Towards the end of the 1989 season, the Patchett family was significantly expanded. Following a rather short engagement to Lisa Bennett, Chris met depressed and pregnant socialite, Megan Bromley (Lisbeth Kennelly), and, feeling sorry for her, he married her on the re-bound. The character of Megan was used to demonstrate the devastating effects of bipolar disorder. She was shown to have long periods of depression as well as mania, and this long-running storyline is another example of "E Street" exploring challenging issues. As Chris dealt with having to get Megan sectioned following a major manic-episode, Ernie meanwhile had a boost in the romance stakes – he returned from a short holiday head-over-heels in love with American lounge-singer, Abbey Rossiter (Chelsea Brown). Not long after this, soap veteran, Bunney Brooke, arrived as Ernie's gruff aunt, Violet "Auntie Vi" Patchett, and she moved into "The Pacific" and helped him run the pub.