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Guest Character Profiles > Prue Brown Penny Cook

Prudence [Prue] Brown 2007-
Marital Status: Graham Brown
Children: Johnny, George [Frazer], Paul, Pauline and Ringo

Raising three sons, Johnny, George and Paul, in the country town of Muttatang, Prue Brown’s life was shattered when, on Christmas Day 1985, Paul drowned in the family swimming pool, at the age of 13 months. The accident was witnessed by three-year-old George, who was too young to help, but his parents were still alarmed that he had simply stood by and watched Paul drown. In the years that followed, Prue and Graham Brown had two more children, a daughter named Pauline and another son, Ringo, but Paul’s tragic death had affected them deeply and they struggled to get close to any of their children, particularly George. Unable to cope with the atmosphere in his family, George left home as a teenager and changed his name to Frazer Yeats, taking up gambling to make ends meet and having little contact with his parents or siblings.

Meanwhile, Johnny got engaged to Rosetta, the eldest daughter of the influential Cammeniti family, but things didn’t last long between them, as Rosie was being pushed into the marriage by her parents, but had no genuine feelings for Johnny. Keeping up to date with family news, Frazer heard about Rosie leaving Johnny and moving to Ramsay Street, so he took a room in the same house as her and, eventually, the pair ended up together and engaged to be married. Frazer’s younger brother Ringo, who also struggled with his parents’ lack of emotion and went to boarding school, also ended up living with Rosie and Frazer. When Frazer was paralyzed in an accident, his specialist informed him that his physical wounds had healed and he was only unable to walk due to some kind of psychiatric problem. After visiting his grandparents’ graves and then finding a small memorial to Paul, he confronted Prue about the younger brother he didn’t remember. Prue refused to talk about what had happened and Frazer accused her of always turning her back whenever a situation required any emotional investment.

A few days later, Rosie and Frazer went to Muttatang, convinced that Paul’s death might hold the key to Frazer’s psychological problems. Prue finally opened up about everything, admitting that perhaps a part of her had blamed Frazer for all those years, but it hadn’t been intentional. Thankful that they could finally be open and honest with each other, mother and son agreed to try to be closer, before heading back to Erinsborough to explain everything to Ringo, who then went back to spend a few days with his mum. Three weeks later, Prue returned to Erinsborough, with Graham and Johnny, for Frazer’s wedding to Rosie, during which he managed to walk down the aisle, with a little assistance from his friends. Though the day was a huge success and managed to heal many of the rifts in the Brown family, it ended badly when several wedding guests, amongst them Ringo, were involved in a crash, and the youngest Brown son was left in a coma.

Prue made regular visits to the hospital, and was greatly relieved when Ringo woke up, but deeply disturbed when he told her that he was in love - with Rosie's sister, Carmella, several years his senior. Prue blamed Ringo's behaviour on Frazer, who she told to snap him out of it so that he could concentrate on his recovery. However, when Ringo then found out that Carmella had lied to him, claiming that she loved him when they were trapped together during the accident, he decided that he needed to get away and took up his mum's offer to move back home for a while. Frazer, worried about his brother's state of mind, decided to join them and Prue was delighted to have two of her children to fuss over, though all three were alarmed when news filtered down to them that Carmella was pregnant. Ringo broke down and admitted that he and Carmella had done nothing more than kiss, and, over the days that followed, he and Frazer had several breakthroughs, both with each other, and with their mum. A week later, Frazer was ready to get back home to his new bride and Prue insisted that he take Ringo with him, as he needed to stand on his own two feet and she knew that she was guilty of smothering him. And so, after reminding them to visit regularly, and finally agreeing to call 'George' Frazer from now on, she bid her two sons goodbye.

Some months later, Ringo's problems, and feelings that he had no control over his life, had manifested themselves into an eating disorder. When Frazer and Rosie found out about it, they struggled to deal with what was happening, particularly as Ringo refused to admit that he even had a problem, and Frazer started to doubt that anything was seriously wrong. However, after overhearing Ringo purging in the back garden, after forcing him to sit and eat a meal, Frazer realised that he couldn't deal with this alone and called their mum. Prue arrived in Erinsborough armed with knowledge of eating disorders from the internet and told her youngest son that she wasn't going to allow this problem to continue, so he could either stay in Erinsborough and get help for it, or she'd take him back to Muttatang to do the same. Aware that he could no longer lie or deny what was going on, Ringo agreed to make an appointment with school counsellor Daniel Fitzgerald.

It wasn't long, however, before Ringo became frustrated with everyone's interference in his life, and when Daniel gave him some reading material about eating disorders, accidentally including a cartoon he'd drawn of hated teacher Helen Carr, Ringo considered photocopying it. He backed out at the last minute, but Jessica Wallace found the cartoon left in the photocopier and pasted it all over the corridors. A worried Ringo turned to his mum for advice, leaving out most of the details, and she told him to do the right thing, so, after learning that Mr Fitzgerald had owned up and could lose his job, Ringo stepped in, took the blame for the drawing and received a detention. Back at home, Prue had received a phonecall from the school and, when Ringo arrived home, she forced to him to sit down and eat two biscuits in front of her, or he could pack his bags and return to Muttatang straight away. As the days went on, Ringo started to worry Prue and Frazer as he grew more distant, then snapped at Mr Fitzgerald in the General Store. Back at home, he was surprised to find the three of them waiting for him, and he broke down, admitting that he had tried and failed to talk to girlfriend Rachel and feared the relationship was over. Daniel, Frazer and Prue encourage Ringo to open up to Rachel about his eating disorder but this only seemed to make matters worse, as Rachel couldn't find the words to talk to him, leaving Prue worried that Ringo was on a downward spiral and she might be about to watch another son die.

Soon after, Ringo overheard his mum on the phone, talking to his dad about how they would have to cancel the cruise they'd been saving for, as she couldn't leave Ringo on his own at a time like this. Realising how much she was sacrificing for him, Ringo was spurred into action, and he had Rosie draw up a legal document, promising that he would do his best to eat from now on, regardless of whether he was dumped by a girl. He presented the document to Prue, along with some suntan lotion and sea sickness tablets, but she wasn't convinced, until she later saw him about to throw a sandwich in the bin, before stopping, looking at the promises on the piece of paper and taking a bite. Happy that Ringo was finally moving in the right direction, and had Frazer and Rosie to care for him, Prue left for her cruise.

Biography by Steve

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