Sam Farrell played by Simon Denny

Episodes 293 - 404

Sam Farrell arrived in Westside with a bang – literally. On his first day on the job he witnessed an armed robbery at a petrol station. The men have a gun pointed at the shop assistants head and Sam steps in and shoots him. The young man dies and Sgt Harry Haddock arrives on the scene he learns the weapon the armed robber was using was actually a dud and could not have caused any harm. But given that Sam is the son of legendary cop Ed Farrell, Harry swaps the dud for a harmful gun, which he knows, will prove that Sam did the right thing. Sam is guilt ridden and is moved from Newbridge Station to Westside where Ed believes he will be well looked after by George. George welcomes Sam but is not happy about Ed ruling his staff. Sam moves into the pub with his girlfriend Amy who works a nurse at the hospital. The pair have been together since they were children and plan to get married.

With Ed desperate to catch Wheels and Sheridan, he takes Sam along for the ride and tells George that he is needed to provide a police presence given that everyone else on the job are ex-police. George reluctantly agrees and asks Sam to make sure everything is above board. Sam does his best to keep upholding the law but Ed demotes him and is in full charge of Sam and the hunt. Whilst working with his father Sam sees the side of him he has never liked; the vigilante side and the side that doesn’t care about justice. After many weeks he tells George what has really been happening with Ed’s hunt for Wheels and Sheridan. George follows them on their final day and witnesses Ed firing meaningless shots at Wheels and Sheridan’s hide out. Ed is arrested and Sam is the charging officer.

With Ed out of town, Sam focuses on his life with Amy and is concerned that her job nursing serial killer Steven Richardson is strongly affecting her. It soon transpires that during their childhood romance Amy disappeared for a number of months and when she returned Sam was left in the dark as to where she had been. His concerns are raised when he notices Amy’s present behaviour is the same as it was back then. He enlists the help of her mother Julia, but she refuses to give him any answers. Sam only learns the truth when he and George and called to the scene of a crime; a man has been shot and killed. When Sam checks the man for ID he finds a picture of Amy in his wallet. Amy and Julia finally tell Sam what happened in her childhood. The dead man; Gary raped Amy and locked her up for 3 months. He later stalked her and was put in jail for child abuse. Julia had Amy committed and it was in that hospital that she met Steven. To seek her revenge Amy has shot and killed Gary. Sam doesn’t know what to do and is torn between his profession and the woman he loves. The decision is taken out of his hands when Amy is found with Steven and is witnessed firing shots at him. She runs away to a warehouse and climbs onto a scaffolding tower where she threatens to jump. Sam and George gather and Amy asks for her Mother. Julia arrives and takes her place next to Amy where she offers her comfort. Amy pulls her in for a hug and then pushes her off the scaffolding tower where she falls to her death. Amy is taken once more to a psychiatric hospital where she tells Sam to let go of her and to move on with his life. Sam watches as his true love walks away.

Feeling that he has let the force down by concealing Amy’s crime, Sam hands in his resignation. Over the next few months he occasionally works behind the bar and has a trial period as receptionist at Elly’s surgery. But his regimented attitude means he doesn’t fit in very well.

Sam becomes a figure of support for Toni when she and CJ experience marriage problems. He talks to her about his feelings for Amy and she tells him how scared she is of CJ’s growing need to have an amazing lifestyle. They grow very close and Sam is the person Toni always turns to when she has an argument with CJ. On one occasion she spends the night at in Sam’s room at the pub. Nothing happens between them but when she tells CJ she didn’t stay with Elly, he jumps to conclusions and punches Sam. Slowly people begin to turn on Sam and believe he is not helping Toni and CJ to repair their marriage. But Toni is not swayed and once again seeks solace in Sam when she learns CJ has a drug problem. This time something does happen and Sam and Toni sleep together. Both Sam and CJ then go into battle for Toni and Sam feels that he loves her. When Toni leaves Westside for her Granddads farm she leaves Sam a letter informing him of where she is. Jo-Jo tells him to tell CJ where she is but Sam doesn’t and instead heads there to win Toni. Sam tells her he loves her but Toni says she doesn’t want to use him or ruin his life and has realised that she is not in love with him. Sam heads back to Westside where he picks up CJ and takes him to Toni – he watches the pair reunite before heading back to town.

Unsure what to do with his life, and with life on the force not have gone well. Sam becomes the surprise caretaker of ‘The Reverend Brown Community Centre’ later known as ‘Bob’s Place’. He was to help the community but finds it hard to forget about the law and to help people out even if he doesn’t agree with their choices. He also comes up against a challenge when the young boy he is helping turns out to be the brother of the man he killed in the petrol station siege. The boys family want revenge and beat Sam to a pulp. But he remains certain that he is in the right job and continues to make a go of the centre. When E Street finishes he is firmly established in Westside and sets his heart on carrying on where Rev Bob left off.