Louis Thomas "Lou" Carpenter was a major character in Neighbours who first appeared in Episode 693 - 30 March 1988 for two weeks. He returned full time in 1992. From 2009 to 2015 Lou appeared on a part time basis and finally as a guest character in 2016. He made his final appearance in Episode 7510 - 2 December 2016. He was a lifelong friend of Harold Bishop, aka "Jelly Belly" and was one of the shows patriarchs. Lou held the mantle of longest serving continuous character until 2019, overtaken by Karl & Susan Kennedy. He was played by Tom Oliver.
Backstory[]
Louis Thomas Carpenter was born in 4 October 1942 in Brisbane to Arthur Carpenter and his wife. Lou had a sister Brenda Riley. Lou went to school in Brisbane with Harold Bishop and Madge Ramsay, Madge being originally from Erinsborough, 500 miles away, who was sent to a school in Brisbane and stayed with relatives there. In 1963, Lou visited Hong Kong. He had a relationship with a medical student there called Su Chan and got her pregnant. Lou returned to Australia without Su after she rejected his offer to come back with him. In 1964, Lou became a father to Ling Mai Chan. He never knew of her existence for the next 30 years.
1988[]
Lou Carpenter arrived in Erinsborough in March 1988 to see Madge and Harold. Lou met Charlene Robinson. Lou heard that Harold was marrying Madge so Lou tried to stop the wedding. Madge chose Harold so Lou then went back to Brisbane.
1992-2016[]
In January 1992, a few months after Harold was presumed dead, Lou came to Erinsborough to comfort Madge. He also came to visit his sister Brenda. Lou decided to stay in Erinsborough. Lou set up a used car garage. In February 1993, Lou's daughter Lauren came to stay with him in Erinsborough. In April 1993, Lou's neighbour Jim Robinson died of a heart attack and Lou was worried that he would so started going to the gym.
Lou begun dating Cheryl Stark. They never married though. In 1995, Cheryl saw Lou with a young Oriental woman and presumed that he was having an affair. This woman was Ling Mai Chan. When confronted, Lou said "The girl you saw is my daughter". Ling Mai had tracked her father down. Lou said he had been receiving letters from Ling Mai and he then told Cheryl about his time in Hong Kong in the 1960s and how he got a woman pregnant.
Memorable info[]
Birthday: 4 October 1942
Full Name: Louis Thomas Carpenter
Family[]
Father Arthur Carpenter
Siblings Brenda Riley
Spouse Kathy Carpenter, Linda Carpenter, Trixie Tucker
Children Ling Mai Chan (1964), Lauren Turner (1973), Guy Carpenter (1971), Louise Allen (1994, adoptive)
Grandchildren Paige Smith, Mason Turner, Bailey Turner, Amber Turner
Great Grandchildren Matilda Turner, Gabriel Smith
Uncles/Aunts Elsie
Cousins Eddie