Angie Russell is a fictional character from the Australian
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...
'', played by
Laurie Foell
Laurie Foell (born Laurence Foel on 10 February 1968) is an Argentinian-born Australian actress. She is best known for her portrayal of both Angela "Angie" Russell and her cousin Josie, in the successful Australian television soap opera ''Ho ...
. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 September 2002. Foell departed on 21 March 2003, but her character subsequently appeared as a ghost in her daughter's dreams on 24 May 2004.
Storylines
Angie arrives in Summer Bay to take on the position of Deputy Principal and meets her former flame
Rhys Sutherland
Rhys Sutherland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Home and Away'', portrayed by actor Michael Beckley from 2000 to late 2004.
Casting
Beckley spent 20 years as a theatre actor before he joined the cast of '' Home and Awa ...
(
Michael Beckley
Michael Beckley is an Australian actor. He has worked with major theatre companies in both Australia and the United Kingdom, and appeared on London's West End in ''A Few Good Men'' (starring Rob Lowe) and ''Cabaret'' (directed by award-winning ...
). Her son,
Dylan (
Brett Hicks-Maitland) immediately takes a shine to Rhys' daughter
Kirsty
Kirsty or Kirstie is a feminine given name and nickname.
It is a Scottish diminutive of Christine in English-speaking countries and is also linked to Kirsten — the Scandinavian version of Christine.
People
* Kirstie Alley (1951–2022), Ame ...
(
Christie Hayes
Christie Lynne Hayes is an Australian actress and singer, known for her work on the television series ''Home and Away'' as Kirsty Sutherland, Kirsty Phillips (née Sutherland) who she played from June 2000 to February 2005, and again from May ...
). Angie later drops a massive bombshell, revealing that Dylan is Rhys' son from a one-night stand during his marriage, sending shockwaves through the Sutherland family. Rhys' marriage to
Shelley (
Paula Forrest
Paula Forrest (born 14 July, c. 1965) an Australians, Australian actress, best known for playing the role of Shelley Sutherland on the long-running Australian soap opera ''Home and Away''
In ''Home and Away'' (1988), Forrest played the part of ...
) gradually breaks down. In the midst of this, Angie begins a relationship with recently released
Jesse McGregor
Jesse McGregor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by actor Ben Unwin. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 May 1996. The actor departed in 2000, but returned in 200 ...
(
Ben Unwin
Ben Denis Unwin (15 August 1977 – 14 August 2019) was an Australian actor and music video director, best known for portraying Jesse McGregor on the television soap opera ''Home and Away'' from 1996 until 2000, and again from 2002 to 2005. For ...
) and even lies to Detective
Mike Carter (Stephen Leeder) about Jesse's whereabouts on the night of a murder.
Angie begins playing mind games with
Nick
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Place ...
when she catches him fighting with Dylan. Angie uses her feminine wiles to seduce Nick and then rejects him. When Nick confronts her in a classroom one day, Angie starts screaming and tearing at her clothing, and Nick is framed for sexual assault as a result. Even after she dropped the charges, the police still pursue Nick. Justice
Morag Bellingham
Morag Buckton (also Stewart and Bellingham) QC is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 7 June 1988. She appeared u ...
(
Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances Zulver, OAM (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her ...
), has prior information about a scandal Angie had been involved in at her nephew
Duncan's (Brendan McKensy) school in the city where Angie had taught and seduced one of her students,
Stephen Ross (
Oliver Ackland
Oliver Ackland (born 9 November 1979) is an Australian actor.
Biography
In 2009 he was awarded the inaugural Heath Ledger scholarship by Australians in Film.
Ackland starred in Ben Lucas' ''Wasted on the Young'', which premiered at the 2010 ...
) but it backfires when Angie takes a defamation of character suit against Morag and Stephen lies on the stand in the belief that he and Angie will be together. Nick is then tried and found guilty of and sentenced to community service at a retirement home.
The Bay then turns on Angie, resulting in her becoming more and more unstable. She torches
Scott Hunter's boatshed and blackmails
Josh West
A. Joshua West (born 25 March 1977) is a dual citizen British-American Olympic rower and Earth Sciences professor. He is a two-time World Championship silver medalist, a World Championship bronze medalist, and a four-time Cambridge Blue, and r ...
(
Daniel Collopy
Daniel Collopy (born 1 February 1978) is an Australian actor.
Career
His first television role was in 2000 as the character of Sean Edwards in the long-running Australian soap '' Neighbours''. Following this Collopy was offered a regular role ...
) over his dealing with a local councillor. Toward the end of Angie's reign of terror over Summer Bay, Angie discovers Dylan is not Rhys' son and worse was to come when Nick with the help of Kirsty, her sister
Jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
(
Kate Garven
Jade Sutherland is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera '' Home and Away'', played by Kate Garven. She appeared in the series from 19 June 2000 until 3 June 2004.
Character development
Jade is introduced into the s ...
) and
Seb Miller
Sebastian "Seb" Miller is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Home and Away'', played by Mitch Firth. He first appeared on 21 June 2001 and departed on 28 April 2004.
Casting
Actor Norman Coburn, who played Donald Fisher, wa ...
(Mitch Firth) and gains a measure of revenge by videoing Angie threatening Nick. Following this, Angie's employment is terminated by Principal
Paris Burnett
''Home and Away'' is an Australian soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2002 by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's ...
(Rhett Giles)
Several weeks later, Angie's body is found and the suspect list includes Dylan, the Sutherlands, Nick, Josh, Jesse,
Sally Fletcher
Sally Louise Fletcher (also Copeland and Keating) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Kate Ritchie. She made her first screen appearance during the serial's pilot episode, which was broadcast on 17 ...
(
Kate Ritchie
Katherine Leigh Ritchie is an Australian actress, radio presenter and children's author, she remains best known for her long-running role as original character Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera '' Home and Away'', for which she won tw ...
) and
Irene Roberts (
Lynne McGranger). They are all questioned and the police are convinced Rhys is the murderer, but as they are about to formally charge him with Angie's murder Dylan confesses to arguing with Angie then pushing her, resulting in her death when her head struck the edge of a table. Dylan stands trial in the city and is acquitted. Angie later appears in her daughter
Tasha Andrews
Natasha "Tasha" Hunter (also Andrews) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Isabel Lucas. She made her first screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 31 July 2003. Tasha departed the series on 10 ...
' (
Isabel Lucas
Isabel Lucas (born 29 January 1985) is an Australian actress and model. She is mainly known for her roles in '' Home and Away'' (2003–06), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009), ''Daybreakers'' (2009), ''The Waiting City'' (2009), ' ...
) dream as a ghost.
Reception
Writer David Dale for ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' described Angie as a "Supreme Super-bitch" in his article about the serial. He also opined the decision to kill her was a tactic to help
Channel 7 gain ratings against the impending return of
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
's ''
Big Brother.'' and likened Angie's killing off to the axing of Geoff Hill, the then-managing director of Sydney's branch of seven. Dale added "Angie's sin, by contrast, was that she was too interesting. Knocking her off was the most powerful way to hang on to Home and Away viewers who might have been getting a bit jaded after 15 years of sun, surf and teenage angst."
The ratings for the serial rose to 1.7 million viewers for the episode where Angie's body was discovered.
The revelation of Angie's killer and the aftermath raised audience figures in Australia to 1.5 million viewers, beating
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
's ''
Big Brother.''
A writer for ''
What's on TV
''What's on TV'' is a weekly television listings magazine published by Future PLC.
Overview
''What's on TV'' is a weekly UK television magazine. It publishes features, TV listings, news and gossip from soap operas, as well as puzzles and compe ...
'' included Angie on their list of "The 50 most evil soap villains of all time".
The writer stated "Actress Laurie Foell caused chaos not once but TWICE in ''Home and Away'' as evil Angela Russell and, later, as Angie's twisted cousin Josie."
A writer from the ''
Sunday Mercury'' described Angie as a "crackpot" and opined that the serial should "take lessons from British soaps about how to milk storylines", before adding "They won't be dragging this one out for months, as the killer confesses next week!"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Angie
Home and Away characters
Fictional schoolteachers
Fictional blackmailers
Television characters introduced in 2002
Female characters in television
Female villains