Robbo Shaw

Ryan "Robbo" Shaw was a character on Home and Away, the husband of Jasmine Delaney, son to Ian and Wendy Shaw and father to Grace.

Stroylines
Robbo was first glimpsed at the end of Episode 6700, watching Alf, Justin and Scarlett as they arrived at a remote cove for a fishing trip. Having been living rough there, he damaged their boat during an attempt to hotwire it, causing them to stay the night, then attacked Alf and stole his knife, stowing away on the boat for the trip back. He spent a few days hiding on the boat and stealing food from the Diner before being discovered by Alf, causing him to flee. He followed Alf home and confronted him, at which point it turned out he had amnesia and couldn’t remember anything before the cove. Alf and Kat talked him down and he was taken to hospital, where the nurses dubbed him Robbo after Robinson Crusoe. He was found to have a bump on the head and was diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia. He felt he knew Kat but she had no recollection of him.

He was discharged once there was nothing physically wrong with him and Alf let him stay in a caravan, giving him odd jobs around the caravan park to pay his way. He apologised to Scarlett for scaring her at the cove and considered leaving town but Alf convinced him to stay when he rescued Raffy when a River Boy, Mackenzie, tried to abduct her. He became protective of Kat, getting into a fight with Ash when they started arguing. Kat and Scarlett took him back to the cove in an attempt to jog his memory, where Kat was shocked to find a photo of herself at his camp. Kat insisted he take a polygraph test, which proved he was telling the truth about his amnesia.

Marilyn tried to get him a job but John’s attempt to test his driving resulted in him reversing into Kat’s police car and being arrested for driving without a license. However, he ended up accompanying Kat when she went to look for Brody and Ziggy and helped her rescue them from drug dealer Will Zannis, overpowering Zannis and two henchmen almost single-handedly and instinctively knowing how to disarm Zannis’ gun. He and Kat went for a drink afterwards. After she broke up with Ash, he came to her van and they kissed, but she pulled away after they were nearly interrupted by Tori. Scarlett offered to help him look into his past and suggested his tattoo of a rose might refer to a girlfriend, giving him a list of candidates. He and Kat checked them out and at one address found a partly burned photo of him and the woman dead in bed. Although it turned out the woman died of diabetic complications, Robbo decided he didn’t want to know about his past.

He saved Coco from falling down some steps when she fell faint and was frustrated that Scarlett and Constable Murray were still looking into his past. He helped Kat move into the Diner flat, then slept with her. Soon after though, he was connected to a boat found drifting with signs of a struggle on board: It had belonged to Rose and some of the blood on board was his. However, CCTV footage then showed the boat being hijacked and Robbo held at gunpoint by Kat’s ex Dylan Carter, to whom the rest of the blood belonged, and the assumption was made that he had been on his way to kill Kat and Robbo had stopped him. John, worried about the female attention he was getting, tried to convince him to give up work at the caravan park but this resulted in Marilyn hiring him as a handyman. John later softened and told him about his own experience of memory loss.

He and Kat started seeing each other and he shouted her dinner at the Diner for her birthday, only to realise she had been expecting something bigger. With help from John, Leah, Marilyn and Justin, he arranged a balcony dinner at an expensive restaurant where he presented her with a necklace. He offered to organise a sausage sizzle to pay for damage to the surf club but was bemused when it got turned into a major event. He ended up winning first prize in the raffle – a bush holiday for four – and went to the cabin with Kat, Justin and Scarlett. There, Dennis Novak planted a bomb under the cabin which Robbo managed to find in time to save anyone from serious injury. In the aftermath, Novak kidnapped Kat, having been hired to kill her to stop her testifying in a corruption trial, but Robbo stopped him from drowning her and pursued him, at which point Novak told him his name was Beckett Reid and that they had worked together, before fleeing. Robbo kept this from Kat as she withdrew from testifying.

Worried that the police were searching for Novak, he broke into Kat’s flat to look at the files on the corruption case and also tried to access the police computer. Kat told him Novak was a known hitman and had a notorious partner, Beckett Reid, who no-one had ever seen. He turned down Alf’s offer of a car and had a flashback of strangling someone. John advised him to be honest with Kat, but when she told him she was pregnant, he instead proposed to her. She suggested he move in instead so he accepted the car and began to settle in town.

After the police raided Novak’s safe house but failed to capture him, Robbo used a key from his belongings to get in and take a car, the Sat Nav of which was programmed to take him to where Novak was waiting by the docks. Novak explained Robbo was sent to kill Kat to stop her testifying. After beating him in a fight, Robbo told him to leave town, promising he’d make sure Kat didn’t testify. However, when the other witness, an old friend of Kat’s, was killed, she decided to do so. Although Robbo had set up some security cameras he found at the safe house to keep an eye on her, Novak managed to loop them and decoy him so he could kidnap her. Robbo used a business card he’d found in the car to track them to a wrecker’s yard, where he stopped Novak crushing the car containing Kat. He took Kat to hospital, claiming Novak had run off, but in fact had him tied up in the yard and secretly went back to him. Novak explained the wrecker’s yard had been “Beckett”’s old dumping ground. Robbo took Novak’s gun but was reluctant to shoot him in cold blood; however, when Novak jumped him, the gun went off in the struggle, killing Novak. Robbo buried his body at a remote cove.

Robbo was thrown when an ultrasound showed the baby was not his but Ash’s, but promised Kat he would still love them both. Inspectors Will Shepherd and Liz Vincent arrived with a taskforce to take over the hunt for Novak and brought him in for questioning. They queried why he waited so long to inform the police after finding Kat and he claimed he went looking for Novak. When the taskforce located Novak’s phone in Summer Bay, Robbo retrieved it and planted it on a lorry heading for Melbourne, which the taskforce dutifully followed. After they had realised it was a false lead, Robbo convinced them to let Kat testify by video link rather than risk being killed at the court house. Ash caught him about to skip town, prompting him to change his mind.

Then Novak’s body was discovered, although Robbo managed to convince Kat he had nothing to do with it. When the police searched the flat, he ended up scuffling with them in front of several locals and getting himself arrested, where he let slip that Kat had told him details of the case resulting in her being suspended. They went away for a while but on his return he learned from the CCTV that Ash was investigating him with Kat and began tracking them, accusing Ash of putting ideas in her head and bugged his vehicle in order to spy on them. When Kat came home and told him she’d found out he was Beckett Reid, Robbo admitted he already knew and held her prisoner in the flat, trying to convince her to go away with him. Kat faked stomach pains to get him to call Tori and used the distraction to escape but Robbo fled the scene by taking Tori hostage. He let her go a short way out of town, giving her the address where he was heading and telling her to ask Kat to meet him there.

When Kat didn’t respond (since Tori hadn’t passed the message on), Robbo returned to town. He convinced Kat to talk to him and explained he had set up a cottage for them in the middle of nowhere, planning for them to take on new identities. He surrendered without a fight when the police turned up. Kat then got the rest of the officers out of the station and convinced Robbo to go on the run with her, with Robbo knocking out Ash when he tried to stop them. However, Kat drove out in front of Jasmine Delaney’s car, leaving both women badly injured. Robbo phoned an ambulance but Kat convinced him to run before it got there. He headed to the cabin with an injured leg where he rang the hospital, only to be told by Tori that Kat was dead. He hid when Ash and Justin turned up at the cabin, but when he heard Ash saying that Kat would have got wise to him eventually, he attacked him, again knocking him out to escape.

After hitch-hiking, he ended up back in Summer Bay and broke into the Morgans’ looking for medication. He was found by Tori in the out building where she began treating him in secret. Justin soon found out but reluctantly agreed to keep quiet and tried to get Robbo out of town by stealing an abandoned car for him. However, Robbo found a photo of himself with a woman and two children inside, the sight of which sent him into a catatonic state. Willow had to take him to the motel while Justin decoyed Ash and the police, where Tori tried to bring him round. Some of his memories came back as he recalled his real name was Ryan Shaw, the woman was his wife Lauren and the children were called Sophia and Lucas, and he had come home to find them all dead. He decided to turn himself in to the police, but before he could do so he ran into Ash and Dean. He was chased to a cliff top where he and Ash faced off and fought until the police intervened. Robbo refused to make a statement against Ash and was held in custody, charged with Novak’s murder, before making a statement keeping the Morgans out of it.

Tori continued to involve herself in his case, learning that he was due to be sent to a remand centre with no psychiatric help. The police records confirmed that Lauren, Sophia and Lucas had been murdered by an intruder in their home but made no mention of a husband or father. Tori managed to get her old mentor Professor Juliet Pickford to speak up for Robbo and he was released on bail wearing an electronic tag. However, while Tori continued to support him, his presence in town was immediately opposed by Alf, Leah, John and Marilyn, and especially by Ash who attacked him in the Diner, accusing Robbo of breaking his earlier promise to go to jail for his role in Kat’s death. Robbo addressed a town meeting and promised the locals he wasn’t a threat, and new police officer Colby Thorne helped smooth things over by arranging to rent the Diner flat and have Robbo move in with him.

Ash quickly goaded Robbo into attacking him in front of Tori by revealing he had burned down the cabin that Robbo had planned to live in with Kat, but Tori continued to support him. She arranged him counselling with Pickford but he refused to discuss his family or Kat. Tori then took him to visit Kat’s grave. He agreed to fight the charges but immediately fired the lawyer Tori hired, Lisa Petrov, when she wanted him to plead insanity. Colby arranged a Legal Aid lawyer, the cynical and eccentric but nevertheless competent Kurt Adams. Robbo refused to let Kurt paint Kat as corrupt, grabbing him aggressively when he persisted with the idea, so Kurt decided to get Ash to testify that the escape was her idea. However, Ash instead testified for the prosecution, telling the court how he and Kat found evidence that Robbo was Beckett Reid and prompting an angry outburst from Robbo. He planned to slice his tag off and do a runner but Alf talked him out of it. He instead addressed the court himself, making a speech about what he remembered.

However, before the verdict could be read out, he was taken into custody by federal agents led by Samantha Woodhouse. He was taken to Lance Salisbury, who he remembered as an old friend. It was then that he found out he was a federal police officer named Ryan Shaw, who went undercover after his family were murdered by corrupt cops, posing as a criminal named Beckett Reid with a faked criminal record. He was meant to find Kat and get her to safety under the guise of being a hitman sent after her but Dylan got to him first and the feds assumed his amnesia was an act.

All the charges were dropped on the grounds he had been acting in the line of duty, he was given access to his old bank accounts and he returned to town, where he quickly approached Ash and explained, leaving Ash in something of a state of shock. He also told Tori, who was initially pleased but ended up blaming him for driving Ash away. He was reluctant to tell anyone else and, when John persistently demanded an explanation in the Diner, he grabbed him, scaring recent kidnap victim Ava Gilbert and further alienating the locals. Short of friends and support, he called Lance but was reluctant to accept his offer to rejoin the feds. He saw Hunter being harassed by a group of smugglers on the wharf and stepped in, overpowering all three culprits. Although the incident saw Leah, John and some of the other locals soften towards him, he accepted Lance’s offer to help investigate the operation. First, however, he had to undergo retraining. He struck up a friendly rivalry with a cadet, Jason, but Lance told him he couldn’t go out in the field without passing a psych evaluation which he was reluctant to go along with. Lance suggested he work as an instructor instead but after giving a lecture to Jason and some other recruits he realised he didn’t believe in police work any more.

He returned to Summer Bay where he confided in Alf about his history after Alf gave him jobs at the caravan park and bait shop to keep him busy. He also made a point of saying goodbye to Ash when the latter left town for good. Robboe quickly got involved in helping Colby, who had been suspended from the police after being exposed as an ex-River Boy. He became suspicious of Ebony Harding, who had appeared around the time trouble started happening and was now acting like Colby’s best friend. When he challenged her, she claimed she liked Robbo. They went to the surf club together and next day she kissed him. Robbo continued seeing her but remained suspicious, following her to her motel room where he heard her talking to someone. He was thrown and backed off when she tried to sleep with him. Asking Lance to run a check, he learned she was actually the sister of Boyd Easton, who had been killed by Colby after he and his mother Hazel kidnapped Ava. Robbo went to the motel room only to find Hazel dead and the police arriving to find him standing over the body holding a vial of poison. With Colby in a critical condition in hospital after an attack from Ebony and unable to vouch for him, Robbo was charged with Hazel’s murder after another vial of the poison (which Ebony had nearly used on him before changing her mind) was found in his flat.

Whilst awaiting his bail hearing, Robbo spoke with Justin and Tori and convinced McCarthy to let him see the case files. He was granted bail when Tori arranged him an address, a surety and constant supervision, but quickly broke the rules out of frustration by sneaking out to the hospital to see Colby. Tori only just got him home in time for a police check and, when Colby recovered consciousness but was unable to help him, Robbo decided to turn himself in rather than risk the Morgans’ bail money. He was released on an electronic tag once he was able to stay with Colby again and suspected Ebony was still in town, determining to find her. He sent her burner phone to Lance which contained proof that Ebony was contacting Colby posing as his missing sister Bella. However, Colby still headed off to the rendezvous Ebony had asked for and Robbo had to go after him when it resulted in her locking him up, narrowly stopping Ebony setting fire to the house. This resulted in Ebony being caught by the police babbling about killing Hazel.

After the incident and the charges being dropped, Jasmine took it upon herself to befriend him. Robbo was reluctant to talk to her so she took him for a run and arranged for him to use a punchbag. However, he ended up getting increasingly worked up and out of control using it so Jasmine switched to convincing him people in town wanted to help him. He invited her out for dinner to thank her but the experience left him confused about their relationship. He told Jasmine he liked her as more than a friend but she said she didn’t feel the same. Colby convinced him to still be friends with her. He also arranged for Dean to stay at a motel after it came out he had broken into the surf club.

On hearing the gym owners had put it up for sale, he bought it and impulsively kissed Jasmine. Feeling awkward, he told her they couldn’t see each other anymore. Wanting to make him feel at home, the locals clubbed together to buy him a name plaque for the gym. He was confused when Tori asked him out to dinner, wondering if it was a date. Tori assured him it wasn’t and they were then interrupted by Jasmine suggesting they be friends again, which he agreed to. Tori then came to his flat and explained her real reason for the dinner: She was planning to do IVF and wanted him to be a sperm donor. Robbo was initially opposed to the idea of being a dad again but when Tori explained she felt he had the qualities she wanted her child to have he agreed to think about it. When Justin warned him about leaving her hanging, he told her he would be a donor on condition he got to be a father to the child and she agreed.

They went away together to a clinic in the city but Robbo refused to talk to the counsellor, Meredith, about his family and walked out of the session. However, he then went back and told her something he had been hiding: He had forgotten Sophie’s recital and argued about Lauren with it the last time he saw her. He told Tori he was ready but she felt he was just trying to replace his family and called things off. After encouragement from Jasmine, he spoke to her and convinced her to give him a chance. Jasmine admitted she had feelings for him but he decided to prioritise his commitment to Tori. However, Tori told him if he wanted to be with Jasmine he should be and it wouldn’t affect their arrangement. Robbo told Jasmine how he felt and they got together.

They began making plans for a first date and Jasmine booked a sunset cruise. However, having offered to join Tori for an ultrasound, he found it had been brought forward to clash. He went to see Tori, leaving Jasmine waiting for hours. After an attempt to reschedule, they ended up having a picnic instead. However, he had to carry on making time for Tori, accompanying her to the egg harvesting. He was concerned when the number of viable embryos continued dropping but they were left with two and, despite telling Jasmine he was going to wait in the corridor, Robbo accompanied Tori for the implantation of the first one. He kept it from Jasmine, unaware she had already heard the truth from Tori and was annoyed that he hadn’t been honest. However, they got over it when he told her he loved her.

He rushed to the hospital on learning Tori was there only to learn tests showed she was pregnant. He then set up guard outside her house and, when she didn’t answer her phone the next day, became convinced something had happened to her and broke into her house. Tori told him he needed to let go of his fear. He stayed over with Jasmine for the first time, enduring Irene and Willow’s teasing. When he learned Willow wasn’t qualified ass a gym instructor, he arranged for her to take a course. He then learned Tori had had a miscarriage and they were left to comfort each other. However, he turned down an offer to accompany Tori to see the specialist, later saying he couldn’t go through it again. His initial chat with Tori left her confused so he explained he couldn’t do any more IVF.

He reacted badly when Jasmine tried to book them a holiday in Fiji, since that was where he had his honeymoon, but invited her to stay with him while Colby was away with his sister Bella. The experience caused him to decide to marry Jasmine and he asked Tori for advice to pick out an engagement ring. He learned Jasmine had been considering asking him to move in but since Colby and his family were planning to move to the city once Colby and Chelsea were married, Robbo suggested Jasmine eventually move in with him. They attended Colby and Chelsea’s wedding together and next morning he proposed to her and she accepted.

With Irene away, Robbo agreed to stay with Jasmine for a while to practice living together but moved back into the flat after learning Colby and Chelsea had broken up. Tori then confessed she was pregnant after using the second embryo. Robbo was furious with her, and also with Jasmine when he learned she had found out and kept it from him, ending the engagement. When Tori tried to convince him to forgive Jasmine and accept the baby, he refused to have anything to do with any of them. When Leah pointed out it would be impossible to avoid them, he left town. He ignored everyone’s calls although he did eventually provide Mason with the log-on details for the gym account, telling him to do what he liked with it.

He returned some months later after getting a message from Tori saying she was having her twelve week scan and turned up at the hospital, where he and Jasmine were shocked to see each other. He explained he had been with his parents. However, Jasmine began avoiding him and Irene warned him to stay away from her. He convinced Jasmine to meet him at Salt but they were interrupted by Colby revealing he and Jasmine had kissed. Not really interested, Robbo went to the beach house to try and talk to Jasmine again only for her to end up locking herself in her room and having a panic attack. Robbo had to call Tori to help and later asked Irene if she really thought he should leave. Irene was now less sure but Jasmine told him to go and confused him by saying he’d been gone years. He attempted to help Jett with his guilt after two of his men were killed. He joined Jasmine on a run to try and get her to talk to him and she ended up collapsing. She eventually confessed that her mother had died suddenly and her father had walked out on her soon after, meaning she was used to people leaving her but not to them coming back. Despite this, she refused to get back with him.

Tori told him that Jasmine was seeing a counsellor and advised him to do the same. The idea sent him into a panic, worried he would say the wrong thing, and he used work as an excuse to not go with her but after a talking to from Willow he changed his mind and told her he wanted to support her because he loved her. The counsellor, Aiden Wilcox, invited him into the session where he revealed he found out about Tori’s pregnancy on the anniversary of his family’s deaths. Aiden suggested he needed counselling more than Jasmine. Jasmine suggested they get back together but he felt they needed to sort out their issues first. However, after a chat with Aiden about coming to terms with his past, he renewed their engagement.

He told Tori, who arranged for them to have a weekend away, and also started building a cradle for the baby. He suggested he and Jasmine look for their own place and they set a date for the wedding. When he showed her the cradle, she pointed out Tori would probably want the baby with her so he decided to give it to her and then take it back for their children. Jasmine admitted she didn’t want children and Robbo accepted it. He declined to learn the sex of the baby at a scan. When they learned Tori could go into premature labour and lose the baby, he disappeared to see Aiden but returned to accompany Tori to the follow-up appointment after which he let her tell him they were expecting a girl. Jasmine told him she wanted to meet his parents before the wedding and Tori told him nothing had changed with the baby and they should go. They headed to his parents’ farm where he had grown up and after initial awkwardness Robbo convinced his parents to accept Jasmine, saying if they didn’t he would leave.

Trivia

 * Jake Ryan auditioned for the role of Darryl Braxton before getting the role of Robbo
 * He lost 13kgs for the role