Judith Ackroyd

| name = Judith Ackroyd
series = Home and Away
portrayer = Anna Hruby
first = October 21, 1999
Episode 2729
last = November 21, 2000
Episode 2957
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gender = Female
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occupation = School teacher/Principal
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siblings =
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children = Edward Dunglass(son)
grandchildren =
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color = Television colour|Home and Away
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Judith Ackroyd was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera "Home and Away". Portrayed by Anna Hruby, she was a regular on the show for around twelve months, from late 1999 to late 2000.

Character history

Judith arrived in Summer Bay in late 1999, taking over as principal of Summer Bay High after Don Fisher decided to step down. Almost the first thing she heard on her arrival in the Bay was Mitch McColl and Hayley Smith discussing the fact that Don thought, because she had achieved a senior position at a young age, she had slept her way into the job. In fact they had misunderstood him but the comment coloured Judith's attitude towards Don for some time afterwards until he finally set her straight.

Judith was accompanied to the Bay by her son, Edward Dunglass. He was the result of an affair she had had some years previous with an older married lecturer, Edward Dunglass Snr. Edward Snr had died of Huntington's Disease, meaning there was a fair chance Edward had inherited it. The fact caused Judith to be both very close to and very tolerant of Edward, who had a rather large rebellious streak.

Shortly after Judith had taken possession of the school laptop, Don arrived to ask her if it still contained a copy of his novel "A Letter to Byron", since his housekeeper Colleen Smart had inadvertedly erased his back-up discs by placing them on a magnetic speaker. Judith reluctantly had to admit that she had already formatted the hard drive. Not wanting to see Don's work lost, Judith and Don spent the entire night sitting up and writing out the novel again at his place.

Around the same time, Judith blocked Gypsy Nash's appointment as school captain, feeling she wasn't an appropriate role model for the other pupils. Colleen, meanwhile, had mentioned the fact that Judith had spent the night at Don's place and Gypsy began spreading rumours around the school that they were having an affair-particularly worrying since Don was still married to Marilyn at the time. When Gypsy eventually admitted what she had done, Judith felt that her actions had vindicated her earlier decision.

Judith was somewhat shocked when Edward came home and announced that he had "married" his girlfriend Peta Janossi in a private ceremony in her garden and they were planning to move in together. Neither Judith nor Joel Nash, Peta's foster father, were entirely happy about the idea but as a compromise Judith agreed to let Peta move in with them.

With Don's marriage having broken up, he and Judith had become good friends and Edward began playing matchmaker for the pair. At the same time, Judith started spending time with Joel, who had asked for her help when Gypsy decided to drop out of school. When she received some flowers, she quizzed both men if they were responsible but both denied it. In fact, Peta had sent the flowers, knowing Judith would suspect they were from Joel and it would get them talking.

When Edward's diagnosis was confirmed, Judith gave him a video message that his father had recorded for such an eventuality. Afterwards, Edward announced that, with so little time left for him, he wanted Judith to give him his trust fund early so he and Peta could go travelling. Judith initially wasn't keen on the idea but eventually arranged for the pair to go and stay with her sister in Rome as the first stage of their trip.

Left alone, Judith turned even more to Joel. Their relationship proceeded rapidly and he ended up moving in with her but when she raised the question of having children he wasn't keen, especially when she said she was willing to be a single parent, and things rapidly began to break down between them. When someone started stalking Gypsy and her new boyfriend Harry Reynolds, Joel used it as an excuse to move back in with them.

Soon after, Joel was badly injured in the mudslide and Judith was concerned when his estranged wife Natalie returned to visit him, feeling Joel still loved her. Joel told Judith he would go back to living with her but as soon as he was discharged from hospital she took him to Natalie. Despite feeling it was inevitable, she was nevertheless upset when they reconciled and left the area.

With little left to tie her to the Bay, Judith applied for a job in Switzerland, partly because it would place her closer to Edward and Peta, and much to her surprise was accepted, despite thinking she interviewed badly. Don was disappointed by the news since he still held out hopes they would get together but could console himself that Judith had recommended him to take over as principal again. Against his wishes though, Judith's last act as principal was to give a job to Sally Fletcher, who would subsequently remain with the school over seven years and be appointed principal herself.

Judith asked Don to drive her to the airport but his friend June Reynolds talked him out of it, feeling a long goodbye would help neither of them. In the end it was her friends Irene Roberts and Shelley Sutherland who waved her off as she departed in a taxi.