Caitlin Atkins

Infobox character
colour = Television colour|Neighbours
name = Caitlin Atkins


first = September 29, 1997
Episode 2951
last = June 24, 1998
Episode 3108
cause = moved back to Adelaide to be with her mother
age =
occupation =
spouse =
children =
relatives = Nicholas Atkins
Ben Atkins
portrayer = Emily Milburn

Caitlin Atkins was a fictional character in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours", played by Emily Milburn from 1997 until the character's departure in 1998.

Character's background

When her parents decided to move away temporarily to the Middle East for her father's work, Caitlin decided she wanted to stay in Australia. With one brother, Nicholas, travelling the world tutoring the children of wealthy families, Caitlin was shipped off to stay with her other, adopted, brother Ben. Caitlin's main passion in life was swimming, at which she competed at professional levels. Upon arriving in Erinsborough, Caitlin immediately headed down to the local pool to check out the facilities. There she met Billy Kennedy, who worked as a pool attendant and she soon decided that he would be hers. Upon arriving in Ramsay Street, she was disappointed to learn that Billy was already seeing Anne Wilkinson, but this minor fact was not enough to end her pursuit.

Caitlin managed to make friends with Mandi Rodgers from the swim team, but failed to impress her neighbours and housemates on Ramsay Street. Sarah was particularly unhappy about having to share with a teenager. Caitlin began to feel increasingly isolated on the street, and her friendship with Billy got stronger, especially as it was revealed that he was a very competent swimmer and he joined the local team. This development led to Billy getting a crush on Caitlin, while Anne grew more and more paranoid.

As the team headed off to Sydney to compete, and Billy and Anne had been going through an especially rocky patch, Caitlin saw her opportunity. She kissed him, unaware that Anne had followed Billy to Sydney. She caught them together, causing further damage to Billy and Anne's fragile relationship. Upon their return to Erinsborough, not only did Caitlin have to deal with the aftermath, she was also devastated when Ben fell into a coma following a car accident. Caitlin and Anne were briefly united in their worry over Ben, but as his condition improved, Billy was forced to decide between the two women - and he chose Anne. However, Caitlin's friendship with Anne survived, to the surprise of everyone and together they pulled off a scam where Anne and Caitlin swapped places during the Erinsborough High Swim Carnival. Expert swimmer Caitlin won the race, beating school bully Jacinta Myers.

Billy was forgotten a few weeks later, when Josh Hughes arrived to train with the Erinsborough swimming team. Despite him being a few years older, Caitlin quickly fell for him. The couple decided to wag from swimming class and spend the day together, but while play fighting, Josh fell and sprained his arm. However, it was soon revealed that he was exaggerating his injury in order to escape from training and spend more time with Caitlin. As the couple found themselves in trouble from all angles - including from Caitlin's brother Nicholas, who had come to look after her during Ben's illness - they decided to disappear. However, the couple didn't get very far. Upon their eventual return, Josh had to go home and Caitlin realised things had failed to work out for her once again.

With Nicholas now looking after her, Caitlin found things slightly stricter than with Ben, especially as Nick worked as a teacher. Meanwhile, things between Billy and Anne had stalled as he was unable to cope with her jealousy. Billy started spending more time with Caitlin and made attempts to start a romance with her, but Caitlin was not impressed after all that had happened in the past. Caitlin had further problems when she started pushing herself too hard during swimming, in an attempt to win a place at the institute of sport and ended up collapsing in the backyard of number 30. Luckily, she was okay, but it made her realise that there was no point in making herself ill for the sport.

When Caitlin noticed how much Lance was missing Amy as his girlfriend, she decided to hatch a plan to win her back. Caitlin and Lance began pretending to see each other, making Amy extremely jealous. Amy confronted Caitlin in the toilets at Little Tommy Tucker's and warned her off, leaving Caitlin happy that her plan had worked. Meanwhile, Caitlin and Nick heard that their mother had decided to return to Australia and wanted her children back home. So, after a short but tumultuous time spent in Ramsay Street, Caitlin reluctantly left, with a farewell message painted on the road, meaning nobody would forget her.