Elly Fielding played by Diane Craig

Episodes 252 - 404

So Elly returned to Westside. Looking different (note the new actress), but feeling the same. After a stint in Bangladesh she has come back to see her friends, regain her practice and her home. She returns to a welcome home party. There's lots of gossip to catch up on and new characters to meet. However, you could cut the tension with a scalpel! All eyes are on Elly and Bob. Is it all over? Will they just be friends? Can they be friends? The questions are on everybody's lips,Ellys included. In fact the reason she has come home is to find out. Conditions in Bangladesh have made her realise that life's too short and she wants to see how she feels about Bob after all this time and after what happened with Dylan. Despite a frosty reception they agree to meet at the church and Bob tells Elly he does still love her. He apologises for what he put her through and says there is no way he can promise it won't happen again but he tells he needs her and loves her. Elly is confused but subtly happy. She has never stopped loving Bob and they agree to take things slowly. After a few trips to the movies and a few drinks at the pub they're back to normal. Elly is happy, the time apart has made her realise the strength of their relationship. Whilst organising the food for the church fete Elly and Martha are in charge of rum balls. Along with Mary and Alice they settle down to a bottle of rum and a good old moan about men - Bob in particular. The girls decide that Bob should make an honest woman of Elly and when he arrives to collect the cakes for the fete she drunkenly proposes - then passes out! The next morning she can't remember a thing and is thrown when Bob arrives with a bunch of flowers and answers `Yes`. She doesn't know what he is saying `yes` to and after much dancing around the situation; Bob sits her down and proposes - in one of the most amazing speeches ever! She accepts and Westside once again gets ready for the wedding we've all been waiting for!

Elly and Bob remain pretty steady. They are thrown into turmoil when Steven Richardson strikes killing Virginia and causing havoc, but they get through it together and it seems they have learned something from the past. For Elly personally she has to deal with a few changes. Toni moves out of home and she's sad at saying goodbye to the girl who's become a daughter and best friend and work colleague Martha gets her hour's cut - forcing her to leave the surgery. Elly also becomes a friend to Sheridan whose nightmares with Steven cause her to have medical problems. When Martha becomes a cosmetic sales person, Elly is determined to get Martha's hours re - instated and the two start a campaign to keep Martha working. They don't get their exact result but it's enough for Martha who resumes her post at the surgery. To keep up with the latest craze, Elly adamantly allows Claire to spend the night working with D.J Dr. Rock alias Joey Valentine. Elly and Bob have great fun listening to Claire on air but it all goes terribly wrong when Claire is kidnapped after the broadcast. She is held by a woman whose child died under Elly`s supervision and she wants revenge and answers. Along with Joey, Elly pleads on the radio with the woman to give her daughter back but as the woman caves in a bomb goes off where Claire is being held captive. The woman dies but thankfully Claire escapes in time and Elly is reunited with her daughter. Elly focuses so much on blaming Joey for what happens - she fails to see that Claire is suffering from delayed shock. When Toni leaves Claire alone Bob finds her huddles up in Elly`s kitchen cupboard full of cuts from a smashed glass. Claire is fine, but Elly feels guilty about not spotting it.

Later, Elly is woken in the early hours of the morning by a phone call. It is a hospital in Boston, America. David has had a car crash and is in a serious condition. Claire is devastated and is desperate to see her father but Elly refuses to take her. She confides in Martha and Toni that she is worried about how Bob will react. She knows how much she hurt him last time she went away with David and she doesn't want to do it again. However, when Claire tries to book her own aeroplane ticket Elly has no choice and decides to go to America. Bob says he will of course miss her but he understands she has to go for Claire. Elly and David have also settled their past differences and Elly is genuinely worried about him. So Elly and Claire depart to see David.

When Elly returns she is minus Claire who has decided to stay in America with David. There are also a few surprises in store for Elly. Toni is planning to marry C.J who has been blinded in a road accident and Bob's younger brother Jack has turned up. The first one is a pleasant surprise, despite her initial doubt Elly is pleased for Toni and helps out where she can. But Bob`s brother, Jack is a very unpleasant surprise. At first Elly is excited to meet her future brother-in-law but after he is rude to her when she invites him to dinner, her opinions change. Jack is a gangster and is the complete opposite to Bob. Elly doesn't like him, she is scared of him and the people he mixes with. This cause problems between her and Bob and once again Bob pushes her away. She takes this hard. She thought that after Dylan, Bob would never risk loosing her again. She is also desperately missing Claire and after Martha quizzes her about the real reasons behind her misery there is another surprise. Elly is pregnant. She hasn't told Bob and is really not sure how she feels about the situation. Martha realises that she is in a real dilemma and without telling Bob Elly`s news, she warns him that if he doesn't stop taking her for granted he will lose her again. Bob is thankful for the advice and goes to see Elly with a bunch of flowers. She is not impressed and begins to question their relationship. Bob assures her that he loves her but he is worried about why she is acting in this strange manner. After Elly snaps at Toni, Toni makes a comment in the pub saying that Elly is acting like she`s pregnant. With the look on Martha's face, Bob puts two and two together and realises Elly is having a baby. When he confronts her she doesn't want to talk about it and avoids the situation. She returns home and leaves Bob to celebrate at the pub. With the excitement and banter Ernie makes a stupid remark about David. Bob then believes that the reason Elly hasn't told him is because he isn't the father. When Bob shares this thought with Elly she is obviously angry, upset and tells Bob to leave. Bob later goes to Elly`s and apologises. She tells him she can`t believe he could think such a thing of her and admits that she has thought about calling off their relationship. He tells her he loves her and she says if she is going to go through with this pregnancy then she wants his full `unqualified support`. Bob agrees and as the days pass Elly realises that having a baby with the man she loves is the most wonderful thing that could've happened to her. Suddenly Elly and Bob begin to act like teenagers in love and plan to bring the wedding forward so that they can marry before the baby is born.

All is going well for them and Elly even sees a new, kinder side to Jack. She invites him to dinner again and the three of them have a very nice evening. When Elly and Bob see Jack home a car comes by and fires at Jack. In the interim Jack protects Elly and Bob by pushing them to the ground. When the car has passed Elly realises she is bleeding. At the hospital, tests shoe that the baby is fine but Bob vows not to have anything more to do with his brother. As Elly is leaving the hospital she experiences some pain and unfortunately she looses the baby. After this their relationship takes a turn for the worse. Elly throws herself back into work while Bob really just wants them to talk about what has happened. Elly tells Martha that she can't talk to Bob because she knows how hurt he is. She tells Bob that she doesn't want any more children because she is scared of the influence that Jack has over their life. She tells Bob he has to choose between her and his brother. Bob is shocked and tells Jack what Elly has requested. Jack shows no emotion and Bob tells Elly that he can't just let his brother go whatever he has done. However he doesn't want to lose her either and hopes they can continue their relationship. Elly says she meant what she said and once again the rev and the doc split up.

Elly copes well with the split on the outside, she goes glam and enjoys girly nights with Martha but deep down she does hope that she and Bob will eventually reconcile. Her plans are thrown into turmoil when David's sister arrives looking for a lace to stay and takes an instant interest in Bob. Elly`s jealously is apparent and although it's not official it seems that she and Bob are kind of back together! Laura then takes an interest in Jack but it turns out that David's sister is actually a hit woman out to kill Bob's brother. Elly and Bob know nothing about this and without meaning to they become trapped in the whole conspiracy. At Martha's birthday party Elly and Bob both have a slice of Bonnies marijuana cake and get a little bit high! They end up back at Ellys place and Bob stays the night. The next day Elly tells Martha that it looks like she and Bob will be getting back together - properly.

On the night when Bob was taking Elly to a French movie and the pair were planning to get engaged again - Bob tries to protect Jack from being killed. He is involved in a car chase and is run of the road. Whilst Elly and Martha are coming to the end of their shift at the hospital, Jack brings Bob in. He is in a bad way. He has a ruptured spleen and Elly has to resuscitate him. She attends Bob's life saving operation and when he comes out of theatre she sits tirelessly at his bedside. Martha persuades her to get some sleep and as she does so Bob wakes up. He tells Jack he has seen Jimmy and asks him to take him to the church. When Elly later goes to check on Bob, she finds his bed empty. She eventually finds him in Jacks arms in the church. At first she marches up to Jack shouting and screaming at him, then she stops and realises that Bob is dead. Elly`s life falls apart. She rightly blames Jack and slaps him for killing the man she loved. At Bob's funeral she virtually ignores the speech that Jack performs and lays a rose on Bob's grave saying 'I'll never forget you.' Elly never gets over Bob. Without him, Claire and with Toni now gone she feels quite alone. She banishes Laura from her life for being involved with Jack and throws all her heart into setting up a new centre. The centre is 'The Robert Brown Memorial Centre'- later named 'Bob's Place.' She helps out there as much as she can and carries on everything that Bob believed in. In the E STREET finale Elly is hurt in the explosion and goes to America to recover. She returns with the news that David is remarrying and Claire is fine. Pretty much everything that Elly is involved in still revolves around Bob, the man she loved, her fiancé` for many a time and above all her best friend. I'm sure Elly is still battling away at 'Bob's Place', gossiping with Martha and probably having phone arguments with David. A huge change when Diane Craig took over the role, but we were lucky to be blessed with such an actress to carry on Elly's story.