Inside Soap, Issue 70, 8-21 March 1997

My screen brother became a surrogate son!

Ailsa's brother spells trouble ... but in real life Judy and Bruce Nunn took the actor under their wing

[BK: Judy Nunn's husband is actually called Bruce Venables]

As is seeing her murderous secret splashed over the newspapers recently wasn't enough, Summer Bay's Ailsa Stewart is about to come face to face with her past - and with someone who is determined she should pay for her actions.

"Ailsa's younger brother, Tony, turns up in town," reveals Judy Nunn, who has played Ailsa since the show began nine years ago. "There's still a lot of animosity between them over the death of Ailsa's father when they were both fairly young."

And no wonder - after all, Ailsa did kill their dad. However, she had her reasons. She was saving her mother from the violent wife-beater when she carried out the act. Ailsa has already justified her actions to half of Summer Bay, after a sensationalised account of the events became front-page news recently - but Tony isn't quite as easy to convince.

"He's not as old as Ailsa," explains Judy. "So he doesn't remember the circumstances at the time very well. He starts to threaten her and make demands, but Ailsa's strong and won't give in. And that's when things start to turn nasty."

Tony is ordered to stay away from Ailsa, but he isn't about to give up quite so easily.

"He ends up smuggling himself in and living in the eaves of her house," reveals Judy. "He's watching her, and it really looks like he's going to kill her."

However, it's not Ailsa Tony ends up getting his hands on, but her little son, Duncan. Is Tony about to take the ultimate payback by murdering someone precious to her, as she did to him? The tension is mounting as the Summer Bay residents wait with bated breath to see just how far Tony will go for revenge.

Although Ailsa may be going through the mill at the moment, for Judy the storyline was a far more pleasant experience.

"I worked with Danny Roberts, who plays Tony, many years ago on Sons and Daughters and we became great mates," enthuses Judy. "In fact, he became sort of a surrogate son to my husband Bruce and me. It was great to catch up with him again.

"I enjoyed this storyline because I really had to pull my finger out and put some effort in. I think it works really well because of Danny's performance. He brought a lot of tension to the scenes."

But most of the time Judy's happy to leave the dramatic storylines to the youngsters, and stick to serving up burgers with side servings of good advice over the diner counter.

"That suits me fine as I have a lot of other interests which I then have plenty of time for," she confides. "I write for a living, and artistically I get more satisfaction from that. That isn't to say that Home and Away is my second job - I enjoy it and have a great loyalty to it." "I have my writing for creative fulfilment and I have the nice buzzy and social relationship with the actors in the show. I couldn't be luckier and I have the best of both worlds!"

Jason Herbison

10 things you didn't know about Judy ...

As well as writing a string of successful novels, Judy has also written scripts for many TV shows - including rival soap Neighbours.
She married her husband, policeman-turned-actor Bruce Venables, the same week she filmed Ailsa's wedding to Alf.
Bruce spoke the first words on Home and Away as a police officer chasing young tearaway Frank Morgan.
Her mother is a famous Australian actress called Nancy Nunn. Judy made her professional acting debut aged 12, in a play in Perth.
She moved to the UK when she was 22, where she worked as an actress for many years.
Among the British television shows she starred in are the classics Z Cars and The Onedin Line.
She's a bit of a soap veteran, having appeared in Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice and classic Aussie soap The Box.
Judy reckons the best actor on Home and Away is Kate Ritchie, who's been with the show, like Judy, since the very first episode.
When Ailsa had a nervous breakdown and saw Bobby emerge from the fridge, it was all so that Judy could go on a six-week holiday to the UK while Ailsa was in hospital recovering.
The main difference between Ailsa and Judy? "I'm not at all mumsy. I'm much more bitchy, I can be really vile, which is not in her nature."