From The Oops Upside Your Head Rowing Dance To The Fall Of The Berlin Wall... What's Your Favourite 1980s Thing?

Did you Go For It on a BMX?
The 1980s had it all, of course. My goodness, when you think back... A was for the Adventure Game and, er, Albion Market, B was for BMX, C was for Care Bears and CB radio, D was for dance music, E was for, um, Ecstasy and Eurythmics, and so on.

But what was your favourite thing from the 1980s? Whether exciting inventions like DNA fingerprinting, the C5 (!), the Apple Mac, Microsoft Windows or the World Wide Web float your boat, or pop culture newcomers like Rubik's Cube or Pac-Man or dancing flowers set your mind deliciously reeling, let us know here at '80s Actual.

Perhaps it was news biggies like the Fall of the Berlin wall, or dance crazes like Oops Upside Your Head. The Gap Band were highly puzzled when the song was released in England in 1980 to find everybody getting on the floor - literally. The craze spun out of nowhere, but the Birdie Dance, of course, came ready equipped with its own moves, as did the later House and Hip Hop scenes.

Or perhaps you had a real '80s Bad Boy - one of the original mobile phones? Great for building up the biceps. Didn't you just lurve it?!

We're setting up a new poll here for you to favour your fave 1980s thingies. It will be here soon. In the meantime, drop us a line via the comments. Time for a bit of a wallow in fragrant 1980s nostalgia... we look forward to hearing from you! xx

Hilda: "Well, I quite liked Lonnie Donegan. That was the 1980s, wasn't it?"
Howard: "No, dear."

What Are Your Ultimate 1980s Icons?

Scroll up, please, and vote on this pressing issue of the day!

What makes you immediately think of the 1980s? Certain clothes? Music? Toys? Games? News stories? Inventions? Technology? Telly? Let us know - you may select more than one answer!

Neighbours 25th Anniversary Poll - The Results!

271 people voted in our poll to find '80s Actual readers' favourite 1980s Neighbours character.

So, without further ado, here are the results...

Top favourite was Ramsay Street gossip Mrs Mangel, played by the English actress Vivean Gray from 1986 to 1988. She scored twenty-three votes. Mrs Mangel was vinegary and disapproving, and delighted in stirring up trouble. Her battles with "that Ramsay woman", Madge (Anne Charleston), were a lively ingredient in the Neighbours brew back then.

Mrs Mangel had a kinder side - she cared deeply for granddaughter Jane Harris (Annie Jones), was a good friend to Eileen Clarke (Myra De Groot) and doted on Bouncer the lovable Labrador.

But at the end of the day, she was pure poison to many.

Wonderful!

Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) is an '80s Neighbours Top Man - sharing the title with Jim Robinson, original head of the Robinson clan, and Mrs Mangel's son, Joe (Mark Little).

Harold attracted sixteen votes in our poll, and once wooed and won Madge Ramsay. Prissy, sometimes pompous, and always allergic to dog hairs, Harold meant well, enjoyed pumpkin soup and totally rejected any form of gambling - he called poker "The Devil's Tiddlywinks"!

Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) - good old Jim, head of the Robinson family, scored sixteen votes in our poll, and shares the honour of '80s Actual readers' favourite Neighbours male character with Harold Bishop and Joe Mangel.

Father of Paul (Stefan Dennis), Julie (Vikki Blanche), Scott (Darrius Perkins/Jason Donovan) and Lucy (Kylie Flinker/Sasha Close), Jim's wife, Anne, had died some years before. In 1988, he married Dr Beverly Marshall (Lisa Armytage) and found himself with kids in his care again when Todd and Katie Landers (Kristian Schmidt and Sally Jenson), Beverly's nephew and niece, arrived on the scene.

Mark Little as Joe Mangel. When Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan) discovered a buried gun in Mrs Mangel's back garden in 1988, the scene was set for Nell's long-lost son Joe to appear. Joe turned out to be a nice bloke, down to earth, bit of a "larrikin" but really a lovely geezer. Mark Little graduated from NIDA (the National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 1981. He then appeared in several TV drama series - including The Sullivans and The Flying Doctors - before becoming Joe Mangel in 1988.

With 16 votes in our poll, Joe Mangel shares the top spot as Neighbours favourite 1980s male character with Harold Bishop and Jim Robinson.

The exact oposite to Mrs Mangel - Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) was the caring, coping matriarch of Ramsay Street. She scored sixteen votes in our poll.

Anne Haddy was a respected Australian actress - and she had previous soap experience, playing Rosie the housekeeper in Sons and Daughters.

Ah - happy days! Feisty Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue) scored fifteen votes in our poll.

Charlene's partner in romance and marriage, studious Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan), scored nine. Scott and Charlene (or "Lennie" as she was often called) helped make Neighbours a "must-watch" in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Both Kylie and Jason soon visited the pop charts. They were so lucky (lucky, lucky lucky).

Dependable Daph - former stripper Daphne Lawrence/Clarke (Elaine Smith) - scored fifteen votes. She was bequeathed the running of the local coffee shop by her grandfather, and, after a change of premises, turned it into the hub of the community.

Daphne was an all-Australian girl - but Elaine Smith is British, a Scot born in Largs, Aryshire.

Eileen Clarke (Myra De Groot), mother of Des (Paul Keane) was Nell Mangel's best friend, and Miss De Groot once described her as being as "mad as a meat axe"! The death of Myra in 1988 saw the character departing from Erinsborough to go on a competition-won tour of Europe. She was sadly missed. Eileen scored fourteen points in our poll.

English-born Myra De Groot arrived in Australia in 1980. She made her soap debut in the long-running wartime saga The Sullivans.

Sally Wells (Rowena Mohr) is rather an obscure Neighbours character - she arrived in the show in late 1987, and departed again in 1988. But she obviously struck a chord with two of our readers, who voted her their favourite 1980s character in our poll.

Sally turned up searching for her half-brother and her father. Her half-brother turned out to be Des Clarke. Her father was Eileen's ex-husband, Malcolm, and the product of an affair years before.

Sally found herself romanced by Henry Ramsay, but did not want a relationship. She found her dad, became quite close to Des, and, against all odds, forged a relationship with Eileen, who was desperately hurt by the news of her husband's betrayal with Sally's mother.

Gail Robinson (Fiona Corke) married Paul (Stefan Dennis), head honcho at Lassiters. Gail looked truly wonderful in shoulder pads (the character had her own wardrobe, supplied by Kamizole), and originally married Paul purely for business reasons. But the couple fell in love, and survived many traumas in true soap style, including the discovery that Gail's father was not her biological father - she had been adopted.

Gail and Paul enrolled in the IVF programme in 1988 after Gail revealed that she was unable to have children. She ended up expecting triplets, but beat a speedy retreat from Ramsay Street in 1989 when Fiona Corke decided to leave the show. Gail received ten votes.

Below are listed the full results of our poll:

The '80s Actual Neighbours Poll Helen Daniels 16
Jim Robinson 16
Julie Robinson (Vikki Blanche) 2
Scott Robinson 1 (Darius Perkins) 3
Scott Robinson 2 (Jason Donovan) 9
Paul Robinson 3
Lucy Robinson 1 (Kylie Flinker) 3
Lucy Robinson 2 (Sasha Close) 0
Dr Beverley Marshall 1 (Lisa Armytage) 1
Dr Beverley Marshall 2 (Shaunna O'Grady) 0
Todd Landers 5
Katie Landers 0
Nick Paige 1
Hilary Robinson 7
Gail Lewis/Robinson 10
Rob Lewis 0
Max Ramsay 5
Danny Ramsay 2
Shane Ramsay 7
Maria Ramsay 0
Madge Mitchell/Ramsay/Bishop 13
Charlene Mitchell/Robinson 15
Henry Mitchell/Ramsay 7
Des Clarke 4
Daphne Lawrence/Clarke 15
Eileen Clarke 14
Mike Young 6
Mrs Mangel 23
Jane Harris 12
Joe Mangel 16
Bouncer 8
Dr Clive Gibbons 7
Terri Inglis/Robinson 0
Toby Mangel 1 (Finn Greentree-Keane) 1
Brownwyn Davies 4
Sharon Davies 2
Melanie Pearson 6
Rosemary Daniels 2
Nikki Dennison 2
Tony Romeo 6
Sally Wells 2
Harold Bishop 16

Neighbours Poll - Who Is Your Favourite 1980s Character?

In the wake of the 25th anniversary of the Neighbours soap, we'd like to find our readers' favourite 1980s character from Ramsay Street. Was it good old Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy), a talented artist, businesswoman, homemaker and provider of good advice and a friendly ear for all those in trouble?

What about fussy Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) or his lovely wife Madge Mitchell/Ramsay/Bishop (Anne Charleston)? Poor Madge had certainly been through the mill with her awful first husband, Fred, and troubled off-spring, Charlene (Kylie Minogue) and Henry (Craig McLachlan). Perhaps young Henry or Charlene (she should be so lucky) was your '80s favourite Ramsay Street resident? Or what about Bouncer, the lovable Labrador, with his famous dream sequence?

Mrs Mangel (Vivean Gray), always ready to stick her beak in where it wasn't wanted, is fondly remembered, as is her gloriously batty pal, Eileen Clarke (Myra De Groot), mother of Des (Paul Keane).

Des, of course, was the local bank manager and husband of sensible and good-hearted ex-stripper Daphne (Elaine Smith).

All these and more were pure Neighbours gold in the mid-to-late 1980s.

So, eyes right to our poll and vote away - make sure that your Erinsborough '80s favourite gets the recognition he/she deserves...