Ruby Buckton
Ruby Buckton is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera "Home and Away", played by Rebecca Breeds. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 20 June 2008. Ruby was created by executive producer Cameron Welsh. When she was first introduced she appeared to hide her problems and pretends to be strong. She was characterised as a free spirited and independent girl. Her storylines have consistently followed themes such as romance, unrequited love and rejection. In what has been described as a "shock storyline" Ruby discovered her sister Charlie Buckton was in fact her mother. This had subsequent effects in her character development. She became out of place and confused about her life. It destroyed her trust in Charlie and their relationship never recovered. Ruby went on a journey of self-discovery and used men to redefine herself. Her relationship with Xavier Austin was characterised through their mutual friendship, which ended through lack of passion. She controversially fell in love with her music teacher Liam Murphy, the pair shared an emotional and creative connection through music. Yet, her advances were unrequited and it created problems with her state of mind and began binge drinking. Breeds felt the storyline differed to her romance with Xavier, as it showed Ruby "headstrong and unconfined". Breeds felt they were ill-suited to one another.
Ruby Buckton
Breeds received a Logie Award nomination for "Most Popular New Female Talent" at the 51st Logie Awards for her portrayal of Ruby. She was later nominated for the "Most Popular Actress" Logie in 2010, with Breeds stating: "To know that people like Ruby makes me think I'm doing a good job." At the 2012 "Inside Soap" Awards, Breeds was nominated for "Best Daytime Star". Holy Soap recall Ruby's most memorable moment as being: "Trying to cope with her Dad's illness, Ruby started talking to someone on Skype, only to find out it was Matthew playing a trick. She got revenge by convincing him to go skinny-dipping and nicking his clothes." Carolyn Stewart writing for "TV Week" felt it was unrealistic for Ruby and Nicole to be best friends after she has "actively pursued two of Nicole's ex-boyfriends." She criticised Bianca's role in Ruby and Liam's storyline, quipping "Bianca-The-Butt-In-Ski" offered "her two cents worth" – subsequently calling her efforts unhelpful to Ruby. She also discussed Ruby's sudden descent into drink and wearing make up; "Obviously heavy make-up is a clue that a character is about to go off the rails… and, boy did she!" She said the moral of the storyline was to never fall in love with a teacher and that the situation had resulted in her as the "drowned-rat Ruby with eye-liner pouring down her face". Stewart later said "The way Ruby stares at Liam... oh, I'm just so embarrassed for the poor little petal! Hilarious!" She also criticised Nicole's bad advice. She later praised the storyline stating it was getting "juicy". Catrin Griffiths writing for the "Daily Express" said the serial came back in style after its summer break in the UK, owing to storylines such as Ruby's binge drinking.