Carly Lucini (also Morris) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actress Sharyn Hodgson.

The soap's primary focus was placed upon the Fletchers and their gang of foster children, moving as outsiders to a caravan park in the seaside town of Summer Bay.

Carly remained in the serial as a regular character until 1991, covering issues such as rape, alcoholism and child abuse, as well as a problematic marriage to soldier Ben Lucini, played by actor Julian McMahon.

Carly is one of five children fostered by Pippa (Vanessa Downing) and Tom Fletcher (Roger Oakley), who move to Summer Bay to begin a new life.

After being unable to find acting work following her graduation from the Phillip Street Drama School, Hodgson secured a job at a news agency, but on the day she was due to start she received an audition for the role of Carly, which she subsequently won.

[7] Carly has a few love interests during her time in the show, including Matt Wilson (Greg Benson) and Gary Samuels (Darius Perkins).

[9] In early 1990, Italian-Australian soldier Ben Lucini, played by Julian McMahon, was introduced to the show and he became a "major" new love interest for Carly.

[10] McMahon later told Barry Divola of Stars of Oz magazine that he and Hodgson worked hard to make it seem that their characters had experienced "love at first sight".

[11] Ben and Carly get engaged after a short romance and endure "all that pre-marriage trauma stuff", including finding their first home and paying for it.

[12] In the 1 September 1990 edition of TV Week, David Brown reported that both Hodgson and McMahon had quit the show to pursue other acting roles.

[13] Since being written out of the serial, Hodgson has made numerous guest appearances in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008, as Carly returns to visit her foster family or attend important events in Summer Bay.

[14] Hodgson joined other original cast members, including Alex Papps, Peter Vroom and Craig Thompson, for her foster sister Sally Fletcher's (Kate Ritchie) wedding in 2000.

[16] Carly's return in 2002 was part of Home and Away producers' attempt to counter a ratings slump, said to have resulted from the "unexpected success" of a rival network's reality TV show Big Brother, which was aired opposite the soap at 7pm weekdays.

A problematic, selfish teenager, Carly is frequently in trouble at school, and she feuds with her foster sister Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson), though they later patch up their differences and become close friends.

Italian soldier Ben Lucini arrives in Summer Bay and is instantly attracted to Carly, they quickly become engaged and marry within months.

[21] While discussing the social issues that Home and Away covered in the early years, Jo Abi of Mamamia observed that Carly initially "struggles to find her feet and feels the need to strike out on own, however she is ill-prepared and soon lands herself in trouble.

[23] Jason Herbison from All About Soap described Carly stating she is "the Gypsy Nash of her day - she had a drink problem, an evil twin and a penchant for bad boys.

Of the pair, they wrote "This fiery couple first met in the Diner when handsome soldier Ben Lucini (Julian McMahon) arrived in the Bay while on leave from the army.

"[25] Discussing Carly and Ben, a reporter from Soap World wrote "this romance was a Summer Bay whirlwind for the Italian soldier and the H&A original.

Hay assessed that "Home and Away's original teenage tearaway Carly finally found the love she had been looking for with soldier Ben Lucini.