Dee Bliss

Dee Bliss
Neighbours character
Portrayed by	Madeleine West
Duration	2000–03
First appearance	3 February 2000
Last appearance	29 July 2003
Introduced by	Stanley Walsh
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Nurse at Erinsborough Hospital (2000–03)
Family Father John Bliss Mother Magda Bliss Sisters Cecile Bliss Husband Darren Turner (1997) Toadfish Rebecchi (2003) Grandmothers Nancy Bliss

Dione "Dee" Bliss is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Madeleine West. The actress received the role three days after securing an agent. West deferred her law degree studies to take the part. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 February 2000. West decided to depart Neighbours when in March 2003, at the end of her contract. She filmed her final scenes the following month and Dee made her last appearance on 29 July 2003.

Casting

West was enrolled in university studying law, when she decided to try acting and found an agent. She secured the role of Dee three days later. West said "It happened pretty quickly. I got the agent, then I went to the audition for Neighbours and luckily I got the part. I know it doesn't always happen that quickly for people, so I consider myself fortunate." West then deferred her law degree studies after she was offered the role. Dee became an audience favourite and the Neighbours producers decided to make her a regular cast member and offered West a new contract.

In July 2002, West was involved in an accident which saw her hit by a bus. She needed reconstructive plastic surgery and was written out of Neighbours. West returned to the show a month later and said she was pleased to be back, but that it was tiring. She added "It was actually really good because it felt so nice to be back at work and to be not just lying in bed and doing nothing. It was so good to see everyone, so that really kept me occupied. But, I found that weekend that I just crashed and burned."

In March 2003, it was announced that West was to leave Neighbours after her contract expired. She filmed her final scenes in early April.

Storylines

Dee and her friend Vanessa Bradshaw (Julieanne Tait) are in a bar when they are chatted up by Joel Samuels (Daniel MacPherson) and Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney). Joel is pretending to be an Argentine football player, and Toadie pretends to be his agent and the girls play along with the charade. After the truth is uncovered, Dee and Joel begin dating and Dee later moves into the street. The couple continue to play practical jokes on one another. This comes to a climax when Joel fakes a letter from a noted art gallery, pretending that they wanted to put on an exhibition of Dee's work and enlists his friend Malcolm Kennedy (Benjamin McNair) to pose as a distant relative of Joel's who is interested in Dee's paintings. Upon finding out that it was a prank, Dee becomes very upset and breaks up with Joel.

Dee soon later begins a relationship with local doctor Darcy Tyler (Mark Raffety). She soon finds out Darcy is secretly having an affair with her best friend, Tess Bell (Krista Vendy) and dumps Darcy as soon as she finds out. Dee later finds out she is pregnant with his child. While messing around with housemate Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), who is washing his car, Dee slips and falls on the driveway. Toadie rushes her to hospital where Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) breaks the news that Dee has miscarried and Toadie blames himself, but Dee is forgiving.Dee also finds madge bishop lying on the kitchen floor very sick and gets her to hospital.

Towards the end of 2001, Dee and Tess patch things up and Dee later rekindles her romance with Joel as the two of them now live with Toadie. This is not to last as Joel leaves on a diving expedition and asks Dee to come with him, but she ultimately turns him down and they share a final kiss at the docks. Stuart Parker (Blair McDonough) later moves into Number 30 and begins a relationship with Dee. This fizzles out when Tracey Slattery (Christine Wools), Stuart's ex-girlfriend from Oakey follows him to Erinsborough.

After a failed relationship with Stuart's army mate Ray Milsome (Tom Meadmore), Dee notices her feelings for Toadie and after much skirting around the issue, the two eventually begin dating, soon fall in love. Darcy conspires to split them up by claiming to have turned over a new leaf and secretly plays the two off against each other by pretending to be a sensitive confidant to Dee, and a drinking buddy for Toadie. Darcy's plan is successful and he pays Sindi Watts (Marisa Warrington) to date Toadie. However, Dee and Toadie eventually reconcile, and get engaged. In the lead up to the wedding, Dee clashes with Toadie's mother Angie (Lesley Baker) and becomes a bridezilla.

Dee and Toadie's wedding day arrives and both Bliss and Rebecchi family members are present as well as their friends and Neighbours. They marry, but while they drive off together on their honeymoon, Toadie and Dee take their eyes off the road to kiss, causing their car to veer off the side of a cliff and into the sea. Toadie manages to escape but Dee's body is never recovered despite efforts from rescue teams, devastating Toadie.

Reception

For her portrayal of Dee, West was nominated for the "Most Popular New Female Talent" Logie Award in 2001. In June 2002, Dee came fifth in a poll run by Newsround to find viewer's favourite Neighbours character. She received 9.37% of the vote. Jim Schembri of The Age said Dee was "Ramsay Street's reigning blonde beauty." While the Newcastle Herald called her "effervescent." The BBC said Dee's most notable moments were "When Darcy discovered she was secretly pregnant to him and had lost the child" and "Being killed on her wedding day."

The episode featuring Dee's death earned writer Shane Porteous the Australian Writers' Guild award for "Best Episode in a Television Serial" in 2003. In 2007, Australian newspaper the Herald Sun placed Dee's death from the car accident at number three on their list of Neighbours Top Ten moments. They said "One of the more dramatic deaths was of Dee, played by Madeleine West. One of the soap's most loved characters, Toadie, was having the time of his life after marrying Dee, but tragedy struck as they drove off to their honeymoon, probably in Mildura. As Toadie leaned over to kiss Dee, he lost control of the car and drove off a cliff into the ocean. Toadie managed to get out of the car, but despite his anguished search, Dee's body was never found". The Daily Telegraph placed Dee and Toadie's wedding at number nine on their list of "Top 10 TV weddings". They said "Happiness turns to tragedy when Toadie (Ryan Maloney) and Dee (Madeleine West) drive off a cliff on their wedding day and she is killed. He watches as her veil drifts away in the wind."

Sarah Megginson of SheKnows placed Dee and Toadie's wedding and her death on her list of "Most Memorable Neighbours Moments". She said viewers "beamed when the wedding celebrant announced that Dee and Toadie were married", but knew something was about to happen. She added "Toadie lost control of the car. They fly off a cliff and plunge into the ocean below ... and Toadie loses his bride mere hours into their marriage."

External links

• Character profile at the BBC