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Two pippas

Pippa, as played by Vanessa Downing from 1988-1990 (L) and Debra Lawrance 1990-1998 (R)

Phillipa "Pippa" Routledge (previously Ross and Fletcher, née King) [1]OAM was a main character from January 1988 (Pilot Episode) until March 1998 (Episode 2343). She made later guest appearances in 2000 and 2002-2009. Her last appearance was in April 2009. Pippa, also known as Pip, first appeared in the pilot episode. During her time on Home and Away she was married three times and widowed twice. She was also foster mum to many of Summer Bay's young residents.

Pippa was played by Vanessa Downing from 1988-1990, then by Debra Lawrance from 1990-2009. The recasting of Pippa has become iconic because neither Vanessa nor Debra resemble each other in any way.

Biography[]

Pippa Ross
Character Profile
Birthday: 30 September 1950
Birthplace: Sydney
Father: Bert King
Mother: Coral King
Siblings: Danny King
Spouse: Tom Fletcher (1969-1990)
Michael Ross (1991-1996)
Ian Routledge (1999-)
Children: Christopher Fletcher (1986)
Sally Fletcher (adoptive, 1989)
Dale Ross (deceased, 1993)
Unnamed daughter (2000)
Occupation: Manager of Summer Bay Caravan Park
Played By: Vanessa Downing (1988-1990)
Debra Lawrance (1990-2009)

Backstory[]

Pippa King was born in 30 September 1950 in Sydney, the youngest child of Bert and Coral King. Pippa had a brother called Danny who was 4 years older than her. Danny was a former champion cricketer but was left wheelchair-bound after sustaining injuries during the Vietnam War. Pippa met her first husband Tom Fletcher through Danny. Although Pippa thought Tom would never see her as anything other than Danny's kid sister, they fell in love and married in 1969. Pippa trained as a nurse but by 1988, she was no longer working as one. She was advised not to have children of her own for medical reasons. Because of this, she and Tom decided to foster children instead. They fostered Frank Morgan in 1978 and over time they added more kids to the family.

1988-1990[]

Pippa 1

Vanessa Downing as Pippa (1988)

In January 1988 Tom was made redundant and had no luck finding a new job. Under threat of having their foster family split up, the Fletchers decided to sell their house in The City and move to Summer Bay. They bought Summer Bay House and the adjoining Caravan Park and from Alf Stewart. By now, their family consisted of Frank, Sally Keating, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport and Carly Morris. Shortly after their move, they fostered local tearaway Bobby Simpson. In 1989 they fostered Bryan Forbes (Dodge) but he was a rare failure. Then again it isn't every day someone is given a soon-to-be convicted murderer to foster.

Pippa became pregnant in early 1988 and despite the risks, decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. She gave birth to a son called Christopher in August 1988 (Episode 156). In 1990 Pippa and Tom fostered Sophie Simpson, Bobby's adoptive sister.

Pippa and Tom had a long and happy marriage, though it did have its ups and downs. In 1989 Tom suffered a stroke which hospitalised him for a time. Several months later, a devious shark-hunter called Zac Burgess led some of the locals to believe that he was having an affair with Pippa. This put a strain on the Fletcher's marriage but the truth came out in the end. In April 1990, Pippa was widowed when Tom died suddenly from a heart attack. He was driving the family car at the time. Luckily his passengers Stephen, Bobby and Sophie were uninjured in the crash (Episode 525). Unsurprisingly Pippa was devastated but had to move on with her life. Things became uncomfortable for her when Donald Fisher, who had been helping her out, revealed that he had developed feelings for her. She gently let him down and they managed to return to being friends again.

1990-1998[]

H&a pippa 1993

Debra Lawrance as Pippa (1993)

One night, Pippa went to bed and her physical appearance changed overnight for some weird reason. She came downstairs in the morning with a different physique, voice and burgundy hair.

In October 1990, Michael Ross moved to Summer Bay and rented a caravan from Pippa in the Caravan Park. After initially being torn between her attraction to Michael and her guilt over moving on from Tom, they became a couple. They married in April 1991 (Episode 757) and Michael's teenage son Haydn joined the family. The Rosses carried on the tradition of fostering wayward teens, taking in Finlay Roberts, Damian Roberts, Shannon Reed, Sam Marshall and Jack Wilson. They briefly fostered the scheming Tracey Turner in 1991 but she asked to leave when she was caught red-handed plotting against Sophie.

In February 1993 (Episode 1176), Pippa and Michael had a baby son called Dale but they were devastated when the little tot died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome two months later (Episode 1221). Pippa and Michael's troubles didn't end there. They ran into financial problems, exacerbated when Haydn ripped them off and saddled them with a sizeable debt. Their marriage nearly went to the wall in late 1994, with Michael moving out for a short while. With the help of some marriage counselling, they managed to sort their problems out and got back together again. Sadly, their happiness wasn't to last. In April 1996 (Episode 1912), Michael was drowned while saving Sam who had fallen into a heavily flooded river.

Pippa continued to foster even after Michael's death. Liam Tanner, Justine Wells and Tiegan Brook lived with her. In 1997, Shannon's abusive boyfriend Kye Lyons knocked Pippa over and put her into a coma. When she came around, she couldn't remember anybody or anything for a while. One of the things she had to deal with all over again was her grief over Michael's death. Also in 1997, Pippa was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her years of service as a foster parent.

In September 1997, widower Ian Routledge came to stay in the caravan park. He and Pippa fell for each other and he asked her to come with him when he had to leave again. She decided against it but when he returned unexpectedly at the end of the year, absence had made the heart grow fonder. In March 1998 she and Christopher went travelling with Ian, intending to return. Her plans changed off-screen when she became pregnant and decided to settle with Ian in the Carrington Ranges. Ian returned to Summer Bay alone in 1999 and tied up some loose ends. Pippa let it known to her foster kids that they'd be welcome to join her and Ian in their new home. Only Tiegan made the move. Pippa gave birth to a baby girl and married Ian. Sally travelled to her wedding. She cut her last remaining ties to Summer Bay when she sold the house and caravan park.

2000-2009[]

Pippa made several return visits to Summer Bay over the next decade. She came back to attend Sally's aborted wedding to Kieran Fletcher in 2000. She also returned for Alf's Birthday, Sally's wedding to Flynn Saunders and to look after the kids in the Beach House while Irene Roberts was away.

Memorable info[]

Date of birth: 30 September 1950

Full Name: Philippa "Routledge. (Née King, later Fletcher, then Ross)

First Line "We never thought it would be easy." (to Mr Jarvis)

Last Line "Oh, it's always my pleasure, any time. Bye-bye." (to Leah)

  • Pippa is 3 weeks younger than her friend Ailsa Stewart who died in 2000.
  • The late Carol Willesee was originally cast as Pippa and filmed some scenes for the 1987 Pilot episode. When she decided not to commit to the show and quit, Vanessa Downing was quickly cast as Pippa, and the necessary scenes were re-shot. It is not known if any of Carol's scenes still exist. Jackie Woodburne (aka Susan Kennedy on Neighbours) was shortlisted for the role of Pippa in both 1987 and 1990. In real life, Jackie is close friends with Debra Lawrance. In 2018-2019 Debra played Jackie's on-screen sister on Neighbours.
  • On one occasion when Vanessa Downing and Debra Lawrance met up, they discussed the fridge in Summer Bay House. Fridges are noisy so this one was never plugged in. It never smelled good when anybody opened the door. Think about that next time you see someone go to the fridge for a nice refreshing cold drink...
  • Pippa is married to Michael in real life. Debra Lawrance and Dennis Coard became a couple while they were working on Home and Away and married in 1992. When Debra became pregnant, the writers made Pippa pregnant too.
  • The actors who played all three of Pippa's husbands were born outside of Australia. Roger Oakley (Tom) is from New Zealand, Dennis Coard (Michael) is from Northern Ireland and Patrick Dickson (Ian) is English.
  • If you look carefully at some of the family photos in Summer Bay House after Debra Lawrance took over the role of Pippa, you might spot her head badly "photoshopped" onto the original Pippa's body.
  • Pippa was awarded the Order of Australia for services to foster parenting. She is one of the few fictional characters to be awarded such an honour.
  • Unusually, Pippa is older than either of the actresses who played her.

Personality[]

Pippa is very nurturing and friendly, taking in wayward foster children from Steven Matheson to Jack Wilson. She can also be quite fiery and strong-willed. She sometimes bottles things up and can be quite stubborn.

She is very talented in the kitchen and in particular loves to bake. She supplied the Bayside Diner with a seemingly endless supply of cakes and meatloaves. She is also a whiz with a sewing machine.

Family[]

Father Bert King

Mother Coral King

Siblings Danny King

Spouse Tom Fletcher (1969-1990), Michael Ross (1991-1996), Ian Routledge (1999-present)

Children Christopher Fletcher, Dale Ross (deceased), Sally Fletcher (adoptive), unnamed daughter with Ian Routledge

Grandchildren Pippa Saunders (2002)

See also[]

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