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Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera that was first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1988, by order of first appearance. Until February, characters were introduced by the soap's creator and executive producer, Reg Watson. Thereafter, they were introduced by his successor, Don Battye. Battye's episodes began airing from 14 March. The 4th season of Neighbours began airing from 13 January 1988. February saw the introduction of Sally Jensen and Kristian Schmid as siblings Katie Landers and Todd Landers. Comedian Greg Fleet began portraying criminal Dave Summers in March. Tom Oliver began playing Lou Carpenter in the same month. Gloria Lewis was introduced in April, followed by David Bishop, Amy Williams and Nina Williams in May. John Worthington was introduced the following month. July saw the arrivals of Bronwyn Davies, played by Rachel Friend, her sister Sharon Davies, played by Jessica Muschamp, and Mark Stevens as Nick Page. Mark Little began playing Joe Mangel, son of the established Nell Mangel from August. Irene Inescort arrived as Bronwyn and Sharon's aunt, Edith Chubb in the same month. September saw the debut of Sylvie Latham. Mat Stevenson took on the role of Skinner in October, and Joe's son Toby Mangel made his first appearance in November, as did Colin Handley as Mark Granger. Katie Landers Katie Landers, played by Sally Jensen, made her first appearance on 15 February 1988. Jensen and Kristian Schmid, who plays Katie's brother Todd Landers, had not met before or had any acting experience until they attended a drama class with the Actor's Training Studio in Melbourne. Scouts from the Grundy Organisation were also in attendance, on the look out for a pair of actors for Neighbours. Jensen and Schmid attended an audition for the roles of regular characters, Katie and Todd, and following a screen test, they were cast. Both actors were at school when they were cast, so they were given an on set tutor and a schoolroom was built behind the studio. The BBC said Katie's most notable moment was "Forcing Joe Mangel to bury a casserole." The Sun-Herald said Katie and Todd's escapades often portrayed storylines which were "vital themes in the show." Todd Landers Todd Landers, played by Kristian Schmid, made his first appearance on 15 February 1988. Schmid was 12 years old when he signed himself up for an acting course in Melbourne. Three weeks later, Neighbours casting director Jan Russ came to the school to hold auditions for the show. Russ said she was looking for a teenage boy, around 14 or 15, to play the role of Todd Landers. Schmid asked to audition and he was cast in the role of Todd. Todd was Beverly Marshall's (Lisa Armytage) "cheekily independent nephew". He and his sister Katie Landers (Sally Jensen), come to live with Beverly and her husband Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) in Ramsay Street in order to escape their abusive father. Schmid remained with Neighbours until his character was killed off at the age of 17, making him the youngest character in the show's history to die. In 2007, Australian newspaper the Herald Sun placed Todd's death at number ten on their list of Neighbours Top Ten moments. Dave Summers Dave Summers, played by Greg Fleet, made his first appearance on 25 March 1988. The character was introduced alongside Ted Regan (Julian Branagan) as new villains for the serial. Fleet's character is best known for causing the death of popular character Daphne Clarke (Elaine Smith). When asked about his character's actions, Fleet responded: "Do I feel bad about killing Daphne on Neighbours? If you are going to be in a show as bad as Neighbours, you should kill one of the main characters." In Fleet's biography These Things Happen, he tells of how his role prevented him from having his throat cut in a drug deal gone wrong, as the dealer recognised him from the show. Series writer Marieke Hardy described Fleet's role as "small but important". Prior to playing Summers, Fleet guested as Steve O'Donnel on the serial in 1985. Summers and his friend Ted Regan run Daphne Clarke and Gail Robinson's (Fiona Corke) car off the road, causing a crash which leaves Gail with amnesia and Daphne in a coma for several weeks. Summers and Regan are caught by Jane Harris (Annie Jones), Charlene Robinson (Kylie Minogue), Tony Romeo (Nick Carrafa), Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) and Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) when their car is spotted at Lassiter's by Gail, who recalls the license plate via hypnosis. Daphne dies as a result of her injuries and Summers and Regan are both tried, but Summers only receives a one year suspension of his license and a $500 fine, which enrages Mike Young (Guy Pearce). Mike goes after Summers and Regan to fight them, but does not. Summers then reports Mike to the police and he is charged with GBH, despite being innocent. Regan smugly tells to Mike that someone else had beaten Summers and they decided to let him take the blame. However, this is exposed as a lie by Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan) who set a trap for Summers by taking photos of him removing his cast and bending over to pick up a wallet dropped by Scott. In spite of the evidence produced by Scott and Henry, Mike is then found guilty of simple assault and given a 12 month Good behaviour bond. Lou Carpenter Lou Carpenter, played by Tom Oliver, made his first appearance on 30 March 1988. Oliver appeared for a brief time, having been initially contracted for six months, before leaving and returning in January 1992 as a regular cast member. He would go on to become one of the longest-serving continuous characters. Lou was introduced as an old friend of Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) and Madge Ramsay (Anne Charleston). In their fictional backstory, the characters attended the same school and Lou was Harold's rival for Madge's affections. Oliver said that Lou's feelings for Madge led him to visit Ramsay Street to steal her from Harold on their wedding day. Oliver took inspiration for Lou's distinctive "dirty laugh" from actor Sid James. The character also became known for his scams and quick one-liners. Oliver received nominations for Funniest Performance at the 2007 and 2008 Inside Soap Awards. Gloria Lewis Gloria Lewis (also Gardner), played by Beverly Phillips, made her first appearance on 22 April 1988. Gloria is introduced as Rob Lewis' (Ernie Bourne) fiancée. Phillips said Rob's daughter Gail Robinson (Fiona Corke) is expecting to be introduced to someone nice and charming like her mother, so when Gloria turned up "Gail's jaw hit the deck!". Phillips was pleased that she was not a "constant" regular and allowed to come and go by the production company. She often worked on the show for a few months, then took a few months off to appear in other productions. Phillips told Neil Bonner of the Reading Evening Post that Gloria would go off in one scene to get some wine and then w.... Discover the Margaret Brownley popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Margaret Brownley books.