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Neighbours: Scott and Charlene wedding
Title:
Neighbours: Scott and Charlene wedding
NFSA ID
55134
Year
1987
Courtesy
Fremantle
It’s strange to think that Kylie Minogue was only on Neighbours for two years, so indelibly is she associated with the show. The only thing viewers loved more than her character Charlene, a plucky apprentice mechanic in overalls and a riot of blonde curls, was her romance with Scott, played by Jason Donovan.
Their TV marriage in 1987 was and remains the royal wedding of Australian soap, an event almost as important in the 1980s as the Charles and Di nuptials – at least to the more than 20 million people across Australia and Britain who tuned in for it. Charlene’s bridal look – illusion netting, appliqué, baby’s breath floating in her permed fringe – inspired countless copy-cats.
Minogue and Donovan had been child actors together, playing siblings in the 1970s TV show Skyways, but by this time an off-screen relationship was developing, and the chemistry as they exchange looks at the altar seems movingly real. Their paths would track close initially, as both began musical careers and even recorded a duet together, but it wasn’t long before Minogue – now forever just Kylie – shot off into the stratosphere of awards, gold records, multi-million-dollar tours and style reinventions, becoming the ‘Princess of Pop’ and the most successful Australian female recording artist of all time.
In one of Australian television history’s biggest moments, two million Aussies and almost 20 million viewers in Britain tuned in to Episode 523 of Neighbours for the wedding of Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).
Kylie’s role as Charlene, and indeed this specific scene, launched Kylie’s international career. With Kylie’s No. 1 debut single ‘Locomotion’ released less than a month after this episode aired on Australian television on 28 July 1987, the stage was set for her rise to international stardom.
Legend has it that Kylie herself chose the unlikely soundtrack – pub rocker Angry Anderson performing the ballad ‘Suddenly’. The crashing drumbeats and raw vocal track, along with the zooms and rhythmic editing, underscore the emotion of the scene in the most 1980s way possible.
It's clear the show’s producers were aware that this scene would become a part of Australian television history and gave it the attention it deserved. They captured Kylie’s combination of cheeky girl-next-door image, and her magnetic star quality is obvious.
The scene revolves around the pair’s palpable chemistry which is evident here. The episode’s director Rod Hardy put it down to their budding behind-the-scenes romance.
The clip evokes a powerful sense of 80s style that transports us back in time. Along with the soundtrack, Kylie’s lacy OTT wedding dress, the puffy coral-coloured bridesmaid’s dresses and Jason’s mullet haircut all combine to make this a key Australian 80s cultural moment.
Many people in Australia and the UK still remember watching it.
Notes by Beth Taylor
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.