Dr. Bree Hamilton (previously Marsden) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, portrayed by Rachael Blampied from December 2011 to September 2012.
Created and written specifically for Blampied, Bree debuted as the illegitimate sister of established character, Brooke Freeman (Beth Allen).
Envisioned to initially contrast her antagonistic sister, Bree developed into a manipulative and sociopathic villain whose antagonism greatly overpowered Brooke.
Bree has been labelled a "hugely popular" character and her first stint saw a favourable reception with her final storyline which saw her steal Brooke's identity, being hailed as a highlight of the 2012 season.
The episodes brought in huge ratings and Blampied's portrayal encouraged writers to restyle the character's exit storyline to allow a return.
[2] However Blampied was turned down every time as she looked too similar to one of the core actresses, Beth Allen (who portrayed Brooke Freeman).
Bree was born in 1983 and was the result of an affair between Brooke Freeman's (Beth Allen) mother, Annette (Louise Wallace) and her husband Grant's (Alan Lovell) best friend.
However, after several icey interactions with her sister, Bree ended up dating Vinnie but started to suffer from her lack of self-confidence at work.
Bree lost her job and after working as a medical supplies salesman, began sleeping with Kevin Johns (David Van Horn) under the identity of Brooke.
When Brooke discovered the fraud, Bree lost her mind and attempted to murder her, knocking her out and hiding her body in a storage container.
Upon arrival, Bree was shown as a polite and sensitive, well trained doctor, sharply contrasting her sister Brooke (Beth Allen).
"[5] To portray Bree's penultimate breakdown, Blampied researched borderline personality disorder and severe narcissism.
"[5] Blampied cared for her character and hoped for an uneventful future for Bree, "I'd like to see her get well, hold down a job and maybe even get into a relationship.
"[9] Describing Bree upon her return, Blampied stated, "She's still mentally very fragile, and her manipulative tendencies are most definitely still at the surface", but affirmed, "she's a lot more aware now though".
[3] Blampied herself was an only child, but found working alongside Allen reassuring, "I was kind of getting to know Beth in an almost sisterly way at the same time Bree and Brooke were getting to know each other.
In April, the sisters decided to flat together but trouble arose with Brooke's flatmate's Bella Cooper (Amelia Reid) and Luke Durville (Gerald Urquhart) refusing to move out.
[17] Brooke ended up manipulating the two into relationship problems to get them out but ultimately helped the two and was at odds with Bree's antagonistic view of the couple.
[17] Brooke and Bree's mother Annette (Louise Wallace) returned in July 2012 and the cast enjoyed portraying the relationship between the mother and her illegitimate daughter, with Wallace stating: "It's good looking at the back story and what happened in our relationship and where it all went wrong, why she hates me and why I don't give a rats arse about her.
"[12] The storyline was compared to films: Fatal Attraction and Single White Female, though Blampied tried not to be influenced by them.
[12] The storyline climaxed in Bree, under the identity of Brooke, attempting to murder her sister and hiding her body in a storage container.
"[9] Bree has been described as a "hugely popular" character despite her villainous characteristics and Blampied expected a lot more "hate".
[9] Television New Zealand listed Bree, alongside sister Brooke (Beth Allen), as some of the soap's most memorable "bad girls".