"Who Pushed P.R.?" is a storyline from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, which began on 23 August 2010 with a special week of episodes. The week culminated in the soap's 6000th episode (broadcast on 27 August), where the character Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) is pushed from the Lassiter's Hotel mezzanine by an unseen assailant. The storyline aired as part of the show's 25th anniversary and Dennis's character was made the focus of the storyline as he was the only remaining member of the original cast. The storyline was initially going to see Paul being shot, but the show's G rating prevented the production team from going ahead with it. Events leading up to and following the attempted murder put several characters in the frame, in the style of a whodunit mystery.
Dennis was one of two cast members who knew the identity of the culprit; he was told minutes before he filmed the scene in which Paul was pushed. The rest of the cast found out a couple of weeks after the 6000th episode was broadcast. The person responsible for the attempted murder was revealed to be Rebecca Robinson (Jane Hall) during the episode broadcast on 27 September 2010. Hall revealed that she had known her character was responsible from the beginning. The "Who Pushed P.R.?" storyline was well received by critics and viewers. Despite low ratings for the 6000th episode in Australia, the storyline provided the show with a small ratings increase in the UK.
Storyline creation and development
The storyline was created during one of four planning meetings that are held during the year, in which the crew plot out all the big story arcs. Executive producer Susan Bower said that the team knew that block 1200, which featured the 6000th episode, had to be "incredibly important and sensational". They also wanted to pay homage to the first ever Neighbours episode, so the storyline had to include Stefan Dennis and his character. In a post for the official Neighbours website, Bower explained that making Paul Robinson the focus of the "big climax" to the 6000th episode was deliberate as he was the only remaining member of the original cast. The storyline was the highlight of the show's 25th anniversary celebrations and bosses were hoping it would boost falling ratings.
The crew had initially wanted to script a "Who Shot Paul Robinson?" storyline, but due to the show's G rating classification in Australia, they could not go through with it. They then settled on the "Who Pushed P.R.?" storyline instead. Bower stated that the storyline had to begin "very, very early", so it could develop and all the suspects that they chose to write into the story were set up. As the storyline was being written, the production team decided to add in Paul's worsening financial situation, which led to him embezzling money from Lassiter's, which then led to new character Diana Marshall (Jane Badler) arriving. Bower commented "it was putting all these pieces together" that really turned the storyline into a proper whodunit.
During the summer of 2010, the Neighbours sets underwent a makeover and a mezzanine level was added to Lassiter's Hotel. Bower and producer Neal Kingston revealed that this was to be the focal point of the "Who Pushed P.R.?" storyline. The cast and crew shot the scenes for the 6000th episode celebration week in early June. Described by Bower as "a monumental block", everyone had to work extra hard to get everything shot. An extra day was added to the filming schedule of both the location and studio shoots. Speaking to a Channel 5 reporter, Dennis said that it was hard to film the moment Paul fell from the mezzanine as there was no stunt involved. He commented that the scene was "very cleverly filmed" and if it was not for the lack of a falling body, viewers may have thought a stunt had been performed. The actor explained that the restrictive time-slot and G rating means Neighbours are not allowed to show a falling body. Dennis described the shoot as being "no different from another day of shooting on Neighbours."
Dennis was told the identity of the culprit minutes before he filmed the scene in which Paul was pushed. He was initially the only cast member who knew for "quite a while." The actor was sworn to secrecy and was not allowed to tell any of his co-stars. Dennis admitted that he was forced to lie that he did not know the identity of Paul's attacker when he was asked. He also said that he was not surprised when the culprit was revealed to him. When asked if he was surprised at who the culprit was, Dennis stated that he was not because it was explained to him why it was that person. The other cast members did not find out who the culprit was until a couple of weeks after the 6000th episode. Jane Hall later revealed that she had known her character, Rebecca, would be the culprit from the start. She was told by the writers it what was what they had planned. Hall admitted to thinking that the storyline would be "really tricky" as it goes against her character's nature.
Of filming the moment in which Rebecca pushes Paul, Hall said "The way Stefan Dennis (who plays Paul) and I interpreted it and acted it was we had to satisfy ourselves that it was one of those random and instantaneous mistakes people make. When we worked on the scene we had to make it look like she had a moment of fury that caused her to do that." Hall knew that viewers would be surprised at Rebecca being the culprit and she herself was surprised by the fan's reactions. Some women questioned how Rebecca could do such a thing to Paul, even though he cheated on her and lied to her. Hall thought that someone could get "so fed up" that they made a rash decision that is not something they thought they could ever do. In September 2010, Rebecca's confession and explanation for the night she pushed Paul was broadcast. The episode initially saw Declan Napier (Erin Mullally) admit to Kate Ramsay (Ashleigh Brewer) that he was responsible to protect his mother. Hall added that "the ramifications of Rebecca pushing Paul over the mezzanine are far-reaching".
Suspects and motives
A reporter for BBC News explained that following the attempt on Paul's life, viewers would be left to guess the culprit from a number of suspects in a similar way to the popular Dallas storyline "Who shot J.R.?" There were officially six suspects for the attempted murder. The developments leading up to moment Paul is pushed were played out over five episodes, each focusing on one of the suspects. The episodes explored possible motives and the events involving Paul and the suspects. Dennis told an Inside Soap columnist that each episode would begin with Paul standing on the mezzanine, before it flash backs to the events preceding it. Viewers would then see why each suspect had a reason to harm him. Bower revealed that the viewers would know ahead of the characters who the actual culprit was. An MSN writer added "With so many enemies who had the motive to harm him, it will be very hard to guess 'Who pushed P.R?'"
Paul's youngest son, Andrew Robinson (Jordan Patrick Smith), wished his father dead after Paul threatened to disinherit him. Andrew was loyal to his father, but realised that Paul stood in his way of future success. Smith said "Andrew has tried to gain his dad's approval, but Paul refuses to see his good intentions, leaving Andrew to resort to desperate measures to get what he wants." Paul's wife, Rebecca, had discovered that he embezzled money from Lassiter's, had sex with Diana, threatened her son and exposed Stephanie Scully's (Carla Bonner) secret. Rebecca felt betrayed by all of this and Hall observed that "Rebecca's hurt turns to rage". Following Paul's fall, Rebecca arrived at the scene within a few seconds. Rebecca's son, Declan Napier, went against Paul and tried to take over Lassiter's. When Paul found out he threatened both Declan's mother and daughter, India (Alia and Gabriella DeVercelli). Declan told Rebecca that Paul cannot hurt her and get away with it shortly before Paul was pushed. Of the situation, Mullally commented "When Declan sees that Paul is the cause of his mother's traumatic state, in addition to his own professional failure, he's had enough."
Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) hated Paul after his sham marriage to Steph and her paternity cover-up were exposed. Paul had also insulted Toadie's partner, Sonya Mitchell (Eve Morey), and forced Toadie to do some illegal and immoral things in his capacity as a lawyer. Toadie was left wanting some payback. On why Toadie could be the culprit, a Holy Soap reporter wrote that he had "already proved himself a man of questionable morals". Lyn Scully (Janet Andrewartha) had not recovered from her heartbreak at being dumped by Paul hours after their wedding in 2006. Paul also destroyed her daughter, Steph's life by exposing her secret. Lyn was heard commenting that the world would be better off without Paul around. Diana Marshall became a suspect after Paul jilted her "in the boardroom and the bedroom". Paul also humiliated Diana when he sent her packing from Lassiter's. Of Diana's reason to kill Paul, Badler explained "Seeing her name splashed across the Erinsborough News prompts Diana to pull out all the stops in order to bring Paul down. And she still has friends in high places!" Diana was seen placing a call asking for something to be taken care of and handing money over to a stranger just before Paul was pushed.
Shortly after the attempt on Paul's life, Scott McGregor was introduced to the cast as Detective Brennan, who was placed in charge of the investigation. Brennan wasted no time in questioning the Ramsay Street residents, but he received conflicting information. Jackie Brygel from TV Week reported that Mark would have his work cut out for him as everyone was seemingly intent on pointing the finger at someone else. Everyone began jumping to conclusions as they had their own suspicions as to who committed the crime. McGregor explained that Kate Ramsay would give Rebecca a false alibi, while Lyn would get Diana into "strife" and Summer Hoyland (Jordy Lucas) lands Andrew in trouble, but he would not help himself either. Channel 5 ran a poll on their website asking viewers to predict who pushed Paul and over 10,000 votes were cast. The majority of the voters thought it was someone other than the six suspects. 20% thought Diana had pushed Paul, followed by 19% who correctly guessed it was Rebecca. Declan pulled in 16% of the vote, Andrew had 14%, while Lyn drew 6%, Sonya 5% and Toadie had 1%.
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