Kelly Watson is a fictional character from the Australian soap operaHome and Away portrayed by Katrina Hobbs. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 28 August 1995 and departed on 25 April 1997.
Casting
Hobbs is from New Zealand, where she worked with actor Craig McLachlan on a film. He convinced her to work overseas and she soon moved to Australia. Only a short number of weeks later she secured the role of Kelly. She officially joined Home and Away in August 1995. To prepare for the role Hobbs followed doctors around Sydney's St. Vincent hospital and took notes. In an interview with Daniel Dasey from The Sydney Morning Herald, Hobbs told of how her fellow cast members labelled her "Doctor Death", following the death of Shane Parrish.
Development
Producers paired Kelly with Travis Nash for a relationship storyline. Hobbs believed that Kelly and Travis were a good match. She told a reporter from Inside Soap that "Kelly's a real go-getter and has tremendous drive, which I love. While Travis is relaxed, quiet and into nature – plus he's gorgeous! They're great together." Writers created a HIV scare story for the doctor which played out following an accident at work. Kelly cuts herself when she is treating a HIV positive patient. She has to take a test for the virus and is forced to wait for the results. The story highlighted prejudice that exists around the condition as Kelly hoped her friends would support her, but she falls victim to the "small-town prejudice" in Summer Bay. Hobbs said "it's a terrible time for Kelly, not only does she face closed minds but she has to dump her boyfriend too." Kelly fears that staying with Travis could lead to him contracting HIV too. The actress added "she feels that for Travis' sake she should back off. She doesn't want to risk infecting him if the test results are positive." The story was challenging for Hobbs because she had two friends who died from AIDS as a result of HIV. She recalled that it was heartbreaking but credited the story with a "terrific response" from viewers in the Australian outback, where she believed attitudes towards the illness were changing. Hobbs decided to leave Home and Away in 1997. Hobbs admitted that while she was sad about leaving, she wanted to move on and get into feature films. She also planned to take some of her character's attributes and apply them to her own life. In Kelly's final storyline, she decides not to go through with her wedding to Travis, as she knows that he does not want to move to the city. Instead she leaves alone for a new job.
Storylines
Kelly is first seen at Northern Districts Hospital seen treating Nelson McFarlane, who has been badly burned in the recent bushfire. She meets Steven Matheson who is visiting Nelson and there seems to be a spark between the pair of them. When Kelly decides to move to Summer Bay to be nearer work, She and Steven rent Travis' house. Travis returns from Canada and moves in, much to Kelly's chagrin. There is visible tension between Kelly and Travis and this leads to the destruction of a tape exonerating Steven, who has been accused of murdering his nemesis Brian "Dodge" Forbes. Dodge kidnaps Kelly in order to lure Steven into a final showdown and leaves her tied up in the boot of his car. Travis rescues Kelly and finds her severely dehydrated. Kelly and Travis soon become close and begin a relationship. Kelly's sister Rachel visits and is involved in a car crash that ends up killing her boyfriend, Rick and blames Kelly for not doing enough to save him. While taking blood from a patient, Kelly's is pricked by a needle and is horrified to learn that the patient is HIV-positive and may be infected. News travels around town and Ailsa Stewart, although supportive, refuses to let Kelly treat her son Duncan when he suffers a cut. Ken Treloar the host of a talk show on local radio begins targeting Ailsa over her treatment of Kelly, but Kelly rings in to defend her. The tests arrive back and Kelly is relieved when they are negative. Kelly finds herself the target of a hate campaign perpetrated by Debbie Salter, a woman obsessed with Travis, who plants a funnel web spider in Kelly's bed, possibly intending to kill her. Kelly and Travis then take out a restraining order against Debbie. Kelly later finds herself in the unexpected position of mother figure when Stephanie Mboto the younger sister of Travis' late girlfriend arrives in Summer Bay. After Steven is fired from teaching after his relationship with Selina Roberts is exposed, Kelly offers support but he turns on her and Travis and launches a verbal outburst that leads to Travis punching him and evicting him. When Ailsa's husband, Alf undergoes an emergency bypass operation and suffers complications, Kelly is forced to operate on him in theatre after the operating doctor James McLaren leaves to play a round of golf. She keeps Alf alive until McLaren returns. Ailsa is annoyed and threatens to sue should anything go wrong with Alf's surgery until Pippa Ross points out that Kelly should never have been put in that situation. Kelly's parents Murray and Carol arrive, much to her shock and announce they are divorcing. Murray stays for a while and Travis asks him for Kelly's hand in marriage. Travis then proposes directly and she accepts but Kelly feels that living in a country town like Summer Bay is not for her and she decides to take a job in the city. Travis agrees to go with her but Kelly realises that city life is not for Travis and leaves alone after leaving a note for Travis saying she still loves him.
Reception
A viewer wrote into The Daily Mirror and asked "wouln't it be nice if our GPs were like Kelly from Home And Away? Everytime the hospital appears, there she is, whatever the department. And anyone sick gets a home visit." An Inside Soap reporter stated "tall, dark and smart, she's the dishiest doc on the box, setting pulses racing all over Summer Bay! Men are ready to duel at dawn over who's going to win her heart, and blood pressure is rising to dangerous levels!"
