The Robinson family (Neighbours)

The Robinsons are a fictional family in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The largest and most complex family tree in the show's history, the Robinsons have been a part of Australian culture since Neighbours‍ '​ inception in 1985.

Creation

The Robinson family was one of three central families introduced to viewers when Neighbours began in 1985, created by the show's creator and executive producer Reg Watson.[1] Watson said the idea for Neighbours began with the Robinsons – a widower and four children. He wanted a mother-in-law to live with them, and decided that she would be supportive instead of interfering, as television viewers had come to expect.[2] Of how the Robinson family came to be created, Watson said "I thought how interesting it would be to have a family where the children could ask their parents anything and get an honest answer."[3]

Characters

The Robinsons are made up of several different family groups that have married together. These are the original Robinsons, the Daniels, the Martins, the Dennisons, the Simpsons and the Duncans.

Father of Julie, Paul, Scott, Lucy and Glen, and the husband of Anne Robinson and later Beverly Robinson (née Marshall. He died of a heart attack after playing with his granddaughter Hannah; and then his girlfriend Fiona Hartman stole all his money and ran off.

The oldest child of Jim and Anne Robinson, born in 1963. A powerful businessman, who has been married five times and has five children (by three different women). Paul recently became mayor and in 2014 he successfully bought his families old home 26 Ramsay Street off his ex-wife Lyn Scully and rents in out to Sheila Canning and her grandson and his wife.

There were always was two sides to Julie one moment she could be kind and very friendly and next she could be the complete opposite. Wife to Philip Martin. Oldest child of Jim Robinson and his wife Anne, sister to Paul, Scott and Lucy. She was stepmother to Debbie and Michael Martin Philip's kids from his previous marriage and mother of her and Philip's daughter Hannah Martin. She was good mum to both Debbie and Hannah but her stepson Michael hated her as he blamed her for the death of his and Debbie's mum Loretta. Julie died after falling to her death from a tower.

Married Charlene Mitchell in 1987 and moved to Queensland to be a journalist. Since his departure Scott has been mentioned on screen by his brother Paul and more recently by his and Charlene's son Daniel who know lives with his uncle Paul.

The youngest daughter of Jim and Anne Robinson, and the little sister of Paul, Julie, Scott and Glen. Anne died giving birth to her in 1972. Much the same as her older brother Paul, Lucy has become a powerful businesswomen in her own right and know lives in New York as the manager of the Lassiters chain of hotels. Lucy has made frequent visits back to Ramsay Street to visit Paul and more recently become pregnant with Ramsay Street resident Chris Pappas as the father.

Mother of Anne Robinson (who died giving birth to Lucy) and Jim Robinson's mother-in-law. Scott, Lucy, Paul and Julie's grandmother. She was one of the longest serving characters on Neighbours. After Jim's death in 1993 Helen inherited number 26 Ramsay Street in Jim's will and stayed in the house until her death in 1997 to which Number 26 was left to her late granddaughter Julie's husband Philip Martin and his new wife Ruth.

Jim Robinson's snooty cousin and interfering busybody. Appeared in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street. Hilary recently made a brief return to Ramsay Street to visit her relative Paul Robinson and would not leave until he agreed to her demands.

Son of Hilary Robinson. Dated Gemma Ramsay for a while, then they had a motorbike accident and broke up shortly afterwards. Matt was mentioned by him mother Hilary to Paul Robinson when she made a brief return to Ramsay Street and she admitted that her and Matt fell out over an argument between her and Matt's wife.

Daughter of Madge Bishop and Fred Mitchell and stepdaughter of Harold Bishop. Married Scott Robinson in 1987 and lives in Queensland. In the years since her departure Charlene has been mention on and off and more recently by her son Daniel to her brother-in-law Paul.

Scott and Charlene's son. Daniel arrived on Ramsay Street in late 2014 as he wanted to see the place where his parents Scott and Charlene Robinson met and married. Daniel meets his uncle Paul while he is having an argument with Imogen Wills. Only intending on staying in Ramsay Street a short time, Daniel decides to stay and support Paul , who is struggling with depression. Daniel meets Amber Turner and falls in love with her despite Amber dating Imogen's brother Josh. Amber later splits with Josh and gets together with Daniel. In March 2015 Daniel is over the moon when his step-grandfather Harold Bishop returns to Ramsay Street after the break down of his marriage to wife Carolyn and invites him to his and Amber's wedding. When Harold crashes his motor home and the ghost of Harold's late wife and Daniel's grandmother Madge appears she tells Harold that Amber is not right for Daniel and that he should be with Imogen Wills, Harold attempts to stop Daniel marrying Amber and is promptly uninvited.

Paul's second wife, who he married for a business deal. They later fell in love and had triplets together. Gail left Paul in 1989 and moved to Tasmania they later divorced. Gail Appeared in a video clip in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street in 2005 and admitted that Paul was the love of her life. Gail made 2 more guest appearances in 2006 and 2007 clashing with Paul's then girlfriend Izzy Hoyland. Gail and Paul had a brief fling but Gail realised that all thou she loved Paul she could not be with him and went back to Tasmania.

Paul Robinson's first wife. Shortly after they got married, she killed a man named Charles Durnham and then shot Paul shortly afterwards. Whilst in prison, she committed suicide. After Terry's death it took Paul awhile to get over her death and what she had done.

Jim Robinson's second wife. Moved to Perth after miscarrying for the second time which was a factor in the breakup of her marriage to Jim. Beverly made a return in 2005 via a video as part of Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.

Paul's third wife, and Caroline's twin sister. She and their son, Andrew ran off to Brazil with him when he got caught on fraud charges. It was revealed in 2004 when Paul returned to Ramsay Street that he and Christina had divorced while he was in prison serving time for his fraud he committed in 1992.

Jim's mother. Visited the family in 1985. She announced that she had a terminal illness. Bess died in 1988 and Paul and Jim flew out to the USA for her funeral.

Paul's fourth wife. Paul and lyn's marriage lasted less than a day and was supposedly, annulled shortly after. However, it was revealed on Paul and Rebecca's wedding day in 2009 that Paul and Lyn were still married Paul and Lyn reached a settlement and they divorced.

Paul's fifth wife who he married in December 2009 after his divorce from wife Lyn became finalised. Rebecca and Paul's marriage was full of ups and downs but when Paul had an affair with Kirsten Gannon, Rebecca felt betrayed and finally realised that Paul was bad news and left Paul to live with her son Oliver Barnes. Rebecca briefly returned in 2014 as a representative from another town partnering up with Erinsborough. Rebecca had a brief fling with her ex-husband Paul and when he begged her to stay she realised she had moved on and departed soon after.

Helen Daniels adopted daughter, former owner of Lassiter's Complex. Rosemary is a smart business women who runs a successful business in New York. Over the years she has made brief returns to Ramsay Street to visit Helen and the family. Rosemary returned to Ramsay Street after years away in 2005 for Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street where she attempted to buy back the Lassiter's complex from her nephew Paul Robinson but he refused. Rosemary's most recent return was in 2010.

Daughter of Paul Robinson and Nina Williams. Lives with her mother.

Son of Paul and Christina Robinson. Lived most of his life in Scotland with his mother Christina after her divorce from Paul. In 2009 Christina sends Andrew to live with Paul after she has had enough of his bad behaviour. Andrew gets on well with Paul and his stepmother Rebecca and starts to settle down. He enters in to a relationship with Summer Hoyland and almost dies when Number 26 Ramsay Street catches fire and he and Summer eventually break up after she moves to France. in 2013 Andrew rekindles his relationship with ex-girlfriend Natasha Williams and departs Ramsay Street for a new life with her in Los Angeles California.

Son of Paul and Gail Robinson. Arrived in Ramsay Street to live with Paul after being put in a coma by his twin Robert. He died in hospital after being run over by Max Hoyland after being mistaken for his twin Robert.

Son of Paul and Gail Robinson. Is currently in Prison.

Daughter of Paul and Gail Robinson. Arrived in Ramsay Street to live with Paul after living with Gail in Tasmania.

Beverly Robinson's nephew. Came to live with Beverly and Jim with his younger sister Katie when their parents Bob and Annette were having Marital Problems. Ran away twice. Dated Melissa Jarrett, Cody Willis and Pheobe Bright, whom he made pregnant. Was knocked down by an oncoming van on the way to the abortion clinic to tell Phoebe not to abort their baby. Later died of a Cardiac Arrest due to a ruptured artery in his heart the doctors failed to notice. Visited Phoebe as a ghost after his death telling her he would always be there for her and the baby. Phoebe eventually had a baby girl and named it Hope.

Beverly Robinson's niece and Todd Landers' younger sister. Was good Friends with Toby Mangel. Went back to her Mother Annette in Adelaide.

Laura's daughter. She lived with the Robinsons before she moved to America in 1986.

Nikki's mother and Helen's sister. Suffered from MS and moved to the USA for treatment.

Helen's sister.

Helen's Second Cousin. Was a Teacher at Erinsborough High. Dated Gaby Willis and Beth Brennan. Was accused of murdering a biker who beat him up.

Helen's Second Cousin and Wayne's younger brother.

Julie's husband. After her death, he married Ruth Wilkinson and moved to Darwin.

Daughter of Philip and Lorreta Martin, Sister to Michael and half sister to Hannah Martin. She had bulimia. Appeared in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.

Daughter of Philip and Julie Martin. Was dating Paul McClain for a short period of time. Appeared in Annalise Hartman's documentary on Ramsay Street.

Only son of Philip and Lorretta Martin. Longtime enemy of Darren Stark. Had a personal vendetta against his stepmother Julie , and at one stage tried to poison her.

Adoptive Daughter of Rosemary Daniels.

Homes

The Robinsons live in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough and have roots leading back to the 1800s in that area. The family have always lived in Ramsay Street, the land once owned by former Mayor 'Black' Jack Ramsay.

No. 26 Ramsay Street The home of the Robinsons is no. 26 Ramsay Street, a large grey brick house at the top of the cul-de-sac. Jim Robinson bought the house in the early 1960s and lived there until his death in 1993. Jim's mother-in-law, Helen Daniels, who had lived with the Robinsons since the death of Jim's wife Anne in 1975 received the house in his will and lived there until her death in 1997. Philip Martin and his family lived there until they sold the house in 1999 to the Scully Family. In 2013, Jim's son Paul bought the house off his ex-wife Lyn Scully (Janet Andrewartha), once again for the first time since 1999 putting No. 26 back in the hands of the Robinson Family. Paul currently rents No. 26 Ramsay Street to Sheila Canning (Colette Mann).

No. 22 Ramsay St. Bought by the Daniels Corporation in 1986, Gail Lewis moved into the house in 1987 and it became the second family home after her marriage to Paul Robinson in June 1987. Paul continued living there, throughout the end of his marriage to Gail and his next marriage to Christina Alessi. Paul moved to Hawaii with Christina and Andrew in 1992 and rented the house to Christina's parents until 1993 when he sold the house to Cheryl Stark. In 2005, Paul returned to Erinsbourough and bought back the house off Valda Sheergold, continuing to live there until 2013 where Paul moved into Lassister's and his niece Kate Ramsay moved into no. 26. Paul currently rents the house to The Willis family.

No. 30 Ramsay St. Jim bought no. 30 and rented it to Paul and Terry as a wedding gift in 1985. Paul only lived there for a few weeks before Terry shot him. He moved back into no. 26 immediately after leaving hospital. Matt lived at no. 30 with his mother Hilary between 1989–1990.

Members of the Robinson family have lived in every house in the street at one point or another. Matt alone lived in no. 26, no. 28, no. 30 and no. 32 during his years in the show.

Family members

The original Robinson family:

Controversies

Incest

In 1991 Lucy Robinson returned to Ramsay Street. In the time she had been away, Jim's illegitimate son Glen showed up and revealed his existence to Jim. After living together for months, the attraction boiled over and Lucy and Glen kissed. Though their relationship was short and mostly implied, the BBC cut the plot and edited the episodes around it.[4] However, UKTV Gold re-aired these episode in 1998 with the plot remaining intact. A second near-incest storyline was featured in 2007, when Elle Robinson fell in love with Oliver Barnes, and they had sex, shortly before Oliver was informed by his mother that Paul was really his father. Had this been true, this would have been the furthest an incest storyline had gone in the show's history. However, the claim was disproved by a DNA test soon after.

Character assassination

Stefan Dennis departed the series in 1992 and moved to the UK. His character, Paul Robinson, moved to the United States, a rather open-ended departure. Dennis returned in 1993 for the 2000th episode celebrations and to close the book on the character. In the week he appeared in the show, Paul set up Philip Martin, his brother-in-law, to make it look like he was defrauding Lassiters, the hotel Paul owns. After the police began investigating, Paul's conscience got the better of him. He wrote a letter that cleared Phil of all wrongdoing and escaped the country after saying goodbye to Helen. This was intended to be the character's final appearance and to this day many fans regard it as been completely out of character for Paul.

When Stefan Dennis returned to the show in 2004, most of his storylines stemmed from the fraud storyline and displayed him as a morally corrupt, hate-filled villain. Since his return, Paul has murdered Gus Cleary, set fire to and destroyed the Lassiters complex, attempted to sell Ramsay Street to American developers to turn it into a shopping centre, been a homewrecker to the Bishop family (formerly friends of his) and eventually losing his leg in a fall. A possible explanation has been offered for this behaviour: a brain tumour, which Elle believes may be responsible for everything bad he has ever done. After the tumour was removed, Paul lost 20 years worth of his memory.

Return

In the finale of the 2004 season, Paul returned to the area and re-established the Robinson family in Neighbours. Since his return, he has seen Rosemary and Lucy, and his daughter Lucinda "Elle" Robinson has come to live with him. In 2006, Adam Hunter began his Neighbours career as the remaining triplets Robert and Cameron. When Cameron is in a coma, Robert (who put his brother in the coma in the first place) has came to live with his father posing as Cameron to get close to the family and fulfil his plans of revenge. Fiona Corke returned briefly in 2006 and 2007 as Gail and in 2009 the family tree was extended with Paul's long lost sister Jill (product of an affair between Anne Robinson and Max Ramsay) being found. Jill's death in a road accident means her orphaned children Katie, Harry and Sophie have now moved into Number 24. Paul's youngest son, Andrew came to visit his father at the end of 2009 and moved in with him and his wife Rebecca.

Reception

In 2003, Inside Soap ran a poll asking which soap families were the most loved and loathed of all time. The Robinson's came third with 16% of the vote to find the most loved family of the 1980s, behind the Watts from EastEnders and the Ewings from Dallas.[5] They were also voted the third most loathed family of that decade, receiving 11% of the vote.[5] Roz Golds from The Birmingham Post called the Robinson family "the original heart of the show".[3]

References

  1. ↑ Abbott, Kate (17 September 2013). "How we made Neighbours". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Oliver, Robin (28 May 1989). "Afloat on soaps". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Golds, Roz (3 December 2005). "Perspective: I don't see myself as a sex symbol". The Birmingham Post. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Deller, Ruth (23 July 2009). "A guide to recognising your Ramsays and Robinsons". Low Culture. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Family faves!". Inside Soap (Attic Futura (UK) Ltd) (39): 31. 27 September – 3 October 2003.