.
Reference > Erinsborough News > “It’s A Miracle!”

As Neighbours Philip walks again, Ian Rawlings admits it’s a miracle…

Fans of Sons And Daughters couldn’t believe their eyes when Ian Rawlings turned up in Neighbours recently. Not only was he heavier and had a little less hair – but he was also playing a nice character!

“Philip’s a healer of wounds,” explains Ian. “More of a fatherly type – not like Wayne at all.” Wayne Hamilton was the Nick Cotton of Sons And Daughters, always scheming to stab someone in the back, and Ian says he misses some of his evil ways.

“It was nice to play someone with something venomous about them,” he says. “But I don’t suppose there’s any chance of Philip turning nasty. I’d be very surprised if the scriptwriters gave him a darker side! They would have to write in his evil twin, because Philip’s definitely too nice.”

And don’t think that’s too outrageous, because the Neighbours scriptwriters have already given Philip a complete change of character. Literally. Soap boffins will remember he used to be played by someone else, and when Philip was written out several years ago he was paralysed and told that he would never walk again. “It’s a miracle!” says Ian. “I don’t know how it happened. I guess they thought no-one would remember!”

Ian says he would put himself somewhere between his screen personas – tougher than Philip but sweeter than Wayne. However, he shares more characteristics with Philip – including a teenage daughter.

“She’s a little easier to live with than Debbie though,” he says, referring to his wayward screen daughter. “But it depends on what she wants! Often her friends hassle her to see if I can get them on set, or maybe pick up Dan Falzon’s autograph. God help us if Scott Michaelson or Danny lived nearby – we’d be swamped by teenage hormones!” he jokes.

Mind you, Ian would still be very grateful for the work – when Sons And Daughters finished, the work dried up so badly that he had to get a job as a salesman in a freight shipping firm.

“I got a part in a daytime show, but it got axed after eight months. So I had to think about my future and I had a family to provide for.” He took a job as a salesman, but had to put up with some odd looks from clients. “They all recognised me as Wayne and that’s not a good association when you’re trying to do business.”

After eighteen months, Ian had had enough and made the decision to return to acting. “I’d missed it and I still had a lot of friends in the business.”

One of the Sons And Daughters friends he stayed in touch with was Anne Haddy, who played housekeeper Rosie. “She’s a great lady,” enthuses Ian. “Always good for advice.”

And Philip and Julie could use her friendly ear Down Under at the moment, because the couple are facing separation. “I don’t think they’ll split up for good though,” says Ian. “They’re a pretty solid couple. I think they’re very good for each other.”

This article originally appeared in Inside Soap magazine dated September 1993

Article submitted by Steve