Portrayed by Geoff Paine First appearance 22 January 1986 Father Charles Gibbons | Duration 1986–1987, 1989, 2017 Occupation Doctor
Entrepreneur | |
Classification Former; regular (returning) Introduced by Reg Watson (1986), Don Battye (1989) Similar Susan Cole, Des Clarke, Daphne Clarke, Shane Ramsay, Caroline Alessi | ||
Clive Archibald Gibbons is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Geoff Paine. Paine was spotted by the Reg Grundy Organisation and offered the role of Clive. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 22 January 1986. Clive's storylines included running a gorillagram agency, setting up a gardening business, saving Lucy Robinson's life and falling in love with Susan Cole. Paine decided not to renew his contract and he departed Neighbours on 27 February 1987. In 1989, the character made a brief return, before departing once again in October of that year. Paine has reprised the role and will return in March 2017 on a recurring basis.
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Casting
The Grundy Organisation discovered Paine while he was performing in a college production at the Victoria Arts Centre, they asked him to come in for a screen test and offered him the role of Clive. Paine almost turned down the role as he looked down on acting in a soap. He said "I suppose at the time I was a bit too idealistic about the world of acting. Playing a messenger in a gorilla suit might not be King Lear, but at least it pays the rent."
After more than a year, Paine decided not to renew his contract after fearing that he may be typecast. He left in 1987 and he said "I don't regret leaving Neighbours at all. I think it's terrific the way the show's taken off, but I'm very pleased with the direction I've taken." Paine later made a brief return to the show in 1989.
Characterisation
Clive brought a breath of fresh air to Ramsay Street when he moved in. Josephine Monroe, author of Neighbours: the first 10 years described Clive as "one of life's eccentrics" and explained that he took care of people and often lured them into his latest harebrained scheme. Simon Plant from the Herald Sun said Clive was "mild-mannered". Dave Hogan and Neil Wallis of The Neighbours Factfile said Clive was "Cheerful and slightly wacky." They added that he was the "court jester" of Ramsay Street and the model on which the character of Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan) was based. Clive gave up medicine to start up a series of wacky businesses. His gorillagram agency outraged some of neighbours, particularly Max Ramsay (Francis Bell).
Return (2017)
In a December 2016 interview with Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy, Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison teased the return of a character from the 1986/87 series regulars. Herbison said the character would return in a recurring capacity and would be seen in "a work environment". Paine's management later confirmed that he had reprised his role as Clive. Clive will make his return in March 2017, as he "shakes things up" at the local hospital. Paine teased a potential romance for Clive during his return stint, commenting "anything is possible". He also said that he enjoys playing the character, as he is "fun and irreverent".
Storylines
Clive runs a gorillagram agency from Number 22 Ramsay Street, which upsets neighbour Max Ramsay. Clive and Max clash right away, but Clive manages to win over the other residents. Clive invites Daphne Lawrence (Elaine Smith) to move into his spare room when her engagement to Des Clarke (Paul Keane) falls apart. They are briefly joined there by Daphne's best friend, Zoe Davis (Ally Fowler) and then by Mike Young (Guy Pearce). As well as running his gorillagram business, Clive teamed up with Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien) to form a gardening business called Ramsay and Gibbons Gardening Service or RAGGS. Clive's real profession is revealed when he saves Lucy Robinson's (Kylie Flinker) life after she is stung by a bee and cannot breathe. Clive performs a Tracheotomy on Lucy on the Robinson's kitchen table and saves her life. Clive tells his neighbours that he is a doctor, but he quit medicine when he made a mistake, which led to the death of his girlfriend, Linda.
Clive's brother, Graham (Peter Harvey-Wright), a GP visits with his wife, Kate (Jenny Seedsman) and daughter Vicki (Charmaine Gorman). Clive realises that Graham would badger him about returning to medicine and he tells him about Linda's death. Graham continues to badger Clive until he agrees to become a doctor again. Graham and his family leave after a robber threatens them. Clive befriends Susan Cole (Gloria Ajenstat) and offers her and her son, Sam, a place to live. Clive falls in love with Susan, but she falls for her boss Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). When his Uncle Ted (Max Meldrum) comes to visit, Clive asks Susan to pretend to be his wife in order for Clive to say he is a successful family man. Susan agrees, but Ted sees her kissing Paul and confronts Clive. Clive tells Ted the truth.
When Paul rejects her, Susan is comforted by Clive and he tells her that he is in love with her. Susan accepts a marriage proposal from Clive, but as Clive starts planning a wedding, Susan realises that she does not love Clive and she leaves Erinsborough. Clive suffers from depression and takes his anger out on Paul. He eventually bounces back and decides to move into the flat behind his surgery before leaving Erinsborough. Clive makes a brief return and makes friends with Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden). He also provides Paul with a shoulder to cry on following the end of his marriage. Clive gets a call from Graham who is injured in an accident and needs someone to run his surgery in the country. Clive then leaves Ramsay Street again for the outback.
Reception
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Neighbours, a reporter from the BBC asked readers to nominate their twenty favourite obscure characters. Clive was not included in the list, but the reporter revealed they had received many suggestions asking him to be included. They said that Clive's popularity disqualified him and that he "lacked sufficient obscurity". Another writer for the BBC called Clive the "true genius of Neighbours." Lorna Cooper of MSN said Clive was "lovely", while Tom Adair of The Scotsman dubbed the character "wacky". A Lowculture writer stated that Clive performing an emergency tracheotomy on Jim Robinson's kitchen table was one of Neighbours' great moments. A BBC reporter agreed, saying Clive's most notable moment was "Performing an emergency operation on the Robinson's kitchen table and saving Lucy."
Daniel Martin of The Guardian included Clive's 1986 dream on his list of Favourite Christmas Soap Moments. Martin commented, "Not the greatest dream sequence in Neighbours history (that gong has to go to the iconic Bouncer's Dream), but this candy-coated reminder to the grim British contingent of how it should be done is burned onto the brains of twentysomethings nationwide. Doctor Clive – refereeing a boxing match between Mike and Shane for the heart of Plain Jane Superbrain – is knocked out and goes into a bizarre festive dream sequence where the cast were re-imagined as pantomime characters. Clive was Santa, Mike and Shane were Tweedle Dum and Dee, Paul Robinson some nameless panto villain – and Scott and Charlene were in Europe pretending to be pop stars."
In her 1994 book, The Neighbours Programme Guide, Josephine Monroe revealed that Clive became popular with viewers and his 1989 return was scripted to set up a spin-off series, City Hospital. A pilot was made, but it was not picked up by any television networks. Polly Hudson of the Daily Mirror wondered why Paine did not go on to have an acting career in Hollywood, like "mean old Jim Robinson", commenting that he was "surely the most talented comedy actor of all time".