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Diana Marshall
Neighbours character
Portrayed by	Jane Badler
Duration	2010
First appearance	22 June 2010
Classification	Current, recurring
Introduced by	Susan Bower
In-universe information Occupation Businesswoman

Diana Marshall is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by American actress Jane Badler. She made her first on-screen appearance on 22 June 2010. The character was created for Badler by the writers who are fans of the 1983 TV miniseries V, which Badler starred in. She has a four month contract with the show. Diana is a business woman who works for the Daniel's Corporation. She arrives in Erinsborough to check up on Paul Robinson, after she discovers he has been embezzling money.

Casting

During an interview with Inside Soap, Badler says the Neighbours writers are big fans of V, so they wrote the part of Diana just for her. They did not know that Badler was in the country until a chance meeting brought them together. Badler said "To cut a long story short, I got connected to the executive producer, Susan Bower, through the guitarist in my band". Badler was trying to get her music featured on the show and instead was given the role. Her Neighbours character is named Diana in tribute to the role she had in V. Badler has a four-month guest contract with the show and she began filming her first scenes in April to air in June 2010.

Badler admitted that filming her first scenes were hard and she "could not get it together". She said "I noticed a few of the other new people. They all went through the same thing, where you have a day where you just go, 'Wow, I can't seem to function!'". Badler also said that occasionally there were no rehearsals and that it was "very daunting" and challenging. She added that the cast were "really nice" and that she got used to the quick pace of filming. Half way through filming her role, Badler stated that she felt the character had been written with her in mind.

When Badler was asked if the door would be left open for Diana to return, she said "Oh yes, absolutely. I was contracted for four months and the way that it ended is very up in the air and I'm sure that they will us me whenever they need to shake things up a bit, you know".

Characterisation

Diana has been described as an Erinsborough villainess, a "super-bitch" and a manipulative businesswoman. She has had a "dysfunctional upbringing", which makes her strong and a fighter. During an interview with Holy Soap, Badler said that Diana works very hard because she wants to be at the top. Badler added "All she's ever known is that she has to claw her way to the top in order to survive". Diana arrives in Erinsborough to "settle a score with Paul Robinson". Badler said "She's Paul's boss, a woman who's been running the Lassiter's arm in New York under CEO Rosemary Daniels. But at one point, a long time back, Paul and Diana were lovers. He broke her heart - as he seems to do often - and Diana's never quite forgotten it". Badler added that Diana has come to bring Paul down and that there is an attraction between them. She makes Paul's life "a nightmare" and Badler added "Diana's back to force him to fall in love with her again, or destroy him - whichever comes first". Because Paul is heir to the Robinson fortune, Diana realises that she will never rise to the top, so she decides to bring him down. Diana also clashes with the other characters and is not well liked as she is abrupt.

Badler defended Diana after similarities were made between her V character and Diana. Badler described how Diana is different stating: "'s nothing like her Diana Marshall's had a dysfunctional upbringing and she's always had to be strong on her own and I think she's a real fighter." She also recounted the struggles she has had to face in her life adding: "She's someone who's had to fight for everything she's got in her life. And so she works very hard and she wants to be at the top of her field."

Storylines

Declan Napier (Erin Mullally) calls Diana to tell her about some missing money from Lassiters. Diana arrives in Erinsborough and goes to Charlie's for a drink. Declan arrives to pick up some food and he calls her, not knowing she is sitting across the bar from him. He tells her that everything is fine and puts the situation with the money down to a software glitch. Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) arrives and Diana comes over to give him a gift. Paul introduces her to Declan and Diana tells him that she is going to stay for a while. Diana tells Declan that if there is any dirt to be found on Paul, she will find it. Paul introduces Diana to the Lassiters staff and his son, Andrew (Jordan Smith) at a lunch. Diana wants to talk to Declan, but Paul sends him away. Rebecca Robinson (Jane Hall) invites Diana to dinner, which she accepts. Diana asks to meet Declan the next day and she questions him about his phone call. Diana tells Declan that she can protect Rebecca and that she knows about Paul embezzling money. Andrew later gives Diana some financial papers from Paul's briefcase, which prove Paul embezzled money. Diana video calls Rosemary Daniels (Joy Chambers), CEO of the Daniels Corporation. Diana tells Rosemary that she has evidence that Paul has been embezzling money. Diana suggests that they remove Paul, but Rosemary tells her that could reflect badly on the company. Rosemary asks Diana to wait and to keep her updated on the situation. Paul asks Diana to join him and take over the company. He goes to Diana's hotel room and they sleep together. Diana secretly films them, but when she checks the tape she finds Paul has wiped it. Diana tells Rebecca that she cannot hold a music gig at Charlie's and later takes her security for a conference at Lassiters. Declan pleads with Diana to help his mother out and Diana brings t-shirts with "security" on them for Declan and Zeke Kinski (Matthew Werkmeister) to wear. Diana asks Toadfish Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) to work for her and he agrees to help bring Paul down. Diana later overhears a conversation between Toadie and Sonya Mitchell (Eve Morey) and realises that Toadie is being unfaithful to his wife. She realises that this is what Paul is blackmailing Toadie with.

Paul tells Diana that he has sold his radio station and that his money troubles will soon be over. He then gives her cab fare to the airport. Diana calls Rosemary and lies that she has secured a deal to sell Pirate Net. She tells Rosemary that she has done the deal to protect Paul. Rosemary tells her that she is grateful and she will book her a flight home. Diana calls Paul and he comes to her hotel room. She tries to seduce him, but he pushes her away. Diana tells him that she is not going anywhere and that she will take everything from him. When Diana comes into Charlie's and orders a drink from Paul, he tells her that nobody beats him and that it was fun crushing her. Diana throws her drink in Paul's face and walks out. She is set to go home, until she hears that Paul has decided to put Declan in charge of Lassiters for six months. Diana goes to Declan and asks him to join her in bringing Paul and Rosemary down, he agrees and they start working together. Diana begins calling the board members in the hope that she can pursuade them to vote Rosemary and Paul out. Paul tells Rosemary about the plan and when Diana arrives at Declan's office, she finds Paul. He tells her that she has been fired.

Diana is angry when she discovers that Paul has put her on the front page of the paper. She confronts Paul and tells him that she has a lot of job offers in New York. Paul says that he doubts anyone will be interested in her. Diana's plane ticket is cancelled and she is thrown out of the hotel by Paul. She later contacts Declan and he tells her that Paul keeps his business papers at home. Diana steals Paul's keys and breaks into his house, but she finds nothing. Diana arranges for someone to hurt Paul and tells Rebecca about sleeping with him. Paul is pushed from the Lassiters mezzanine that night and Detective Mark Brennan (Scott McGregor) finds one of Diana's earrings at the scene. Mark stops Diana at the airport and takes her in for questioning. Diana tells him to question Rebecca again after revealing she had an affair with Paul. Andrew, Summer Hoyland (Jordy Lucas) and Natasha Williams (Valentina Novakovic) follow Diana and see her meeting with a man named Jack Ward (Peter Lowrey). Natasha gets Jack's phone and the group listen to a message left by Diana, telling him to leave town. Andrew goes to see Diana and is confronting her when Mark turns up and arrests her for conspiracy to commit murder. Toadie arrives at the station to talk to Diana and she tells him that she did not push Paul. Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) also goes to see Diana, who tells her that she has been charged. Susan asks Diana if she has contacted anyone and Diana tells her that she has not. Diana is later released.

Someone calls Diana and tells her that Paul told the police that she pushed him. Diana packs her bags and manages to leave her hotel before the police arrive to arrest her. She goes to the hospital to see Paul and she tells him that she did not push him as she would have done the job properly. Diana asks him to tell the police the truth, before leaving the room.

Reception

Erin Mullally, Badler's co-star, praised her appearance in Neighbours. He said that "she has so much intensity on screen and sometimes she'll throw in some interesting comedy as well". He added "She is great to work with, so beautiful, really happy and chirpy. And when she goes on screen she plays this callous, powerful, intimidating persona and her eyes just go straight through you!"

Television critic, Andrew Mercado, said that Neighbours had made it's "best casting decision in years" when they asked Badler to join the show. He hoped that she would be around for a while and he added the show "desperately needs a bitch right now". Mercado later compared Diana and Paul to Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her predecessor Kevin Rudd. He said "Arrogant men rarely see wily women sneaking up from behind to stab them in the back. Kevin Rudd has just been forced to stand aside as Australian Prime Minister to avoid an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Deputy Leader Julia Gillard and now Neighbours' Paul Robinson could be the next to go with a celebrated 80's superbitch infiltrating Ramsay Street".

References

1. ^ Herbison, Jason (2010). Dirty Diana!. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. pp. 36–7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
2. ^ Knox, David (18 June 2010). "Jane Badler's Neighbours debut". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
3. Wightman, Catriona (26 March 2010). "Jane Badler joins 'Neighbours' cast". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
4. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (15 June 2010). "Jane Badler teases 'Neighbours' role". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
5. ^ Millar, Paul (11 August 2010). "'Neighbours' newcomer admits to nerves". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
6. ^ "Jane: Diana leads Paul astray". Holy Soap. Channel Five. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
7. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (12 August 2010). "'Neighbours' Diana not like 'V' character". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
8. "Queen of mean hits Neighbours". Holy Soap. Channel Five. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
9. "Jane's V important question". Holy Soap. Channel Five. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
10. ^ "Neighbours star praises Jane Badler". MSN TV. Microsoft. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
11. ^ Mercado, Andrew (29 March 2010). "Make Things Right with the Hey Dad Actors…". mercadoTV. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
12. ^ Mercado, Andrew (24 June 2010). "K Rudd and the Alien Queen". mercadoTV. Retrieved 18 September 2010.

• Neighbours characters
• Fictional businesspeople
• Fictional characters from New York City