Neighbours
Neighbours is a long-running Australian television soap opera, running daily episodes of 25 minutes not including comercials. Originally aired on the Seven Network in Australia in 1985, it was shifted to the Ten Network early in its run and has remained popular with its core teenage audience ever since.
The series follows the daily lives of several families who live in the fictional Ramsay Street, Erinsborough - although in fact it is restricted to the small cul-de-sac of six houses at the end of the street - and includes the usual soap staples of births, deaths, and marriages. The show features a regular turnover of attractive young actors mixed in with the more stable cast of older people. Though it is not commonly mentioned so as to not alienate viewers in other Australian cities, Erinsborough (a pseudo-anagram of 'neighbours') is undoubtedly supposed to be a suburb of Melbourne. The show is filmed in Melbourne, and for street scenes uses Pinoak Court in Vermont South, a suburb in eastern Melbourne.
Many successful Australian actors and singers had some of their earliest work on Neighbours, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe (brief extra appearance), Natalie Imbruglia, Jason Donovan, Holly Valance, Mark Little, Delta Goodrem, Alan Dale and Alan Fletcher.
One of the most enduring characters on the show is Harold Bishop, played by actor Ian Smith, who also wrote many of the scripts for the show.
The show is also popular in the United Kingdom. It quickly gained a cult following there in the late 1980s when BBC ONE began screening it at lunchtime, and it was soon given an early evening repeat slot by then controller Michael Grade (on the advice of his daughter), where it often achieved an audience rating greater than the total population of its native Australia.
The show has also been sold to networks in many other countries. Episodes from 1999 were aired for a six-week trial basis on the American channel Oxygen in the spring of 2004.
Current characters
- Bishop family
- Harold Bishop - coffe-shop owner, devout christian, tuba player, slightly slow-witted, often comic relief, widower of the late Madge Bishop.
- David Bishop - Harold's son. A dull individual, often too proud to ask for help.
- Liljana Bishop - David's Serbian wife
- Serena Bishop - teenage daughter of David and Liljana.
- Svetlanka Ristic - Liljana's mother (irregular character)
- Sky Mangel - Harold's rebellious teenage granddaughter, daughter of Joe Mangel (absent) and Kerry Bishop (deceased).
- Scully family
- Lyn Scully - mildly neurotic hairdresser, used to work for Gino.
- Steph Scully - 20-something mechanic and biker chick, overcame cancer and is engaged to Max Hoyland. Daughter of Lynn.
- Michelle and Felicity ("Flick") Scully - younger sisters of Steph, both working/studying abroad.
- Jack Scully - former professional soccer player, Neighbours' current pin-up boy.
- Oscar Scully - infant son of Lynn and Joe Scully
- Joe Scully - Lynn's husband, currently absent due to the sacking of actor Shane Connor.
- Tom Scully - Lynn's brother-in-law, a priest who had a brief affair with Susan Kennedy, and hinted that he might be losing his faith.
- Valda Sheergold - Over-the-top busybody and comic relief. Introduced as Lynn's aunt but later revealed to be her true mother.
- Hoyland family
- Max Hoyland, single father of two.
- Summer Hoyland, precocious daughter of Max
- Boyd Hoyland, teenage son of Max, skater and on/off boyfriend of Sky Mangel
- Isobel "Izzy" Hoyland, sister of Max, culinary and business genius, and Ramsay Street's femme fatale. Karl Kennedy left his wife Susan for her.
- Kennedy family
- Karl Kennedy, doctor and frustrated would-be rock star. His marriage to Susan hit the rocks after he became fiendly with Isobel Hoyland, eventually leaving Susan for her.
- Susan Kennedy, school headmistress and English teacher.
- Elizabeth "Libby" Kennedy, journalist, daughter of Karl and Susan, widow of the late Drew Kirk.
- Malcolm "Mal" and William "Bill" Kennedy, older and younger brothers of Libby respectively. Both absent but sometimes referred to.
- Ben Kennedy Kirk, infant son of Libby with the late Drew Kirk.
- Two pets live in the Kennedy household - Dahl the parrot and the rarely-seen Cassie the sheep.
- Other
- Louis "Lou" Carpenter - businessman, sometime mayor, widower, owner of the pub "Lou's Place" and the garage "Carpenter's Mechanics". Has a long-standing chalk-and-cheese friendship with Harold Bishop.
- Jarrod "Toadfish" Rebecchi - sometime tearaway, now a respectable lawyer. Was married to Dee Bliss (for about twelve minutes, before she went missing, presumed drowned, after the ceremony)
- Stuart Parker, friend of Toadfish. Former mechanic. Lost everything when fleeced by a cult, now a police officer.
- Connor O'Neill - Young, slightly naive, Irish immigrant. Romantically linked with Michelle Scully, but had an affair with Lori Lee while Michelle was abroad.
- Lori Lee, mother of baby Oscar.
- Scott "Stingray" Timmins - teenage cousin of Toadfish, diagnosed with ADHD.
- Sindi Watts - on/off love interest of Toadfish, with numerous short-lived jobs.
- Darren Stark - Electrician, son of the late Cheryl Stark, former love interest of Libby Kennedy.
- Irregular characters
- Gino d'Esposito - flamboyant, probably gay hairdresser, Lynn's former employer.
- Rocco Carmineri - underworld crime boss, possibly linked to either the Mafia or the Yakuza. A "business associate" of Lou Carpenter.
- Tim Collins - Lawyer. Toadfish's former rival, now business partner.
- Sgt Joanne Douglas - Erinsborough's beat policewoman, often seen investigating one of the suburb's many minor crimes or breaking bad news after an accident.
Past characters
- Madge Bishop (also Ramsey and Mitchell) (Anne Charleston)
- Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy)
- Rosemary Daniels
- Max Ramsey
- Maria Ramsey
- Shane Ramsey
- Danny Ramsey
- Charlene Robinson (nee Mitchell)
- Scott Robinson
- Lucy Robinson
- Jim Robinson
- Paul Robinson
- Beverly Robinson
- Melanie Pearson
- Jane Harris
- Annalise Hartman
- Lance Wilkinson
- Anne Wilkinson
- Doug Willis
- Pam Willis
- Cody Willis
- Julie Martin (nee Robinson)
- Phil Martin
- Hannah Martin
- Debbie Martin
- Michael Martin
- Ruth Martin (nee Wilkinson)
- Cheryl Stark
- Brett Stark
- Danni Stark
- Mrs Mangel
- Des Clarke
- Daphne Clarke
- Jamie Clarke
- Gino Esposito
- Mike Healey
- Taj Coppin
- Clive Gibbons
- Dorothy Burke
- Phoebe Bright
- Kevin 'Stonefish' Rebecchi Jr.
- Big Kev Rebecchi
- Angie Rebecchi
- Nina Tucker
- Trixie Carpenter (nee Tucker)
- Edwina Valdez
- Joe Mangel
- Kerry Bishop
- Chris Lowe, Pet Shop Boys keyboardist (cameo)
- Mr. Ikamoto
- Bouncer the Dog
- Jonathan Verne
- Gus Cleary
- Marc Lambert
- Marlene Kratz
- Drew Kirk
- Dione 'Dee' Rebecchi (nee Bliss)
- Darcy Tyler
- Tad Reeves
- Rosie Hoyland
- Tahnee Coppin
- Doula Tsobanopoulos
- Penny Watts
- Jack Lassiter
- Carmel Tyler
- Roxy the Fox
Noteworthy Episodes
- Jim Robinson's Heart Attack
- Clive Gibbons doing an emergency tracheotomy on Lucy Robinson after she was stung by a wasp
- Charlene and Scott's wedding with cameo appearance by Angry Anderson
- Harold Bishop disappearing off a cliff into the ocean
- Kerry Bishop getting shot by a duck hunter
- Helen Daniels dying in her sleep after 12 years on the show
- Madge Bishop's death, after suffering from pancreatic cancer
- Drew Kirk's death, after being thrown from a horse
- Dee Rebecchi dissappearing off a cliff after her wedding
