was in the country with his dad, though she managed to avoid talking about herself and her own problems by focusing on Steph splitting up with Toadie on their wedding day. Of course, it wasn't long before Paul and Elle realised that Lyn was back and quickly concluded that she was the blackmailer, something Lyn was only too happy to confirm when confronted with the accusation. She admitted that Paul had left her feeling terrible, with no self-esteem, and the money she'd been trying to get from him was simply to cover the costs of their disastrous wedding. Paul was horrified to realise who had been tormenting him, but agreed not to go to the police about it, if Lyn agreed to keep quiet about the affair.

Steph was shocked by her mum's revelations, thinking she was happy with her new life in Shelley Bay. But later that day, when mother and daughter were alone, Lyn broke down and admitted that her new salon was going under and she was struggling to find the money for Oscar's daycare. Lyn regained her composure when Paul called round the following day to check that she was keeping to her side of the deal, she tried to make him see that maybe he should just come clean to Rebecca, if he really loved her as much as he claimed. Paul refused, but became worried when Lyn admitted that she was looking forward to meeting Rebecca and, as the two women came face to face in Steph's bar, Charlie's, later that day, a bizarre meeting followed, with Lyn dropping hints and Rebecca left wondering what sort of nutter Paul had once been involved with. With her depression weighing her down, Steph realised that Lyn needed a friend, but Susan was avoiding her old friend, worried that things would be different now that she had been diagnosed with MS. After a visit from Steph, Susan quickly realised that Lyn needed her and before long, the pair were chatting away like old times - with Lyn telling Susan all about the blackmail and Paul's affair with Kirsten. When the two women attended Paul and Rebecca's engagement party that evening, they struggled to keep their mouths shut but later at home, Susan realised that it was her duty as Rebecca's friend to tell her before the wedding, so she marched over to number 22, breaking the news to Paul's devastated fiancee. Though pleased that the secret was finally out, Lyn became worried that Paul no longer had any reason to keep her blackmail threats from the police, but luckily Elle, disgusted with her father, made it clear that Paul, and nobody else, would be paying the price for this.

A few days later, and all of the women of Ramsay Street were gathered at number 28 for a party, during which they all admitted that their lives were a mess, in the hope that it would cheer up Rebecca after her recent problems. Fortunately, the evening also gave Lyn the courage to return home to Shelley Bay in order to try and sort out her failing business and the next morning, she said her goodbyes to everyone and once again bid Ramsay Street a fond farewell.

A year later, Lyn made a spectacular return to Erinsborough when she gatecrashed Paul's wedding to Rebecca with the news that she was still Mrs Robinson, as their annulment hadn't been completed. Paul was horrified, but Lyn explained that she'd only known for a month, when she had been turned down for a single mother's pension, but had decided not to bother telling Paul, as she couldn't be bothered dealing with him. But having heard about the wedding, she had rushed there to stop it, arriving just in time. Paul and Rebecca were furious, while Steph was concerned by her mum's erratic behaviour, and things only got worse when Lyn went over to number 26 and was attempting to replant some flowers in the garden when Rebecca came outside and confronted her, leading the women to have a brawl in the street. But with the divorce papers finally drawn up, Lyn had a shock for Paul, telling him that he would have to pay her if he wanted her out of his life. When Rebecca heard about this, she went to see Lyn, telling her that she wouldn't be getting a penny. Desperately trying to be reasonable, Rebecca told Lyn that she and Paul were leaving for their honeymoon in the Maldives, but expected her to be gone from Erinsborough when they returned.

A week later, Paul and Rebecca returned to town, furious to find that Lyn was still hanging around. She claimed that she just wanted to be close to her family in Ramsay Street, while Susan, a friend to both Lyn and Rebecca, was left caught in the middle. When confronted about her attempts to extort money from Paul, Lyn claimed that he'd been rude to her and get away scot free, so Susan suggested calling in Toadie to put a legal eye on the matter. With the arrangements made, Paul and Lyn both signed the papers, and Rebecca was relieved that it seemed she was finally about to get Paul's ex out of her life. But when Lyn spotted a For Sale board outside number 26, she mentioned to Steph that it would be lovely to be back in the old family home, where she'd spent so many happy years. She suggested that they could buy it together, but Steph wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, and told her mum that she couldn't see them living under the same roof these days. Lyn went along with Steph's idea to try and get a bank loan, so that she could return to Shelley Bay and re-open her salon, but when Paul, now the owner of the newspaper, attempted to run her out of town with a front page article about what a terrible person she was, his plan backfired, as the bank refused the loan and she had to stay. Rebecca, meanwhile, felt that Paul had gone a bit too far and apologised to Lyn, hoping to call a truce. Though Lyn accepted, it was clear that she wasn't about to let the matter drop, and she then lied to Steph that Rebecca was blaming her for everything. As she broke down and said that she would have to go back to Shelley Bay and make a go of things, Steph had a change of heart and offered to buy number 26 for them all to live in together. Lyn wasted little time in rubbing Rebecca's nose in the fact that she was staying - and moving into the house that Rebecca had been calling home until the Parker family sold it. As he saw how upset Rebecca was about the whole situation, Paul went to see Lyn and gave her a cheque, telling her that, if she accepted, she had to make a new life elsewhere, and it couldn't be within a 500km radius of Erinsborough.

Everyone was therefore shocked when, a week later, Lyn rolled back into town complete with new wardrobe. Steph was furious that her mum had just abandoned her like that, while Paul was extremely angry that she'd gone back on their deal. Though upset that her mum left without saying a word, and she had to find out about the cheque from someone else, Steph admitted that she was just glad that Lyn was OK. Paul was less forgiving, as Lyn announced that her plans had changed - and that she'd already spent the money he gave her. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Lyn and Rebecca continued that they fought over who could help Susan get over her fear of driving, ever since an accident two years earlier that had hospitalised Bridget Parker. Later that day, as they were unpacking boxes at number 26, Susan was shocked to hear Lyn scream. Lyn explained that she thought she'd broken her hand, forcing Susan to face her fears and drive her to hospital. Once there, however, Lyn admitted that she'd made the whole thing up just to get Susan back behind the wheel, and fortunately Susan saw the funny side and was just grateful to have her old friend back.

Trivia Notes
• Lyn doesn't like coconut
• Lyn cannot sing