''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...
'' is an Australian television soap opera that was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 until its final episode on 28 July 2022. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1991, by order of first appearance. The 7th season of ''Neighbours'' began airing on 21 January 1991. All characters were introduced by executive producer
Don Battye
Donald Gordon Battye (29 September 1938 – 28 February 2016) was an Australian composer, writer and television producer, best known for his work with Crawford Productions and Reg Grundy Organisation (known then as Reg Grundy Productions).
Biogr ...
.
Rachel Blakely
Rachel Leigh Blakely (born 28 July 1968) is a Malaysian-born Australian-American actress. Her works include films such as ''Love Until'', ''Young Hercules'' and ''Counterstrike'', as well as guest appearances on television shows such as '' Xena ...
and
Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon (born 21 April 1958) is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning ''The P ...
made their debuts in August as
Gaby Willis
Gaby Willis is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Rachel Blakely. The show's casting director spotted Blakely on the cover of a magazine and asked her to audition for the role of Gaby. Blakel ...
and
Brenda Riley
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 until its final episode on 28 July 2022. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1991, by order of first appearanc ...
respectively. Andrew Williams joined the cast as Brenda's nephew,
Guy Carpenter in September, as did Simone Robertson as
Phoebe Bright
Phoebe Gottlieb (also Bright) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Simone Robertson. She made her first screen appearance as Phoebe during the episode broadcast on 23 September 1991. Phoebe is character ...
.
Lorraine Bayly
Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM (born 16 January 1937) is an Australian actress of film, television and theatre, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director and writer.
She is perhaps best known to small screen audiences for her soap ...
began playing
Faye Hudson in November and in the same month
Andrew Robinson, son of established characters
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
and
Christina Robinson was born.
Gaby Willis
Gaby Willis, played by
Rachel Blakely
Rachel Leigh Blakely (born 28 July 1968) is a Malaysian-born Australian-American actress. Her works include films such as ''Love Until'', ''Young Hercules'' and ''Counterstrike'', as well as guest appearances on television shows such as '' Xena ...
, made her first appearance on 12 August 1991. Blakely was invited to audition for the role by a ''Neighbours'' casting director, who spotted her picture on the cover of a magazine.
The character was introduced alongside her brother
Brad Willis, played by
Scott Michaelson
Scott Michaelson is an Australian retired actor and talent manager who is most famous for playing Brad Willis in ''Neighbours''. He took over the role from Benjamin Grant Mitchell, who had been a guest character and later played Brad's cousin ...
.
Gaby was initially said to be studying at a business school in Japan. She later becomes a boutique owner.
Josephine Monroe, author of ''Neighbours: The First 10 Years'' thought that Gaby's "cascading dark hair" and model looks meant there was never a shortage of men after her. An ''
Inside Soap
''Inside Soap'' is a weekly magazine published in the United Kingdom, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas in the United Kingdom, including '' Coronation Street'', ''Doctors'', ''EastEnders'', ''Emmerdal ...
'' writer stated Gaby and
Glen Donnelly
Glen Donnelly is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Richard Huggett. The actor joined the cast shortly after leaving '' E Street'', and he relocated from Sydney to Melbourne, where the show is filmed. H ...
(Richard Huggett) had Ramsay Street's biggest on-off romance since
Scott (
Jason Donovan
Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 mi ...
) and
Charlene (
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...
). Gaby later gives birth to a son
Zac
Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to:
People:
* Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player
* Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League playe ...
(Jay Callahan). Blakely reprised her role for the show's
20th anniversary episode in July 2005.
Brenda Riley
Brenda Riley, played by
Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon (born 21 April 1958) is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning ''The P ...
, made her first appearance on 21 August 1991. Vanessa Keys of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' described Brenda as "a hard-bitten woman". A writer for
BBC Online
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
said Brenda's most notable moment was "Putting Pam in a frenzy"
Brenda is the younger sister of
Lou Carpenter
Lou Carpenter is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Tom Oliver. He made his first screen appearance on 30 March 1988. Oliver appeared for a brief time, having been initially contracted for six months, ...
(
Tom Oliver
Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British-born Australian retired actor who started his career in theatre in his native country, before emigrating to Australia.
Oliver, a staple of the small screen since the early 1960s, is best known for h ...
). When Lou tells her his former flame
Madge Bishop
Madge Bishop (also Ramsay and Mitchell) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Anne Charleston. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 January 1986. Madge was introduced as the ...
(
Anne Charleston
Anne Charleston (born 30 December 1942) is an Australian actress, notable for her career locally and in the United Kingdom in theatre and television. Charleston started her career in theatre in the mid 1950's, and has been a staple of the small ...
) and her husband
Harold
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts a ...
(
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...
) are leasing the Coffee Shop while they tour Australia, Brenda heads to Erinsborough and secures an interview. Madge and Brenda get along well, but Harold finds her coarse jokes off-putting. Madge convinces him Brenda is the best person for the job and they also rent out Number 24 Ramsay Street to her. Madge is sure she recognises Brenda from somewhere and she admits she is Lou's sister, which upsets Harold, who previously competed with Lou for Madge's affections. Harold is keen to terminate the agreement, but softens when Brenda is able to get him a $5000 discount on a campervan for the Bishops' trip and agrees to let her stay.
When Brenda looks after Harold's grandchildren
Toby
Toby is a popular, usually male, name in many English speaking countries. The name is from the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates to ''Good i ...
(
Ben Guerens
Ben Geurens (born 24 December 1979) is an Australian actor.
Biography
Geurens graduated from National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA in 2004. At drama school his credits include ''The Return (play), The Return'', ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''Much Ad ...
) and
Sky Mangel
Sky Mangel (also Bishop) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 1 February 1989. The character was originally played by Miranda Fryer until 1991 ...
(
Miranda Fryer
Sky Mangel (also Bishop) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 1 February 1989. The character was originally played by Miranda Fryer until 199 ...
), Toby lies and tells her that he is allowed to stay up later than normal on weekends, much to Madge's ire. However, when the children are tired out the next day, Brenda explains that she wanted to them teach them a lesson that getting their own way is not always a good thing. Madge apologises to Brenda before she and Harold leave on their trip. Brenda's nephew,
Guy Carpenter (Ian Williams) arrives looking for a place to stay and the neighbours are surprised when they see Brenda moving Guy's belongings in, and they think she is dating a younger man. Brenda then explains that Guy is Lou's son and did not want Harold knowing in case he became upset again. When Harold disappears after being swept off of a rock and is presumed dead, Madge goes to visit her family to get over the loss and Brenda takes over the Coffee shop indefinitely. She immediately becomes a popular fixture. However, her gossiping gets her in trouble when she unwittingly tells
Felicity Brent
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera created by Reg Watson. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1990, by order of first appearance. All characters w ...
(
Rona McLeod
Rona McLeod is an Australian actress, noted for her television appearances.
She appeared as pregnant inmate Jeannie Stanton in ''Prisoner'', had a recurring role in ''Neighbours'' during 1990 and 1991 as Felicity Brent, completely unrecognisabl ...
) about
Dorothy Burke
Dorothy Burke is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Maggie Dence. The actress accepted the role after being approached by a representative from the show's production company. She made her firs ...
's (
Maggie Dence
Margaret Helen Dence (born 1 February 1942) is an Australian actress of stage and screen, with a career spanning some seven decades. She is equally at home in both comedy and drama roles, and is best known to early audiences for her roles in t ...
) marital problems, which Felicity uses in the local elections to discredit Dorothy, leaving her furious when she loses her seat and a feud develops.
Brenda reciprocates when
Doug Willis
Douglas "Doug" Willis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Terence Donovan. Doug was introduced by executive producer Don Battye as the patriarch of the newly introduced Willis family. Donovan expl ...
(
Terence Donovan), a married man known for flirting, catches her eye. Brenda becomes convinced he is attracted to her and that his marriage to
Pam Willis
Pam Willis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Sue Jones. Pam was introduced by executive producer Don Battye as the matriarch of the newly introduced Willis family. Jones initially turned down an ...
(
Sue Jones) is failing. Brenda and Doug begin spending together and she tries to seduce him after learning her former husband, Roy (
Neil Melville
Neil Melville is an Australian actor. He was born in Sydney, but spent most of his childhood in Apollo Bay, Victoria.
In the early 1970s he was lead singer of Geelong rock band "The Iliad".
Melville graduated from Adelaide's Flinders Universit ...
), is remarrying. Brenda becomes emotional and asks Doug to stay with her that night but the plan backfires when Doug sends over Pam to talk to her. Things come to a head when Brenda kisses Doug which is witnessed by his daughter,
Gaby Willis
Gaby Willis is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Rachel Blakely. The show's casting director spotted Blakely on the cover of a magazine and asked her to audition for the role of Gaby. Blakel ...
(
Rachel Blakely
Rachel Leigh Blakely (born 28 July 1968) is a Malaysian-born Australian-American actress. Her works include films such as ''Love Until'', ''Young Hercules'' and ''Counterstrike'', as well as guest appearances on television shows such as '' Xena ...
). Pam confronts Doug and he is forced to tell Brenda that the flirting was a bit of fun. Brenda is humiliated and avoids her neighbours until Pam tells her that she has nothing against her and explains about Doug's behaviour.
When Brenda discovers Guy is taking steroids to help him in the upcoming Cross-Country race, she tries to make him see sense, but Guy refuses to listen, so Brenda threatens to take steroids herself as long as Guy continues to do so. Guy, fearful, relents and quits taking them. Brenda's problems worsen when it seems that her homemade tuna quiche is the cause of
Josh Anderson's (Jeremy Angerson) sickness and she tries to recover any previously sold quiches. Brenda panics when she sees a motionless
Bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...
on the floor, but he is only playing dead. Brenda is relieved to find that the quiche is not the cause of Josh's sickness but a virus going around.
Brenda and Dorothy's feud is reignited, after Dorothy tells her off for employing Toby for after school shifts. Brenda schemes by placing a personal advert in the paper's lonely hearts column under Dorothy's name. However, the plan is undone when
Lucy Robinson (
Melissa Bell) tells Dorothy, who then arranges for a colleague to pose as a suitor. Brenda and Dorothy later become friends after they win a radio quiz. Doug tries to set Brenda up with his workmate
Nev Cusack (Jim Ewing) at a dinner party, but he is more interested in Doug's sister
Faye Hudson (
Lorraine Bayly
Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM (born 16 January 1937) is an Australian actress of film, television and theatre, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director and writer.
She is perhaps best known to small screen audiences for her soap ...
). Roy arrives much to Brenda's surprise and wants to get back with her after splitting with his wife, Simone (Clarissa House), and plans to set up business in Malaysia and wants Brenda to come with him. Simone encourages Brenda to take a second chance with Roy. Feeling uncertain, Brenda tells Roy to go on without her. After a boring date with Adrian Pitt (Andrew Larkins), Brenda realises Roy is her one true love and leaves Erinsborough.
Guy Carpenter
Guy Carpenter, played by Andrew Williams, made his first screen appearance on 10 September 1991. Williams joined the cast of ''Neighbours'' as Guy after failing to secure a record contract.
He almost rejected the role and explained, "I was still in music mode and I thought Kylie, Jason, Craig... not me, no way".
A few months after joining the serial, Williams decided to leave.
On 28 November 2014, it was announced that Williams had reprised his role as Guy for ''Neighbours'' 30th anniversary in March 2015. A writer from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
said that Guy's most memorable moment was dating three women at the same time. Lisa Anthony from ''BIG!'' branded Guy a "heart throb". Alex Cramb from ''Inside Soap'' called the character "''Neighbours'' nice guy". ''
's'' Elisabeth di Giovanni observed that Guy was a smooth-talker and "a charming rogue".
. She made her first screen appearance as Phoebe during the episode broadcast on 23 September 1991. Robertson was desperate to secure the role of Phoebe when she learned of the casting. She knew that the character was going to be a "bit freaky" and decided play herself up to the persona. She attended the audition wearing thick glasses and her hair in pigtails. Two days later Robertson was informed that she had won the part.
'' and ''Inside Soap'' reported that both Robertson and her co-star Lochie Daddo were leaving their roles. A writer for the
...