It has been announced that Tim Robards who plays Neighbours' Pierce Grayson has quit the show due to family commitments. Although the character was due to be leaving Ramsay Street in the foreseeable future anyway, they've decided to call in a new actor, Don Hany, to take over the role and complete Pierce's storyline, rather than write out the character immediately.
It's not the first time that Neighbours - or other soaps for that matter - have had to recast a main character. But while it's quite normal for child actors to be recast as the character they portray gets older, it's not as common to recast adult members of the main cast. Sometimes it's worked to great effect - while at other times it's been a complete disaster. The bottom line is that no one knows how audiences are going to react to a character with a new head until it actually happens! Viewers are concerned as to whether or not the new actor will play the role in the same way as their predecessor; if the character will undergo a massive personality transformation, and the big question... will their screen family notice that a member of their family now has a new head, new accent and is six inches taller????
Despite all those concerns, it's odd to believe that on the whole, recasts usually do work. Initial reservations aside, viewers eventually forget that the character was originally played by a different actor, and in some cases the actor who has taken over the role has proved to be so successful that audiences are glad that the old actor moved on to other things! For our list of five recasts that worked out well, we were struggling to limit it to just five, so it's proof that sometimes a change can be a good thing. We take a look at some of the more successful recasts in soap history.
1. Pippa Fletcher
Played by: Vanessa Downing (1988-90) Debra Lawrance (1990-2009)
Vanessa Downing and Debra Lawrance as Home and Away's Pippa
When Home and Away first began, the role of Summer Bay supermum Pippa Fletcher was played by blonde, curly-haired Vanessa Downing. So imagine our surprise when we tuned into watch Home and Away as per usual, and in the opening credits stood an auburn haired lady near the rose bushes where Pippa normally appeared. Well this lady was Pippa - the new Pippa played by Debra Lawrance. Most UK viewers were unaware that Vanessa Downing had left Home and Away and the part of Pippa had been recast.
Once the shock had worn off, viewers saw that Debra did an excellent job of playing Pippa and effortlessly seemed to pick up where Vanessa had left off which isn't something that a lot of actors are able to do. So viewers felt that it was the same character - but with a brand new face! There was perhaps only a slight difference in the way the two Pippas were portrayed: Downing's Pippa was a little more trendy and fun-loving, whereas Lawrance's was more earth mother. But both actresses got the compassionate, sensitive and loving side of Summer Bay's favourite foster mum just right.
Although viewers were sorry to see Vanessa go, in many ways it seemed to make sense because although she had great chemistry with Roger Oakley who played her screen husband Tom, it would have been hard to imagine her with new on-screen husband, Michael Ross, played by Dennis Coard. Dennis and Debra had a fabulous connection and played Mr. and Mrs. Ross incredibly well. So well in fact, that the actors who played them actually got hitched in real life and are still happily married today with two children.
Both Debra and Vanessa did such an excellent job of playing Pippa that we couldn't possibly say who played the role better, and the recasting of this character is a great example of how recasts can be a complete success.
2. Peggy Mitchell
Played by: Jo Warne (1991) Barbara Windsor (1994-2010, 2013-2016)
Jo Warne and Barbara Windsor as EastEnders' Peggy Mitchell
The late actress Jo Warne had originally played the role of Phil and Grant's mum Peggy for around ten episodes in the early nineties. When they decided to bring back the character three years later on a more permanent basis, the role was given to Barbara Windsor. Although Barbara was a very well established actress, more often than not, people thought of her purely as the girl from the Carry On films. But EastEnders changed all that, with Windsor helping to make Peggy Mitchell one of the most iconic characters on the Square - and she really gave Angie Watts a run for her money in the best-loved landlady stakes!
When Jo Warne played Peggy, the character had a toughness to her (well, she was a Mitchell!) but you could see that her life revolved around her boys and she was quite mumsy: she never really spent much time or money on herself. But when Barbara Windsor took on the role, she didn't want Peggy to be a downtrodden, frumpy mum in cheap clothing who was always running around after her wayward sons. And it was on her suggestion that Peggy was the polished, coiffed queen of The Vic that viewers grew to know and love. Oh and she was feisty - nobody got the better of Peggy and those slaps she used to dish out were legendary! Peggy may have been tiny but she was the only person who could put the fear of God into those two big, burley Mitchell brothers.
Who played Peggy best? Jo Warne did a very good job in her brief portrayal of Peggy Mitchell in the early days, but Barbara Windsor was born to play the role of the Mitchell matriarch and she did so to perfection.
Now get outta my pub!
3. Scott Robinson
Played by: Darius Perkins (1985) Jason Donovan (1986-1989)
Darius Perkins and Jason Donovan as Scott Robinson in Neighbours
If ever there was an example of a successful-beyond-belief recast, then this would be it! This recast was so successful, it gave legendary status both to the character Scott Robinson, and also to Jason Donovan who was the second actor to play him.
When Neighbours first began in 1985, the role of Jim Robinson's youngest son was played by the late Darius Perkins. Then the following year, viewers saw this kid with a blond mullet lounging around the Robinson's home who was apparently the new Scott Robinson.
"They could have at least picked an actor who looked a lot like the last one," most of us thought, and believed this recast to be highly unsuccessful.
Ooh, how wrong we were! The new actor, Jason Donovan, although quite well known in Australia, was not familiar to British audiences, but his stunning good looks soon caught everyone's attention... and it wasn't long before the name Jason Donovan was on everyone's lips. Not only did Jason make the role his own, propelling Scott Robinson into the realm of soap legends, but Mr. Donovan became something of an icon and a teen heart-throb himself. Was there a kid in eighties' and nineties' Britain and Australia who didn't know who Jason Donovan was?
Scott's chemistry with his on-screen wife, Charlene played by Kylie Minogue (which famously spilled over into real-life) was off the scale! No one else could have played Ramsay Street's iconic couple quite like Jason and Kylie did, and even today they are one of the most well-remembered of all the couples in the Aussie soap - even among viewers who were born long-after Scott and Charlene had left Erinsborough.
The reason why the role of Scott Robinson was recast is unclear although it was speculated that issues had arisen between Perkins and Neighbours bosses. And there's no doubt that Darius Perkins did a great job in playing Scott - hence why it took the audience a while to warm to the new Scott - but it was Donovan who took the character to another level and made Scott Robinson the iconic character that he is.
4. Steven Carrington
Played by: Al Corely (1980, 1991) Jack Coleman (1984-1990)
Al Corley and Jack Coleman as Steven Carrington in Dynasty
Steven Carrington is considered an iconic character as he was one of the few openly gay TV characters at a time when TV generally steered clear of introducing gay characters - and actors who were gay in real-life usually kept quiet about their sexuality. So the role of Steven Carrington was something of a breakthrough.
When the soap first began, Blake Carrington's younger son Steven was played by Al Corely for two seasons. Then Al decided to leave because he wasn't happy with the direction the character was going in, so Steven was written out in a storyline which saw him go missing in a helicopter crash. When he was eventually found two years later in a hospital after having reconstructive facial surgery, he was played by Jack Coleman, who continued to play Steven until the soap was axed in 1990. However the role of Steven Carrington went back to being played by Al Corley during Dynasty: The Reunion in 1991 when Coleman was unavailable due to working on other projects. Fans of the soap opera set in Colorado, may have a 'favourite' Steven but we think both actors did a great job in playing the conflicted Carrington.
5. Sam Mitchell
Played by: Danniella Westbrook (1990-1993, 1995-96, 2009-2010, 2016) Kim Medcalf (2003-2005)
Dannielle Westbrook and Kim Medcalf as Sam Mitchell in EastEnders
Whenever people think of actress Danniella Westbrook, they often think of her EastEnders character Sam Mitchell, and the Mitchell's baby sister had been played by Westbrook since she appeared on the Square back in 1990. Westbrook had made guest appearances since leaving the cast as a regular character, but when bosses decided to bring back Sam in 2002 as a main character again, they shocked fans by not only recasting the character but by having her played by a relatively unknown actress, Kim Medcalf. Because most viewers were unfamiliar with Medcalf, they didn't know quite what she would be like in the role of Sam. Furthermore nobody could imagine Sam Mitchell being played by anyone other than Danniella Westbrook.
Surely this was a recipe for disaster!
Well actually it wasn't! Medcalf could easily have copied Westbrook's representation of princessy, spoilt, whiney Sam. And even though the new Sam was still a devious man-eating minx, she was more sophisticated seductress to Westbrook's teenage temptress. Medcalf's portrayal was a little edgier and more mature. This Sam was more determined and eager to prove that she was as tough as her older brothers.
It was Medcalf who played Sam during the Who Killed Den plot - one of the biggest storylines in the soap's history, and she gave an outstanding performance as the tormented and guilt-ridden Mitchell for her role in the murder of the iconic pub landlord.
Kim Medcalf decided to leave the show in 2005 when Sam went on the run. Since then the Mitchell sister has made a few brief returns to Walford where she has always been played by the original actress Danniella Westbrook... although fans still want to see Medcalf return.
Both actresses brought something different to the table with regards to playing Sam Mitchell. Danniella Westbrook will always be closely associated with the role that made her a household name in Britain. But nobody could ever fault Kim Medcalf's perfect portrayal of the Mitchell sister.
Which soap recast do you think was a complete success?
Photos: YouTube
Word cloud: Angel Noire