Neighbours' Harold Bishop, 85, quits retirement to make shock return
ok.co.ukIan Smith rose to fame on Neighbours in 1987, and he loves his character, Harold Bishop, so much that he’s coming out of retirement to play him again.The actor has portrayed the bumbling, loveable, tuba-playing resident of Ramsay Street on and off for more than 30 years – in fact, he has made such a mark that the Erinsborough café still bears his name.
Ian’s last guest appearance was in the finale of Neighbours in 2022, but he has now decided to return, this time as a regular – and he’s back in the opening credits, too. “I turned 85 last June and retired,” says Ian. “I thought I had prepared myself for it.
Well, I hadn’t." "I got a fly fishing rod," Ian explains, "A metal detector and an electric bike. But life needs more than those things and I was finding myself almost stranded – I even tried to cook!
Then I got a phone call asking if I would come back to the show. I wanted to kiss them. I just said, ‘Yes!’ “I should have been stand-offish, and said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, how much are you going to pay?’ But no, I said, ‘Yes!
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