Home and Away welcomes new characters Dana and Harper

Home and Away is about to meet two new characters, as siblings Harper and Dana make their Summer Bay debut in Australia next week.

Summer Bay is poised to acquire some new faces as two new cast members join the iconic Australian soap. Jessica Redmayne and Ally Harris will star as sisters Harper and Dana Matheson in the beachfront town on Thursday, August 10th.

Jessica portrays elder sister Harper, and Ally plays younger sister Dana, and the two arrive in town with a link to a Summer Bay favorite.

That Summer Bay favourite is Cash Newman (Nicholas Cartwright). Synopses for next Thursday’s episodes tell us that “Cash reconnects with an old friend,” and that he’s set to be torn.

According to a press release announcing the new characters, “their arrival, and purpose for being in town, is shrouded in mystery.”

Another of Thursday’s spoilers tells us that “Irene makes a new friend,” and fans of the show have spotted Lynne McGranger filming alongside Jessica Redmayne and Ally Harris in recent months.

Irene has been feeling lonely in recent episodes, as she has been living alone since Jasmine 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.

Will the newcomers be calling the Beach House home soon?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lynne McGranger (@lynnemcgranger)

Lynne McGranger has also shared a photo from the police station set with Nick Cartwright and an unidentified actor (probably Jessica Redmayne), characterizing them as a “exciting new character.”

According to a new preview for next week’s episodes, Harper arrives in Summer Bay and quickly notices Irene’s advertisement at the Diner at Irene’s apartment, and Irene is more than delighted to let her move in.

When Irene asks Harper why she’s at the bay, she says she could “definitely use some sunshine and surf,” but the truth is far worse.

Will Irene come to regret her decision when Harper brings her sister Dana – a fugitive – into the room she’s renting?

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.

While Australian viewers will meet the new sisters next week, UK viewers will first see Harper and Dana in late September.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SummerBayAdventures (@summerbayadventures)

A large number of these scenes have seen Harper mainly conversing with Cash, but she has also shared further scenes with Felicity (Jacqui Purvis) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo).

Their appearance has been anticipated for some time, when an Instagram post by Ada Nicodemou accidentally exposed a script and a call sheet, revealing four new characters – the other two being 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.

Ally Harris, actor and filmmaker from Perth, plays Dana Matheson.

Ally studied at the Fontainebleau Conservatory of Music and Drama before returning to her native land, where she has worked as an actor for both stage and television.

She has been in Seven Network’s real crime thriller The Claremont Murders, ABC’s Harrow, and theatre productions like as Gillian Greer’s Australian debut of Meat and a touring version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Ally has also written, produced, and acted in her own work, as well as script supervising and producing other independent projects. Ally enjoys singing, collecting recipes, and having tea and a talk wherever and whenever.

Home and Away has seen a number of new arrivals in the past year and a half.

Rose (Kirsty Marillier) and Xander (Luke Van Os) arrived in April 2022, Lyrik – consisting of Eden (Stephanie Panozzo), Remi (Adam Rowland) and Kirby (Angelina Thomson) – followed in July 2022.

Bree (Juliet Godwin) made her debut appearance in August 2022, and Mali (Kyle Shilling) arrived in January 2023.

In Australia, Home and Away airs Monday–Thursday on 7, and streams on 7Plus.

In the UK, Home and Away airs 1:45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6:30pm on 5STAR and the series also streams on My5.