Lucy Robinson
Encyclopedia
Lucy Robinson is a fictional character
from the Australian Network Ten
soap opera Neighbours
, played by Melissa Bell
. She had previously been portrayed by Kylie Flinker and Sasha Close. She was created by producer Reg Watson
as one of Neighbours' original characters. Lucy was a prominent figure during the early 90's of Neighbours, with Bell playing her on and off for five years. Portrayed originally as being clever, a recast was implemented to fit the character's transformation and she became the stereotype
of a ditzy blonde female. She has been involved in storylines including battling a brain tumor
, coping with blindness, incest
, modeling and an addiction to drugs, alcohol and spending
. She has also been positively and negatively received by critics for her 'busty blonde' image whilst played by Bell.
as a young child, to help the serial appeal to all ages. She was originally played by Kylie Flinker until 1987 when she quit in order to concentrate on her school work; the role was recast with Sasha Close playing her. Close said she was very lucky to get the part, with Lucy's storylining leading to departure for the character, Close agreed to film on a recurring basis until she was in her final year of school. In 1991 Lucy was recast once more after producers decided Lucy would feature in the show on a permanent basis, with Melissa Bell taking over. In 1992 Bell quit her role as Lucy in order to host a chat show, of her exit she revealed she was sad to leave but the producers decided to leave the door open for her to return in the future, already having agreed to return to filming in 1993 for a three-episode stint especially for the 2000th episode of Neighbours. Bell kept her promise and Lucy appeared again in 1993, and again in 1995.
In 2005 Neighbours was celebrating its 20th anniversary; Bell along with numerous other past cast members had been asked to return. Her return was later confirmed and it was stated that she would re-appear towards the end of 2005. Bell has stated that producers approached her with a proposal to return six months prior to filming. During an interview with media reporting website Digital Spy
, Bell was asked what it was like playing Lucy after two previous actresses had taken the role; she replied: "It was really easy because I took over the character when she left boarding school and was grown up. I started when I was 18, and looked at old tapes to see her character and her relationships." In another interview Bell said: "I love Lucy so much. She is so me. I played Lucy at such a young age; only 18 years old. So playing her at 32 was wonderful for me, as she had changed so much over the years.
(Alan Dale
) and her beloved grandmother Helen Daniels
(Anne Haddy
). From the show's inception in 1985, Lucy was originated and played by Kylie Flinker. During this period, Lucy was a mischievous, yet intelligent little girl, who had great fun with her brothers, loved her gran and dad, and played with her dog Basil. She got into much strife. Lucy was the flower-girl at older brother Paul Robinson's
(Stefan Dennis
) wedding to Terry Inglis
(Maxine Klibingaitis
). Lucy went to find Basil after he went exploring in late 1986, and she fell down a drain with him and was trapped for many days. She was eventually found, but was left temporarily blinded by the incident. Lucy's good friend Bradley Townsend departed to go to Europe with his mother Andrea and her new partner, Jack Lassiter. Lucy promised to go and visit him. In early 1987, everyone was at the beach and Basil fell into the water and drowned when the tide took him. Lucy was devastated by the incident but Scott Robsinson
(Jason Donovan
) friend Mike Young
(Guy Pearce
) who had failed to save Basil tried to cheer her up by getting her a new puppy, Bouncer
, which Lucy adored.
In 1987, Lucy went on a trip to Europe for a few weeks to visit her friend Bradley. This storyline was to cover the departure of Flinker from the cast. When Lucy returned in May 1987, She had grown considerably and was now played by Close. Lucy had become a bit of a snob during her time in Europe but after no one came to her dinner party, she learned to be humble and soon fit back in. She was present at both Scott and Paul's weddings. Lucy's behavior became odd. She let go of Bouncer's leash while taking him for a walk, was dropped from the school netball team and began acting strangely at home, forgetting things and becoming clumsy. No one could work out what was wrong with her until one night Scott tried to wake her up but Lucy remained unconscious. After being taken to Hospital it was discovered that she had a massive brain tumor. Her family were devastated but remained hopeful as the doctors did a procedure and managed to save Lucy's life. She was able to return home but had to remain resting for several months due to trauma. At Christmas of that year, Lucy and Mike tried to sell the almost pure bred puppy spawn of Bouncer. On Valentine's Day 1988, Lucy was present at Jim's wedding to Lucy's much loved doctor, Beverly Marshall
(Lisa Armytage). On the same day, Paul and Gail Robinson were married for the second time and Lucy met her new step-cousins Todd Landers
(Kristian Schmid) and Katie Landers
(Sally Jensen). In mid 1988, Lucy was sent off to the Alumwood boarding school where she stayed for 2 years, returning each school holidays.
bombshell. Lucy's major storyline in 1991 was her incestuous relationship with half-brother Glen Donnelly
(Richard Huggett). Scenes showing their relationship were edited out and cut by the BBC
in their UK airing.
During this period, Lucy's relationship with life-long friend Emma Gordon came to an end when Lucy betrayed her in the race for a job. Lucy departed the cast again in late 1992 to pursue a modeling career in Europe. She returned briefly in September 1993 to celebrate the birthday of Helen. During this visit, Lucy revealed to her family that she had married her agent David.
Lucy wasn't seen again until early 1995 when Mark Gottlieb
(Bruce Samazan
) discovered her working in a local strip club. He coaxed her back to Ramsay St when he informed her of sister Julie's death the previous year. Lucy returned to her family but there was something amiss. Local kids Toadfish Rebecchi
(Ryan Moloney
) and Lucy's niece, young Hannah Martin
(Rebecca Ritters
) discovered a pornography magazine which featured Lucy as the centrefold. Lucy tearfully confessed to her Gran, Helen that she had a serious drug and alcohol problem and that she had divorced David. Helen told her she was only disappointed that she hadn't come for help earlier. Lucy eventually departed Ramsay St again to work for Rosemary Daniels
(Joy Chambers
) her aunt, in New York.
In 2005, Neighbours celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To celebrate the achievement, Stefan Dennis returned as Paul. After several months of storylines, Paul was injured and had to have his leg amputated. In the aftermath, Lucy returned to Australia briefly to be with Paul. Lucy was now an interesting hybrid of her previous incarnations. While still played by Bell, Lucy seemed to have regained some of the intelligence she lost in the 1990s, and was now a successful business woman, like her brother. She soon returned to America.
with feminists who opposed their argument, Pete Gowers publicly criticized Bell and her character for exploiting their 'assets', stating: "The only character in Neighbours to have a surfboard named after her – because she's good for a ride, but not much else."
In 2008 daily British newspaper The Times
profiled 15 top Neighbours moments according to them. On the list Lucy Robinson was noted, they were critical of the character stating that whilst played by Flinker she looked like any ordinary girl, played by Close she was just a 'butch' version of the character. They compared this with Bell's portrayal, stating that she changed the character positively into the 'blonde, busty, saucy Lucy', they also slated her portrayal branding her acting as poor and ruining the character, but added that the positive attribute was she looked like all the other 'blondes' suddenly invading Aussie soaps around the time of the 1990s.
Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture
gave Lucy a 3.5 out of 5 for her contribution to Neighbours, in a feature called "A guide to recognising your Ramsays and Robinsons". Deller said "Lucy’s dramatic tenure(s) involved being one of the first of many Ramsay Street residents to fall down a drain and to experience temporary blindness (although she combined the two mishaps), getting sent away to boarding school, engaging in a spot of incest, modelling, marrying a rich older man and having a drugs problem".
In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours 25th anniversary Sky
, a British satellite broadcasting company profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history. Lucy is in the list and describing her life in the show they state: "Janine Butcher, Tracy Barlow
– you can't have a soap without an oft-recast daughter who swings between 'in control competent woman' and 'nutcase'. Lucy is Neighbours entrant to the list: early on she was an adorable tyke with her puppy Bouncer; then she returned with drug and alcohol problems and a job as a stripper; and finally she became a businesswoman in the Rosemary Daniels mould for subsequent visits".
Media company Virgin Media
praised the character stating: "Melissa became a household name as Ramsay Street's Lucy Robinson. Viewers loved her character's close relationship with grandma, Helen Daniels, and her wayward teenage antics."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Australian Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
soap opera Neighbours
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
, played by Melissa Bell
Melissa Bell (actress)
Melissa Bell is an Australian actress and singer. She was the third actor to play Lucy Robinson in soap opera Neighbours....
. She had previously been portrayed by Kylie Flinker and Sasha Close. She was created by producer Reg Watson
Reg Watson
Reginald James "Reg" Watson AM is an Australian television producer, best known for creating soap operas like Prisoner and Neighbours.-Career:...
as one of Neighbours' original characters. Lucy was a prominent figure during the early 90's of Neighbours, with Bell playing her on and off for five years. Portrayed originally as being clever, a recast was implemented to fit the character's transformation and she became the stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of a ditzy blonde female. She has been involved in storylines including battling a brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
, coping with blindness, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
, modeling and an addiction to drugs, alcohol and spending
Oniomania
Oniomania is the technical term for the compulsive desire to shop, more commonly referred to as compulsive shopping, shopping addiction, shopaholism, compulsive buying or CB...
. She has also been positively and negatively received by critics for her 'busty blonde' image whilst played by Bell.
Casting
Lucy was created by Reg WatsonReg Watson
Reginald James "Reg" Watson AM is an Australian television producer, best known for creating soap operas like Prisoner and Neighbours.-Career:...
as a young child, to help the serial appeal to all ages. She was originally played by Kylie Flinker until 1987 when she quit in order to concentrate on her school work; the role was recast with Sasha Close playing her. Close said she was very lucky to get the part, with Lucy's storylining leading to departure for the character, Close agreed to film on a recurring basis until she was in her final year of school. In 1991 Lucy was recast once more after producers decided Lucy would feature in the show on a permanent basis, with Melissa Bell taking over. In 1992 Bell quit her role as Lucy in order to host a chat show, of her exit she revealed she was sad to leave but the producers decided to leave the door open for her to return in the future, already having agreed to return to filming in 1993 for a three-episode stint especially for the 2000th episode of Neighbours. Bell kept her promise and Lucy appeared again in 1993, and again in 1995.
In 2005 Neighbours was celebrating its 20th anniversary; Bell along with numerous other past cast members had been asked to return. Her return was later confirmed and it was stated that she would re-appear towards the end of 2005. Bell has stated that producers approached her with a proposal to return six months prior to filming. During an interview with media reporting website Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
, Bell was asked what it was like playing Lucy after two previous actresses had taken the role; she replied: "It was really easy because I took over the character when she left boarding school and was grown up. I started when I was 18, and looked at old tapes to see her character and her relationships." In another interview Bell said: "I love Lucy so much. She is so me. I played Lucy at such a young age; only 18 years old. So playing her at 32 was wonderful for me, as she had changed so much over the years.
Characterisation
Whilst Lucy was young she is described as being an innocent child who never does any wrong. In her teenage years she was described as giving her father plenty of reasons to worry, going from dead-end job to the next and being incredibly flirtatious. During the character's return in 2005, whilst an interviewed by Digital Spy, Bell spoke about how Lucy has grown up and learned from her mistake, changing from a rebellious young woman into a clever business woman and stated: "I started in 1990 and I've come back many times, the last about eight years ago. Now I'd describe Lucy as a centered woman with her life together, very focused on her business. But she probably yearns for a family and for love. Just growing up does that to people. She's grown from her early twenties to her late twenties, and she's very different to when she was at earlier stages of her life." She also made light of the fact that Lucy has Robinson qualities and can be a bit ruthless at times.1985–1989
Lucy's mum Anne died in 1975 giving birth to her and she was raised by Jim RobinsonJim Robinson (Neighbours)
James "Jim" Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Alan Dale. He made his first on-screen appearance on 18 March 1985, which was the shows first episode. Jim was the patriarch of the Robinson family. Dale departed the show in 1993 after...
(Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
) and her beloved grandmother Helen Daniels
Helen Daniels
Helen Daniels is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, portrayed by Anne Haddy. Following the death of Jim Robinson in 1993, she remained the only original character left in the series until her own death in 1997, making her the second longest-serving original character...
(Anne Haddy
Anne Haddy
Anne Haddy was an Australian film and television actress, best known for her role in the long-running soap opera, Neighbours.-Early and personal life:...
). From the show's inception in 1985, Lucy was originated and played by Kylie Flinker. During this period, Lucy was a mischievous, yet intelligent little girl, who had great fun with her brothers, loved her gran and dad, and played with her dog Basil. She got into much strife. Lucy was the flower-girl at older brother Paul Robinson's
Paul Robinson (Neighbours)
Paul Stewart Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, a long-running serial drama about social life in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. He is played by Stefan Dennis. Paul debuted in the serial's first episode in 1985 and appeared on a...
(Stefan Dennis
Stefan Dennis
Stefan Dennis is an Australian actor, best known for playing the role of Paul Robinson in the soap opera, Neighbours, from its first episode in March 1985 to the present day...
) wedding to Terry Inglis
Terry Inglis
Terry Inglis is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours played by Maxine Klibingaitis. She made her first appearance on 11 June 1985. Terry was employed by Max Ramsay as his plumber's apprentice. Terry dated Shane Ramsay and Paul Robinson who she married...
(Maxine Klibingaitis
Maxine Klibingaitis
Maxine Klibingaitis is an Australian actress. She played the character Bobbie Mitchell in the series Prisoner from 1983 to 1985, and later played Paul Robinson's first wife Terry Inglis in Neighbours in 1985. She was married to the Australian television director, Andrew Friedman and they have one...
). Lucy went to find Basil after he went exploring in late 1986, and she fell down a drain with him and was trapped for many days. She was eventually found, but was left temporarily blinded by the incident. Lucy's good friend Bradley Townsend departed to go to Europe with his mother Andrea and her new partner, Jack Lassiter. Lucy promised to go and visit him. In early 1987, everyone was at the beach and Basil fell into the water and drowned when the tide took him. Lucy was devastated by the incident but Scott Robsinson
Scott Robinson (Neighbours)
Scott James Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Jason Donovan. He made his first on-screen appearance on 18 March 1985, in the show's first episode. Scott was originally played by Darius Perkins until he was recast.-Casting:Darius...
(Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
) friend Mike Young
Mike Young (Neighbours)
Michael James "Mike" Young is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Guy Pearce. He made his first on-screen appearance on 20 January 1986...
(Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
) who had failed to save Basil tried to cheer her up by getting her a new puppy, Bouncer
Bouncer (Neighbours)
Bouncer is a fictional Labrador Retriever from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours. He made his first on-screen appearance on 4 February 1987 and he exited the series on 12 February 1993 after six years...
, which Lucy adored.
In 1987, Lucy went on a trip to Europe for a few weeks to visit her friend Bradley. This storyline was to cover the departure of Flinker from the cast. When Lucy returned in May 1987, She had grown considerably and was now played by Close. Lucy had become a bit of a snob during her time in Europe but after no one came to her dinner party, she learned to be humble and soon fit back in. She was present at both Scott and Paul's weddings. Lucy's behavior became odd. She let go of Bouncer's leash while taking him for a walk, was dropped from the school netball team and began acting strangely at home, forgetting things and becoming clumsy. No one could work out what was wrong with her until one night Scott tried to wake her up but Lucy remained unconscious. After being taken to Hospital it was discovered that she had a massive brain tumor. Her family were devastated but remained hopeful as the doctors did a procedure and managed to save Lucy's life. She was able to return home but had to remain resting for several months due to trauma. At Christmas of that year, Lucy and Mike tried to sell the almost pure bred puppy spawn of Bouncer. On Valentine's Day 1988, Lucy was present at Jim's wedding to Lucy's much loved doctor, Beverly Marshall
Beverly Marshall
Beverly Marshall is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The character was originally played by Lisa Armytage and she made her first on-screen appearance on 6 July 1987. Shaunna O'Grady took over from Armytage and began playing the character from 16 March 1989 until her...
(Lisa Armytage). On the same day, Paul and Gail Robinson were married for the second time and Lucy met her new step-cousins Todd Landers
Todd Landers
Not to be confused with Simpsons character Todd FlandersTodd Robert Landers is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Kristian Schmid. He made his first on-screen appearance on 15 February 1988. Todd died on 13 July 1992, but reappeared as a ghost the...
(Kristian Schmid) and Katie Landers
Katie Landers
Katie Landers is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Sally Jensen. She made her first on screen appearance on 15 February 1988. Katie is the niece of Beverly Marshall and sister to Todd Landers. During her time in the show, she became close friends with Toby...
(Sally Jensen). In mid 1988, Lucy was sent off to the Alumwood boarding school where she stayed for 2 years, returning each school holidays.
1990–1995, 2005
In 1991, Lucy returned to Ramsay Street permanently, now played by Bell. Opon her return she was different than she was before she had departed. The high-level intellectual was gone, replaced by a stereotypical 1990s blond bimboBimbo
Bimbo, in its popular English language usage, describes a woman who is physically attractive but is perceived to have a low intelligence or poor education. The term can also be used to describe a woman who acts in a sexually promiscuous manner...
bombshell. Lucy's major storyline in 1991 was her incestuous relationship with half-brother Glen Donnelly
Glen Donnelly
Glen Donnelly is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Richard Huggett. He made his first on-screen appearance on 7 December 1990. Glen was the secret son of Jim Robinson. He arrives in Ramsay Street to meet his father and to ask for money to pay for his...
(Richard Huggett). Scenes showing their relationship were edited out and cut by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in their UK airing.
During this period, Lucy's relationship with life-long friend Emma Gordon came to an end when Lucy betrayed her in the race for a job. Lucy departed the cast again in late 1992 to pursue a modeling career in Europe. She returned briefly in September 1993 to celebrate the birthday of Helen. During this visit, Lucy revealed to her family that she had married her agent David.
Lucy wasn't seen again until early 1995 when Mark Gottlieb
Mark Gottlieb (Neighbours)
Mark Gottlieb is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Bruce Samazan. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 August 1993 and he departed on 29 November 1995.-Casting:...
(Bruce Samazan
Bruce Samazan
Bruce Samazan is an Australian actor who appeared in several soap operas and drama series on Australian television, the only actor to have played regular roles in Australia's "Big Three" soap operas of the 1990s .-E Street:Samazan was a brickie's labourer, until 1989 when he accompanied his...
) discovered her working in a local strip club. He coaxed her back to Ramsay St when he informed her of sister Julie's death the previous year. Lucy returned to her family but there was something amiss. Local kids Toadfish Rebecchi
Toadfish Rebecchi
Jarrod Vincenzo Rebecchi is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Ryan Moloney. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 8 February 1995....
(Ryan Moloney
Ryan Moloney
Ryan Moloney is an Australian actor best known for his portrayal of the fictional character Jarrod "Toadfish" Rebecchi in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.-Before Neighbours:...
) and Lucy's niece, young Hannah Martin
Hannah Martin
Hannah Martin is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Rebecca Ritters. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 1992. Hannah is the only child of Philip and Julie Martin and the younger sister to Michael and Debbie. The Martin family were written out...
(Rebecca Ritters
Rebecca Ritters
Rebecca Ritters is an Australian actress, mostly known for her role as Hannah Martin in the soap opera Neighbours. She first appeared in the show in 1992 when she was eight years old and remained in the show for a further seven years...
) discovered a pornography magazine which featured Lucy as the centrefold. Lucy tearfully confessed to her Gran, Helen that she had a serious drug and alcohol problem and that she had divorced David. Helen told her she was only disappointed that she hadn't come for help earlier. Lucy eventually departed Ramsay St again to work for Rosemary Daniels
Rosemary Daniels
Rosemary Daniels is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Joy Chambers. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 February 1986 and appeared intermittently. Rosemary is the adoptive daughter of Helen Daniels and the sister of Anne Robinson....
(Joy Chambers
Joy Chambers
Joy Chambers is an Australian actress and author. She is best known for such television soap opera roles as Rita Merrick in The Restless Years, Dr Robyn Porter in The Young Doctors, and Rosemary Daniels in Neighbours. Chambers has played Rosemary since 1986. Rosemary is the only character who has...
) her aunt, in New York.
In 2005, Neighbours celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To celebrate the achievement, Stefan Dennis returned as Paul. After several months of storylines, Paul was injured and had to have his leg amputated. In the aftermath, Lucy returned to Australia briefly to be with Paul. Lucy was now an interesting hybrid of her previous incarnations. While still played by Bell, Lucy seemed to have regained some of the intelligence she lost in the 1990s, and was now a successful business woman, like her brother. She soon returned to America.
Reception
In 1993 during a debate on female exploitation, at the Oxford UnionOxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
with feminists who opposed their argument, Pete Gowers publicly criticized Bell and her character for exploiting their 'assets', stating: "The only character in Neighbours to have a surfboard named after her – because she's good for a ride, but not much else."
In 2008 daily British newspaper The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
profiled 15 top Neighbours moments according to them. On the list Lucy Robinson was noted, they were critical of the character stating that whilst played by Flinker she looked like any ordinary girl, played by Close she was just a 'butch' version of the character. They compared this with Bell's portrayal, stating that she changed the character positively into the 'blonde, busty, saucy Lucy', they also slated her portrayal branding her acting as poor and ruining the character, but added that the positive attribute was she looked like all the other 'blondes' suddenly invading Aussie soaps around the time of the 1990s.
Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture
Lowculture
lowculture.co.uk is a UK television website founded in January 2003 by Paul Lang, who currently works as the art director of Doctor Who Adventures.-Purpose:...
gave Lucy a 3.5 out of 5 for her contribution to Neighbours, in a feature called "A guide to recognising your Ramsays and Robinsons". Deller said "Lucy’s dramatic tenure(s) involved being one of the first of many Ramsay Street residents to fall down a drain and to experience temporary blindness (although she combined the two mishaps), getting sent away to boarding school, engaging in a spot of incest, modelling, marrying a rich older man and having a drugs problem".
In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours 25th anniversary Sky
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
, a British satellite broadcasting company profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history. Lucy is in the list and describing her life in the show they state: "Janine Butcher, Tracy Barlow
Tracy Barlow
Tracy Lynette Barlow is a fictional character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street. She is currently portrayed, since 2002, by Kate Ford, the latest in a series of actresses who have played Tracy at various ages...
– you can't have a soap without an oft-recast daughter who swings between 'in control competent woman' and 'nutcase'. Lucy is Neighbours entrant to the list: early on she was an adorable tyke with her puppy Bouncer; then she returned with drug and alcohol problems and a job as a stripper; and finally she became a businesswoman in the Rosemary Daniels mould for subsequent visits".
Media company Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
praised the character stating: "Melissa became a household name as Ramsay Street's Lucy Robinson. Viewers loved her character's close relationship with grandma, Helen Daniels, and her wayward teenage antics."