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Character Profiles > Luke Handley Bernard Curry

Luke Handley 1995-1996
Lived: 24, 26, 30 Ramsay Street
Siblings: Jen and Morgan
Family Tree: Handley
Occupation: Coffee Shop Assistant, Police Constable

As his sister, Jen, had become friendly with the residents of Ramsay Street, Luke had no problems fitting in, especially when he moved in with Mark and Ren at number 30. Luke quickly scored a job at the Coffee Shop, helping Mark run Doobee Pizza in the evenings. He also attracted attention from neighbour Libby Kennedy, who used him as a subject for her new hobby, photography.

While Luke felt an attraction to her, Libby was determined to make Luke hers, but he knew she was far too young for him and spent much of his time attempting to stay out of her way rather than handle things. The situation was only aggravated when Libby's father, Karl, got wind of it. After Karl witnessed them kissing in the Coffee Shop, he told Luke to stay away from his daughter. Luke's attentions then moved on to someone else - his housemate Ren. After several problems, namely the fact that they were living together, they made an attempt to be a couple. However, the pair seemed to spend more time arguing than anything else and decided they'd be better as friends than lovers.

However, after several weeks of denying his feelings for Ren and even starting to see other people, things came to a head when Ren's brother Mark ended up in a coma after falling from the roof of number 30. After seeing how much pain Ren was in, Luke decided to seize the moment and propose to her. She accepted and they started planning their future together. That future changed drastically when Luke was offered a job tutoring English in Japan. After weighing up the options with Ren, they decided to move out there together and make a fresh start.

A few months later, Billy Kennedy began noticing strange noises around the community bus, but nobody would believe his protests that it was haunted. However, it was soon revealed that it was no ghost, but Luke back from Japan. After turning away help from his friend Sam, Luke finally agreed to see Karl, who realised Luke was having a breakdown after things with Ren had gone wrong. Luke was extremely upset and angry, but eventually agreed to stay at the Robinson house for a while, until he was feeling better.

When his sister Jen returned to town, she decided to go and stay at number 30, to avoid the atmosphere between her and Phil. Luke realised that he'd be better off moving there too. He soon found a new job as a time share salesman, and romance with Nadia St Clair, but it quickly became obvious that she was only in it for her own gains. However, things were different when Luke met Kimberley Stevens, who was only hiding one secret from him - she was a policewoman. Things began to fall apart for them after Kimberley led a stakeout in Ramsay Street, during which Cody Willis was fatally shot, but Luke came away from the relationship with a new aim in life - joining the police force.

Luke was hopeful that he had finally found a career he would be happy in and proceeded with the training. However, he was in for a huge shock when, after completing the routine medical, he was given the news that he was suffering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer. Luke immediately began chemotherapy and, in an attempt to avoid the problems of his hair falling out, he made the decision to shave it all off. Luke's moods began to change radically during this period, with him swinging from being positive to losing all hope for the future. At one point, he decided to stop having the chemo and try out some alternative therapies, but he was given hope again by Charlie, a young boy he met at a camp for terminally ill children.

While he was going through this ordeal, Luke found a great deal of support from his neighbours Debbie Martin and Danni Stark, who invited him to move back into number 30. Luke quickly began to find the attentions of Debbie quite smothering and sought comfort with Danni. Romance blossomed between the couple but things were difficult as Danni struggled at times to cope with Luke's condition. Debbie was also upset at losing Luke and made many attempts to win him over herself, always ending in failure.

Luke was thrilled when he was given the news that his cancer had gone into remission. He made attempts to rebuild his life, but everytime he went for a job interview, he felt that his condition was holding him back. When Danni was offered a chance to further her fashion career in Malaysia, she was torn over leaving Luke, but eventually she went, as it was only for six months. In the meantime, Luke became a shoulder to cry on for his female housemates Catherine, Sarah and Jo. He also gave a talk to the kids at school about surviving cancer and Susan Kennedy then encouraged him to think about training as a teacher. His plans quickly changed however, when news arrived that Danni had been diagnosed with malaria. He took the next flight out to Malaysia, where he and Danni later settled. Luke later completed his police training.

Trivia Notes
• Bernard Curry's brother, Andrew, played the recurring role of Larry "Woody" Woodhouse on the show, whilst his other brother, Stephen, played Greg Bartlett in 1993 and Ted Long in 1998
• In 2005, Luke made a cameo appearance in Annalise's 20th Anniversary Documentary

Tenure
2337-2469, 2517-2767, 4773