10 Classic Neighbours Characters - Then And Now

Open the nostalgia floodgates and prepare to remember what it was like to be young again! As Libby Kennedy returns to Ramsay Street, we look at how time has treated some classic Neighbours cast members since their first appearances in everyone's first TV addiction.

1. Toadfish Rebecchi

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Toadfish Rebecchi, time has been good to you. Ever since your first appearance on the 8th of February 1995, years have passed like time in a spa and you enter the middle of 2014 as a successful lawyer, the father of a future Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a loving partner and an adoring, scheming employee. It seems an eternity since you were rolling around Ramsay Street with that ponytail, causing trouble and wrestling matches, (although you still have an occasionally dodgy taste in shirts!). If only time could be as kind to all of us.

2. Paul Robinson

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He's mean, money-orientated and prone to exasperated fits of rage and telling people to get out. Given the levels of stress his body must be constantly under dealing with all that anger, (not to mention a previous brain tumour and leg amputation), Paul Robinson has aged pretty well, like a bitter, heavy, and expensive red wine. Look closely enough though and you can see the raw emotion of Gail taking away his triplets in 1989 and the recent murder of his niece Kate etched into his mayoral face.

3. Susan Kennedy

The show's longest running female character has had her share of drama since 1994, including a divorce, committing matricide, dealing with the death of her second husband, massive amnesia, multiple sclerosis and being the victim of multiple infidelities. She's swapped her iconic Stepford Wives fringe for something a little easier to maintain and in 2014 she finds herself back with Karl (phew), with ambitions of becoming a wedding blesser and in a period of relative calm but this is Erinsborough so don't get too comfortable Susan!

4. Dr Karl Kennedy

From Bond villain-like lothario to compassionate, funereal troubadour and pillar of the entire community, if anyone epitomises Neighbours mellowing and maturation over time it's the doc. Although these days he's now less likely to have a full-blown affair after getting back with Susan, put him in the vicinity of a young, good looking female or international popstar (Emma Bunton, Lily Allen and Paula Abdul for example) and anything could happen. Frontman of The Right Prescription and Oodles of Noodles, Karl is the Bruce Springsteen of Ramsay Street, born in the AUS.

5. Harold Bishop

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Harold, oh Harold, how the nation mourned at the sight of your glasses; broken and lonely in a rock pool, Madge's hand shaking as she picked them up and called out your name across the foaming waves. You punched Lou in the face and won Madge's affections to become the King and Queen of Ramsay Street and then you went for that walk by the sea. But a then a few years later ol' Jelly Belly was was back in Erinsborough, found by a trawler in the sea and working in a Salvation Army, having hardly aged at all. Make no mistake though, beneath that cuddly, Tuba-loving exterior is a man of steel who has endured the tragedies of Madge and his son's deaths who once tried to strangle Paul Robinson to death! Although you said goodbye again to the street in 2011, rumour has it that you might be back again in some form, probably looking even more jolly.

6. Libby Kennedy

Libby made her first appearance on the street on 3 October 1994; a long ago time when Buzzfeed lists were written on the back of satchels. Though 20 years, a host of thwarted relationships and a near fatal motorcyle crash have passed since that day, Libby still looks as fresh as a daisy - let's see how she fares after another ride on the often dysfunctional emotional rollercoaster that is Ramsay Street life.

7. Doug and Pam Willis

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Two of the show's most enduring and endearing couples have been through a lot since they first hit the street in 1990 but they're still very much in love despite the death of a daughter, the heart-stopping revelation of an affair and Doug's recent battle with the onset of Alzheimers. Almost a quarter century of drama has obviously done nothing to diminish their mutual affection and support for one another, through thick and thin.

8. Brad Willis

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Doug and Pam's son has changed A LOT since he arrived on our screens and into many people's hearts in 1992. From simmering love triangles on the beach to taking a Hungry Bite from an a shark whilst surfing, Brad's original incarnation had an eventful few years before moving off to Perth with Beth (Natalie Imbruglia) to spend some time in the shade and give his skin a chance to recover. In 2013 Brad returned to the street with a new wife, haircut and teenage children looking zen and well, different, to become Erinsborough's most in demand yoga instructor.

9. Lou Carpenter

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Lou Carpenter first appeared on our screens as an Oliver Reed-like libertine back in the pre-historic era of 1988; when the the only digital lols came from turning the numbers 55378008 upside down on a calculator screen. After a successful long-term campaign to woo Madge, astonishing array of careers, ranging from used car salesman, to Mayor, through to proprietor of Dial-A-Kyle, an unforgettable relationship with Annalise and a perennial bromance with Harold, Lou is still going strong, wonderfully aged like a rugged oak, steadfast in the most dramatic of emotional winds, the longest running character in the series.

10. Lauren Turner

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Lifetimes and endless other soaps have passed since Lauren Turner first rode into Ramsay Street on the back of her horse Chucka Mental and fell headfirst into one of the nineties' most engrossing love triangles with Brad and Beth in 1993. After a tumultuous couple of years which included her being brainwashed by the cult of The Children of Barabbas and her dad Lou moving the whole Stark family in, Lauren headed off to character oblivion aka Perth only to return in 2013 with a new family and physical appearance. The present day sees flames between Brad and herself still flickering and the appearance of the baby they conceived on the beach back in '93, aka Paige Novak.