| Katya Kinski | |||||||||||||||||
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| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Dichen Lachman | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2005–2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 12 December 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 7 February 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Ric Pellizzeri | ||||||||||||||||
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Katya Kinski is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Dichen Lachman. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 December 2005. Lachman originally auditioned for the role of Elle Robinson. But producers asked her to play Katya instead. Katya is characterised as a "bitchy nasty person" with a "dark past". She arrives in Erinsborough to visit her terminally-ill father Alex (Andrew Clarke) before he died. She reunites with her younger siblings Rachel (Caitlin Stasey) and Zeke Kinski (Matthew Werkmeister). Katya feuds with Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) over custody of her siblings. Lachman believed that her flawed character disliked Susan to justify her own failings as a sister.
Writers paired her with psychopath character Robert Robinson (Adam Hunter). He planned to murder her, stalked her and kidnapped her. Katya develops posttraumatic stress disorder and her neighbour Max Hoyland (Stephen Lovatt) supports her. Katya falls in love with Max but he remains loyal to his wife. Producers introduced Guy Sykes (Fletcher Humphrys) to explore her criminal past. Katya participates in car thefts, is blackmailed and shot by Guy. He then tries to attack her with a defibrillator and later holds her hostage. Other storylines include a romance with Ned Parker (Daniel O'Connor) and being run over. Lachman left Neighbours in 2006 and Katya's last appearance was broadcast on 7 February 2007.