Beth Brennan

Beth Brennan (also Willis) is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Imbruglia.

Other stories include facing gender discrimination in the workplace and her relationships with Rod Baker (Chris Lloyds) and Wayne Duncan (Jonathan Sammy-Lee).

"[2] The show's casting director Jan Russ recalled meeting Imbruglia in her audition, stating "she was a gorgeous looking young girl.

[3][4] Imbruglia's character was initially written into the show for just a few weeks and she had to wait two months to find out whether she would become a permanent cast member.

"[4] Imbruglia's agent told her that the show's producers wanted to sign her for a year and she believed the permanent position would allow her to prove herself.

"[8] In the book Neighbours: The First 10 Years, author Josephine Monroe described Beth as a "country girl" at heart who went on a journey during her time in the show.

[14] After she came across as over keen and desperate, on different occasions asked Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson) to sleep with her, later begging him to stay with her.

Beth's fears about sex are conveyed when she turns down a date with construction worker John Bridges (Matthew Smith).

[10] Imbruglia did not think that Beth handled the situation in a "realistic way", but thought it "makes good drama" for a soap opera.

[22] In 1998, Imbruglia stated that after leaving Neighbours, she spent twelve months feeling "bitter and twisted" about the creative differences she experienced with the show's production.

[23] Imbruglia revealed that her opinion of her Neighbours experience had changed, recalling "fond memories" and being grateful that the show helped to begin her career.

"[3] In 2021, Imbruglia was asked about Beth's son, Ned Willis (Ben Hall), during an interview with Behnaz Akhgar on BBC Radio Wales.

[25] Upon the announcement that the serial would be concluding in 2022, Imbruglia and her friend, Holly Valance (who played Felicity Scully), brainstormed a way to incorporate themselves into the finale and approached producers with an idea, which they accepted.

[25] Their scenes were filmed in London in one day and they both appeared on screen on 28 July 2022, despite their characters never having crossed paths during their original stints.

[25] Imbruglia called her character's introduction "incredible" and said it was a good experience working on a show that was so popular in Australia and the United Kingdom.

[25] Imbruglia chose the build-up to Beth and Brad's wedding as her favourite storyline because "I think because I was so young and every girl dreams of, you know, wearing a white dress, it was amazing to have that fantasy and be able to play that out.

[25] Imbruglia concluded that she learned a lot from Neighbours, including her realisation she wanted to live in the UK following the show's success.

Beth then finds it hard to cope working with so many males, she thinks about leaving the job and it is made worse when Buzz Wade (Brett Swain) starts bullying her.

Beth returns the following year to visit Brad's nephew, Zac Willis (Jay Callahan) at his naming day ceremony.

Twenty-eight years later, Beth sees Karl Kennedy's (Alan Fletcher) musical appeal for contributions to the Ramsay Street history on Facebook.

They send a video to Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) and Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden) for their wedding, in which Beth notes that she doesn't actually know either of them.

[28] In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary, British satellite broadcasting company Sky profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history.

Beth and Brad were an inevitable, sunny couple who positively radiated vitamins, but let's not forget the brief period she dated a recently bereaved Phil on some paddleboats.

"[29] They describe her most memorable scenes as being Contending with the sexist atmosphere at her building job; her brief relationship with Phil and marrying surfer Brad.

[29] In 2022, Kate Randall from Heat included Beth in the magazine's top ten Neighbours characters of all time feature and branded her a "naïve girlfriend".

"[7] A TVTimes writer opined she "may have been game enough to be the only woman working on Doug Willis' construction site in Neighbours, but she's more timid when it comes to sex.

"[18] Robin Stringer from the Evening Standard stated that the fictional character Snow White was as "sweet natured as Beth Brennan".

[34] Louise Manson from Soap opined "Beth has always been the goody two-shoes of Neighbours and even Natalie agrees her character is too sickly.

"[40] Hiyah Zaidi from NationalWorld branded Beth "the world's most glamorous builder's mate" and Imbruglia one of the show's "most popular stars in the 1990s.

Marks believed that Beth was "brave" for overcoming the abuse committed by her step-father and that Brad was attracted to her "mix of vulnerability and bravery".

Imbruglia left the show because she was disappointed with scripts.