He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap Neighbours, playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988.

He is the son of Australian actress Sue McIntosh (née Menlove) and British-born veteran stage and television actor Terence Donovan (who also appeared in Neighbours) who has English and Irish heritage.

His character's story arcs included an onscreen romance and wedding to Charlene Mitchell (played by Minogue), and helped boost the show's popularity with British as well as Australian audiences.

[5] In addition to his regular role in Neighbours, Donovan appeared as "Happy Houston" in the 1988 Australian World War II mini-series The Heroes, based on the historical novel by Ronald McKie.

While the idea for a duet was at first rejected by SAW, who felt it too commercial, the producers changed their minds when retail chain Woolworths ordered 250,000 copies of the record.

[10][11] The issue of UK pop magazine Smash Hits that featured Minogue and Donovan on the cover to promote the release also sold one million copies.

[10] The song was accompanied by a widely noted image change for Donovan, who shed his trademark Neighbours mullet for a contemporary undercut.

In December 1989, he took part in Band Aid II's version of "Do They Know it's Christmas", which also included Minogue, whose exit from Neighbours had by now been shown on screen in both Australia and the UK.

He had greater creative input on the record, asking for more material that was within his range, after he struggled with some of the vocal requirements of certain songs on his debut album.

[8] He has stated that he believes the album's consistent lyrical themes of heartbreak and relationship breakdowns were references by songwriters SAW to his then recent split from Kylie Minogue.

Speaking of the album's commercial performance, Donovan said: "Between the Lines wasn't the successful record that Ten Good Reasons was, but how do you match that?

[13] Donovan continued to act alongside his pop career, and in 1990 he appeared in his first feature film, Blood Oath (released in some countries as Prisoners of the Sun).

underperforming on the charts, and his wish to evolve his music towards a more adult, Happy Mondays-inspired sound rejected by Pete Waterman, Donovan was keen to find a new path forward.

"[14] He accepted the lead role in the restaged London Palladium version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, directed by Steven Pimlott.

[15] Although he had been a mild drug user who had smoked cannabis joints up until this point, in the months after his libel action Donovan began using cocaine.

[16] In a 2007 Marie Claire interview, and also in his 2007 autobiography Between The Lines: My Story Uncut, Donovan stated that suing The Face was the biggest mistake of his life.

In early 1995, he attended model Kate Moss's 21st birthday party at The Viper Room in Los Angeles, where he suffered a drug overdose.

[18] Later in 1995, Donovan starred in the Australian TV film The Last Bullet[19] with Koji Tamaki, directed by Michael Pattison, which was set in World War II on the Pacific island of Borneo.

In 1998, Donovan took the lead role of Dr. Frank N. Furter in the UK touring production of The Rocky Horror Show, where he met stage manager Angela Malloch.

[20] After the pair had a brief relationship, Malloch became pregnant and gave Donovan an ultimatum that he had to kick drugs once and for all if he wanted to be part of their child's life.

He finished his original run on 13 March 2005, but was then invited back from June onwards to play in the final two months of the show, until its closure on 4 September 2005.

[citation needed] Donovan performed a medley of songs from Joseph along with other actors who have played the eponymous role (Donny Osmond and Lee Mead) at the Concert for Diana in July 2007.

In 2009, Donovan performed as Tick (Mitzi) in the London stage musical production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre.

Also in 2009, Donovan began appearing in television commercials (with Kerry Katona and Coleen Nolan) for the frozen food supermarket chain Iceland in the UK.

[citation needed] In September 2010, Donovan took part in the BBC television series Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing his family tree back several generations.

The album is composed of cover versions of well known 1980s hits such as "Drive" (The Cars), "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" (Cutting Crew) and "Sign Your Name" (Terence Trent D'Arby) and several others.

The same year, Donovan played the role of The Artilleryman in the 2010–2011 stage show Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.

In late 2012, Donovan again toured the UK and Europe in a new version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, this time playing Parson Nathaniel.

Donovan revealed in January 2015 that he was invited to return to Neighbours for the show's 30th anniversary celebrations, but he declined the offer, adding "it's just not something I want to do".

[31] In July 2022, Donovan returned as Scott to Neighbours for a one-off cameo appearance (alongside Kylie Minogue as Charlene) for what was believed (at the time) to be the show's final ever episode.