Anne Charleston as ... herself. Photograph:
Graham TurnerAs ITV announces that the former Neighbours star Anne Charleston is to join the cast of Emmerdale, are we really expected to erase the memory of gravely-voiced Madge from our minds? asks Julia Raeside. When you've spent almost your entire career playing one very high-profile role, how do you make the leap from one soap to the next?
Madge will always conjour up the whiff of lamingtons and casseroles, not hot pots and whippets. She has already done a stint in the ill-fated Crossroads relaunch. And she's not the first soap actress to cross-pollinate with such abandon.
Her fellow Australian Emily Symons went from playing dizzy Marilyn in Home & Away to serving ale in the Woolpack. And countless other actors have simply changed wigs and popped up behind a new bar or in a new caff, pretending to be someone else. Of course acting is exactly that, but can we ever see them as anything other than the person who's been taking up nightly residence in our living rooms for years?
Still, you can't blame her for wanting to stretch out her soap career. The only other exit strategies these days are the pop charts, panto, or an ironic career revival courtesy of Ricky Gervais.
