Joey Rainbow

Joey has a similar introduction to many other teenage characters featured in the show. He arrives in Summer Bay to escape a troubled life. He starts school at Summer Bay High and Selina Roberts (Tempany Deckert) recognises him as the son of Saul Bennett (David Ritchie). Joey had previously lived in Saul's commune. A reporter from Inside Soap said that Joey had a past "more dramatic than most". They described him as "clever but shy" and took time to settle into life in Summer Bay. Joey finds a home with Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger) and forms friendships with Casey Mitchell (Rebecca Croft), Stephanie Mboto (Fleur Beaupert) and Liam Tanner (Peter Scarf). He is "nerdy" and is better at winning school quizzes than female attention.[6]

O'Han described Joey as a "very naive and innocent" character. He often felt sorry for Joey because he is an outsider who is unaware of teenage issues.[2] Joey's upbringing in the commune had led to most of his problems.[1] O'Han explained that the character "is just not into the concept of having an image and worrying about what to wear and how to be cool. It's not that I am obsessed by those things but he is not even aware that they can be important issues for teenagers."[2] Joey becomes isolated after he gets tipsy at a party and embarrasses himself. He feels that he cannot face his friends, who are busy with their relationships, so he finds himself staying at home. Joey is pulled out of his isolation when his peers realise that he should be in the school quiz team.[1]

Joey's main relationship is with Tiegan Brook (Sally Marrett). As the show's official website described their relationship, it was "a sort of romance" with "ups and downs".[4] The duo were sharing scenes since Tiegan's first day at Summer Bay High. He unsuccessfully attempted to keep her out of trouble.[7] Joey then assumes the role of being the person who is always there to help her. Tiegan is sent away to live with another foster family, but upon her return she decides to pursue Joey. But Joey's friend Casey realises that she has feelings for Joey and this causes friction amongst the three characters.[8] Marrett told Steven Murphy from Inside Soap that "Joey was the first person Tiegan wanted to see when she returned, she's pitched herself with Joey as he's always been there for her."[8] Tiegan is sceptical about how other people view her and she and Joey enjoy their time together. But Casey soon becomes jealous and attempts to keep them apart. Marrett refused to reveal whether Casey would succeed but noted that Tiegan definitely wants a relationship with Joey. The only issue is that Tiegan does not know how to behave around those she loves and keeps her feelings hidden. Murphy concluded that Tiegan and Casey would feud over Joey.[8]

While Joey is in his final year at school, he develops schizophrenia.[9] Normally balanced, Joey begins acting strangely and knows that he is not feeling right. O'Han commented that while Joey does not think anything of it, the people around him become frightened by what is happening.[9] Irene is the most concerned about Joey and is the first to realise that he is suffering from schizophrenia. Irene tries to help Joey, but he accuses her of trying to kill him and attacks her.[9] O'Han explained that Joey is "very calm" about it and just walks out after as if nothing has happened. To him it is not a big deal, while everyone else thinks it is terrible.[9] As soon as O'Han learned from the writers what was going to happen to his character, he began researching the illness and consulting the relevant organisations.[9]

Joey smokes marijuana as a means to rid himself of the voices he hears.[10] O'Han initially had reservations about the storyline. He explained "My main concern when I heard about (the storyline) was I wanted to do it accurately, I didn't want to insult people who have it, their families or the people who work with them and I think it's been done well according to the feedback. The storyline is also refreshing for me. It's a big challenge because it's so far from the norm in Summer Bay." He added "It's a very valid issue to take on especially for the younger (viewers) because schizophrenia affects them the most, We will reach a younger audience that wouldn't normally be reached like if the story was done as a documentary on television. Teenagers just wouldn't listen. With Home and Away it's much more palatable for the 16 to 25-year-olds. They're most susceptible and need to be educated about it."[11]

In an interview with the serial's website O'Han mentioned how the storyline was his first on-going one "Although it's been going on for a long time and I haven't had a storyline that's lasted that long before, sort of a gradual build-up to the actual storyline then the denouement and the continuation of dealing with the illness. It's been a really good experience, though. He admitted he was unaware of the different types of schizophrenia and varying symptoms. "A lot of times when people hear the word "schizo" they think it's just someone who's mad or crazy. I found that when I was actually portraying it I learnt a lot more about it."[12]

When asked about playing Joey at different stages of the illness, O'Han said: "The script was fairly specific on exactly how erratic his behaviour was to be at a certain moment, more or less the overall thing was decided in the script, it was just up to me basically how to… when it said Joey was getting upset, exactly how I'm showing that he's upset, obviously that was a decision that was made by the director and myself." He described the experience as "unusual" and no other the storyline would present him with a situation where he would portray different characteristics as opposed to Joey's normal demeanour. "So normally he's a very sweet, nice kind of guy, fairly straight, and all of a sudden he's smoking marijuana, so it was a big turnaround."[12]

O'Han conceded that Joey would be one of the least likely characters on the show to use alcohol or other drugs. He added that this was the first time the serial had featured a character with a mental illness, saying that it was not brought to his attention until after he began shooting the storyline. He thought it was "great" to act out something that had not been tackled before, calling it "a new experience" for himself and the crew.[12] O'Han worked on the storyline with the producers and the charity SANE. He became the face of SANE's campaign and was featured on posters and pamphlets.[13] Minister for the Department of Health and Aged Care, Dr Michael Wooldridge said that SANE used Joey for "deliberate mass media focus" and a very public health campaign.[14]