Matt Turner | |||||||||||||||
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Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Josef Brown | ||||||||||||||
Duration | 2013–2016 | ||||||||||||||
First appearance | 7 February 2013 | ||||||||||||||
Last appearance | 9 August 2016 | ||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Richard Jasek (2013) Jason Herbison (2016) | ||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances | Neighbours vs Zombies (2014) | ||||||||||||||
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Matt Turner is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Josef Brown. The actor was cast shortly after he completed a guest stint on rival soap opera Home and Away. Brown relocated to Melbourne for filming and he shot his first scenes as Matt in October 2012. The character was created and introduced to Neighbours as the husband of Lauren Carpenter (Kate Kendall), who was reintroduced after nineteen years as part of a major overhaul of the show's cast. Matt made his first screen appearance alongside his family during the episode broadcast on 7 February 2013. Brown departed Neighbours on 25 March 2015, following Matt's death. Brown reprised the role for one episode on 9 August 2016.
Matt was introduced as the patriarch of the Turner family. He was a police officer with the local force, and portrayed as being stubborn, hard working, traditional and loyal. He also had a lesser seen softer, more fun side. Matt's storylines often revolved around his marriage to Lauren Carpenter (Kate Kendall) and their three children. Shortly after Matt's eldest son, Mason (Taylor Glockner), was introduced, it emerged that he had been in juvenile detention and Matt had been the arresting officer. Matt and Mason had to work through their issues quickly in order to protect the family from Robbo Slade (Aaron Jakubenko). Matt also developed a rivalry with Lauren's ex-boyfriend and neighbour, Brad Willis (Kip Gamblin), and learned that they had a daughter together. Matt was killed off as part of a storyline that highlighted the dangers of texting while driving. Matt received mostly positive attention from critics.