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Erik Thomson as Jack Jaffers

Wanderer, dreamer, ex-rock star and bad boy, Jack Jaffers has always considered himself the epitome of cool.

At a party, Jack's the one surrounded by an audience. He knows a little bit about a lot of things and can wax lyrical about all of them. He knows how to cast a shaman hex on your enemy, fix your plumbing and improve your love life using the I-Ching, but he'd be the first to admit he is more interested in the theatre of it all than the truth.

Jack doesn't usually have to work too hard to seduce women — he's charismatic, sincere and a genuinely good listener. Relationships make him twitchy though. He usually has to take off in a hurry if things are heading in that direction.

Although he has a good heart, Jack can be an infuriating person to deal with. He's great at grand gestures but bad at follow-through. He dreams big but gets bored with the details. Then there's his interesting theory that it's kinder to tell people what they want to hear than to tell them the truth.

For the first time, Jack has found a reason to stay in one place. There's the Baa Bar, there's his daughter Jess and then there's Helen. All three of them scare the bejesus out of him, but for now he's staying put.

Erik Thomson

Scottish-born, New Zealand-raised actor Erik Thomson completed a diploma of performing arts at the New Zealand Drama School and a bachelor of arts in English literature and drama at Victoria University, Wellington.

Best known to Australian audiences as Dr Mitch Stevens in the television drama series All Saints, Thomson's other television credits include The Alice telemovie, Wildside, 13 Gantry Road, Pacific Drive,, Hercules and Xena, Warrior Princess. Leaving All Saints in 2003 after four years with the series, he returned to the theatre and appeared in the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Sydney Opera House Playhouse.

Since appearing in The Alice telemovie, Thomson has completed his first feature film, Somersault, which was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the award-winning short film Man Janson, the television mini-series Through My Eyes and MDA.

He was nominated for a Silver Logie award in 2002, won one in 2003 and was nominated again in 2004. For his outstanding performance in Somersault, he was also nominated for a 2004 Film Critics Circle award for best actor in a supporting role and was the winner of the Showtime AFI award for best actor in a supporting role. He was again nominated in the supporting role category in 2008 for his work in the feature The Black Balloon.

In 2008, Erik was back on TV starring in the hit drama series Packed to the Rafters as Dave Rafter, a role which to date has earned him Logie Award nominations for Most Popular Actor (2009, 2010, 2011) and Most Outstanding Actor (2011).

Erik Thomson and Caitlin McDougall married in 1999.