Dr. Abigail Jolene Stevenson, known to all as Abby, is a fictional character on the ONtv series, Harpers Falls. She is played by Australian actress, Kate Ritchie, who is perhaps best known for her 20 year run as lovable heroine Sally Fletcher on the long-running Australian soap, Home and Away.
At first, Kate hadn't considered working on another soap, much less a soap in the US, as she was in Australia, but Kate took to it. "All I was asked to be is myself," Kate said, " the rest of it fell into place. One of the things I love most about the role is that Abby has a very strong leadership role. As Sally, I was always kind of a follower, although as she grew up, she became a stronger character. Abby allows me to grow strong, and I have fun playing a doctor, made all the MORE fun as Abby is the HEAD of the hospital! Whilst Sally was a school principal, Abby is a doctor, which I love! And as they say, 'I'm not really a doctor, I just play one on TV.'"
The Doctor from Down Under[]
Born in Sydney, Australia, Abby was always driven and very ambitious even as a little girl. Anything she did, she always gave more than 110%, which endeared her to everyone and provoked more than a bit of envy in her contemporaries.
Her main ambition for her whole life was to be a doctor. However, finding a medical school in Australia that would accept her was not easy. Not being a quitter, due to her driven and ambitious nature, Abby looked online, and saw the only school that would accept her was all the way in America. She began the process to achieve dual citizenship. Before she entered medical school, she became a dual citizen of both the US and Australia.
She became one of the highest level students at Harvard Medical School, and her brilliance was noticeable, even envied among some of her classmates.
Her parents died while she was in residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. During her residency, she had to go to Sydney, and settle their affairs. She sold most of her family's belongings, and she kept what she couldn't sell. She eventually maintained the land, but she sold the house to a nice old woman who made it into a boarding house.
She at first took the job as chief of staff at Harper Memorial Hospital in Brockton, where she first met the Harper family. She was a mite nervous about meeting such a powerful and well-connected family like the Harpers. She needn't have worried. The Harpers made her feel welcome and at home. She also found Rosemary Harper Wilson one of the finest OB/GYN's in all of New England. She was with Rosemary through the trauma of her losing her baby.
After a few months at Harper Memorial, she was elevated to Chief of Staff at Massachusetts General Hospital. One of the worst things about her job is her lack of a social life. However, Mark Harper, a patient who had been injured in the Boston Marathon bombings, and is coming out of his paralysis, seems smitten by her, and she is also interested in him.
However, she was stunned to hear that he had been murdered at the hands of a spiteful ex of Mark's cousin, Dylan. She threw herself into her work, and is so busy, she has very little time for romance.
Abby rarely uses her power of Chief of Staff in wrath, but when she has to, it is usually for a good reason. She recently had to do so when a psychiatrist who had caused Dylan to completely break down in tears was forcibly removed and fired from Mass General. She appointed Fernanda Guzman, another psychologist on staff, to take Dylan's case.