Lucinda Croft

Lucinda "Lou" Croft is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by Dee Smart. She was a regular on the show for around a year and a half, from mid 1991 until late 1992.

Character history

Lou was the niece of Summer Bay stalwart Donald Fisher. Don hadn't seen her for some years, since she was a little girl, when he heard she was coming to stay with him and was somewhat bewildered when she turned out to be a tomboy into motorbikes.

Don still wanted the best for his niece though and tried to set her up with policeman Nick Parrish by inviting them both round for a dinner party. Lou quickly cottoned on to his scheme but learned Nick was genuinely interested in her and set him a series of challenges to prove he was worthy of her affection. Her life took a knock when her brother David also came to town, since relations between the siblings was slightly strained. Just as they were beginning to put the past behind them, David was killed in a car accident caused by teenager Karen Dean.

Lou was left in shock by the incident and was even further thrown when David's friend Ryan Lee, an old boyfriend of hers came to town in the wake of the tragedy. Lou increasingly leant on Ryan, distancing herself from Nick. He persuaded her to return to their home town with her but just as they were about to get on the bus, Nick arrived at the stop with a placard asking her to marry him. Lou quickly accepted his offer, staying in Summer Bay.

Nick and Lou tried to settle down but found trouble finding somewhere to live. They made an offer on their dream home but another couple beat them to it after they'd already given notice and they ended up staying at the caravan park. Nick's pride was further dented when Lou took a job with the council road gang to earn money.

When Lou discovered that Sophie Simpson, who David had been friendly with, was pregnant, she strongly suspected that David was the father and not Sophie's friend Simon Fitzgerald as she had claimed. Lou was correct but the stress of the situation caused Sophie to run away from home. Her mishandling caused Lou to realise that the baby wouldn't be a replacement for David. Sophie had trouble accepting the same and Lou was grateful when Ryan came to town and helped convince her that the baby was a person in its own right.

Ryan continued to be a rock, helping Lou and Sophie set up a nursery for the baby and worrying Nick that he was still interested in her. Their accommodation worries were eased when Don invited them to live at his new house, although even that hit troubles when they arrived to find the paint wasn't dry and had to spend the night with Don's daughter Bobby Simpson and her boyfriend Greg Marshall.

Lou began to get an idea of Ryan's true intentions when he stole a nude painting of Nick she had done and manipulated Simon and his friend Blake Dean into displaying it in public. Their home life hit a further hurdle when Nick's younger brother Shane came to stay and started wreaking havoc. After he and Lou argued at Greg and Bobby's wedding reception, Ryan cornered Lou outside and kissed her.

Lou was left guilty about the incident but was unable to deny she still had feelings for Ryan. Marilyn Chambers, who Ryan had briefly dated in order to make Lou jealous, saw the pair kissing and demanded that Lou tell Nick. Distressed, Lou went to see Ryan in his caravan and ended up sleeping with him. She regretted it instantly but Don realised the truth when he heard Ryan dropping her off at the house.

Ryan came round and kissed Lou again but she pushed him away. However, they were spotted by Shane and his friend Damian Roberts. Shane assumed they were having an affair which caused him to start a revenge campaign against Ryan that landed him in trouble with the law and forced Lou to confess everything to Nick. She still rejected Ryan, however, and he left town, finally admitting defeat.

Nick and Lou tried to make their relationship work but the cracks were showing, especially when Nick missed out on a promotion at work and blamed Lou for distracting him. When Nick got angry at Lou talking to another man, it became clear the trust had gone out of their relationship. Lou broke things off for good and left the area.