Carly Morris
| Carly Morris | |||||||||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Sharyn Hodgson | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1988–1991, 1997, 2000-02, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 17 January 1988 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 3 April 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Alan Bateman (1988) John Holmes (1997, 2000) Julie McGuaran (2001–2002) Cameron Welsh (2008) |
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| Book appearances |
The Carly Morris Story Dangerous Ride Carly's Crisis |
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| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
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| Occupation | Student (1988–1989) Waitress (1989–1991) |
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| Home | Perth | ||||||||||||
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| Father | George Morris |
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| Sisters | Samantha Morris |
| Husband | Ben Lucini (1990–) |
| Sons | Jordy Lucini Michael Lucini |
| Daughters | Philippa Lucini |
| Grandmothers | Ellen Morris |
Carly Lucini (née Morris) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. The character was played by actress Sharyn Hodgson appearing in its pilot episode in 1988. She remained a regular until 1991, and has made numerous guest appearances since this time.
She was one of the soap's original female protagonists, appearing as one of the Fletchers' foster children in the pilot episode on January 17, 1988. The soap's primary focus was placed upon the Fletchers and their gang of foster children, moving as outsiders to a caravan park in the seaside town of Summer Bay. Carly remained in the serial as a regular character until 1991, covering issues such as rape, alcoholism and child abuse, as well as a problematic marriage to soldier Ben Lucini, played by actor Julian McMahon.
Carly's rape, which occurred while she was hitchhiking in 1988, was one of the soap's first controversial story lines. Andrew Mercado, author of Super Aussie Soaps, has commented that "although the word 'rape' was never actually uttered on-screen, savvy viewers caught on. In the aftermath of her assault, Carly began drinking heavily and the ratings continued to grow. From a low of 9, Home and Away slowly built its audience until the show was scoring 25 by the end of its first year. The serial was finally a hit". In the storyline, Carly kept the rape a secret initially, but after the truth came out the residents of Summer Bay "were shown to be divided as to whether or not Carly had contributed to the situation through reckless behaviour". The aftermath of the event explored Carly's descent into alcoholism and drug abuse, which has been described as "very brave territory for a prime-time soap [...] the Carly Morris storyline pointed to the fact that if there were feathers to be ruffled, Home and Away would ruffle them." During the time of the rape's airing, various protests were launched by the viewing public and the Australian media, who believed it should not have been broadcast. In an interview in 1989, Hodgson defended the storyline, saying "In Home and Away we show life as it really happens. It's not irresponsible to show attacks, unwanted pregnancies or people turning to alcohol. It's realistic and it shows we are confronting these problems. The thing about having a foster family as the main characters is that they do have trauma in their lives. Seeing how they cope must help people". Hodgson researched the storyline by calling the Rape Crisis Centre, reading articles and watching documentaries.
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