Neighbours’ Executive Producer, Jason Herbison, has revealed that he planned to reintroduce Lyn Scully back into the show before Janet Andrewartha’s unexpected death at the weekend.
Speaking on 10 News First in Australia, broadcaster Angela Bishop, herself a long-time Neighbours fan, asked Herbison what the show’s plans were for Lyn Scully’s character now the actor had passed.
“We haven’t really had a chance to think too much about that yet.” said Herbison.
“I had ambitions to bring Lyn back into the show at some point soon, so we’re very sad that we are not going to be able to do that.”
Neighbours has a great track record at bringing past characters back into the show. In the current cast Jane Harris is once again a regular, returning in 2018 after a 29-year break, Melanie Pearson also returned to the show after 30 years away from Ramsay Street and Harold Bishop recently returned on a semi-regular basis after many departures and returns over the years.
Since the show was resurrected last year on Amazon Freevee they have continued to bring familiar faces back including Jordy Lucas (Summer Hoyland), Brett Blewitt (Brett Stark) and Anne Scott-Pendlebury (Hilary Robinson) to name just a few and many fans had been demanding a return for Lyn and Steph Scully.
In the interview, Herbison was joined by Janet’s long-time friend and former co-star, Stefan Dennis, who was paired off as Lyn Scully’s husband for a very short period of time in his role as Paul Robinson.
“I got to work with one of the most under-rated actresses in Australia. She was absolutely astonishing to work with.” Dennis recalled on playing opposite Andrewartha.
“She had this ability to give you everything through her eyes without doing too much else and she would just bring a scene alive.”
Herbison talked about Andrewartha’s other famed television role, that of Reb Keane on Prisoner: Cell Block H.
“You could not think of two characters more different than Reb, terrifying, I think a lot of kids might have has a few nightmares from watching Reb in Prisoner in the 80s and then of course, Lyn. A total opposite character, larger than life character, loving mum, very effervescent, Hairdresser… I think she ruined a few people’s hair in Erinsborough.”
“But it’s a real testament to Janet that she embodied both roles so completely different and, of course, her body of work is immense. Very, very talented.”
Angela Bishop has spent a lot of time herself at the studios in Nunawading and knows that the cast and crew of Neighbours are a very close family and commented on how it must hit hard when the show loses one of its own.
“The irony is that this is the second of Paul’s wives that I have lost in the last couple of years.” Dennis, of course, referring to the death of Maxine Klibingaitis in April 2023, who had played Paul’s first wife, Terry Inglis.
“We’ve lost so many people from the family of Neighbours and Janet being the most recent one. It’s a sad weekend and a sad time for us.”
The pair finished with a hope that the show will find a way to pay tribute to Janet and to Lyn.
“The character of Lyn, absolute legendary character, Ramsay Street Royalty really. It’s a huge loss to the world of Neighbours and to all of us that work on it.” noted Herbison.
“I reckon we will find some way of memorising it.” continued Dennis.
Of course, the show recently addressed another cast death, when Joy Chambers-Grundy, who played Rosemary Daniels, sadly passed just days before Neighbours returned to our screens last September.
In scenes aired a few weeks ago, we saw Paul Robinson announced that Rosemary had died which lead to him visiting New York City to attend her funeral.
We are sure that the show will find a fitting way to pay tribute to the iconic Lyn Scully and the wonderful Janet Andrewartha.