List of characters in Outrageous Fortune

The New Zealand television program Outrageous Fortune is based around the activities of the fictional West family and their friends.

While the continuing plotline of the program throws some doubt on the actual lineage of the family [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/remorseless-treacherous-lecherous/|title=Episodes: Remorseless, Treacherous, Lecherous|accessdate=2008-10-07] , the nominal relationships have Ted West as the elderly originator of the family, his son Wolfgang ("Wolf") and Wolf's wife Cheryl, and their adult or teenage children Pascalle, Van, Jethro and Loretta. All these characters are introduced in the first episode, "Slings & Arrows", which aired in New Zealand on 7 December 2005.

Ted's wife Rita is deceased, although footage of her in old home movies appears in one episode. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/revenged-most-thoroughly/|title=Episodes: Revenged Most Thoroughly|accessdate=2008-10-07]

Cheryl's sister, Jeanette, appears in the 2006 telemovie which followed series 2 of Outrageous Fortune.

Gary Savage, who features in series three, is Wolf's brother or half-brother.

Van fathers a baby in series one, but the baby is not a major part of the plotline. Loretta has a daughter, Jane, at the end of series three.

The major characters who are not directly part of the West family are Wayne Judd, who begins as a police officer, Munter, who is Van's best friend, and Kasey, a friend and workmate of Cheryl's.

Ted

Theodore "Ted" West is played by Frank Whitten. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/ted-west/|title=Characters: Ted West|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-08]

Wolf

Wolfgang "Wolf" West is played by Grant Bowler. His full name is Wolfgang, but he is more commonly referred to as just "Wolf". He begins as Cheryl West's husband, and is the father of Van, Jethro, Pascalle and Loretta, the grandfather of Jane West and the son of Rita and Ted West. During Van's childhood he played the role of step-father of Van's best friend Munter. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/wolfgang-west/|title=Characters: Wolfgang West|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-08] In season one, Cheryl begins an affair with Judd while Wolf is in jail. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/season1-episode11/|title=Episodes: It cannot come to good|accessdate=2008-10-07] She breaks up with Wolf when he's on home detention during the second season [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/season2-episode7/|title=Episodes: All that fortune, death and danger dare|accessdate=2008-10-01] but an ongoing affection between the two is apparent in the fourth season. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/a-good-child-and-a-true-gentleman/|title=Episodes: A good child and a true gentleman|accessdate=2008-10-07] cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/the-king-the-kings-to-blame/|title=Episodes: The King, The King’s to Blame|accessdate=2008-10-07]

Unlike Cheryl, he has no interest in going straight in the earlier series [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/season1-episode1/|title=Episodes: Slings and Arrows|accessdate=2008-10-07] [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/season1-episode2/|title=Episodes: The Rub|accessdate=2008-10-07] , although he claims a change of heart in series four.

Cheryl

Cheryl West is played by Robyn Malcolm. She is a mother of four and the wife of a convicted criminal. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/cheryl-west/|title=Characters: Cheryl West|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-08] She is currentlyyear pregnant with her fifth child.Fact|date=October 2008

Pascalle

Pascalle West is played by Siobhan Marshall.

Jethro

Jethro West is played by Antony Starr. He is lawyer and one of the twin sons of Cheryl and Wolf West.Fact|date=October 2008

Van

Van West is played by Antony Starr. One of the twin sons of Cheryl and Wolfgang West, Van is the more 'stupid'Fact|date=October 2008 of the twins, possibly as a result of having been trapped in a freezer as a child, or because of early childhood ingestion of alcohol. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/van-west/|title=Characters: Van West|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-08]

Van is best friends with Munter and was engaged to Aurora Bay until her death.Fact|date=October 2008

He delivers his sister Loretta's baby daughter, Jane, in the Season 3 finale.

Loretta

Loretta West is played by Antonia Prebble. The youngest daughter of Cheryl and Wolf West, Loretta began the series in high school and as of the third season runs a video store. Her grandfather occasionally mistook her for his late wife Rita during the first and second series. [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/loretta-west/|title=Characters: Loretta West|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-29]

In season 1 she sleeps with her dad's prison guard who was supposed to be watching her father as he was allowed home for one night from jail because of the death of one of Van's closest friends.cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/episodes/season1-episode4/|title=Episodes: The cause of this defect|accessdate=2008-10-07]

In the season 3 finale she gave birth to a baby girl, which was delivered by her older brother Van.

Munter

Munter is played by Tammy Davis.

Van West's best friend, [cite web|url=http://www.outrageousfortune.co.nz/characters/munter/|title=Characters: Munter|publisher=Outrageous Fortune - the official site|accessdate=2008-09-08] he likes to share his wisdom and get stoned with Van. We learnFact|date=October 2008 that his real name is Jared Mason when Van is told by Mr. Hong that they have beaten up the guy they thought was stealing from the Lucky Dollar store, Van rings the hospitals to check for Munter except when asked what his real name is he has to think a while before remembering it's Jared.

His mum, Karla, lives in the Coromandel and he spends much of his timeFact|date=October 2008 at the West's house or at the Rusty Nail bar. In season 3 he hooks up with Cheryl's friend Kasey at Aurora Bay's wake, and they have sex in Pascalle's room.

Later in the season finale he and Kasey get married.

References