Billy Kennedy (Neighbours)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Billy Kennedy
Neighbours character
Former; regular
Introduced byIan Bradley (1994)
Ric Pellizerri (2005)
Jason Herbison (2022)
In-universe information
Occupation
  • Student
  • Lifeguard
  • Carpenter
Family
Aster Conway

Jasper Callhoun

Billy Kennedy is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera

final episode
on 28 July 2022.

Creation and casting

In 1994, the Neighbours storyliners decided to introduce a new "solid" family called the Kennedys.[1] The family, which consisted of five members – a mother, father, two sons and a daughter – moved into Number 28 Ramsay Street.[1] The storyliners felt that they needed to take the show back to its roots, as it seemed that all the houses on the street were populated with misfits and distant relatives.[1] Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburne were cast in the roles of parents Karl and Susan, while Benjamin McNair and Kym Valentine were cast as teenagers Malcolm and Libby.[2] Jesse Spencer was cast as Billy, the youngest member of the Kennedys.[3] Spencer originally auditioned for the role of Brett Stark, but was told that he was too young. The following year, he successfully auditioned for the role of Billy.[3]

Development

Relationship with Melissa Drenth

Billy's first long-term love interest was his school friend Melissa Drenth (Aimee Robertson).[3] Their relationship got off to "a shaky start", especially when Billy's father gave him a hard time about it.[3] Spencer was glad that his character was given a girlfriend, saying "It's about time. At last he's acting his age. Getting a girlfriend should help him become a bit more mature. He's not going to be the naive country boy any longer. There's no doubt Billy's completely smitten."[3] When Melissa mother found a packet of condoms in Melissa's school bag, she called for an end to the relationship.[4] However, she did not know that Billy and Melissa had not yet had sex, as they had had problems finding a suitable place.[4] Billy's brother, Mal, offered the couple the use of his house, but Billy and Melissa were interrupted by Mal's girlfriend, Danni Stark (Eliza Szonert) and Angie Rebecchi (Lesley Baker).[4]

Melissa received a "telling-off" from her mother over the condoms and the couple's plans to have sex were put on hold.

Grundy Television spokesperson commented "When it comes to the crunch Billy can't go through with it. Melissa flees in tears and Billy is convinced she will want nothing to do with him after his flop in bed."[5] The BBC cut the scenes ahead of broadcast in the UK, fearing they were "too raunchy" for the early evening timeslot.[5] Billy and Melissa eventually broke up when Billy discovered she was cheating on him.[6] Melissa departed the show shortly after.[7]

Relationship with Anne Wilkinson

Billy was later paired with Anne Wilkinson (Brooke Satchwell), who moved into Ramsay Street with her mother and brother.[6] Spencer thought the relationship lasted so long because the couple shared so much. Billy and Anne lived in the same street, had the same friends, went to the same school and grew up together.[6] Spencer said "In the early days, our relationship seemed perfect, but, as we've got older and wiser, there have been more problems."[6]

Billy became the centre of a love triangle following the arrival of Caitlin Atkins (Emily Milburn). One of Caitlin's top priorities, upon moving to Erinsborough, was to find a boyfriend and she set her sights on Billy, her training partner at the pool.[8] Milburn said Caitlin fell for Billy immediately and she did not care that he was dating Anne. Caitlin wanted Billy and she was prepared to "go all out" and get him.[8] Satchwell told Steven Murphy from Inside Soap that neither Anne nor Caitlin were prepared to back down over Billy.[9] As Caitlin and Billy began swimming together more, they grew closer and Anne could see that Billy was attracted to Caitlin.[9] Billy later shared a kiss with Caitlin, which Anne witnessed. Billy and Anne then briefly split up.[6] Satchwell thought that it would have made everyone's lives easier if Billy and Anne had just sat down and talked about their relationship problems in the first place.[9]

Departure and cameo appearances

Spencer chose to depart Neighbours in November 1999.[10] Speaking of his decision to leave, Spencer said "I'd been in Neighbours for five years and I'd had enough. The storylines were boring and I wasn't enjoying it any more. When I said I was leaving, I hoped they would make Bill's departure interesting - but he just moves away from Erinsborough, there's no drama to it. It's disappointing and typical of the last two years of storylines."[10] Spencer revealed that the door had been left open for a possible return in the future.[10] Spencer later said that Neighbours had been "a launchpad" for him.[11]

In 2005, Spencer reprised his role and became one of many former members who made a return to Neighbours to appear in the show's 20th anniversary episode "Friends for Twenty Years".[12] Spencer could not return to Australia to shoot his cameo because of his filming commitments in Los Angeles. Instead, he got a costume and asked a friend to film him on Malibu Beach, where he pretended Billy was on holiday, and sent it to the producers.[13]

Four years later, Spencer revealed that he had been approached about a return to the show and said he would not rule out a one-off appearance.[14] He later agreed to reprise the role for a cameo appearance in the show's then final episode, which was broadcast on 28 July 2022.[15]

Storylines

Billy arrives in Ramsay Street with his family after his father, Karl, buys Number 28 at an auction. Billy soon makes friends with

Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) and Hannah Martin (Rebecca Ritters) and meets his first girlfriend, Melissa Drenth. Billy breaks up with Melissa when she reveals her homophobia towards his teacher, Andrew Watson (Christopher Uhlmann) who was trying to help him after he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Billy and Toadie become best friends and create a pirate radio station together. When Amy Greenwood (Jacinta Stapleton) arrives and the Wilkinson twins, Lance (Andrew Bibby) and Anne, a new group of friends is born. Billy and Anne fall in love with some help from Lance and Toadie and they became inseparable. Billy joins the local pool as a life guard and takes Anne there one night for a romantic date. The couple also enter a Perfect Couple competition, but Billy gets cold feet when it comes to the photoshoot and Lance fills in for him. When Caitlin Atkins
(Emily Milburn) arrives she wastes no time in admitting her feelings for Billy and they even share a kiss.

Billy plans to leave school and move out of home, but Anne and his parents are not keen on the idea. Shortly after, Billy and Anne receive letters for university placements and Anne is placed in

David "Fanto" Hodges
(Daniel Dinnen) if he asked, Billy decides to get her out of his system.

Kimberly Davies
) documentary about Ramsay Street, and says hello to his parents whilst he and Anne are on holiday.

Seventeen years later, Billy sends a video congratulating Toadie on his wedding to Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden).

Reception

Spencer earned several award nominations for his portrayal of Billy. In 1998, he received a nomination for Most Popular Actor at the

Logie Awards.[16] He received another nomination in the same category the following year.[17] At the 1999 Inside Soap Awards, Spencer was nominated for Best Actor, while he and Satchwell earned a joint nomination for Best Couple.[18] He also garnered a nomination for Favourite Teen Idol at the People's Choice Awards.[19]

A writer for the BBC's Neighbours website stated that Billy's most notable moment was "Setting up a pirate radio station."[20] Spencer's looks made him a teen idol during his time with series.[21] A writer for Virgin Media called Billy a teen heartthrob during a feature called 'Who is soapland's hottest hunk?'.[22] During a feature called "Neighbours stars make it big", a contributor for Holy Soap said "Billy's gorgeous looks and sweet romance with Anne Wilkinson ensured his popularity among Neighbours fans".[23]

In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary, a writer for

Sky profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history.[24] Billy is included in the list and describing him the writer states: "Easygoing Billy didn't take life as seriously as the rest of his family did, preferring to hang with Hannah in the club house and get into scrapes with best mate Toadie. Though troubled by dyslexia and asthma, he was a hard worker, spending lots of time swimming. This somewhat inevitably helped him to, ahem, 'fill out', and lead to lots of him, Ben's sister Caitlin and spontaneous lodger Joel wandering around the Kennedy house with very few clothes on. He eventually left the Street with boring sweetheart Anne."[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c Monroe 1996, p.63.
  2. Channel 5. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original
    on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  3. ^
    Trinity Mirror
    . Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d "Caught in the act". Inside Soap (47). Attic Futura (UK) Ltd: 35. 20 April – 30 May 1996.
  5. ^
    Trinity Mirror
    . 10 June 1996. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  6. ^
    IPC Media
    : 28–29.
  7. Trinity Mirror
    . Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  8. ^ a b Dasey, Annette (21 March – 3 April 1998). "I want your man!". Inside Soap (97). Attic Futura (UK) Ltd: 14.
  9. ^ a b c Murphy, Steven (7–20 March 1998). "Hands off!". Inside Soap (96). Attic Futura (UK) Ltd: 16–17.
  10. ^
    Trinity Mirror
    . Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  11. Associated Newspapers
    . 1 October 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  12. Hachette Filipacchi UK
    . Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  13. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original
    on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  14. Channel 5. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original
    on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  15. Irish Mirror
    . Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  16. ^ Browne, Rachel (19 April 1998). "Logies: A watching brief". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  17. ^ Everton, Denise (9 April 1999). "Aussies in the spotlight". Illawarra Mercury. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  18. Hachette Filipacchi UK
    : 34–5. 21 August – 3 September 1999.
  19. ^ "Jesse Spencer" (PDF). The Fleming Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  20. ^ "Character: Billy Kennedy". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 December 2003. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  21. ^ "Jesse Spencer Biography". Yahoo!. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  22. ^ "'Who is soapland's hottest hunk?". Virgin Media. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  23. Channel 5. Retrieved 27 May 2010.[permanent dead link
    ]
  24. ^
    BSkyB. 2010. Archived from the original
    on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010.

External links