Tomorrow when the War Began

Ellie develops throughout the series from an outgoing, down-to-earth farmer girl, to a die-hard war machine.

Marsden writes about Ellie as an old friend, as he would himself. He has given her compassion, strength, logic. She thinks about death, what it feels like, whether you hear the bullets before they hit you? Do you ever see or know who kills you? Ellie refuses to die without a fight, part of her sense of pride, and she wants to see whatever it is that ends up killing her Her traits are very human and she controls herself very well, usually.

Ellie will be played by Caitlyn Stasey.

In his teenage years Homer Yannos has built a front to hide behind, a front as a disrespectful, insensitive, uncaring guy. Homer has a very forceful, even domineering, personality and while he despises weakness he also has a lot of trouble dealing with others who also have strong characters.

One of the constants of Homer's life is his competition with his best friend, Ellie. They compete continually and have done so all their lives. At the same time, Ellie really is the best friend he has in the world, someone who respects and admires him, a respect and admiration that he returns.

Homer is a very laid-back guy. He jokes about his Greek heritage, and even makes up games about it. Homer grows up fast. When danger rears its ugly head he is quick, responsive and reliable.

Homer's character is developed throughout the story from an immature, young farming boy to a mature logically thinking Australian guerrilla.

Homer will played by Deniz Akdeniz.

For those who like stereotypes, Fiona Maxwell is behind the eight ball. She is set up to fail in the environment the group finds itself in. She is unassertive, pampered, with no real knowledge of camping or the bush. She is someone who has never done a day's hard work in her life and even she knows it.

Even she doubts she has what it takes to resist, to survive. But Fi is not a stereotype, instead she makes me wonder about just what courage really is.

We are all a mix of strengths and weaknesses, and while Fi is a great carer she needs someone to provide leadership

Some may get the impression that Fi is not very brave, just someone who hung around in the background and lets the others do the fighting. One of the constants of the series is how regularly Fi looks and acts frightened. But when you look more closely at the character of Fi you may reverse your impression. Fi, is routinely terrified, but may well be the bravest of them all. Despite her continual terror she keeps performing, she keep going, she keeps her perspective when others are losing theirs. She is cursed with a memory she can't control, that throws messages of horror into her mind, but she is the one who controls her actions, not the horrors she can't push away

With the start of the war, Fi seems to be the weak link in the team's line-up, but as the team discusses what to do Fi's qualities start to show through. She decides to act, despite her fear, because she can't cope with the thought of doing nothing. Then at the next decision point, whether to start active resistance, she is obviously terrified but she again decides to go ahead, because she can't bear to let her friends down. She will even then, put her life on the line for them. Fi does have her limitations, plenty of them, but she plays her part. She normally takes on supporting and nurturing roles, but when the situation requires she will try just about anything, regardless of what she thinks she can do. She does not want to let the team down. Not really a combatant, Fi fights and kills when the situation is desperate: Fi defers to no one in courage, be it the cold courage to continue to function calmly when you mind is full of horror or the hot courage required to climb through a tiny hatch into a burning and wrecked vehicle in the middle of a firestorm to rescue a friend, or on one other memorable occasion, to risk everything to save Ellie, her closest friend. Not bad for a pampered girl from town.

Fiona will be played by Phoebe Tonkin.

Lee can be described as solid, dependable, loving, passionate, considerate, caring, listening, thinking, mature, indifferent, withdrawn, introverted, aggressive, vicious, murderous, and maybe even psychopathic. Lee starts as a fairly common character type, a highly intelligent introvert. A nerd for want of a better term, but a music nerd rather than a computer one. He does not have good social skills but has all the normal human emotions, which he therefore tends to keep bottled up inside. This, of course, means that when he finds an outlet, such as music or combat, the interest is intense. A fairly typical ‘obsessive’ type personality. Until the coming of the war Lee had two major escapes. Music – piano and violin – at which he excelled. And war/horror movies – which he would watch

when he couldn’t sleep. He was obviously quite a lonely boy. With the camping trip Lee is exposed to quite a different environment and quite a different group of people. An outsider to start with, he fits in well and is certainly part of the group by the time they return home. In the initial response to what they find Lee is strong and sensible. Fundamental to Lee’s character is pride, and its flip side, shame. Lee is shamed by what has happened to his country, his family and to him. He is desperate to strike back, to carry the war to the invaders and make a difference.

Lee, can usually been seen as the calm one, but that calm does not last. Lee’s shame grows into hatred, a hatred whose flowering allows him to easily be the most aggressive of the team, routinely advocating attack when they consider options. On the other hand, Lee is highly intelligent and cares very deeply. He can see what is happening to him and is frightened by it, but he is not in control of what is going on. While he is subject to depressions and a tendency to disappear within himself, he does his best to support those around him.

Lee becomes suicidally aggressive – he wants revenge – but there are some complicating factors. The first is that he doesn’t want to die for nothing – he really wants to hurt the enemy and that cuts down on the available options. The next is that he wants and needs the support of his friends– but he loves them and risking their lives is quite different to risking just his. The third is that he really doesn’t want to die. Of course he feels the pull of the suicidal gesture – who wouldn’t in his circumstances? But whenever the fat is in the fire, he fights to survive. Time and again.

In Lee, the urge to destruction and the will to live are in sharp conflict.

Lee will be played by Chris Pang.

Robyn is clearly an extraordinary person, but also one of the most stereotypical. Robyn is a young woman who is physically short and nuggetty, but graceful and well balanced, who is normally calm and quiet but loves to win and who is at her best in the toughest of situations. Her actions when their world falls down around them keep them free. She is also compassionate and caring, sometimes in a big way, but often just little things that make a big difference.

Throughout the eight months of life that we share with Robyn Mathers, the heart of her character is her faith, and till the moment of her death she struggles with what it means to be a Christian in the middle of a very ugly war. She shows understanding of why the Enemy may have invaded but at the same time does not want them to succeed, preferring to resist and then, afterwards, seek to improve things. She is not willing to use a gun, and when offered a weapon will decline to take it. She will, however, participate in attacks that will result in deaths, so long as she does not have to kill up close and personal and she will accept the emotional consequences of what she has done, which are quite severe. Robyn Mathers is, to the last, the most noble and heroic of the eight.

Robyn is a very powerful character, Although in some ways she is seen as a less humanly figure then the others, she maybe would have been accepted better if we could have seen some of her flaws in action, rather than just being told about them in the abstract. However, she is a powerful and moral character.

Robyn will be played by Ashleigh Cummings.