Neighbours

Storylines

In the beginning, the show mainly focused on two families, the Robinsons and the Ramsays (after whom "Ramsay Street" is named) who were as the name of the show suggests, neighbours. The show initially gained notoriety for its depiction of the teenage romance of Scott Robinson and Charlene Ramsay. Their Romeo and Juliet style romance culminated in a wedding was keenly anticipated by viewers and is still fondly regarded today as being one of the high points of the series. Another popular couple in the show's early days was the pairing of Des Clarke and Daphne Lawrence, a couple who also lived on Ramsay Street alongside the Ramsays and the Robinsons. Daphne's death in 1988 is still considered as one of the most emotional moments on the show.

Related Topics:
Scott Robinson and Charlene Ramsay - Romeo and Juliet

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Both the Ramsays and the Robinsons have been written out of the series with the sole exception of the Bishop family who are related to the Ramsays through the marriage of Harold Bishop to the late Madge Ramsay. Also, one of the original characters, Paul Robinson, made a return to the show in the final episode of 2004 and became a regular character in early 2005. Today the show revolves around the Scully, Hoyland, Bishop and Timmins families, along with several other residents who live in Ramsay Street.

Related Topics:
Harold Bishop - 2004 - 2005

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In the late 1990s, Neighbours gained the reputation as being a somewhat conservative soap with topics such as sex generally not being included in the storylines due to its early evening timeslot in Australia and the United Kingdom (Earlier storylines involving controversial topics such as incest and teenage sex were often censored by the BBC in the UK, which may account for the reluctance on the part of producers to depict controversial issues). In the past two years this has started to change, with the show now regularly featuring its teenage characters discussing issues such as sex and contraception in a manner which has not been seen on the show since the mid 1990s. Recently, the show has depicted a lesbian storyline involving Sky Mangel and Lana Crawford. There was also not one but two incest storylines; the first involving Serena Bishop and Luka Dokic, who embarked on an intimate relationship, blissfully ignorant of the fact theat they were half-siblings, sharing a mother, Liljana Bishop. The second storyline to touch on this taboo subject was the plotline in which Harold Bishop became obsessed with a younger woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to his deceased daughter, Kerry (in fact, the character was played by Linda Hartley-Clark, who did indeed play Kerry Bishop years earlier.) The pair went as far as sharing a kiss, which ultimately made Harold 'snap out' of his obsession. The character of Sindi Watts has also been involved in storylines involving stripping and more recently prostitution.

Related Topics:
1990s - Sex - United Kingdom - Incest - BBC - Contraception - Lesbian - Linda Hartley-Clark - Stripping - Prostitution

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The break up of long time married couple Karl and Susan Kennedy and soon after Joe and Lyn Scully has also been a great source of interest to viewers, especially since it has led to a long running storyline in which Izzy Hoyland duped Karl into believing that he was the father of her unborn child continuing the charade long after she tragically miscarried in November 2004. After over a year of manipulation, Izzy's lies came to light in a spectacular fashion, and despite a last ditch attempt by Izzy to gain Karl's sympathy by falsely claiming that she was raped, Karl finally dumped Izzy for good.

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