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Ramsay family

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Ramsay family
Neighbours family
First appearance18 March 1985 (1985-03-18)
Created byReg Watson
Introduced by
Duration1985–1992, 1996–2001, 2005, 2009–2016, 2019–
Spin-offsNeighbours: The Untold Stories: The Ramsays – A Family Divided (1989)
Family members

The Ramsay family is a fictional family from the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The family were one of three central families created by Reg Watson and introduced in the first episode of Neighbours in March 1985. Watson wanted the Ramsays to be humorous and rougher than the Robinson family. Ramsay Street, a cul-de-sac which is the central setting of the series, is named after the family. In 2001, the last Ramsay, Madge (Anne Charleston), departed the series. Eight years later, a new generation of the Ramsay family was introduced.

Creation and development

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The Ramsay family were 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] Unlike the Robinsons, Watson wanted "humour and likeable roughness" with the Ramsay family.[2] Josephine Monroe, author of The Neighbours Programme Guide, wrote "The Ramsays are the royal family of Neighbours and their claim on Erinsborough goes back generations."[3] The family originally consisted of Max Ramsay (Francis Bell), his wife Maria Ramsay (Dasha Blahova), and their two sons Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien) and Danny Ramsay (David Clencie).[4] The family lived at No. 24 Ramsay Street, one of the original three houses on Neighbours.[3]

Number 24 has been associated with the Ramsay family since 1985.

The family were friendly with the Robinsons, but tension briefly developed between the two families when Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) began dating Maria's sister Anna Rossi (Roslyn Gentle).[3] Maria was the first member of the family to leave the show, with Danny and Max following shortly after.[3] The producers then decided to introduce some new Ramsays in the form of Max's sister Madge Mitchell (Anne Charleston) and their brother Tom Ramsay (Gary Files), who took over Max's planned storylines.[3] Shane's departure made way for Madge's children Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue) and Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan), who arrived in 1986 and 1987 respectively.[3] Charlene's romance with Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) had become popular with Neighbours viewers, who dubbed them "TV's Romeo and Juliet" because they were from feuding families. Their wedding in "Episode 523" famously united the Ramsay and Robinson families.[5] In 2001, Madge, the last remaining Ramsay on the street, died, after Charleston quit the show.[6]

In February 2009, it was announced that a new generation of the Ramsay family would be introduced to the show.[7] At the time, the Ramsays had not appeared in Neighbours for almost a decade.[8] Executive producer Susan Bower said the introduction of the new Ramsay family members was based on the American drama series Party of Five.[9] Paul Robinson's (Stefan Dennis) daughter Elle Robinson (Pippa Black) discovered that Max had a secret daughter with Paul's mother Anne. The affair was kept a secret due to the feud between their families, and Anne moved away with her daughter Jill Ramsay (Peri Cummings).[10] As a result, Elle tracked down Jill and met her three children; Kate Ramsay (Ashleigh Brewer), Harry Ramsay (Will Moore) and Sophie Ramsay (Kaiya Jones). When Jill was killed in a hit and run accident, Kate, Harry and Sophie move to Ramsay Street and eventually become close with their uncle Paul.[10] They lived at No. 24, like the original Ramsays, until it was sold off and Kate and Sophie moved in with Paul. Since then, all three have departed the soap. Charlene and Scott's son, Daniel Robinson (Tim Phillipps) was introduced on 29 April 2014.[11] Two years later, his sister, Madison Robinson (Sarah Ellen), was introduced,[12] and he was written out with his wife, Imogen Willis (Ariel Kaplan).[13] In 2019, producers introduced Gemma Ramsay's (Beth Buchanan) daughter Roxy Willis (Zima Anderson),[14] which leads to a short return for Gemma.[15]

On 1 October 2024, it was announced that the Ramsay family would return with the introduction of Shane's son Max Ramsay (Ben Jackson).[16] The show's official Instagram account posted "After 10 years, a Ramsay is back on Ramsay Street! We're thrilled to announce that Ben Jackson will soon be joining the cast as Max Ramsay. But what's brought a member of the show's original family back to Erinsborough? All will be revealed..."[16] O'Brien was also confirmed to be returning for a guest stint.[16]

Family members

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Reception

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In her book, Neighbours: The First 10 Years, Josephine Monroe observed that the Ramsays were "a good foil to the better bred Robinsons".[17] The Sydney Morning Herald's Robin Oliver branded the family "raucous".[18] Andrew Mercado, author of Super Aussie Soaps, believed the family were once "the backbone of the show".[19] In her book Soap opera, Dorothy Hobson describes the family as "more working class than other characters" and stated: "They had working-class jobs but were not represented as cloth cap wearing or dowdy, they were bright and modern and representative of a vibrant and working population."[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Abbott, Kate (17 September 2013). "How we made Neighbours". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  2. ^ Oliver, Robin (29 May 1989). "Afloat on soapies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Monroe 1994, p.82–4.
  4. ^ Idato, Michael (14 July 2005). "An institution turns 20". The Age. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  5. ^ Burfitt, John; Miller, Erin; Walker, Lucy (7–13 April 2012). "One moment in time". TV Week. No. 14. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Look, behind you! A big bad Neighbour!". The Age. 4 December 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Return of the Ramsays". Holy Soap. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  8. ^ Shearer, Geoff (14 May 2009). "Teenager Ashleigh Brewer lands part with Neighbours". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  9. ^ Rowe, Darren (19 June 2009). "Susan Bower (Executive Producer, 'Neighbours')". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b Herbison, Jason (18–24 July 2009). "Murder on Ramsay Street". Inside Soap. p. 20.
  11. ^ "Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, meet your TV son on Neighbours, Tim Phillips". The Australian. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  12. ^ Byrnes, Holly (20 February 2016). "Kylie Minogue sends welcome message to Sarah Ellen, her new TV daughter, joining Neighbours". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  13. ^ Ellis, Sarah (23–29 April 2016). "I'm still hoping to meet Kylie and Jason one day!". Inside Soap. No. 16. pp. 40–41.
  14. ^ Powell, Sandy (16 April 2019). "Burnie actress Zima Anderson to debut on Aussie soap opera Neighbours". The Advocate. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  15. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (22 April 2019). "Neighbours reveals surprise link between Terese Willis and newcomer Vance". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  16. ^ a b c Alexander, Susannah (1 October 2024). "Neighbours announces Shane Ramsay return and new character". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  17. ^ Monroe 1996, p.27.
  18. ^ Oliver, Robin (28 May 1989). "Afloat on soaps". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  19. ^ Mercado 2004, p.230.
  20. ^ Hobson, Dorothy (2003). Soap opera. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7456-2655-0.

Bibliography

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