All Soaps: Vintage Articles

[Ben]

Network Ten first described Miranda as being "the latest in a long line of strong suburban woman." OK, if strong they mean cold and aloof. The woman was colder, more aloof version of Bree from Desperate Housewives without any of the idiosyncrasies.

Steve and Miranda split up. Miranda's old university professor (I think) came to town, and she had a very brief fling with him. He was her first love, and Steve was the rebound. But, the prof turned out to be a bit creepy, I think, and Miranda decided she had made a mistake and reunited with Steve, who realized he was still in love with her. There was also the really odd story where it looked liked Miranda had stolen a baby out of its pram for an episode or two.

Nicola was great. She was fun and a breath of fresh air in comparison to her cold, dull, judgemental family that she had the unfortunate pleasure of being related to. The Parkers were so hated, people liked seeing Nicola create havoc. She livened them up. Sadly, she's never returned after this.

The thing about Nicola is that she was defined by her insecurities. She may have been hot, but underneath all that, she was lonely and just wanted to feel loved. She envied and resented Miranda's life. Nicola was born solely to provide bone marrow for Miranda who had leukaemia as a child, and felt that was her only use. She also fell in love with Steve, who incidentally led her on (but claimed no responsibility for Nicola getting the wrong idea). She had an affair with her adopted nephew Riley, b/c he reminded her of Steve, and it allowed her to be as close to Steve as she could through his son. When she had the accident and faked amnesia, she was doing that to repair her relationship with Miranda and be close to her sister again. But Steve pushed and prodded Nicola, a woman who had a head injury with possible amnesia (he didn't know for sure she was faking, and really, Nicola wasn't doing anything wrong by wanting to fix things with her sister. The way she was going about it was wrong, but that was Miranda's call to make), over the edge of insanity. He basically put himself in the firing line by threatening to take Miranda away from her. And he never excepted any responsibility for any of it. Nicola flipped out in the end, and thought she was her sister. That was so sad.

Nicola had made some great friends in Karl, Toadie and Callum, and in the end her and Susan came to understand one another. She was a down-to-earth vixen. FYI: the "incest" story between Nicola and Riley caused lots of controversy at the time, as it aired when the whole Austrian scandal broke, and the show was lobbied by family groups for being sick and opportunistic. But then EP Susan Bower didn't care, as she had such a thick skin to criticism, the story carried on regardless.

On paper, all of this doesn't sound too bad and actually quite interesting and complex, but on screen, the Parkers bombed. Bad characterisation, bad writing, bad actors, bad plotting and pacing.

[DRW50]

Thanks for the rundown. I remember reading some forums at the time and nearly everyone hated Bridget, Ned, and Steve, with some mixed views on Miranda. I think some liked her bond with Susan.

What was your favorite part of the Bower years?

[Ben]

I think out of all of them, Miranda was probably the least offensive (even though she had her moments, like ordering Toadie about like some sort of lackey), and the opportunity to inject more warmth, if she had been a single mother.

To think, they actually related the Parkers to one of the show's most loveable characters from the mid-2000s, Stuart Parker. It was very hard to imagine him being related to them.

That's a hard one. She was EP for 3.5-4 years, and out of all that time, I'd say her best period was the second half of 2008. She introduced Lucas, and gave us the wonderful couple of Lucas & Elle; created Callum and Nicola, and I did enjoy the bushfire story. 2010's stand-out episode was episode 6000, and 2011 produced one of my favourite characters, Jade. For 4 years worth of work, that's pretty bad. I think her main strength was creating characters (and destroying them!).

ETA: I guess one could say that Susan Bower was Neighbours' version of MAB, Hogan Sheffer, and Tom Langan all rolled into one!

[Ben]

Harold & Madge Bishop / Lou Carpenter stories.

1996-1999

2000-2001

[DRW50]

Poor Anne Charleston looks like a homebody Angie Watts in that photo with Kylie.

Anne is certainly very outspoken. I notice a number of the actors on this show are. I was surprised to read that Madge was initially a fun-loving or comic character, as the glimpses I've seen of her in her last run on the show seemed a little more serious.

Who did Maggie Dence play?

What did you think of Madge? Did the cancer story work? I've seen a little of it but I usually try to avoid those types of stories.

What about everything with Lolly? What did you think? She came back a few times didn't she, even recently? I remember a photo with a parasol?

[Ben]

I like outspoken actors. Nothing worse than people praising [!@#$%^&*]. Although, I wouldn't want it to be at a cost to their job or career.

Madge was comical, but not in the clown sense, more in the comical situations she created. She was a very strong and relateable character.

What happened in her later years was that Madge became grumpier and more miserable and nagging. She became a supporting character who would gossip. It was the right time for her to leave, had she stayed, it would only have gotten worse. The interesting thing is, if Madge had stayed, would they have brought in the Bishops? Madge's death opened up more opportunities for Harold.

I loved Madge. As I said, she was a strong, warm character, who I feel was defined by her love for Harold - that was her Kryptonite. While she could support herself, she wasn't the same without Harold, and vice versa. They were lucky to have Susan, as she stepped into fill the role left by Madge - strong matriarch.

The cancer story served it's purpose. It provided Madge with adequate screen time, and a big emotional story to bow out with. But, it couldn't distract from what she had been reduced to. Some fans didn't like that Madge's children and relatives weren't brought back for her death, and instead she was surrounded by Tad and Paul, two strays she had taken in, who had only been around for 1.5 years. Oh, and Lou wasn't even present.

I thought the story with Lou losing Lolly after learning he wasn't her bio father was handled well; very emotional. But, that's if you ignore that fact it was a total retcon. I'd say there is a bit of a pattern with Lou and his children, in that he's had mostly terrible relationships with them. He's estranged from Guy, and never speaks of the forgotten Ling Mei. There seemed to be a period where he had issues with Lauren, too, but that got sorted out off screen. Lolly, however, who isn't his bio child, has kept up a decent relationship with her! She did come back in 2007. It was revealed that her step-mum Sandy was abusing her, and Lolly was hitting herself in an attempt to keep the bruises from fading (I think).

Maggie Dence played Dorothy Burke.

2004

2005

2006

[Bright Eyes]

Regarding Lou and his children, I read recent spoilers that had a Ling Mei mention. I wonder if they could be bringing her back?

[DRW50]

That Mishka story sounds odd, although that's true of most comic relief stories. She looks like Lyn.

What did you think of Trixie, and Harold's stroke story, Annalise's return, etc.?

At least Kimberly Davies seemed to have a good attitude about her time on the soap.

That Kerry return story sounds weird as well. Not sure why they would write it that way. I wonder if the new character ever did meet Joe.

Who was Ling Mei?

I guess the Lou/Susan story works in the context of further driving Lou away from everyone. I'm glad that the actors fought against the idea of Lou kissing her. That would have made him seem like a pervert.

[Ben]

Mishka was a hoot. Her and Lou worked so well together. People wanted her to become permanent, but the actress was commuting from the WA to Melbourne, or something, so it wasn't feasible for her. I think they gave her a permanent ending just to shut fans up. This was the last time Lou had a purpose, before he was relegated to being a glorified extra by Susan Bower, which made Tom Oliver decide to go recurring (Harold's departure didn't help, either).

Trixie was OK; I never really warmed to her. I think she was supposed to be an ageing blonde bombshell, who had stars in her eyes. She was an archetype that Neighbours have done several times, and Trixie wasn't anything special. It did give Lou a decent storyline, and one I'm sure he found physically challenging considering he has a back condition, and this was a time when he walked with a cane quite a bit.

Harold's stroke provided some hilarious out of character moments. It helped that it is medically probable to have your personality altered by a stroke, even if some fans didn't quite believe it. He started coming on to Izzy at work, watching dirty movies, and I think he even started drinking. I don't remember how it was resolved.

It was awesome seeing Annalise return. She hadn't changed a bit, and the idea of a documentary featuring old characters was a good idea to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. It also provided a good opportunity for her to mix in with all of the characters. I think the majority of actors to have fond memories of the show, and there's only been a handful of people who have taken issue, like Alan Dale, and there are those that act like the show is beneath them, like Holly Valance. Have you see anything of Pacific Palisides, Carl?

I think the Kerry doppelgänger story would have worked better if it hadn't of featured the creepy kiss between her and Harold. If someone looks identical to your dead daughter, how likely are you to want to kiss them? It reminded me of something B&B would do. Incidentally, B&B used to get a lot of mentions on the show, from like 2002-2005. I don't think Joe ever met Fake Kerry.

If Lou and Susan had kissed, it would have been so wrong. But, what they substituted it with was worse, as it didn't make sense. It was a hug that Lou wouldn't pull out of as quickly as Susan wanted to, and they reacted as if he had kissed her.

Ling Mai is Lou's daughter who was conceived during the Vietnam war. Scratch that. That was the original plan, only Jim Robertson had the same story several years previously, so they made Ling Mai a product of a holiday romance. She was in the show for a a couple of months. She also returned for a cameo in 2004 when Lou went to Hong Kong. Her name is going to appear in storylines again, but I don't know if she'll make an appearances. Lou will get back in touch with Ling Mai, and they will incorporate Tom Oliver's real life charity work into the story as an excuse for Lou to disappear for several months.

2008

2009

2011

[DRW50]

I remember reading an interview with Ian Bishop where he said one of the reasons he left was because he was bullied by some people due to his playing Harold.

I didn't even know he came back in 2011. I guess it was just for a month or so. What did you think of his return, and of Carolyn?

The illness stories sound so depressing...no wonder the actor didn't comment on them.

I didn't watch that much of Pacific Pallisades. I remember seeing a photo of Davies and I thought the show made her look a bit odd, like an alien.

[Ben]

I don't think Ian Smith left b/c he was harassed by some people (in public) for playing Harold. I think something changed when they killed off his family, and when Susan Bower joined as EP, it was a good time for him to make the break.

I think it was a mistake for to him to have either left in 2008, or to have returned in 2009. Maybe he should have stayed until 2009, and played out those storylines, or he shouldn't have come back until 2011, as his 2009 return really undermined his 2008 exit, which had a finality about. It just seemed so odd to bring Harold back so soon after he left.

His 2011 return was a good opportunity to close the character for good. I think it lasted for a couple of months, as Harold counselled Toadie and Sonya. Carolyn was OK. She was strong and independent; someone who could stand up to Lou, and give out half decent advice. A bit like Madge in some ways, which I guess was what they were going for. Harold works well with strong women. That scene where he visited Madge's grave was Ian's idea, and one he fought to get included in the script, as they didn't want to acknowledge Madge. It was a very important scene to Harold's character, and not including it would have been out of character.

It feels like it's a constant fight to have genuine character moments injected into scripts across all soaps, these days. A product of rating chasing, high drama, and short attention spans, I guess.

The cancer story wasn't bad. It had some poignant scenes with Harold wanting to be reunited with Madge, and Susan, Karl, Lou, etc all convincing him that he had a lot to live for without Madge. BTW: I think there's a difference between depressing stories, and stories that have sad moments.

Pacific Pallisades didn't last long, did it? Do you know why that was? (Apart from ratings, of course.)

FYI: I've been saying Lou's daughter was called Ling Mai, but's it's Mai Ling. Damn my 10% dyslexia!

[DRW50]

I agree that stories don't have to be depressing and can just be sad, it just sounds like so much was piled on Harold in that return.

I think Pacific Pallisades came when the FOX mid-90s primetime soap phase was hitting the skids. It was dated and wasn't sure what it wanted to be.

[DRW50]

I found a few more bits. I'm still just going with what Neighbours and Family Affairs and leaving the rest for Ben. i think he posted one of these Family Affairs articles before, but I don't see it now.

These are from the magazine I posted a few articles from earlier this year.

[DRW50]

These are from another magazine.

Who was Elly Conway?

[Ben]

Carl: Elly Conway was Susan's niece, I think. She stayed with the Kennedys for a several months, and at one point, even suspected that Karl was her biological dad.

Nearing on the home stretch of the Neighbours articles.

2000: Tess Articles

1998-2001: Drew & Libby's Story - Part 1