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Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Bradley Townsend Bradley Kilpatrick

Bradley Townsend 1986
Lived: 28 Ramsay Street
Parents: Andrea Townsend and Gavin McKinley

Bradley Townsend grew up into a little horror, as his mother, Andrea, struggled to instil any discipline in the boy. One day, the two of them were forced to mysteriously flee from their home in Perth and Andrea made Bradley dress up as a girl so that they weren’t spotted at the airport. They then arrived in Ramsay Street, at the home of Andrea’s ex-boyfriend, Des Clarke. Andrea and Bradley quickly settled in and then she made the shocking announcement that Des was Bradley’s father.

Bradley had little trouble adjusting to his new environment, as he struck up a close friendship with Lucy Robinson from next-door. He also managed to offend most of the people in the street as he rode his bike on the pavement, threw his boomerang at people’s roses and generally answered back to everyone. When Scott Robinson and Mike Young tried to stop him from riding on the pavement one day, he got upset and accused them of bullying him, causing a war to break out between the Robinson and Clarke households. The final straw came when Bradley claimed to Lucy that he could drive and he stole the keys to Des’ car. However, as soon as he turned the key in the ignition, the car rolled down the street and locked bumpers with Shane Ramsay’s car that he used for his limousine service. Both Lucy and Bradley remained quiet when Shane accused Des of doing it himself, out of jealousy over Shane’s engagement to Daphne Lawrence.

A few days later, Lucy owned up to what had happened and Bradley refused to speak to her anymore. Des realised that something would have to be done about his son and he decided that they could do with a camping trip in order to help them to bond. When the trip was rained out, Des set up the tent in the lounge room of number 28 and Bradley started to let his guard down, revealing that he had owned his own pony back in Perth. Des was confused, but Andrea claimed that Bradley had simply made it up. Meanwhile, Des’ mother, Eileen, was trying to prove that Bradley wasn’t Des’ son and came up with her proof, Bradley’s birth certificate, during a trip to Perth. Bradley managed to steal it from her bag before Des could see it, meaning that his mum’s story was still safe. However, Bradley was in for a cruel shock when his natural father, Gavin McKinley, tipped off by Eileen, turned up in the street. Gavin tried to abduct Bradley and soon the truth was revealed. Andrea had sold her son to Gavin as she was so desperate for money, while Gavin was desperate for a male heir to get his father’s money.

Eileen wanted Andrea gone from Des’ life, so she decided to help Gavin get custody. She arranged a meeting one day, in Gavin’s hotel room at Lassiter’s, between Gavin and Bradley. Eileen and Gavin tried to convince Bradley that, unless he went back to Perth with his father, Andrea could go to prison. Bradley agreed to go, but Eileen was horrified when Gavin took off in the car, with no intention of even telling Andrea. Luckily, neighbours Shane Ramsay and Clive Gibbons were around and they helped Eileen give chase in Bertha, Clive’s car. They stopped Gavin and soon after, Andrea and Des turned up. Bradley was asked to choose which father he wanted to be with – Des or Gavin. Bradley chose Des, who admitted that he still felt like Bradley’s father, regardless of everything that had happened.

In the weeks that followed, Andrea grew close to Jack Lassiter, her boss at the Waterhole pub, while Des got back together with her ex-fiancee Daphne. Bradley started to feel like nobody had any time for him any more and he started to act up, to try and put Jack off his mum. Although it worked briefly, Jack had a word with Bradley and made him realise that he would never come between him and his mum. Bradley finally gave the relationship his blessing, but decided that he needed a fiancee of his own and asked Lucy to marry him. She accepted, but her father, Jim told them that they were too young and the engagement was called off. However, when Des and Daphne announced their engagement, swiftly followed by Jack and Andrea, Bradley managed to patch things up with Lucy and they decided to get engaged again, despite Jim’s reservations. With so much changing, Bradley became unsettled and, when Andrea told him that Jack was taking them on a six-month tour of Europe, he announced that he wanted to stay. But Lucy told him to go and said that she’d be waiting for him upon his return. So, along with Jack, the Townsends set off for the wedding in Perth, before continuing on to Paris. After six months, they decided to continue their tour and Bradley invited Lucy out there to join them for a while.

Notes: Bradley Kilpatrick's real-life father, Bruce, played Gavin McKinley, before returning in 1991, taking over the role of Bob Landers. Bradley's sister, Amber, played the regular role of Lochy McLachlan from 1989 to 1990.

Biography by Steve

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