30-39

What do this selection have in common? They’re all placed between 30 and 39!

	30. Michael Ross (13 points) ◄RETURN Played by Dennis Coard After years of being remembered as “that one that replaced Tom”, 7Two has recently given Michael his first long-term exposure since the 90s and reminded people that he was actually a pretty good character and likable foster father. So here’s his first appearance in the polls since 2006.
	30= Noah Lawson (13 points) ▼10 Played by Beau Brady Noah, on the other hand, has been a regular feature in these polls ever since the days when he took that bullet and then spent the next week hanging around as a ghost to confuse everyone. The biker and computer hacker turned guidance counsellor eventually married on/off girlfriend Hayley, despite having shown no interest in her for about a year.
	30= Peter Baker (13 points) ▲14 Played by Nicholas Bishop The detective of the mid-2000s who turned up in the middle of Sarah Lewis’ campaign of terror, predating the arrival of brother Dan by some months. His relationship with Amanda, in the middle of Kelli Vale’s campaign of terror, caught people’s attention and earned them a last minute happy ending. And he also looks enough like that bloke off The Mentalist for it to be really confusing.
	30= Ric Dalby (13 points) ▲11 Played by Mark Furze Originally Ric was just a mean kid who was bullying Henry Hunter, but after the surprise revelation that he was Alf’s grandson, he moved in with Sally and Flynn and developed into a genuinely nice guy who dated pretty much every girl in his age group before coming full circle and ending up with first friend Matilda.
	34. Selina Cook/Roberts (12 points) ▼15 Played by Tempany Deckert Another of the mid-90s teen group who has stuck in the mind, despite not having been seen since Ironbridge. Selina was Irene’s first foster child and grew up into a responsible student nurse under her guidance, as well as spending a fair bit of time getting mixed up with Saul Bennett’s cult, including getting kidnapped on her wedding day.
	34= Shane Parrish (12 points) ▲25 Played by Dieter Brummer Shane finishes six places above his screen wife. Does anyone else wonder how Melissa George feels about that? Shane was Summer Bay’s original bad boy turned good, changing from a teen joyrider into a loving husband and father. And his reward was to die of an infection on the headland after having his spleen removed following a motorbike accident.
	36. Celia Stewart (11 points) ▼2 Played by Fiona Spence The local gossip of the early days and Alf’s eternal spinster sister, Celia has softened somewhat since the turn of the century with the result that her coming back as a gambling addict last year didn’t seem that out of place. She had spent a decade or two working as a missionary in Africa after all.
	36= Sophie Simpson (11 points) ▼8 Played by Rebekah Elmaloglou Sophie recently shuffed off 7Two screens to sighs of relief, perhaps demonstrating that nothing ages as fast as a controversial storyline: Her struggles with being a single teenage mother perhaps don’t seem that extraordinary these days. She appears to have moved to Ramsay Street and married Scott Hunter, which can be a bit confusing if you turn on early and catch the end of the previous programme.
	38. John Palmer (10 points) ▲6 Played by Shane Withington Who’d have thought back in the day, when everyone assumed John was an abusive parent who was to blame for stepson Trey’s actions, that he’d end up as such a lovable character? Having built a decent father/son relationship with Jett and had two good marriages, John is turning into a pillar of the community and the only older man capable of rivalling Alf since Don Fisher left.
	38= Will Smith (10 points) ▲43 Played by Zac Drayson Will’s picked up a few extra points since last time round, possibly because enough time has passed for people to block out his last stint where he tried to blame Alf for a murder. Will spent four years developing from rebellious teen to responsible father figure and husband, so it’s a shame his return was written as if that never happened.

And a bit of trivia for you: Last time round, April and Angelo were in this bracket at 31st and 33rd place respectively. Neither of them got a single vote this time round, making them the highest placed characters from last time not to feature.

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