| Beverly Marshall | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaunna O'Grady as Beverly Marshall (1990) | |||||||||||||||
| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Lisa Armytage (1987–89) Shaunna O'Grady (1989–1990, 2005) |
||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Reg Watson | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1987–1990, 2005 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 6 July 1987 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 5 September 1990 27 July 2005 (cameo) |
||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Home | Perth | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Doctor | ||||||||||||||
| Alternative image(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Lisa Armytage as Beverly Marshall (1987) | |||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
Beverly Marshall is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The character was originally played by Lisa Armytage and she made her first on-screen appearance on 6 July 1987. Shaunna O'Grady took over from Armytage and began playing the character from 16 March 1989 until her departure on 5 September 1990. Beverly is a doctor and was Jim Robinson's second wife. O'Grady reprised her role of Beverly in 2005 to help celebrate Neighbours' 20th anniversary, she made a cameo in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.
Contents |
Beverly Marshall was originally played by Lisa Armytage.[1] Armytage quit the role in 1988 and the script writers decided to send the character off to a conference for a few months. This allowed them time to cast Shaunna O'Grady in the role.[2] O'Grady took over the role of Beverly in 1989, after she successfully passed a screen test when she dropped into Grundys while passing through Melbourne.[3] O'Grady has described taking over the role from Lisa Armytage as "very strange". On her experience of joining the cast she said "It really was fun, as I recall. Cast and crew were friendly, and we laughed a LOT".[3] There was a notable difference between the two actresses, O'Grady was blonde while Armytage was a brunette.[2] Of this O'Grady said "We don't look at all alike, obviously we aren't the same person and there's been no attempt to make me look like Lisa". She also added "I think I will just be recognised as a different actor and go from there".[2]
When O'Grady's contract came up for renewal, the decision was taken not to renew it. O'Grady has said that she would still be in Neighbours now if it had been up to her.[3] In 2005, O'Grady became one of many ex-cast members who made a return to Neighbours to appear in an episode celebrating the show's 20th anniversary.[4]
On her arrival into Neighbours, Beverly was described has having an "intense and frequently difficult relationship with Jim Robinson".[5] When Beverly saves Helen Daniels' life, she earns Jim's "undying gratitude".[5] Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture also commented on Jim and Beverly's relationship, saying "After a typical Ramsay Street start of hating each other's guts, he (Jim) married [...] Beverly Marshall, but they later divorced.[6] Beverly became the first female character not to take her husband's name.[7] Armytage explained Jim and Beverly's relationship, saying that Beverly was initially not interested in Jim.[8] Armytage added that Jim is very defensive when they first meet and it takes a while before they start to relate to each other.[8]
Beverly Marshall was the youngest of two girls. Her sister Annette (Tania Uren) went on to marry and raise a family, but Beverly concentrated on becoming a doctor. While she was at medical school she met Stephen Armstrong (Peter Adams) and fell in love. After a few years, Stephen started hitting Beverly and she left him.
Beverly accepted an invitation from Hilary Robinson (Anne Scott-Pendlebury), to come to Erinsborough for a visit. Hilary tried to set Beverly and her cousin, Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) up together and Beverly fell for Jim. She set up a surgery in the medical practice following the departure of Clive Gibbons (Geoff Paine) and chose to move to Erinsborough permanently. Beverly helped deliver Daphne Clarke's (Elaine Smith) son, Jamie, after she went into labour while on a fishing trip with her husband Des (Paul Keane), Jim and Beverly. Stephen Armstrong came back into Beverly's life and she chose him over Jim. However, when Stephen began getting violent again, Beverly threw him out. She begged Jim to take her back and Jim proposed to her.
Beverly and Jim were married at Jim's house. Their honeymoon plans were upset when Beverly's niece and nephew, Katie (Sally Jensen) and Todd Landers (Kristian Schmid) ran away. When they were found, they revealed that Annette and their father were having marital problems. Beverly and Jim let Katie and Todd stay with them. Beverly was nervous about Jim's mother in law, Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) and wondered if she would accept her. However, Helen was happy that Jim had found someone else. Beverly asked Jim if they could try for a baby, but Jim was reluctant after having raised four children of his own. However, he agreed and Beverly discovered she was pregnant, but not long after she suffered a miscarriage.
When a young single mother left her child at Beverly's surgery, Beverly took the boy home and decided to apply for legal guardianship of him. However, the child's mother, returned to town with the and they began blackmailing Beverly. Jim found out when he noticed that large amounts of money were missing from their bank account. Beverly told him everything and Jim called the police. The child was then taken away and put up for adoption. An ex-partner of Beverly's, Ewan O'Brien, came to Erinsborough to ask her to help with a research paper and Jim became jealous of him. The tensions between Beverly and Jim eventually forced Beverly to take Todd and move to the flat above her surgery.
Beverly then discovered she was pregnant and she reconciled with Jim, but she miscarried again. She was then told that she couldn't carry a child to full term. When Ewan asked Beverly to join him in Perth, Beverly decided to leave Erinsborough. Just before she left, Jim told her that he wanted to remain friends. Beverly and Jim divorced a year later.[6] When Annalise Hartman (Kimberly Davis) returned to Ramsay Street to show the residents a documentary she had made, Beverly was featured in it and she revealed that she owed her professional confidence to her time on Ramsay Street.
Beverly was named as a "firm favourite with viewers" in John Kercher's 1989 book, Neighbours: facts, features, interviews with your favourite TV stars.[9] Kercher also named Beverly's relationship with Jim as "intriguing".[9] Ruth Deller named Beverly as Ramsay Street's "superdoc".[6] In another feature, Lowculture called Beverly the "resident awesome all-powerful Neighbours doctor who came inbetween Clive Gibbons and Karl Kennedy".[10] The BBC said Beverly's most notable moment was "When she slapped one of her patients."[11]
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||