Harper and Dana, siblings, will make their Summer Bay premiere in Australia next week, bringing two new characters to Home and Away.
Summer Bay is poised to welcome two new cast members to the iconic Australian serial. Harper and Dana Matheson, sisters, are about to move in with Irene, and it soon becomes clear that they have a significant secret.
Jessica Redmayne portrays Harper, and Ally Harris plays Dana, and the two arrive in town with a connection to a Summer Bay favourite.
Next week, Harper and Dana Matheson will arrive in Summer Bay.
Summer Bay’s fave is Cash Newman (Nicholas Cartwright), and the sisters have a big request for the senior cop.
Cash appears to be happy as he reconnects with Harper in a preview for Harper and Dana’s visit, while a synopsis for next Thursday’s episodes states that “Cash reconnects with an old friend,” and that he will be conflicted.
Is Cash related to one of the sisters?
According to the press release revealing the new characters, “their arrival, and purpose for being in town, is shrouded in mystery.”
The two newcomers will live with Irene at the Beach House, but it appears that Irene has no idea what she’s getting herself into.
Irene seemed to be eager to meet the newcomers.
Irene has been feeling lonely in recent episodes, as she has been living alone since Jasmine (Sam Frost) left Summer Bay last year. In tonight’s episode, John advised that she do something about it, and Irene will post a ‘Room for rent’ sign on the Diner notice board next week.
In a new preview for the next episodes, Harper arrives in Summer Bay and instantly notices Irene’s advertisement at the Diner, and Irene is more than pleased to let her move in.
When Irene asks Harper what brought her to the bay, she nonchalantly replies, “definitely could use some sunshine and surf,” to which Irene adds, “well you have definitely come to the right place.”
Harper’s true motivation for visiting Summer Bay is far darker.
Will Irene come to regret her decision when Harper sneaks her sister Dana, who turns out to be a fugitive, into her spare room?
The trailer depicts Harper assisting Dana in sneaking in through the bedroom window.
“It’s a shame I have to hide here like a fugitive,” Dana says as she lies in bed close to her sister.
“You are a fugitive,” Harper points out.
Cash and Harper reunite in the trailer as the two old buddies run into each other along the beach.
Harper gets right to the issue, telling Cash, “I came to see you. “I require your assistance.”
“Can we trust him?” Dana wonders.
John (Shane Withington) is suspicious of Irene’s new roommate right away. The trailer shows John observing as Harper acts suspiciously in Salt, appearing to avoid suspicion as two police officers walk in.
“There’s something I don’t trust about Harper,” he confides in Irene.
While Australian viewers will meet the new sisters next week, UK viewers will first see Harper and Dana in late September.
Their appearance was long anticipated when an Instagram post by Ada Nicodemou accidentally exposed a script and a call sheet, revealing four new characters – the other two being guest performers Tegan (Sophia Forrest) and Forrest (Elijah Williams).
Harper was included on Ada’s rehearsal call sheet for Block 1920 (episodes 8096-8100) with Irene (Lynne McGranger), Cash (Nicholas Cartwright), and Dana (see below).
In addition, Jessica was spotted filming by fans in Palm Beach earlier this year on a few occasions.
Harper has spent the majority of these sequences primarily chatting with Cash, but she has also shared scenes with Felicity (Jacqui Purvis) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo).
Lynne McGranger recently teased a photo from the police station set with Nick Cartwright and an unidentified actor (probably Jessica Redmayne), calling them as a “exciting new character.”
Jessica Redmayne plays Harper Matheson.
Harper Matheson is played by Jessica Redmayne. Jessica spent her childhood practising in many types of dance before going on to pursue Musical Theatre at Federation University Arts Academy, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theatre in 2013.
Jessica spent her early twenties throughout Asia hosting stage shows for Nickelodeon, Hi 5, and numerous children’s productions before returning home to make her professional screen debut as Poppy Kelly in the Seven Network’s family drama 800 Words in 2017.
Fisk, Five Bedrooms, Wentworth, Neighbours, The InBESTigators, the Australian feature Paper Champions, and the short film Introduction to Genre: An Introduction, which premiered at the 2021 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, are among her other screen credits.
Jessica made her professional stage debut in 2022 as Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
Ally Harris plays Dana Matheson.
Dana Matheson is played by Ally Harris, a Perth-based actor and filmmaker.
Ally studied in the Fontainebleau Conservatory of Music and Drama before returning home to work as an actor for both theatre and screen.
She has been in Seven Network’s real crime thriller The Claremont Murders, ABC’s Harrow, and Gillian Greer’s Australian debut of Meat and a touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Ally has also written, produced, and performed in her own work, in addition to script overseeing and producing other independent projects. Ally enjoys singing, collecting cookbooks, and having tea and a talk anywhere and wherever she can.
In the last year and a half, there have been a slew of newcomers to Home and Away.
Rose (Kirsty Marillier) and Xander (Luke Van Os) arrived in April 2022, while the entire Lyrik – Eden (Stephanie Panozzo), Remi (Adam Rowland), and Kirby (Angelina Thomson) – arrived in July 2022.
Bree (Juliet Godwin) debuted in August 2022, while Mali (Kyle Shilling) debuted in January 2023.
