However, Mike and his mother Barbara (Rona McLeod; Diana Greentree) are physically abused by his father David Young (Stewart Faichney).

Mike has a long-running romance with Jane Harris (Annie Jones), and they form a popular friendship group with Scott and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue).

Guy Pearce was in his final year at Geelong College and appearing in amateur theatre when he "bombarded" the Grundy Organisation with tapes of his performances.

"[10] Unbeknown to his friends, Mike and his mother Barbara (Rona McLeod; Diana Greentree) are physically abused by his father David Young (Stewart Faichney).

"[11] Neil Wallis and Dave Hogan of The Neighbours Factfile noted that the child abuse "still haunts" Mike, who is later abandoned by his mother when she moves overseas following the death of his father.

[13] Mike and Scott are the victims of "a cruel practical joke" by Sue Parker (Kate Gorman), who learns that they have written a pop song and sent it to a producer.

[14] In March 1988, Pearce spoke to Eithne Power of the Radio Times about upcoming storylines for his character and stated "Mike will have developed a bit more by then.

[10] Jane was introduced a few months after Mike and they formed a friendship group with Scott and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue), which became popular with viewers and the media.

[16] Monroe noted that Mike and Jane were good for each other, but they never seemed "madly in love" like Scott and Charlene, whose wedding they attended as best man and bridesmaid respectively.

[22] Mike is angered when Jessie's father Ted Ross (Doug Bennett) learns what is happening and appears to be more concerned about his business reputation, rather than his daughter.

"[22] Mike later shares a kiss with Jessie in an empty classroom, but they are caught by principal Kenneth Muir (Roger Boyce) and he decides to take some time away.

[27] In June 1989, David Brown and Patrice Fidgeon of TV Week reported that Pearce was set to quit Neighbours, along with Jones.

Brown and Fidgeon also reported that Network Ten wanted to keep the departures "under wraps" to minimise negative publicity in the lead up to the show's 1000th episode.

"[29] Pearce had thought about leaving the show for around a year, and after starring in Heaven Tonight he realised that he wanted to continue making feature films.

It's been a really good launching pad and the best thing for me was that it was the first professional job I'd ever done on television, so I learned a great deal about working with cameras and direction.

Marion MacDonald of The Sydney Morning Herald observed that Mike showed "an unfilial reluctance" to fly out to Barbara, as she had been a bad parent.

[33] On 3 June 2022, Duncan Lindsay of the Metro confirmed Pearce would be reprising his role for the Neighbours finale, following its cancellation earlier in the year.

"[34] Executive producer Jason Herbison said Pearce was returning for "a very special story arc" and that he had been involved in the development of the storyline, which will answer the question "who is Mike Young today?

[37][38] Pearce also revealed that his friend and fellow actor Kate Winslet was a fan of the show and his character, so he and the producers considered naming the mother of Mike's daughter after her.

[36] In May 2023, following the series' return to production, Pearce indicated that he was in discussions to make a further appearance in order to provide closure to Mike's relationship with Jane.

[43] On-screen Mike remains absent from Ramsay Street after taking up work as a tour guide in the UK, and appears occasionally in video calls to Jane.

[44] Herbison described the ongoing situation as a "wonderful dilemma" for the production, and was open to the possibility of Mike appearing in person again if Pearce's scheduled allowed.

He begins staying overnight to avoid going home and Daphne's friend Zoe Davis (Ally Fowler) finds his sleeping bag.

When Nikki returns to Ramsay Street, Mike helps comfort her when she discovers her mother is ill, leading Jane to become jealous of their friendship.

Thirty-three years later, Mike drives his motorbike through Ramsay Street and sees Jane in her driveway and unwittingly interrupts Clive trying to win her back.

Jane returns to Australia early due to the situation at the school and later gets a call from Mike, who tells her that he has been offered a job in the UK as a motorcycle tour guide.

"[51] In 2010, to celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary Sky, a British satellite broadcasting company, included Mike in their 25 most memorable characters in the show's history.

His romance with plain Jane Harris unfortunately ended up with her engaged to his father figure of a friend, Des, one of many reasons why he left the show to care for his sick mother.

"[52] Robin Wilks from The Daily Telegraph included Pearce at number three in his feature on the "Top five ex-Neighbours stars", following his successful acting career.

[53] Lorna Cooper of MSN TV has listed Mike as one of soap opera's forgotten characters and claimed he was a favourite out of the golden era of the serial.