All Hail Gail

It's been great having Gail Robinson back on Neighbours these past few weeks. Actress Fiona Corke is reputedly still good friends with actor Stefan Dennis (who plays her scheming ex-husband Paul on the soapie), and although she's done a fair bit of acting since she left the show in 1989, apparently she wasn't convinced that returning to Ramsay Street was the best move. That is, until Stefan urged her to come back because "... (it'd) be fun!"

And I'm sure they did have a blast working together again. I loved the occasional reference to the 80s we were treated to throughout Gail's appearance on the show, and my only regret is that things didn't end with a bigger bang than the relative fizzle with which she left our screens for good last week.

If there was ever going to be anyone from Paul's past who could give Izzy a run for her money, it was definitely Gail. Even without trying to be nasty, Gail's simple superiority over Izzy in Paul's life and emotions held enough sway to get the younger woman on the backfoot, and allowed for some great jealousy-driven cat-fights (arguments only; no actual cat-fights) between the two.


Fiona then ...

Fiona Corke is a fine actress, and I'm glad she allowed us to see more of what has happened to the character in the years she's been away from the show, simply by coming back and allowing the writers to fill in a lot more of her backstory than we might get by a pretend phone call home from Elle (or similar plot device).


... and Fiona now.

Even though Gail was probably on the show for a month (or perhaps even longer!), it didn't feel like nearly enough to me. It was great to have her back on Ramsay Street, and I hope we see her again.

It'd also be great to see other long-lost characters return on occasion. But not the dearly-departed ones. That'd just be creepy and wrong. We saw it with Drew last year in Steph's dream sequences, but that's enough. Let's not make a habit of bringing back the dead characters. There's only so much of that we can take before we snort in derision.


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CONNOR UPDATE:

Total number of 'Connor' references since my last 'Connor Update': Four. Carmella returned and revealed that Connor knew about both Robert and Cameron Robinson being in Erinsborough before he disappeared; Connor's share of the mortgage repayments stopped coming through; a letter containing an Irish riddle was mailed to Toadie and gave clues to a garden gnome that was found buried under the 'Irish Rose' Robert had planted in the Robinsons' front yard; and Connor's wallet was found somewhere in Beijing and handed in to the Australian embassy.

I'm not sure what Toadie and Stu are doing in relation to covering Connor's third of the mortgage, but presumably Toadie's managing to pay two-thirds. I am also unclear as to what is meant to have happened with that garden gnome incident. If anyone out there can explain this to me, it'd be much appreciated. I'm not having a go at the writers here; I seriously think I missed a reference somewhere as to what it all meant. I'm only asking to be brought up-to-date on what we, the audience, is meant to believe about it (not 'the truth behind it', if that's different). If the letter was postmarked from Darwin, but referred to a riddle Toadie and Connor used to make between them, it appears that it was sent by Connor. But being buried under the Irish Rose bush we saw Robert plant and later watering -- after Connor had disappeared -- makes me think it was actually Robert who was behind it. But then, what's the relevance of the garden gnome? Anything? Is it just an amusing little garden-related fella to bury for a laugh/mislead, or did it have some kind of significance that I don't know about to Connor or Toadie or someone else? Was it ever really determined, from the audience's perspective, whether it was Connor or Robert (or neither) behind the letter-and-buried-gnome incident? Or are we still meant to be in the dark on that one?

In related news, Carmella herself (or Sister Mary Catherine, if you prefer) has been featured in the closing credits as a regular character (meaning that the actress' name (Natalie Blair) doesn't just appear right at the end of the list with the other guest stars for that solitary episode, but in the middle of the regular cast list, with Toadie and Ned ... and she's even being credited in episodes in which she does not feature) for a few weeks now. She is credited as 'Carmella Cammeniti', not 'Sister Mary Catherine' or a combination of the two names (for comparison, actor Adam Hunter is credited for both Robert and Cameron Robinson when both characters appear in the episode, but only as one of them if he's only portraying one twin that day -- the same care is not being taken for how they credit 'Sister Mary Catherine', despite the character's own protestations to be addressed as such). This leads me to believe that this is probably a clear but unintentional indication that the 'nun' thing will not be lasting for much longer. Once Carmella drops the habit (so to speak), we'll probably see her face appear in the opening credits. Surely that's the only thing preventing the producers from updating the opening sequence to include her smiling dial alongside Toadie and Ned. They don't want her to be in her nun garb for the credits.

There have also been an increasing amount of references to Dee Bliss-Rebecchi, Toadie's MIA wife. I say again: She will return.


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