| Beth Brennan | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Natalie Imbruglia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1992–1994, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 6 January 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 28 July 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
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Beth Brennan (also Willis) is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Imbruglia. She made her debut screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 6 January 1992. Beth is characterised as a nice person who lets people take advantage of her kind personality. Beth works as a builder's apprentice in the construction industry and this meant she was supposed to have a "tough" persona. Writers never developed these traits and Imbruglia felt that they had let the character down. Instead, Imbruglia described Beth as "too nice" and just "goes all ga ga and cries." In her backstory, Beth is a product of a broken home and was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend. The character was also portrayed as a virgin, which played an important part in forming her early stories. Beth's main relationship was her long-standing partnership with Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson). Beth jilted him on their wedding day when she discovers Brad has been having an affair with Lauren Carpenter (Sarah Vandenbergh). Imbruglia believed the story was unrealistic but provided good drama.
Other stories include facing gender discrimination in the workplace and her relationships with Rod Baker (Chris Lloyds) and Wayne Duncan (Jonathan Sammy-Lee). Imbruglia and Michaelson decided to leave Neighbours. She was unhappy with the fame that came from acting in a soap opera. Beth's characterisation also began to irritate Imbruglia to the degree that when she left, Imbruglia "had enough of her". Their departure story featured Beth and Brad leaving Erinsborough and moving to Perth after their second wedding goes ahead. The character returned briefly in 1994 for the naming day of Brad's nephew, Zac Willis (Jay Callahan). In 2022, Imbruglia reprised the role for a cameo in the final episode (prior to the reboot) of Neighbours.
- ^ Monroe 1994, p.125.