Jim Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Alan Dale. Jim was created by Reg Watson as one of Neighbours twelve original characters. He made his on-screen debut in the soap's first episode, which was broadcast on 18 March 1985. Jim was the patriarch of the Robinson family. Dale departed the show in 1993 after falling out with the producers over pay and his character was killed off on 29 April 1993. Dale filmed some scenes for the serial in September 2018, which aired on 25 December 2018 and 25 March 2019.
Creation and casting
Jim is one of the twelve original characters conceived by the creator and then executive producer of Neighbours, Reg Watson. Actor Robin Harrison was originally cast in the role and had already filmed some scenes when his contract negotiations broke down. The role was then recast to Alan Dale in January 1985, and the scenes featuring Harrison were re-shot. Dale had been out of regular work since his role in The Young Doctors ended in 1982, and was appearing in a small role in Possession when he was offered the part of Jim by producer John Holmes. The character had intrigued Dale, who thought that parts of Jim's life echoed his own life at the time. He said "It's like it was written for me. It's a great role and naturally it's one I can really relate to. You have to be fairly similar to a character you play, otherwise you'd go insane." Dale chose to relocate from Sydney to Melbourne, where Neighbours is filmed, but commuted between the two cities for some time while he was still appearing on Possession.
Development
Backstory and characterisation
In his 1988 book Neighbours: Behind the Scenes, James Oram wrote that the role of Jim was vital to Neighbours and described him as an anchor, in the same way Leslie Grantham's role of Den Watts was to British soap opera EastEnders. Jim was introduced as a widowed father of four, who lives in Ramsay Street with his mother-in-law Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy). In his fictional backstory, Helen moved in with Jim after her daughter, Anne, died during childbirth. Helen's husband Bill had also recently died and she was happy to come and help care for her grandchildren: Paul (Stefan Dennis), Julie (Vikki Blanche; Julie Mullins), Scott (Darius Perkins; Jason Donovan) and Lucy (Kylie Flinker; Sasha Close; Melissa Bell).
Jim's original character outline appeared in Oram's book:
When he began filming, Dale admitted that he was trying to get used to his character's large, older brood of children. The children's ages ranged from nine to 21. At the time, Dale's own sons were 14 and 15. He also felt that as he was also a single parent, he could bring some of his own experiences to the role. He stated "There are situations that are very similar to the ones I have had to meet myself. Living in the same situation will help. For example, I am very tactile with my kids – I kiss and cuddle them a lot – and if I hadn't had kids of my own and of that size I wouldn't have known that people really did behave like this." While he shared some similarities with his character, Dale insisted that he was not as steadfast or as patient as Jim.
Josephine Monroe, author of Neighbours: The First 10 Years, stated that Jim was the type of man that other men disliked because he had it all: a nice house, his own business, lovely children and a way with women. Monroe observed that Anne's death had caused Jim's personality to change and there was always a "reserved sadness about him". He was also perceived as being "stuffy and proper". Soap Box author Hilary Kingsley described him as being "reasonable, accessible, quiet and calm." He never argued with Helen and was polite to her friends. Jim was also reliable and understanding, particularly when it came to his children, who he was devoted to.