Yahoo News Neighbours should bring back Dee Bliss full-time
After four years of twisty-turny guest stints – and hilariously vague "Special appearance by" credits – Neighbours star Madeleine West has revealed that she'd like to return to the cast permanently.
In a recent chat with Digital Spy, Madeleine confirmed that she'd be interested in signing up for a more regular stay on Ramsay Street and heaped praise on the show's producers for keeping the show on top form in its 35th year.
So, did Madeleine's news leave the Neighbours bosses Bliss-fully happy, or do they still need some convincing? Just in case, here's eight reasons why we reckon they should be upgrading Madeleine to a show regular.
1. Two characters for the price of one
Whenever news reaches us that Madeleine West is returning to Neighbours, we're never quite sure what – or more importantly, who – we're going to get. Real Dee? Fake Dee? A shock triplet to keep the saga running for even longer? The possibilities are endless.
If Madeleine returned full-time, it's likely that we'd get Dee Bliss living on Ramsay Street, with her jailed twin sister Andrea Somers (Fake Dee) always ready to cause trouble from afar whenever the storyline required.
It's not every day the number-crunchers on the budget team get two characters for the price of one. Unless Madeleine plays hardball in contract negotiations and demands double pay, of course.
2. Dee is from a Neighbours golden era
Neighbours has enjoyed a few golden eras during its 35 years on air and the early '00s were definitely a high point for the show. Cast your mind back to the days of Dee, Darcy, the Scullys, Sky, Lou's Pub and 'Born to Try' being played over every other scene.
With Steph Scully now sadly gone from the street, the noughties are arguably an era which could do with more representation in the regular cast, especially at a time when Neighbours is more careful to celebrate its history. A more regular stay for Dee could help to remedy that in Neighbours' milestone anniversary year.
3. Toadie needs a new direction
After the controversial loss of Sonya from the regular cast at the beginning of last year, we've always feared that fan favourite Toadie could eventually become a spare part. To the credit of the writers, we've seen Toadie's grief play out over a realistic period of time – and his usual habit of taking on (and losing) his neighbours' legal cases has also kept him pretty busy.
Even so, it'd be a shame if Toadie's love life went back to the dark old days of being dominated by forgettable guest characters who come and go, making it difficult for us to invest. If we really had to lose Sonya, we'd rather Toadie's future was with Dee full-time.
4. Dee's character connections
Dee isn't just connected to Toadie – she's also a close friend of the Kennedys. Away from the Andrea madness, some of our favourite Dee scenes have simply shown her catching up with her old pals on the Street.
Dee also has links to some great characters from Neighbours' past, such as Steph Scully and Darcy Tyler. Maybe her presence on the Street would pave the way for more familiar faces to return?
5. Dee needs to be explored in her own right
It may feel like we've all been talking about Dee for years, but her story has often been overshadowed by the chaos of the Andrea plot. Even now, with Dee and Toadie reconnecting after all these years, a lot of the attention falls onto Andrea's amazing Wentworth Prison tribute act at the jail.
As much as we love Andrea, her spitefulness and sly cons make it unlikely that she'd ever fit into Erinsborough on a regular basis. If Madeleine was made a regular, we imagine the main focus from the writers would be Dee for once – with Andrea still appearing intermittently to cause chaos, of course. Speaking of which…
6. The Andrea and Heather factor
Love them or loathe them, Dee's twin sister Andrea and evil mum Heather have been two of Neighbours' most talked-about characters of recent years. It's fair to say that nobody knows quite what to expect when they're around.
We've particularly enjoyed watching the jail-based scenes where Dee has visited Andrea and they've compared notes over their respective pasts – notably how their lives went in very different directions when Dee was handed over to the Bliss family.
7. Karl and David won't be the only hospital staff in Erinsborough
For years, Dr Karl was the only medically-minded person in Erinsborough, causing all sorts of moral predicaments and awkward situations whenever he had to treat his neighbours.
The locals at least had some choice when David was thrown into the mix, and Dee's background as a nurse could now see her thrown into some juicy storylines too whenever there's a shock accident on the Street and her friends get brought in for treatment. All together now: 'unmissable drama!'
8. The Madeleine factor
Since leaving Neighbours after her original run in 2003, Madeleine has gone onto become one of Australia's most in-demand actors – appearing in a variety of shows like Playing For Keeps, The Wrong Girl, House Husbands, Satisfaction and Underbelly.
Her Neighbours return has been another achievement, skilfully playing two characters at the same time who couldn't be more different. We reckon Neighbours would be pretty fortunate to have her on board more permanently – over to you, Ramsay Street bosses.
Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 (UK) and 6.30pm on 10 Peach (Australia).
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