A screengrab from the very first episode of Neighbours.
Neighbours first aired on the 18 March 1985 in Australia. The show started off with 12 main characters who are listed below in order of their departures.
Original characters[]
Ordered by first to leave (excluding guest returns) to last
- Maria Ramsay (1985) Left in Episode 130 - 13 September 1985.
- Julie Robinson (1985, 1992-1994) Left in Episode 153 - 16 October 1985 but returned as a regular character from 1992 to 1994.
- Max Ramsay (1985-1986) Left in Episode 245 - 2 May 1986.
- Danny Ramsay (1985-1986, 2005) Left in Episode 303 - 23 July 1986 but returned for a cameo in 2005.
- Shane Ramsay (1985-1987, 2022) Left in Episode 437 - 3 March 1987 but returned for the show's final few weeks in 2022.
- Lucy Robinson (1985-1989, 1991-1992, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022) Left in Episode 439 - 5 March 1987 but returned as a regular character, lastly in 1995. Appeared between 2005 and 2022 as a guest character.
- Daphne Clarke (1985-1987, 1988) Left in Episode 605 - 23 October 1987 but returned for her death storyline in 1988.
- Scott Robinson (1985-1989, 2022) Left in Episode 964 - 18 May 1989 but reappeared in the final episode, Episode 8903 - 29 July 2022.
- Des Clarke (1985-1990, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022) Left in Episode 1309 - 11 October 1990 but returned in 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- Paul Robinson (1985-1992, 1993, 2004-2022, 2023-) Left in Episode 1737 - 4 August 1992 but returned in 1993 and then in 2004 as a regular character once again. He stayed in the show until the final episode in 2022. Paul returned in the revived show which began airing in September 2023.
- Jim Robinson (1985-1993, 2018, 2019) Last appeared in Episode 1904 - 29 April 1993 but returned as a vision in 2018 and 2019.
- Helen Daniels (1985-1997) Left in Episode 2965 - 17 October 1997.
From Episode 2966 - 20 October 1997 (the episode after Helen died) to Episode 4630 - 10 Dec 2004, when Paul Robinson returned, there were no original characters left in Neighbours.