Neighbours

Current characters

Spoiler warning: This list is based on the Australian cast, and will sometimes reflect arrivals and departures which have not been broadcast in the UK.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These are the current main characters, who each appear in two or three episodes every week, apart from fairly rare breaks for the actors' other real life commitments. (The actors all get a month off at the same time for their main holidays). Most main characters feature for at least two years, but only a fairly small minority last for more than five years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The list on the right shows the current (UK) cast in order of seniority by first appearance, with the episode number of their first appearance shown in brackets (however fleeting, under whatever name and by whomever played).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bishop family:

• Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) (1987-1991, 1996, 1997 onwards) - former coffee-shop owner (before it burned down), General Store co-owner, devout Christian, Salvation Army member, tuba player, slightly naïve, often comic relief, widower of the late Madge Bishop, father of David and Kerry Bishop, grandfather of Sky Mangel and Serena Bishop. Harold was given up for dead in 1991, when it was thought he had been washed out to sea. Five years later, however, in one of the show's less credible storylines, Harold reappeared in Erinsborough as a Salvation Army worker called Ted. Recently suffered a stroke, but has now recovered. However, the stroke brought out some elements of his personality which had been previously hidden from his loved ones and the audience. Runs "The General Store" with Lou Carpenter.
• David Bishop (Kevin Harrington) (1988, 2003 onwards) - Harold's son and Serena's father. A dull individual, often too proud to ask for help. Recently lost much of the family's wealth on a poor business decision. He has a long running feud with Max Hoyland. Paul Robinson helped him become a councillor on the Erinsborough council, but he ended up being Paul's puppet. Eventually, Paul framed him for defrauding his charity, the "Helen Daniels Trust", but David managed to get off because the police messed up the search warrant. Unfortunately, Liljana left him for Paul Robinson. David, along with other Ramsay Street residents, managed to bring Paul Robinson down though, and prevented the construction of the Erinsborough Mall (which would have resulted in the destruction of Ramsay Street). He has since got back together with Lil.
• Liljana Bishop (nee Ristic) (Marcella Russo) (2003 onwards) - David's ethnic Serbian wife, who reads coffee beans. She got a liver transplant from her illegitimate long-lost son (adopted out at birth) and Serena's ex-boyfriend, Luka Dokich, Svetlanka's godson. During a trial seperation with David she started to develop feelings for Paul Robinson, and she then left David after he was arrested for fraud. She started openly seeing Paul Robinson, but since he was exposed for his crimes and found almost dead in a forest, she has got back together with David.
• Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher) (2003 onwards) - teenage daughter of David and Liljana, former coffee shop employee, co-owner at "Bounce", girlfriend of Connor. Was taken advantage of by an older photographer named Chris Cousins, who wanted to get nude pictures of her to put on the Internet. Went out with Stingray Timmins for a while, then started dating Luka Dokich, only to find out he was her half-brother. Had a short fling with Boyd Hoyland, but got back with Stingray, to whom she has lost her virginity. She went off the rails a little when her parents broke up, and even stole Dylan's car. She and Stingray broke up for a second time, and she is now going out with Connor. She wants to pursue a career in business, and has bought a share in Toadie's bikini store "Bounce".
• Sky Mangel (Miranda Fryer) (Stephanie McIntosh) (1988-1991, 2003 onwards) - Harold's teenage granddaughter, daughter of Joe Mangel and Kerry Bishop (deceased), ex-girlfriend of Boyd Hoyland, to whom she lost her virginity, currently dating Dylan Timmins. Became best friends with Lana Crawford after they initially hated each other, and Sky helped Lana come out of the closet. She recently found out about Serena and Boyd's fling, and is really angry with Serena because of it. Developed a close personal friendship with Gabby Walker, because of the similarity she had with her mother. She and Boyd broke up after he found out she kissed Dylan. Sky and Dylan managed to find dirt on Affirmacon, the company who contaminated Lassiters Lake and want to build the Erinbrough Mall, and with the help of other residents managed to bring Affirmacon down. Sky is currently dating Dylan.

Scully family:

• Lynette "Lyn" Scully (nee O'Rourke) (Janet Andrewartha) (1999 onwards) - mildly neurotic hairdresser, works for Gino. Recently split up with her long-time husband, Joe. Mother of Stephanie, Jack, Felicity, Michelle and Oscar. When Oscar was born, she got post-natal depression and even left Oscar alone in the car once. Has slight problems with shoplifting. Recently dated Andy Tanner, who left his wife for Lyn, but ended it shortly afterwards. Janelle and the other Timmins are currently living in her house with her. She was romantically involved with Bobby Hoyland, until she found out he had cheated on her with Susan, and is now involved with Joe Mangel.
• Oscar Scully (Ingo Dammer-Smith) (2003 onwards) - infant son of Lyn and Joe Scully. His mother had post-natal depression when he was born, but once diagnosed, she was able to recover.

Timmins/Rebecchi family:

• Janelle Timmins (nee Rebecchi) (Nell Feeney) (2004, 2005 onwards) - Dylan and Stingray's mother from Colac, Big Kev's sister, Lyn's apprentice at The Salon. A bitter, lazy woman who used to make money from injury scams. Trying to provide for a family of six children on her own, since her husband left her. Had a small fling with Bobby Hoyland. Wrote a novel about her life in Ramsay Street. Lyn has now kicked her and her family out onto the streets, and they are now forced to live in a caravan park.
• Dylan Timmins (Damien Bodie) (2005 onwards) - Stingray's brother, and boyfriend of Sky Mangel. Was formerly a high-school dropout in juvenile detention. Now released and trying to reform himself, he is constantly being put down by his mother. Dylan is currently repeating year 12, and is also doing part time buisness work for Paul Robinson. Paul convinced him to set up his friend Roo to be arrested by the cops in an attempted robbery of "Scarlet Bar". When he and Sky tried to save some animals that had been poisoned in the contaminated Lassiters lake, he then got poisoned himself, and is now susceptible to cancer and other ailments. After some help from Paul Robinson, he and Sky, with the help of other residents, managed to bring down Affirmacon. When Paul Robinson's leg was infected and it needed to be amputated, Dylan forged Paul's signature to save his life.
• Janae Timmins (Eliza Taylor-Cotter) (2005 onwards) - Janelle's daughter, Dylan and Stingray's younger sister, older sister of Bree, ex-girlfriend of Mike Pill, nemises of Serena Bishop. She is very flirtatious, and in her own opinion, "Janae Timmins is a dead set hottie." She stole Shazza's boyfriend, Mike. She then met up with Chris Cousens who spiked her drink and tried to take advantage of her, but Scott, Dylan and Bree arrived in the nick of time to help her. Mike pressured her into having unprotected sex with him, and she dumped him shortly afterwards. Is now trying to crack onto Boyd. She has counselling sessions with Karl, in which she eventually developed a dependance on Karl, which led to Janelle thinking that Karl was taking advantage of Janae, almost destroying Karl's career.
• Breeana "Bree" Timmins (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) (2005 onwards) - The youngest of the Timmins children, friend of Summer Hoyland, Rachel Kinski and Zeke Kinski, who she has a romantic interest in. She seems like a sweet little girl, but she is actually very sneaky and helps Janae in her schemes. She really enjoys reading. Her mother makes her very nervous, and causes her to vomit. She came first place in the Erinsborough High spelling bee, and then won the national finals, winning her family $15000.
• Scott "Stingray" Timmins (Ben Nicholas) (2004 onwards) - teenage cousin of Toadfish, and "favourite" son of Janelle Timmins. Diagnosed with ADHD. Boyfriend of Serena Bishop. Has 5 brothers and 4 sisters, including Dylan Timmins. Used to go out with a girl named Shazza, who he lost his virginity to, but soon broke up with her. Had split up with Serena for a while, but has now got back together with her, but broke up with her again after Boyd and Sky broke up, because he had found about Serena and Boyd's fling.
• Jarrod "Toadfish" (or "Toadie") Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) (1995 onwards) - The Rebecchies were once one of the main families on Ramsay Street, but only Toadie remains. The Timminses are his cousins. He is a sometime tearaway, now a respectable lawyer and part-time wrestler called "The Lawman", former co-host of the wrestling show "Choke-Hold" with Connor, currently owns to bikini store called "Bounce", which was given to him by a client. Was married to Dee Bliss (for about twenty minutes, before she went missing after their car careened off a cliff after the ceremony, presumed drowned), ex-boyfriend of Sindi Watts. Is currently dating Eva, who is a wrestler, primary school teacher and jazz singer, in a long distance relationship.

Hoyland family:

• Max Hoyland (Stephen Lovatt) (2002 onwards) - father of two, married to Steph (not mother of Summer and Boyd), son of Bobby and Rosie Hoyland. His first wife died several years ago, leaving him to raise Summer and Boyd by himself. Former co-owner of the pub "Lou's Place" (with Lou Carpenter), before it burnt down. Co-owner of "Scarlet Bar" with his sister Izzy. His father Bobby recently returned to see Max and Izzy, and Max didn't want anything to do with him, but after he decided to accept him, Bobby ran away again. He and Steph were going to adopt a baby girl off Kayla, but eventually Kayla decided to raise the baby with her boyfriend, the baby's biological father.
• Stephanie "Steph" Hoyland (nee Scully) (Emma Roche) (Carla Bonner) (1999 onwards) - 20-something mechanic and biker chick, overcame cancer and is married to the love of her life, Max Hoyland. Daughter of Joe and Lyn. Was undergoing IVF treatment with Max, but it failed. Was found guilty of the murder of her biological grandfather Charlie Cassidy (although innocent), but was given a suspended sentence. She managed to appeal her verdict with some money given to her by Bobby, and therefore was able to apply for adoption. Unfortunately, just as she was about to adopt Kayla's baby, Kayla announced that she and Boyd were going to raise the baby themselves. After a few weeks of drama, Kayla finally told the biological father, Anthony, who had been kept in the dark about her pregnancy, that baby Ashley was his and they decided to raise her together, leaving Steph heartbroken once more. Steph and Max were recently overcome with joy after finding out that Steph is, in fact pregnant.
• Boyd Hoyland (Kyal Marsh) (2002 onwards) - teenage son of Max, skater and ex-boyfriend of Sky Mangel, to whom he lost his virginity in 2004. Had a dispute with a guy named Travis Dean about space to put up posters, which resulted in Travis threatening Boyd's family. He was put up a grade, but flunked his year 12 exams and got a job at a gym, whose manager persuaded him to take up body building and take human growth hormone. He was mistakenly diagnosed as having Adolescent Schizophrenia but the symptoms were due to a large frontal lobe brain tumour. This was removed, but the surgery put him in a coma for a short while, but he woke up after his grandfather came to see him. He broke up with Sky after he found out she kissed Dylan while he was in a coma. He offered to help Kayla raise her baby, Ashley, but eventually they realised that it wouldn't have worked, as Kayla was still in love with Ashley's father, Anthony. Is considering pursuing a career in medicine.
• Isabelle "Izzy" Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaithe) (2003 onwards) - sister of Max, ex-business partner of Harold Bishop in the coffee shop, co-owner of "Scarlet Bar" with Max, girlfriend of Paul Robinson. She moved in with Karl Kennedy after he broke up with Susan and for a long period claimed (falsely) that Karl is the father of her unborn baby. Has also had affairs with Jack Scully and Gus Cleary, who is the biological father of her unborn child. She is no longer pregnant, owing to a miscarriage. Recently broke up with Karl, due to an affair with Paul Robinson, but got back together with him shortly afterwards. Darcy Tyler, who knows the secret about her baby and was put into a coma by Izzy, has woken up, and forced her to gave him a favourable testimony at his sentencing hearing in order to keep her secret safe. Susan looked at Izzy's confidential medical records and discovered that father of the baby was unknown. She forced Izzy to tell Karl the secret. Karl kicked her out, and she ran off, leaving Paul Robinson under suspicion for her murder. She was found alive, and Paul's name cleared. She recently overcame a drug addiction, and is now in an open relationship with Paul.

Kinski family

• Alex Kinski (Andrew Clarke) (2005 onwards) - Single father of Rachel and Zeke Kinski. He is currently engaged to Susan Smith, and has recently been diagnosed with leukemia, but he hasn't told this to anyone else. He turned to Jonathan Verne for alternative treatments, until he was arrested by Stuart Parker and Alex was told by Dr Karl Kennedy of his dark past.
• Rachel Kinski (Caitlin Stasey) (2005 onwards) - Daughter of Alex Kinski and sister of Zeke. Rachel and her brother were home schooled by their parents until their mother died and they started attending Erinsborough High School. She has become fast friends with Bree Timmins.
• Zeke Kinski (Matthew Werkmeister) (2005 onwards) - Extremely intellegent son of Alex Kinski and younger brother of Rachel.

Other:

• Louis "Lou" Carpenter (Tom Oliver) (1988, 1992 onwards) - businessman, sometime mayor, widower, Dungeons and Dragons player, former co-owner of the pub "Lou's Place" (with Max Hoyland) before it burnt down, co-owner of "The General Store" with Harold Bishop and owner of the garage "Carpenter's Mechanics" Has a long-standing chalk-and-cheese friendship with Harold Bishop. He went to jail but was later released after an appeal hearing conducted by lawyer Toadfish Rebecchi. Since being kicked out of his house by Paul Robinson, he was forced to move into Number 30, and now has to live in a tent in a caravan park.
• Stuart Parker (Blair McDonough) (2001 onwards) - Cousin of Libby's late husband Drew and friend of Toadfish. Former mechanic, now a police officer, husband of Sindi Watts. Lost everything when fleeced by a cult. had previous relationships with Dione Bliss and Felicity Scully, before he finally married Sindi. He was temporarily blind after rescuing Sindi from an explosion in the Lassiters Complex which destroyed Lou's Place, The Coffee Shop and several other buildings, but got his eyesight back after a $50000 operation. Engaged to Sindi Watts after she proposed to him at the Scarlett Bar. His devout Christian aunt Raylene has recently arrived in Erinsborough to see if Sindi was suitable for him, but she left in disgust after she found out they had lied to her about many things, including Connor being a priest. Sindi has since been declared unstable and comitted to psychiatric institution, leaving Stuart devastated.
• Ned Parker (Daniel O?Connor) (2005 onwards) - Stuart Parker's little brother who has recently returned to Erinsborough to help Stuart through his ordeal with Sindi. He won the "Bounce Bikini Store"'s Mr Erinsborough competition.
• Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey) (2002 onwards) - Young, slightly naïve, Irish immigrant, works at "Scarlett Bar" and "Bounce", former co-host of the wrestling show "Choke-hold" with Toadie, boyfriend of Serena Bishop. Romantically linked with Michelle Scully, but had an affair with Lori Lee while Michelle was abroad. Has one daughter, Maddy, with Lori Lee, whom he rarely sees. Was in a relationship with Carmella Carmenetti, who was recently stalked by her bodyguard Frank, but she ended it after the stalking incident. He is trying to keep Toadie's bikini store "Bounce" out of debt. He and Serena are now pursuing an open relationship, despite the age difference.
• Dr. Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) (1994 onwards) - Local GP and frustrated would-be rock star. His thirty-year marriage to Susan hit the rocks after he became friendly with Izzy Hoyland, eventually leaving Susan for her. Nearly died from a heart attack after breaking up with Izzy, and then got back together with her a few weeks later. Went to Africa for a month to work for Médecins Sans Frontiéres, and has recently came back. He has now found out that he was not the father of Izzy's baby. Was recently accused of taking advantage of Janae, and his career was almost destroyed, but the matter was cleared up soon afterwards.
• Susan Smith (previously Kennedy) (Jackie Woodburne) (1994 onwards) - Ex wife of Karl, mother to Malcolm, Libby and Billy, grandmother to Ben, English teacher and previously headteacher. After the break up with Karl, she was in a relationship with a former priest named Tom Scully, but he ended the relationship. She had to euthanaise her mother when she was younger, and the only two people she has told about this are Brett Stark and Lyn Scully. She is currently romantically involved with Bobby Hoyland, but eventually found out about his indiscretions with Janelle and Lyn. She was considering leaving Erinsborough to go to Sheperton, but decided to stay. Is currently engaged to Alex Kinski.
• Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) (1985-1993, 2004, 2005-) - Sneaky businessman, son of Jim Robinson, grandson of Helen Daniels. Was married to Terri Inglis (who murdered someone and then shot Paul), Gail Lewis (who he married for a business deal before true love blossomed) and finally Christina Allesi. Had eventually fled to Brazil on fraud charges. Returned to Ramsay Street in 2004. Had an affair with Izzy Hoyland, and stole Liljana Bishop from David. Is now believed to have caused the Lassiters Explosion and murdered Gus Cleary, and he framed David for fraud. He worked for Affirmacon, and contaminated Lassiters Lake to aid in the construction of the Erinsborough Mall. He tried to bring down Affirmacon, but Affirmacon's thugs led Paul out to a forest to kill him, and Paul accidentally fell off a cliff running away from them. He survived, and was found by Dylan and Sky after almost drowning in a lake. He needed to have his leg amputated to survive, and while he didn't want to have it cut off, Dylan forged his signature to keep him alive. He has now moved into No. 22 with Isabelle Hoyland, and is in a relationship with her.

Pets:

• Dahl the galah (1994 onwards) - A galah that originally belonged to Lata Chatterji. Lata gave the bird to her boyfriend Brett Stark when they were forced to break up by Lata's brother Vikram. When Brett left, he gave Dahl to Libby to look after and it has lived in the Kennedy house ever since. However when Karl used to live in the house, Dahl sometimes made him angry.
• Casserole "Cassie" the sheep (1995 onwards)
• Audrey the dog (2002 onwards) - originally owned by Libby Kennedy, named after Audrey Hepburn. Ran away a while ago only to be found when Mal Kennedy accidentally ran her over. She survived, and now lives with Libby's mother Susan.
• Bob the dog (1997 onwards) - originally belonged to Sarah Beaumont. When she asked for him to join her in her new home abroad, Toadie and Stu duped her by sending a lookalike in his place. However, Sarah recently revealed in Annalise's documentary that she knew all along that the dog Toadie sent her was not the real Bob.
• Harvey the dog (2000 onwards) - The Scully's family dog. Joe Scully accidentally ran over Harvey, a stray dog, on his building site. He brought him home and it was decided that they would keep him.
• Bouncer 5 (2005 onwards) - A lazy greyhound that Joe Mangel is unsuccessfully trying to train to become a racing dog.

Recurring/Guest characters:

Guest characters on Neighbours are played by actors who do not have a long term contract to appear (almost) every week. These can range from single episode appearances, to two or three month stints of weekly appearances, to intermittent appearances over several years. Unlike main characters, they do not appear in the opening titles. The list shows the guest characters who are in the show at the moment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Joe Mangel (Mark Little) (1988-1991, 2005) - Father of Toby Mangel and step-father of Sky Mangel. Married Kerry Bishop, who was killed by duck hunters, and then married Melanie Pearson, and got divorced a few years later. Has recently returned to Ramsay Street, and is involved with Lyn Scully.
• Senior Sgt. Allan Steiger (Joe Clements) (2004, 2005) - High ranking police officer often seen around Erinsborough. Used to bully Stuart when Stu was at the Police Academy, but is now good friends with him. Recently arrested David Bishop for fraud, and was also in charge of investigating Gus's murder and the disapearance of Izzy.
• Mike Pill (Alexander Capell) (2005) - Shazza and Janae's ex-boyfriend. He dumped Shazza for Janae, but Janae then dumped him after he kept trying to get her to make out with all his friends. He got back together with her the next day. He pressured Janae into having unprotected sex with him, and she then dumped him a second time that same day. He learnt kickboxing, and beat up Dylan a few times, until Dylan finally managed to get the better of him.
• Gareth Peters (Phillip McInnes) (2005) - A nurse who works at Erinsborough Hospital. He used to steal stuff from Darcy Tyler when he was in a coma. Stuart arrested him for illegal selling drugs to Izzy.
• Lucinda "Elle" Robinson (Pippa Black) (2005) - Daughter of Paul and Gail Robinson, and the sister of Cameron and Robert Robinson. She recently returned to Erinsborough to see her father, and really dislikes Izzy. She has a romantic interest in Ned Parker.
• Carmella Cammenneti (Natalie Blair) (2003, 2004, 2005) - Overprotected daughter of Rocco and Lucia Cammenneti and ex-girlfriend of Connor O'Neill. Her father originally disapproved of her relationship with Connor. He even had Connor locked in his car boot, but now that he is in jail Carmella can do what she wants. She was also the editor of All Her magazine and Sindi's boss. She was stalked by her bodyguard Frank, and after therapy failed to make her feel better. She got a job as Eva's publicist and is now touring Australia with her. She recently returned to Ramsay Street, to once again try and reunite herself with Connor, though it is unknown if it will be full time. She offered Connor the $50,000 he needs for Maddy's ear operation, in return for spending time with her, something she undoubtedly plans to use to her advantage in her plans to win Connor from Serena.
• Jonathan Verne (Oscar Redding) (2003, 2005) - Con man who was the head of the cult/scam "Life Mechanics". Scammed Stuart Parker and many others out of lots of money. Is now conning Alex Kinski into paying huge amounts of money for phoney cancer treatments.