Drew Curtis
Andrew Curtis (2006-2008)
Bobby Morley
Episodes: 4225–4600
Parents: Peter Baker & Jazz Curtis
Step Parents: Amanda Vale; Kevin Freeman
Siblings: One unnamed sibling (half)
Step Siblings: Belle Taylor & Ryan Baker; Bree & Essie Freeman
Occupation: Student, Mechanic, Barworker
The result of a relationship between Peter Baker and his teenage girlfriend Christy (later changed to Jacinta), Drew grew up without his father in his life. In fact Peter didn’t even know of Drew’s existence until Drew was a teenager, when Christy met a new man with children of his own and decided Drew was surplus to requirements. Amazed to hear he had a son Peter attempted to build a relationship with Drew but he made it clear he was not interested in getting to know his father so Peter settled for paying Drew’s fees for boarding school instead.
As it happened the boarding school fees turned out to be the reason Drew ended up coming to the Bay. With Peter seemingly dead after the explosion at Jack and Martha’s wedding, his brother Dan was going through his things and found a bank account for one Andrew Curtis and a letter from the Boarding School. Heading over there intent on finding out why this ‘teacher’ was blackmailing Peter, Dan was stunned to be introduced to his nephew.
Initially Drew reacted to the news of his father’s death with cold-hearted indifference, simply asking where the money was going to come from to keep him at boarding school. Dan invited Drew to Peter’s memorial service but he declined the invitation. Later though Dan heard that Drew had packed his bags and left the Boarding School. He was further surprised when Drew turned up unexpectedly at the memorial service declaring his intentions to get what he was owed from Peter’s will. Thwarted by a clause in the will stating that he could not claim his inheritance until he came of age, Dan invited a reluctant Drew to stay with him and Leah.
At first the relationship between Drew and Dan was strained owing to the fact that Drew had never had a father figure but Drew bonded well with Dan’s wife Leah, her son V.J. and Dan’s son Ryan. When spates of fires were being lit around the Bay and Drew was the prime suspect Dan initially infuriated Drew by believing him responsible. Elsewhere in Drew’s life though things were looking up as he got together with feisty Belle Taylor, to Dan’s disapproval.
Drew’s relationship with Belle was threatened when he started to have feelings for her mother and Dan’s ex wife Amanda; eventually falling for her and breaking up with Belle. The subsequent fall out, in the midst of the plot towards Drew turning more sinister and more personal caused Dan to get behind Drew and for the two to bond. Events though were getting too much for Drew who decided he needed to get away and decided to leave the Bay.
On the way out of town a car began tailing him and just as he began to realise he was in danger another car pulled up and a masked man dragged him in and drove off with him. In an abandoned building his mystery captor was revealed to be his Dad Peter Baker who had been forced into faking his own death to escape the gangster Dennis Gillan who was after him. Peter explained that the vendetta against Drew had been an attempt on Gillan’s part to force Peter out into the open and it had worked as Peter was willing to give himself up to save his son. They shared a bonding moment with Drew finally admitting he wanted to get to know his Dad, just as Gillan’s men showed up.
Peter forced Drew to run and when a gunshot was heard, Drew broke down crying but somehow Peter had got the better of Gillan’s men and by the time the police turned up they were all dead except Peter who had some serious explaining to do. In the first few days back Drew and Peter started to get along okay but unknown to Drew Peter had formed an addiction to prescription drugs and turned to Amanda in an attempt to beat them. Drew understandably reacted badly to the news that his father was involved with the woman who had just broke his heart and hit him, knocking him out. Peter survived and father and son, slowly, with lots of ups and downs, began rebuilding a relationship.
In the meantime Drew was keen to rebuild another relationship, his one with Belle except that she was now seemingly happy with Lucas; or was she? When pushed it became clear that Belle still had feelings for Drew but refused to act on them, telling Drew to move on, so he did, with new girl Lisa. Tension between Belle and Drew refused to go away though until Lisa finally twigged what was going on and announced it to a bewildered Lucas, paving the way for what some of our forum members term, ‘Drelle’ to reunite.
With things going well in his own love life, Drew was there for his father as he prepared for his wedding to Amanda. With Amanda set up as a cheat and exposed on her wedding day, a furious Drew took his father’s side and after realising that Belle knew of her mother’s deception, broke up with her.
When Drew’s old school friend Jules turned up in town, he was initially delighted until it seemed that Jules had changed. Despite him stealing motorbikes, alcohol and picking fights, Drew continued to support his old friend believing there was a reason behind Jule’s behaviour. He was eventually proved right when Jules revealed that his girlfriend had died in a boating accident and Jules blamed himself.
Still Jules continued to cause Drew trouble, convincing him to throw a beach party for his eighteenth, despite Dan putting the stops on it. with his attention firmly set on winning Belle back after a succession of near misses Drew had too much to drink and mistakenly kissed another girl, believing she was Belle and earnt abuse from both and an earful from Dan when their deception was uncovered.
Furious that Drew had cheated on her Belle stole his assignment to get him into trouble but felt guilty when Drew used her action as a catalyst to quit school. Despite pressure from Dan and Leah he refused to get a job until Leah forced him to work in the Diner. Belle had a pool party at Amanda’s in order to get Drew back and her plan seemed to work until she caught sight of a text message from the girl he kissed and she furiously threw his phone into the pool before storming off. He managed to talk her round though and they reunited during a shift in the Diner with Belle convincing him not to cover for Jules anymore.
He did speak to Alex on Jules’s behalf and got the charges against him dropped but was gutted when Dan and Leah made him return home anyway. Jules left town but was later found hiding out in Amanda’s mansion and after a row with Dan and Leah, Drew decided to move in with him. They were caught hiding out by Colleen who forced them to help with cleaning out the house to impress a prospective buyer who turned out to be Drew’s mum Jacinta.
Drew was not at all pleased to see her and furiously rounded on Dan for calling her and moved out to Irene’s. With Irene eventually sending him home and Jules refusing to let him stay with him, Drew reluctantly moved back home. He was furious to find out that there had been something between Jazz and Jules and needed a sharp reminder from Belle that he was being a hypocrite.
When he and Belle damaged the pool table in Noah’s and ran away Jazz bailed them out but though Belle was grateful, Drew was furious. Jazz persisted in her schemes to win him over and when Drew decided he wanted a car he was convinced his mother would pay for it. Jazz however refused so Drew stole a cheque from her bag and used it to pay for the car. When Jazz found out she blackmailed him into moving it with her.
He was relieved though when Ric got him a job at The Garage, meaning he wasn’t solely reliant upon Jazz. She was still desperate to impress him though and managed to get him concert tickets but Drew infuriated Belle by selling them to Dom, Ric’s old colleague, in exchange for car parts. Drew finally managed to get replacement tickets but their night was ruined when Belle was mugged and unknown to them Dom pocketed Belle’s wallet and Jazz’s dead mothers necklace, that Drew had stolen to loan to Belle.
Jazz caused further problems for them when she invited Gina, the girl Drew kissed at his birthday party, round to the house. Before long another ex girlfriend of Drew’s was back on the scene. Lisa, who he cheated on with Belle and her boyfriend Denni continually challenged Drew to drag races and despite Ric and Belle’s attempts to talk him out of it, Drew agreed to go along. It backfired on him when the police raided and Dom took off in Drew’s car leaving him and Ric as the only people to get caught.
Things became increasingly out of hand as it became clear that Denni was a psycho and that Lisa was terrified of him. Dom’s stirring didn’t help things and when he got Belle drunk and stoned and held her against her will Drew saw red and hit him. When Lucas started a relationship with Lisa he borrowed Ric’s keys to go and save her and Ric and Drew were forced to go after him. They wound up being chased by Denni who had Lisa in his car and though they thought they had shaken him off it actually transpired that Denni’s car had gone down an embankment and both Lisa and Denni had died.
With Drew a suspect in the accident, the only thing that could have got him off was his car but rather than hand it over Drew dumped it and claimed it had been stolen. After a showdown with Belle, Drew turned his car in, only to find that road marks had put him in the clear for the accident but that now he was being charged with obstructing an investigation and having stolen car parts. Thanks to Belle and Jazz’s interventions though Drew was let off the hook.
Drew was shocked when a solicitor arrived in town and announced that he was his rich grandmother’s sole heir. Morag though had become suspicious of Jazz’s motives and offered to represent Drew. Her digging unearthed Jazz’s deceit but after a talk with Dan, Drew was willing to share the money with Jazz, until he heard that she planned to contest the will.
At first things seemed to be going Jazz’s way but then Morag uncovered more of her treachery and she was forced to drop the case. He then decided to drive her out of town by engineering a power cut at her house but it backfired when the house went on fire and Jazz barely survived. Drew agreed to use his inheritance to pay for the house repairs and gave the rest to Jazz on the proviso that she left the Bay for good. She took the money and left.
Sacked from his job at the garage, Drew got a job working in Noah’s but was gutted when a pool comp he organised went wrong landing him in trouble with Alf. He organised a romantic surprise for Belle but thanks to a mix up via Annie, she mistakenly believed he was going to propose. His surprise turned out to be a car and they headed off on a short road trip. Their trip was interrupted by a phone call saying that Belle had got the cadetship at the local paper that she was working towards and she wanted to head home.
Drew wasn’t keen though and they rowed. Belle stormed off and was later kidnapped by Dom. Convinced something was up, drew set about tracking her down and when he received a text saying ‘Dom is..’ he started looking into Dom’s whereabouts. With Dom’s Uncle’s help he managed to track Belle down and rescue her but as they tried to escape Dom ran out in front of them and Drew accidentally ran him over. He initially drove off but at Belle’s insistence they returned only to find blood on the ground but Dom missing.
She confided in him that she had kissed Dom and after initial anger they made up and went to bed together where they were unknowingly watched by Dom. He sold alcohol to minors and was sacked from Noah’s bar. When Dom turned up again and went to hospital he continually threatened to tell that Drew had run him down causing Drew and Belle a lot of stress. He was furious when, as Dom was wheeled into theatre she cried out that she loved him. With Belle visiting him in hospital Drew went to see him and warned him off but almost lost his temper.
He was angered again when Dom got a job in the Diner using Belle as a referee but thanks to Irene, he was shown up as a fraud and Belle forced him to leave town. Drew was then dealt a devastating blow when his Uncle Dan died in America and during his memorial service Belle opted to work by covering the beach memorial rather than support him. Dan’s death also sparked the return of Jazz to the Bay and having just lost Dan, Drew was more willing than usual to give her a chance.
He was furious when Belle failed to stop her boss Gavin printing two articles, one which painted Aden as a saint and another which portrayed Sally in a bad light. Drew resigned on Belle’s behalf only for her to retract it and confront him. An argument of magnificent proportions followed and Belle and Drew both said things that they could not take back. Drew decided to leave town saying goodbye to only Leah, infuriating Ric and his other friends.
Ric and Jazz both went to the City to reason with him but to no avail. Drew later returned to town and came to see Belle. He apologised for the things he had said, as did she and though they both accepted that their relationship was over, they parted on good terms. Drew was last seen driving away from the Bay to continue his education living with his father and Amanda in The City.