UK girl's Neighbours role sure to please grandad

Neighbours newcomer Gabriella Darlington is sure to be a massive hit in one particular household - her grandad's. The Essex teenager, who was picked from over 1,500 hopefuls in the show's Be A Star contestant to play free-spirited British backpacker Poppy Rogers, said he never misses an episode of the Aussie show. She told This Morning: "Literally, my grandad watches it every day and he knows everything that's going on." Gabriella, who filmed a four-week stint on the show, described the experience as 'amazing', particularly as it was the first time she had even thought about acting as a career. "I hadn't ever considered acting properly before, but I saw the competition being advertised and mum said 'go on, give it a go.' I entered not thinking much would happen and then I'm going on it." Gabriella's scenes will screen in the UK in November. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.