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Reference > On This Day... Oct-Dec 2007

On this day... in 1963, Alyce Platt was born. After an extensive career, including the role of Amanda Morrell in Sons & Daughters and a long spell as the hostess on Sale of the Century, she joined the cast of Neighbours in late 1994 as mature student Jen Handley. After only a year in the role, during which Jen mostly found herself caught up in the problems of her boyfriend Philip and brother Luke, Alyce left the role. She has since focused on her music career, releasing three albums, but returned to acting in 2007 with the recurring role of Lorraine Sparkes in City Homicide.

Find out more about Alyce's career with her actor profile.

On this day... in 1993, Brad Willis and Beth Brennan were finally married. They'd already attempted it once earlier that year, only for Beth to realise during the vows that her husband-to-be had been cheating on her with head bridesmaid Lauren Carpenter. Having moved on from that little hiccup, they ended the year, and their time in Erinsborough, by getting married twice. After sneaking off and marrying at the register office, their families caught them heading off to a new life in Perth, and forced them to return to Ramsay Street to marry, unaware that they were already man and wife. Following their second ceremony of the day, they said their goodbyes and drove away from Erinsborough.

Take a look back with our detailed summary of Brad and Beth's wedding.

On this day... in 2002, Neighbours' 18th season came to an upbeat conclusion, as much-loved couple Susan and Karl Kennedy renewed their wedding vows in front of gathered family and friends. Susan had spent much of the year with retro-grade amnesia, believing she was 16 again and had come close to divorcing, so their second wedding was a chance to show everyone that they were back together and as strong as ever. The event also gave shy singer Nina Tucker the opportunity to perform for everyone, while Lyn Scully broke the news to stunned husband Joe that she was pregnant.

Revisit the 2002 season finale with our Magic Moment.

On this day... in 2005, the mysterious Catherine Sangmu aka Katya Kinski made her first appearance. The eldest daughter of Alex Kinski, Katya had been thrown out of home as a teenager after going off the rails, and it later emerged that she'd gone on to develop a drug addiction and stolen cars and posed for adult magazines to help fund it. Katya was a reformed character by the time she stepped onto Ramsay Street, reuniting with her dad only hours before he passed away. She then entered into a custody battle over her younger siblings, Rachel and Zeke, with her new stepmother, Susan, and went on to find herself involved with the insane Robert Robinson, married man Max Hoyland and the terminally dull Ned Parker. She left Erinsborough in early 2007, having exhausted every unlikely plot scenario, and went to work in Adelaide, where she found a new boyfriend, ex-Ramsay Street resident Paul McClain.

Look back at Katya's year in Ramsay Street with her character biography.

On this day... in 2006, the Neighbours gathered for the latest union of Ramsay Street residents, as bad boy Paul Robinson took the unlikely step of marrying his nice but dull personal assistant Lyn Scully. Having only just shared a kiss with lawyer Rosetta Cammeniti, Paul's conscience was troubling him, but he went through with the ceremony, only to end things on the wedding night, telling Lyn that he would break her heart sooner or later and he wanted to spare her any more pain. A humiliated Lyn left Erinsborough with son Oscar, deciding to settle in Shelly Bay with her mum Valda upon her return, while Paul, having suffered a brain tumour and become a reformed character, is now in a new relationship with the much more suitable Rebecca Napier.

Reminisce about other Neighbours weddings with A Ramsay Street Wedding.

On this day... in 1987, it was time for the third Neighbours season to come to an end. In the 80s, unlike other soaps, the Ramsay Street saga never bothered with big end-of-year cliffhangers, preferring uplifting Christmas gatherings. 1987 was no exception, with everyone at The Waterhole for a hoe down and the festivities were improved no end with the news that Paul and Gail had reunited and she'd decided to stay in Erinsborough.

Revisit the 1987 season finale with our Magic Moment.

On this day... in 1992, the Neighbours season came to a dramatic end, with several lives hanging in the balance. On the eve of her wedding to Stephen, heavily pregnant Phoebe found herself going into labour at home, while Cameron found himself being held over the top of an empty liftshaft, having discovered the secrets of the corrupt Gavin Heywood. Elsewhere, Beth and Hannah's search for the missing doll, Muffy, took them to the old abandoned cottage at the back of Lassiter's, where they became trapped inside by a fire...

Why not take another look back at the episode itself.

On this day... in 1993, siblings Brett and Danni Stark arrived to visit their mum, Cheryl, after running away from their strict boarding schools. The kids ended up staying in Erinsborough, with nerdy Brett transforming into an independent young man, leaving to sail around the world, while rebellious Danni forged a career in fashion, leaving to work in Malaysia. Both Stark siblings - as well as their older brother, Darren - also made cameo appearances in 2005, in Annalise Hartman's documentary.

Click here to read Brett and Danni's arrival in detail.

On this day... in 2002, it was time to bid farewell to Felicity Scully. After three years of boys, boys and more boys, Flick had finally settled on Stuart Parker and the pair got engaged, just as she was due to leave for a new job, working for the Lassiter's hotel branch in New York. After forgetting the ring, it was touch and go whether Stuart would make it to the airport to say goodbye, but he made it in time and joined the extended Scully family to wave her off. The following year, Flick's younger sister Michelle joined her in the US, where the pair are now running a bar together.

Revisit some of Flick's exploits in our newly-added Love Thy Neighbour article.

On this day... in 1997, Neighbours' thirteenth season came to a spectacular end with a marriage proposal, two illicit kisses and a car crash. In Sydney, thinking his relationship with Anne Wilkinson was beyond saving, Bill Kennedy kissed Caitlin Atkins, just as Anne was about to walk in, while at the Erinsborough Surgery, Dr Karl Kennedy found himself in an embrace with receptionist Sarah Beaumont, kicking off one of the show's longest-running stories, which saw the Kennedy family soar in popularity. Meanwhile, at Calder race track, Philip Martin was busy proposing to Ruth Wilkinson when her son Ben's car was involved in a horrifying collision and burst into flames.

Why not take another look back at the episode itself.

On this day... in 2003, spoilt Italian princess Carmella Cammeniti made her first appearance on Neighbours, quickly catching the eye of Irish barman Connor O'Neill and sparking an on/off relationship that would carry through to 2006. Though Carmella was just a recurring character in those days, she joined the regular cast in early 2006, having gone from bad girl to good girl and joined the convent. Eighteen months later, that nice girl remains, though her habit was cast off long ago, and more changes seem imminent in her life, with the recent discovery that she's pregnant to ex-boyfriend Oliver Barnes.

Why not take another look back at Carmella's first episode.

On this day... in 1989, it was time for Madge and Bronwyn to wave a particularly teary farewell to Henry. It's hard to believe, but it's been 18 years since he boarded the plane to New Zealand, destined for his new DJing job, leaving his mum, girlfriend and guitar sobbing at the airport, to the sounds of Lynne Hamilton's In Your Arms. It was a matter of months before Bronwyn joined him there, where they later married and are presumably still together.

Look back at parts one and two of Henry's departure.

On this day... in 1993, the unrivalled queen of the giant perm, Cheryl Stark, made Ramsay Street her permanent home, moving into 22 Ramsay Street. Lotto winner Cheryl had appeared earlier in the year in a guest stint along with criminal son, Darren, but this time her brash presence in the street was long-term, much to the horror of neighbour Lou, who'd she'd earlier been intent on romancing. It wasn't long before she and Lou were a couple once more, joined by Brett and Danni, two more of Cheryl's kids, with another on the way.

On this day... in 1998, Wayne 'Tadpole' Reeves made his Ramsay Street debut, sent to Erinsborough to stay with cousin Toadie, in the hope that it would help him stay out of trouble. Sadly it didn't, and before long, Tad was scamming the people of Erinsborough and staying with Madge and Harold Bishop. During his three and a half years in Erinsborough, Tad discovered he was adopted, almost died from a scorpion bite and donated bone marrow to his half brother, but always remained the happy-go-lucky young guy who left Ramsay Street in 2002 to follow his dream of professional DJing.

To find out more about Tad, check out his character profile.

On this day... in 1973, actress Radha Mitchell was born. Radha made her first Neighbours appearance in 1994, before returning in 1996 in the, initially guest but later regular, role of activist Catherine O'Brien. She then quit the role after a year, though the character is still mentioned on-screen, having married Mal, the eldest son of long-running characters, Susan and Karl. Radha, meanwhile, turned her attention to films and is now a very successful actress in Hollywood, having appeared in Rogue and Feast of Love this year, and with no less than four more roles in the pipeline.

To find out more about Radha's career, check out our actor profile.

On this day... in 2003, Kylie Minogue gained her 7th UK number one, with Slow from the album, Body Language.

Since then she has beaten breast cancer and on November 26th will release her tenth studio album X; her first new material in 4 years. The first single from the new album, 2 Hearts is released on Monday 12th November and is a already hotly tipped for the number one spot.

On this day... in 1972, actress Melissa Bell was born. Melissa joined the Neighbours cast in 1991, becoming the third actress to play the role of original character Lucy Robinson. Melissa stayed in the role for only a year, but returned briefly for the 2000th episode celebrations and again as a member of the regular cast in 1995. Melissa's most recent stint saw her spend a couple of weeks in Erinsborough in 2005, in the midst of the show's 20th anniversary year.

Also celebrating her birthday today is another popular Neighbours daughter - Marisa Siketa. Marisa joined the cast as cheeky Summer Hoyland in 2002 and stayed in the role for three years, departing only weeks before Melissa Bell's 2005 return. Marisa has since returned to the cast on several occasions, the most recent being in early 2007, when Summer came back to farewell her dad, Max.

On this day... in 2004, Erinsborough's favourite daughter, Libby Kennedy, bid farewell after ten years as a Ramsay Street resident. In real life, actress Kym Valentine made a sudden departure in order to take the lead role in a new stage production of the movie Dirty Dancing but her character still got a good send-off, with the residents out in force to wave her goodbye as she packed up and drove away to a new life with boyfriend Darren Stark.

Click here to revisit her final moments in Erinsborough.

On this day... in 1985, Terry Robinson, Paul's wife of only a few months, shot him in the shoulder. Having realised that her husband had worked out that it was her, and not Daphne Lawrence, who had shot and killed criminal Charles Durham, Terry turned on Paul and, in a final desperate act, pulled the trigger. Paul made a full recovery, though the incident turned him into the single-minded businessman he became in 1986, while Terry ended up in prison, where she committed suicide a year later.

Take a look at some of the other gun crimes that have rocked sleepy Erinsborough in our In The Line Of Fire feature.

On this day... in 1958, Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis was born. It would be another 26 years, however, before he joined the original Neighbours cast in the role of Paul Robinson, having actually auditioned to play his best friend, Shane Ramsay. He went on to play the role until 1992, returning briefly in 1993, before delighting fans by making a permanent return to Ramsay Street at the end of 2004. Happy Birthday Stefan!

And you can take a look back at Stefan's career so far with our Actor Profile.

On this day... in 1986, Neighbours made its debut on BBC 1, as part of their new daytime schedule. Shown for the first time at 1.25pm, straight after the One O'Clock News, that opening episode was then repeated the following morning at 10.05am, where it remained until, due to popular demand, it was moved to a 5.35pm evening slot in January 1988. Those BBC 1 afternoon and evening slots have remained one of the few constants in the life of Neighbours as, twenty-one years later, only the lyrics to the theme tune, Ramsay Street itself and actor Stefan Dennis (and even he left and came back again) remain.

Sadly, this will be the last birthday Neighbours celebrates on the BBC as, from next Spring, it will move to its new home on Five. But for now, why not sit back with a cuppa and look at how Neighbours has come of age with our All Grown Up article.

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