Tom Ramsay

Tom Ramsay is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Gary Files. He made his first on-screen appearance on 12 May 1986. Tom is the middle child of Dan and Edna Ramsay and brother to Max and Madge. He departed on 2 February 1991.

Casting

In 1986, Francis Bell became unhappy with his role as Max Ramsay and quit the show. Files was cast in the role Tom, Max's brother, and he was introduced to the show to cover the rest of Max's storylines.^[1]

Storylines

Tom is the second son of Dan (Syd Conabere) and Edna Ramsay (Jessica Noad) and the brother of Max (Francis Bell) and Madge (Anne Charleston). Tom fell in love with Doreen Leicester and they married and had two daughters, Moira and Gemma (Beth Buchanan). Moira shocked eloped with her boyfriend, leading Tom to lose contact with her. Gemma became the apple of Tom's eye. Doreen died suddenly and Tom was left to bring Gemma up alone. He later sent her to stay with some of Doreen's relatives.

Tom came to Ramsay Street to live with Madge and take over Max's plumbing business, both Madge and Tom constantly argued. Tom announced to Madge that he wanted to sell Number 24 to a property developer. Max had given Tom his half of the house and Tom was going to go ahead with the sale until Madge convinced him it was the Ramsay family home. Tom recognised Mike Young's (Guy Pearce) potential as a swimmer and began training him. However, Tom's nephew, Danny Ramsay (David Clencie), began to feel left out and wanted Tom to teach him how to play golf. Tom mostly concentrated on training Mike and failed to recognise that he was neglecting Danny.

When Jean Richards (Margot Knight) came to Erinsborough, Tom and Jean began seeing each other and Tom proposed. However, Jean turned him down and she was later killed in a car accident. Her death was particularly painful for Tom as his other nephew Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien), had been driving the car. Tom was happy when Edna came to visit and showed him a photo of his new granddaughter Holly. Having been unaware that Moira had been pregnant, this encouraged Tom to get in touch with her. Tom then decides to go and live with Moira in Queensland. Tom briefly returns to Ramsay Street to visit Madge and Gemma, who had come to stay with her aunt. Tom's visit was stressful as Gemma had recently been involved in a motorbike accident. Tom used his fiery temper to confront Gemma's boyfriend, Matt Robinson (Ashley Paske), who had been riding the bike. Tom soon left to go back to Queensland.

Reception

Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture gave Tom a 2 out of 5 for his contribution to Neighbours, during a feature called "A guide to recognising your Ramsays and Robinsons".^[2] Deller said "When Max left for Brisbane, brother Tom was brought in to fill the gap. He, conveniently, was also a plumber and – would you believe it? – a bit of a hothead. He had a wife WHO WAS DEAD and later on, a fiancee WHO WAS KILLED which would have made him Ramsay Street's most likely to win The X Factor until Harold came along".^[2]

References

External links

• Tom Ramsay at the Internet Movie Database