Lachlan Fraser
Lachlan Fraser | |||||||||||||||||
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Home and Away character | |||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Richard Grieve | ||||||||||||||||
Duration | 1997–1998 | ||||||||||||||||
First appearance | 19 March 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | 27 November 1998 | ||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | John Holmes | ||||||||||||||||
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Lachlan "Lachie" Fraser is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Richard Grieve. He made his screen debut on 19 March 1997 and last appeared on 27 November 1998. He joined the show after previously appearing in rival soap opera Neighbours. Lachlan is introduced as a new doctor working at Summer Bay's local hospital. Grieve had to research the profession and received help from an on-set medical advisor. Lachlan is characterised as a sweet and gentle person who is brilliant at medicine.
During his tenure he strikes up relationships with
Grieve was nominated for a
Casting
In January 1997, it was announced that Richard Grieve had taken on the role of Lachlan. He previously appeared in rival soap opera Neighbours. The actor told Jason Herbison from Inside Soap that "I'm thrilled, I'd been looking for a change for a while, so the chance to [...] start work on a different show is great."[1] Grieve relocated from Melbourne to Sydney for the role.[2] Andrea Jones from The Sun-Herald revealed that his character would be introduced as a new doctor working in Summer Bay's local hospital.[3]
Development
I'm going from being a handyman to a doctor, you couldn't really get much further far removed, could you? It's great playing such a different sort of role.
Lachlan debuted on-screen on 19 March 1997. His initial scenes depict him taking his new position at the hospital where an established doctor, Kelly Watson (Katrina Hobbs), takes a dislike to him because he is considered more experienced, despite them being equally qualified.[5]
Grieve told Helen Childs from Inside Soap that Lachlan is completely different from Sam. He enjoyed playing a doctor because of the "amazing" experiences it created. The actor had to research the profession before taking the part. He also told Childs that "we have a medical advisor on the show who helps with the medical scenes, and she also arranged for me to go to St Vincent's hospital in Sydney to observe some operations."[6] He is characterised as a sweet, gentle, tall, dark and handsome man.[7] A writer from the official Home and Away website said that Lachlan had a "brilliance" about him. His mother, Diana (Kerry McGuire), likes to meddle in her son's lives. Lachaln tolerates her interfering in his business and does not dare to stand up to her.[8]
Lachlan begins a relationship with
Lachlan sleeps with
In 1998, Grieve decided to leave the show and Lachlan was written out. Inside Soap's Herbison reported that Lachlan's final storyline could see him leave Chloe as a single parent.[18] Lachlan is diagnosed with a brain tumour and has to have life-saving surgery. Lachlan and Chloe love each other and just welcomed their first child. Wright told Inside Soap's Murphy that Chloe's new life with Lachlan appears to be over. She found the scenes in which Chloe stays by Lachlan's bedside emotional and difficult to portray because Grieve was a close friend.[17] Lachlan leaves an upset Chloe and Summer Bay behind to have possible life-saving treatment in the US.[19] In his final episodes, Chloe tracks Lachlan down to a US hospital where he is attempting to recover from his brain tumour.[20] Producers had invested time to develop Lachlan and Chloe's relationship, so they decided to replace the character and continue the storyline. Michael Piccirilli was cast as Lachlan's brother James - a fellow doctor. Piccirilli told Inside Soap's Herbison that "the purpose of my character was to come in and marry the girl who was having my brother's baby."[21] Chloe discovers that Lachlan married another woman and she decides to be with James.[14]
Storylines
Lachlan is at work at the Northern Districts Hospital when he consoles an upset Shannon. He invites her to the hospital ball and Shannon accepts. When a storm causes as blackout in Summer Bay, Lachlan attends to a shipwreck and clashes with Kelly Watson, the doctor he is replacing. Lachie moves in with Kelly's ex-boyfriend
Lachlan is upset and has sex with Chloe, but they agree that it was a one-night stand. Chloe becomes to victim of a hate campaign led by Brad Cooper (
Lachlan begins feeling increasingly tired and goes for a check-up. He is diagnosed with a brain tumour and forced to have surgery, which is successful. But he suffers a
Reception
For his portrayal of Lachlan, Grieve was nominated for the "Most Popular Actor" award at the 1998 Logie Awards.[22] The episode featuring Lachlan's departure was nominated for the "Best Episode in a Television Serial" accolade at the 1998 AFI awards.[23] The following year an episode featuring Lachlan's memorial service gained a nomination in the same category.[24] A reporter from Inside Soap said that Lachlan was a "dreamboat" and that Grieve was popular in Home and Away than he was in Neighbours.[2] A writer for Soap Stars said that Lachlan was the show's "dishiest doc".[9] An Inside Soap critic observed Lachlan as able to carry out all forms of medicine. After "delivering babies, removing appendixes, locating toxic chemicals in creeks", they began to think that he was the only doctor at the hospital. They concluded that "he appears to be available all day, every day for those Summer Bay disasters, yet always finds some time to pop round for a cuppa to see how you're doing. Our Hero!."[7]
References
- ^ Herbison, Jason (11–24 January 1997). "Bay man Sam!". Inside Soap (66): 38.
- ^ a b "Richard Grieve at home". Inside Soap (80): 20. 26 July – 8 August 1997.
- ^ Jones, Andrea (2 February 1997). "Show & tell". The Sun-Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ^ "I'm a Bay boy now!". Inside Soap (74): 12. 3–16 May 1997.
- ^ Jones, Andrea (16 March 1997). "Now on TV". The Sun-Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ^ a b Childs, Helen (31 May – 13 June 1997). "We've got that loving feeling!". Inside Soap (76): 18, 19.
- ^ a b "Just what the doctor ordered". Inside Soap (94): 24, 25. 7–20 February 1998.
- ^ "James Fraser". seven.com.au. (Seven Network). Archived from the original on 15 January 2000. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Home and Away (ITV)". Soap Stars (1): 62. September–October 1997.
- ^ "What's Lachie's big secret?". Inside Soap (82): 30. 23 August – 5 September 1997.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Steven; Timblick, Simon (20 September – 3 October 1997). "Let's kiss and make up!". Inside Soap (84): 10, 11.
- ^ "Monday 29 September". Inside Soap (84): 56. 20 September – 3 October 1997.
- ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Steven (24 January – 6 February 1998). "From here to paternity". Inside Soap (93): 32, 33.
- ^ a b c "Chloe Richards". seven.com.au. (Seven Network). Archived from the original on 23 January 2000. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Wednesday 28 January". Inside Soap (93): 48. 24 January – 6 February 1998.
- ^ Murphy, Steven (16–29 May 1998). "Summer babe!". Inside Soap (101): 14.
- ^ a b Murphy, Steven (27 June – 10 July 1998). "The beginning of the end". Inside Soap (104): 16.
- ^ Herbison, Jason (30 May – 12 June 1998). "Alas poor Lachie". Inside Soap (102): 33.
- ^ Andrea, Black, ed. (28 January 2009). "Home and Away – Official Collector's Edition" (1). Pacific Magazines: 34, 50.
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(help) - ^ Browne, Rachel (22 November 1998). "The great suspenders". The Sun-Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Herbison, Jason (21–27 February 2004). "Where are they now?". Inside Soap (8): 98.
- ^ Herbison, Jason (21 March – 3 April 1998). "Going for gold". Inside Soap (97): 34.
- ^ "AFI Award Winners Feature Categories 1958-2009". afi.org.au. (Australian Film Institute). 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ^ "AACTA Winners & Nominees 1999". aacta.org. (Australian Film Institute). Retrieved 10 March 2013.
External links
- Character profile at the Internet Movie Database