Actor Nicholas Cartwright has joined Home and Away as police officer Cash Newman in a shocking new murder storyline that sees conwoman Susie McAllister’s body turning up in the bay.
It’s been a while since there’s been a copper in town, following the downfall - and imprisonment - of Bella Nixon’s police officer brother Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin).
We first see Senior Constable Cash Newman when he’s called out to arrest prescription drug addict Justin Morgan (James Stewart) for attacking one of Susie’s con victims Stephen Tennyson (Bren Foster).
A strung out Justin was wrongly under the impression that Stephen was trying it on with Justin’s girlfriend Leah Patterson (Ada Nicademou).
Then Susie’s body is washed up on the beach and Cash finds himself signed up to investigate a possible murder…
“Cash knew all about Summer Bay when he transferred there and whilst no one wants to have to deal with a murder if you look at the history of this little town, is it really that much of a surprise?” Nicholas has revealed.
After Susie grifted her way into gaining the trust of John Palmer (Shane Withington) she robbed him and several Summer Bay residents blind, making her victims John, Leah and Justin into prime suspects.
Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger) is also under suspicion after Susie chloroformed her before fleeing the Bay, as is John’s ex – and Susie’s sworn enemy – Marilyn Chambers (Emily Symons).
Now that he’s set to be a Summer Bay fixture, what do we need to know about Cash?
“Cash is a working-class man with a sensitive soul. He's in the family trade as it were, following his foster father’s footsteps with a career in the Police, but there is more to him than just police work,” Nicholas has explained.
“He has a strong moral compass and a loyalty to community, which he puts before just blindly following the letter of the law.
Before his transfer to Summer Bay, Cash worked as a cop out in regional Australia. Cash has many layers to him and he is definitely not what you may assume from a ‘Country Cop’.”
It may come as a surprise to learn that Nicholas was a professional soldier in the Australian Defence Force before he turned to acting!
In fact, Home and Away is his first major role since completing an acting course at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2019.
How does he feel about being a Summer Bay cop? Nicholas has shared a surprising insight into his first few months on set:
“It’s an absolute blast to get to tackle a suspect or solve a murder,” he revealed. “Although the crew would love it if I would stop crashing the Cop car on set. I'm already nicknamed ‘Crash Newman’!”
Summer Bay’s police officers don’t have a very good history of lasting the course… As well as bent cop Colby Thorne’s disgrace, Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) was shot dead and Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) had a fatal car accident!
Nicholas commented that he’s hoping Cash may have better luck in the job:
“The cops on Home and Away have a reputation for meeting grisly ends. I certainly hope Cash has a nice life in the Bay and does his job diligently, but I'm sure the writers room feel differently... we will have to wait and see!”
Home and Away continues weekdays at 1:15pm/6:00pm on Channel 5. Switch over for FIRST LOOK episodes at 6:30pm on 5STAR.
