Recurring guest roles

[Luke]

I thought I would start a thread dedicated to re occuring guest characters. By this I do not mean characters who are in it for a few months then leave, but characters who are in it for a long period of time when they are needed. For example Inspector Carter was in the show for at least 5 years, but was only used when needed. Other examples include Nurse Julie, Senior Constable Ken Harper, Sargeant Mcgrath, Doctor Green etc..

I think these characters are important as they give a sense of community. Same as the reoccuring guests on Neighbours (eg Gino, Senior Sargeant Allen Steiger, etc..)

[ste]

Yep I agree.

It's much better than bringing in a brand new actor and making up yet another random character every time a doctor or policeman or nurse is needed. Like you said it makes it more believable as a community.

Let's not forget Sgt Chris Hale who was the respected cop in Summer Bay from around 1990 to 1996 until they discovered it was him who had run over Shane in his car! That was a huge shocker.

Inspector Carter was great - though he was a little clichéd in my opinion. The grumpy inspector thing is a bit done.

I think Nurse Julie is great and lets not forget her girlfriend Fitzy.

[claire@easypeasy.com]

I thought I would start a thread dedicated to re occuring guest characters. By this I do not mean characters who are in it for a few months then leave, but characters who are in it for a long period of time when they are needed. For example Inspector Carter was in the show for at least 5 years, but was only used when needed. Other examples include Nurse Julie, Senior Constable Ken Harper, Sargeant Mcgrath, Doctor Green etc..

I think these characters are important as they give a sense of community. Same as the reoccuring guests on Neighbours (eg Gino, Senior Sargeant Allen Steiger, etc..)

You forgot the great Morag Bellingham...Cornelia Frances is a long term guest character.

[ste]

I'm not sure she counts. True she is a guest but she's also an established main character none the less with friendships and relationships tied throughout the entire cast. The only difference between her and Alf or Sally or someone is that she appears less often.

I think the kind of characters Luke means are the kind of that only appear when they have a particular purpose to serve, for example Nurse Julie isn't just going to randomly walk into Noah's Bar and join the characters for a drink. She will only appear if there is a lot of drama going on at the hospital.

[alexx]

Then there was Terri Garner from 1996 just before Chris Hale left, til 1999. Chris was awful to Terri when she first arrived, very domineering over her.

[ste]

I liked Terri a lot. I remember she shot and killed Saul Bennett just when he was in the final stages of brain washing Selina again. And she cried "NO!" or something. I thought the storyline between her and Tom Nash was good though it would have been so much better if the original actress had stayed. They recast her for the storyline so it might as well have just been a completely different cop in my opinion which ruined the impact.

[alexx]

Yeah though the original actress started the storyline – I loved the reveal episode, I felt sorry for Terri, Joel was insane with her.

Terri was extremely guilty after killing Saul, Selena was pretty harsh on her. Terri and Lachie’s relationship started around that time. I wished the original actress had stuck around also, she suited the show so well and was a good actor.

[Seany]

Yep I agree.

It's much better than bringing in a brand new actor and making up yet another random character every time a doctor or policeman or nurse is needed. Like you said it makes it more believable as a community.

Let's not forget Sgt Chris Hale who was the respected cop in Summer Bay from around 1990 to 1996 until they discovered it was him who had run over Shane in his car! That was a huge shocker.

Inspector Carter was great - though he was a little clichéd in my opinion. The grumpy inspector thing is a bit done.

I think Nurse Julie is great and lets not forget her girlfriend Fitzy.

Hi there, Im Seany from England. Can somebody tell me,,is Pippa Ross returning?? I've heard a rumour but not sure if its true. If Pippa's coming back,,why don't the producers bring back Bobby Marshall and Ailsa Stewart?? I mean, i know there both dead but they have come back from the dead before! hehe,wouldn't it be great???

I think the characters from the beginning of the show are better than the ones now!! I hope the rumour about Pippa is true.. Please reply back! Cheers

[Ryan]

There was a rumour from a TV Week magazine at the start of the year that seemed to indicated that Pippa was returning for a few months in the wake of Flynn's death. However she only appeared for a few days as we know and has yet to return in the Australian episodes.

[Ross]

I love Nurse Julie and Lara! I would be more upset if they ever left than if certain main characters did!

There is also another nurse at the hospital who has been appearing for a while now, I forget what her name is though. She went to Flynn's funeral with Julie.

During 2003 we had Pia Correlli as the police woman, although I definitely prefer Lara - she seems to have a bit more personality to me.