Bringing characters back from the dead is a time-honoured tradition of soap operas everywhere and Neighbours has just announced it is adding another resurrection to their list: Dee Bliss, the ill-fated bride of Neighbours veteran Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi.
Dee, played by Madeleine West, was a regular on the show from 2000 to 2003. Her character was struck by tragedy after she and Toadfish, played by Ryan Moloney and known as “Toadie” to the show’s fans, accidentally drove off a cliff on the way to their honeymoon.
West returns to the long-running Australian television serial 13 years after her character was written out of it. Dee joins fellow Neighbours characters Harold Bishop and Detective Mark Brennan in coming back to Ramsay Street after a presumed death. Other famous soap opera resurrections include Kathy Beale and Dirty Den from Eastenders, Taylor Hayes from The Bold and the Beautiful (twice), Bobby Ewing from Dallas, Steve “Patch” Johnson from Days of Our Lives and Victor Newman from the Young and the Restless.
According to Channel 10, Dee and Toadie’s post-wedding catastrophe was voted a fan favourite during a poll conducted as part of the show’s 30th anniversary celebrations. But the network is tight-lipped about whether the reprise means the character of Dee is still alive, or if she is being reprised to service the plot in another way.