Bradley Townsend

Bradley Townsend was a character in Neighbours in 1986. He first appeared in Episode 205 - 7 March 1986 and last appeared in Episode 285 - 27 June 1986. Bradley was an obnoxious brat who caused a lot of trouble during his brief stay in Ramsay Street. In June 1986, Bradley and Andrea left the area to go travelling, and only Des Clarke and Lucy Robinson would miss him, whereas everyone else was glad to see the back of him and his troublesome mother. Bradley was played by Bradley Kilpatrick, brother of Amber Kilpatrick who played Tiffany McLachlan from 1989 to 1990.

Biography[]

Backstory[]

Bradley Townsend was born on the 21st September 1974 to Andrea Townsend and Gavin McKinley. Shortly after, Andrea had a fling with Des Clarke in December 1974. Andrea raised Bradley alone on a single mother's pension and with little help from her parents. So, In March 1986, Andrea saw a money making opportunity and her and Bradley agreed to pretend that Des was his father so he would be legally binded to support Bradley, and Andrea wanted to leech off Des. They were also to fudge Bradley's birth date to make it look like he was the product of the fling between Des and Andrea.

1986[]

Bradley and his mother Andrea Townsend arrived in Erinsborough in March 1986 to see Andrea's old flame Des Clarke. Bradley was a local tearaway, he wrecked flowers in gardens of Ramsay Street. He formed a friendship with Lucy Robinson. He even stole Des's car so he could go driving in it. Des was lead to believe that he was Bradley's father, as he and Andrea dated in December 1974, and Andrea had said Bradley was born 9 months later on the 21st September 1975. Des' mother Eileen Clarke knew the truth and that Andrea was lying about Bradley's age, he was a year older, and his real father was Gavin McKinley. Eileen even obtained a copy of Bradley's birth certificate to prove he was not "her Desmond's" child. Bradley was once kidnapped by his real father Gavin but decided to stay with Des, as he saw him as his father. Max Ramsay even said that they should really have let Gavin take Bradley, as Bradley was nothing but trouble. Gavin returned to Perth alone.

Bradley was a bad influence on Lucy and they both launched a hate campaign against Lucy's father Jim Robinson's girlfriend Zoe Davis. They sent her hate mail and make crank calls to her, having secretly recorded Scott Robinson jokingly saying "I'm gonna get you" when he was babysitting Brad and Lucy and they were annoying him. When their hate campaign was found out, Jim told Andrea to be more responsible as Bradley was a menace. Andrea began dating Jack Lassiter who was the wealthy owner of The Lassiters Complex. When Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell were babysitting Bradley and kissing and cuddling instead of looking after Bradley, Bradley told Andrea and smiled, knowing it would get Scott and Charlene into trouble. Brad and Lucy once said they were going to get engaged and Lucy gave Bradley her dads engagement ring to her late mother Anne. Bradley cut it up to make it smaller. Jim saw it and frogmarched Bradley to No 28 and asked Andrea when she is going to be a responsible parent and start controlling Bradley. Andrea called him a hypocrite as he got his much younger girlfriend Zoe pregnant.

Bradley was once spanked by Lassiter for being cheeky. In June 1986, Jack and Andrea agreed to a marriage of convenience and decided to go travelling around Europe, starting off in France. Bradley did not want to leave Erinsborough. Lucy was sad that her mate Bradley was leaving Erinsborough for a while. Jack, Andrea and Bradley did plan to return after 6 months but Jack did hint that he may stay longer in Europe. On the morning of their departure, Bradley made peace with Zoe Davis and they hugged. As Jack packed up the car to go to the airport, Bradley said goodbye to Lucy, while Andrea said goodbye to Des and Daphne and thanked them for letting them stay with them over the past few months. They then got in the taxi to go to the airport.

While only Lucy and Des were sad to see Bradley go, several other residents were mightily relieved that Bradley was going, as he was a local troublemaker, and him and Andrea had caused no end of grief for the residents during their stay in Ramsay Street. Scott Robinson and Jim Robinson especially, were pleased that Bradley was going to the other side of the world, and that Ramsay Street would be a much quieter place. Jim had always hated Bradley and his deluded mother.

After leaving Erinsborough[]

That afternoon, a few hours after the Townsends and Jack left, Des said that Bradley will have forgotten all about him by the time he gets back from Europe. Des said he just served a purpose to Bradley and that he was not even Bradley's real father anyway. Daphne said only a fool would miss him anyway.

In July 1986, Bradley and Andrea sent a telegram to Des at his wedding to Daphne. In December 1986, Lucy said she wanted to go to Europe and see Bradley.

Lucy later joined Bradley in Europe in March 1987. Once she returned in May 1987 she and Bradley kept writing to one another but in Episode 580 - 18 September 1987, Bradley wrote to her from Paris to say he had met another girl out there so cannot write to Lucy any more. Lucy had a brain tumour and Bradley's bad news made Lucy feel a lot worse. She felt Bradley had betrayed her and broke his promise to her. Lucy pretended her physiotherapy ball was Bradley's neck. Rick said she was too good for Bradley anyway. Lucy and Bradley had no further contact with one another after this.

In Episode 683 - 16 March 1988, Bradly was mentioned again, when Lucy mentioned Bradley to Todd Landers but said he is an ex now. By then, Bradley had been long gone from Erinsborough.

Bradley probably did later return to Australia but as Jack had sold Lassiters to Paul, and Bradley had finished with Lucy, him, Jack and Andrea never returned to Erinsborough as they had no reason to, so cut all ties with the area.

Andrea and Jack later split up, and Jack found it was a huge mistake marrying her. In 2013, Jack paid a visit to Erinsborough and said he had split from Andrea long ago. Inbetween 2015 and 2022 Des Clarke made visits to Erinsborough and never mentioned Bradley or Andrea.

As of 2024, Bradley's whereabouts are unknown.

Memorable info[]

Birthday: 21st September 1974

Full Name: Bradley Townsend

First Line: "Where the hell have you been Mum?" to mum Andrea.

Final Line: "Bye Dad" to foster father Des Clarke.

Nicknames: Bratley (Brat-ley) by Zoe Davis.

Family[]

Father Gavin McKinley

Mother Andrea Townsend

Stepfather Jack Lassiter

Foster Father Des Clarke

Appearances[]

1986