Brooke McPherson
Brooke McPherson (2004)
Alyssa McClelland
Episodes: 3741, 3785-3797
Children: Charlie McPherson
Occupation: Nanny
Brooke was first glimpsed in episode 3700 when Sally and Irene were checking Barry Hyde’s computer for viruses.They came across an e-mail with a photo of a girl in her late teens with a baby boy and a caption saying he looked like Barry and wondered if he had another son.A couple of weeks later, when several students took part in a lock-in at the school, Robbie also came across the photo whilst installing a webcam and failed to stop Kim seeing it.Kim told Robbie, Jade and Seb that the baby wasn’t Barry’s but his:Brooke was his ex-girlfriend.She had fallen pregnant but had told him she had had an abortion.
Kim confronted Barry who explained that Brooke had come to him and said she couldn’t go through with the abortion.Both of them had felt Kim wasn’t up to being a father so Barry agreed to support her and her son, Charles Jonathan(Charlie), in secret.Now that he knew about him, Kim was determined to be part of his son’s life and tried to make contact with Brooke.He asked Morag for help in gaining access but she misunderstood his instructions, thinking he was contesting paternity, and wrote to Brooke demanding a DNA test.
Soon after the matter was clear up, Brooke made her first visit to Summer Bay with Charlie so Kim could spend time with his son.She admitted she wasn’t with anyone else but reminded him that they hadn’t felt a baby was a good enough reason to be together before.She also told him that her parents had abandoned her when they found out she was pregnant but Barry had made sure they had been looked after.Kim was left grateful for the visit and eager to see Charlie again.
Some weeks later, Barry approached Sally and Leah with a proposition:That Sally hire Brooke as a nanny for Pippa when she returned to work and that Leah give her a place to stay, so that Kim would be able to spend time with Charlie.What no-one knew was that Barry and Brooke had their own reasons for wanting the arrangement.When Brooke arrived in town, Barry told her he’d been having second thoughts about the plan, since he and Kim were now getting on well, but she refused to back out.
When Kim came round to visit Charlie, he was surprised but not unreceptive when Brooke came on strong with him and seduced him.Leah was annoyed when she came home and found Brooke in bed with Kim when she was supposed to be looking after VJ.She told Sally that she thought Brooke had really come to Summer Bay because she was trying to entice Kim into marrying her.Sally, however, realised Brooke was actually trying to scare Kim off because she didn’t want him in her and Charlie’s lives.She confronted Barry, who admitted it was true, and refused to keep quiet on the grounds that since Barry had used her to bring Brooke to the Bay, she was an accessory to the deception, telling Brooke that if she wasn’t honest with Kim, she would tell him what was going on.
Kim was furious when he found out and began to realise he was never going to be allowed to be a proper father to Charlie.He took his son out without telling anyone, intending to spend one last day with him. Brooke was frantic when she found him missing, fearing Kim had snatched him, and left him several phone messages demanding he return him.When Kim eventually turned up with Charlie, Brooke prepared to leave town.
However, as Brooke was saying goodbye to Barry, Kim suddenly turned up:He recalled how Brooke had kept referring to Charlie as her son in her messages and realised he wasn’t Charlie’s father.Brooke confirmed that it was true:Finding herself pregnant, she had slept with Kim so everyone would think he was the father, knowing Barry would be willing to provide for her in order to keep Kim out of it.She remained unapologetic for her actions, insisting she had just done what she needed to look after herself and her son.