Robbie G. Dahl is a fictional character portrayed by actor Vijay Kanja in the Georgeland television series Martin Hall. Within the show, he is the Chief of Staff for the President of Georgeland, Joan Tanner and serves as her chief adviser and confidante.
Vijay Kanya as Robbie Dahl
Robbie has known Tanner for several years (according to Luke) and first met her when he was a student. Robbie is in his late 30s and studied constitutional law. He is quite an expert on constitutional powers and wrote his Masters thesis on the subject.
Robbie has worked for career politicians in the past, notably while at university, but eventually gave up voting altogether because of dissolutionment with the political process. In A Great Leap Forward he mentions he has not voted in a parliamentary election for ten years. Robbie distrusts and dislikes almost all politicians of all colours - a notable exception is President Tanner, to whom he is utterly loyal. Robbie was Tanner's campaign manager during her bid for election. Robbie was not a professional political strategist prior to running Tanner's campaign, but has since found a flair for the task and is frequently able to hold his own against Prime Minister Alan Wheatley. Robbie and Wheatley despise one another, and this has led to problems in their working relationship.
Robbie is a lawyer by background and has worked in both the public and private sector, notably as a barrister for law firm Garfield & Wyckes and as a corporate lawyer for a big insurance firm. He has retained a lot of his "corporate executive" demeanour and is extremely overworked - he regularly sleeps in his office, despite the President ordering him not to (Meltdown). He is also fond of "modern management" techniques, and frequently annoys staff with the latest "flash" technique to improve staff morale. In later episodes of the first season, Robbie seems to have relaxed somewhat, and no longer employs these techniques.
Robbie is a workaholic, and has a rather unhealthy lifestyle - he eats junk food constantly, but despite this he is reasonably fit, as he spends an hour each day at the gym. He also has a treadmill in his office (Phone Home).
Robbie is completely loyal to Tanner and sees her as the only honest politician in the country. He always defends her against criticism, but occasionally goes too far, such as calling a radio show to abuse the host when he criticised the President (Allies and Enemies).
Robbie has never been married. His romantic life is sporadic. Robbie and Ingrid Sutter, the President's secretary, have a flirtatious relationship that occasionally borders on the romantic, but so far it has been platonic. Robbie was briefly romantically linked with Ellen Rowland, one of Wheatley's advisers, and dated her until a verbal slip leaked embarrassing information about the President's family to Wheatley. Whether Ellen was deliberately sent to get information from Robbie or if it was a simple faux pas remains a topic of question among viewers. President Tanner ordered Robbie to break off his contact with Ellen in Allies and Enemies. Ellen appeared in the final episode of Series 1, apologising to Robbie, but he gave her the cold shoulder.
In the series final, Meltdown, Robbie and Wheatley had an explosive argument in the Situation Room following Tanner's abduction by Enkidu rebels. Robbie accused Wheatley of deliberately endangering the President, and when Wheatley insulted Tanner, Robbie punched the Prime Minister in the face. He was detained by FISIA agents and taken into police custody, where he remains at the conclusion of the first series. His fate will be seen in the second series, to begin airing in 2008. Series creator Joe Starnes has revealed that Robbie will not be in prison for the second series, and actor Vijay Kanja has been signed for all 13 episodes.
The character of Robbie was written in the first draft of the script for A Great Leap Forward as "fortyish, dynamic, a typical rich white executive". The character's name in the first draft was Robbie White. Actor Kevin Bosley auditioned for the role and was eventually cast as Wheatley. When Kanja got the role, the character's name was altered to the more ethnic Dahl. However, while Kanja is of Indian extraction, Robbie's ethnic background has never been referred to in the show.