Clive Gibbons

Fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours

Clive Gibbons is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Geoff Paine. Paine was spotted by the Reg Grundy Organisation and offered the role of Clive. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 21 January 1986. Clive's storylines included running a gorillagram agency, setting up a gardening business, saving Lucy Robinson's life and falling in love with Susan Cole. Paine decided not to renew his contract, as he feared being typecast and felt the role was no longer believable. He departed Neighbours on 27 February 1987, but made a brief return in 1989. Paine reprised the role 28 years later, and Clive returned on a semi regular basis from 9 March 2017. He was reintroduced as the chief operating officer of Erinsborough Hospital. Paine felt that Clive had matured during his time away from Erinsborough, but said his "cheeky side" would still appear every so often. He was restored to the series' main cast in July 2020 and appeared in the final episode of the original run of Neighbours on 28 July 2022.

Neighbours marks Paine's first professional acting role. Paine almost turned down the role as he looked down on acting in a soap. He said "I suppose at the time I was a bit too idealistic about the world of acting. Playing a messenger in a gorilla suit might not be King Lear, but at least it pays the rent." Paine asked producers not to give his character a romantic storyline straight off, so he would have a chance to enter the series and develop on his own. He told Cook that Clive is trying to work out what he wants to do with his life, which is all he can think about, not that he is not interested in romance. Simon Plant from the Herald Sun said Clive was "mild mannered". Dave Hogan and Neil Wallis of The Neighbours Factfile said Clive was "cheerful and slightly wacky." They called him the "court jester" of Ramsay Street, and said he was the model on which the character of Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan) was based. Clive's gorillagram agency outraged some of neighbours, particularly Max Ramsay (Francis Bell). He also said that he enjoys playing the character, as he is "fun and irreverent".

After little more than a year in the role, Paine decided not to renew his contract after fearing that he may be typecast. His departure was publicised in the 8 November 1986 edition of TV Week, where Stephen Cook reported that Paine had quit the serial and would finish up when production took a break at the end of the year, with his final scenes airing in early 1987. Paine's decision came shortly after co star Peter O'Brien left to take a role in The Flying Doctors on a rival network. Network 10 tried to keep Paine's departure a secret and he was not allowed to speak to TV Week about his exit. Paine went on to make a brief return later that year.

In a December 2016 interview with Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy, Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison teased the return of a series regular from 1986 to 1987. Herbison said the character would return in a recurring capacity and would be seen in "a work environment". Paine told Johnathon Hughes of the Radio Times that he had enquired about a return through his agent and the show's producers agreed to bring the character back. Paine also said that he had been asked to return numerous times since his departure, but he had always been busy with his acting career or personal life. Clive made his return during the episode broadcast on 9 March 2017. He was introduced as the Chief operating officer (COO) of Erinsborough Hospital.

Paine teased a potential romance for Clive following his reintroduction, commenting "anything is possible". The couple get off to a bad start when Clive wrongly accuses Sheila's granddaughter Xanthe Canning (Lily Van Der Meer) of stealing hospital medication. They clash a few more times, before Clive asks Sheila out on a date as he thinks she is "fiery, and a bit barmy." Mann commented that Sheila loves that Clive is the COO of the Erinsborough Hospital, but she is wary of his intellect. Paine explained that announcement of the show's cancellation was and was not a surprise for him, since it had been teased in the months beforehand. Clive was not included in the list, but the reporter revealed they had received many suggestions asking him to be included. They said that Clive's popularity disqualified him and that he "lacked sufficient obscurity". Lorna Cooper of MSN said Clive was "lovely", A Lowculture writer stated that Clive performing an emergency tracheotomy on Jim Robinson's kitchen table was one of Neighbours''' great moments. A BBC reporter agreed, saying Clive's most notable moment was "Performing an emergency operation on the Robinson's kitchen table and saving Lucy." Daniel Martin of The Guardian included Clive's 1986 dream on his list of Favourite Christmas Soap Moments. Martin commented, "Not the greatest dream sequence in Neighbours history (that gong has to go to the iconic Bouncer's Dream), but this candy coated reminder to the grim British contingent of how it should be done is burned onto the brains of twentysomethings nationwide. Doctor Clive – refereeing a boxing match between Mike and Shane for the heart of Plain Jane Superbrain – is knocked out and goes into a bizarre festive dream sequence where the cast were re imagined as pantomime characters. Clive was Santa, Mike and Shane were Tweedle Dum and Dee, Paul Robinson some nameless panto villain – and Scott and Charlene were in Europe pretending to be pop stars." Polly Hudson of the Daily Mirror wondered why Paine did not go on to have an acting career in Hollywood, like "mean old Jim Robinson", commenting that he was "surely the most talented comedy actor of all time". Laura Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap praised Clive's 2017 return, saying "Treat of the week was the return of Dr Clive Gibbons to Neighbours. A real 80s favourite!" Clive was placed at number twenty seven on the Huffpost's'' "35 greatest Neighbours characters of all time" feature. Journalist Adam Beresford credited "loveable" Clive with "helping to establish the show's wacky tone during its early heyday." Beresford added that Clive's reintroduction "gave long term viewers a nostalgia hit."