List of Neighbours characters introduced in 1985
Maria Ramsay, played by Dasha Bláhová, made her first appearance during the show's first episode broadcast on 18 March 1985. She was the first regular character to leave the serial, after six months on screen. Maria is married to Max Ramsay (Francis Bell) and is the mother of Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien) and Danny Ramsay (David Clencie). Maria is billed as "a warm and sensitive woman, tolerant of her husband's moods." Her best friend is Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy), who helped Maria and Max reconcile after a period of separation, and is the only other person aware that Max is not Danny's biological father. Television critic, Andrew Mercado called the Ramsay family the backbone of the serial during the early years. In her book "Soap opera", Dorothy Hobson describes Maria and her family as "more working class than other characters". She also said "They had working-class jobs but were not represented as cloth cap wearing or dowdy, they were bright and modern and representative of a vibrant and working population." To celebrate the 20th anniversary of ''Neighbours'', the BBC asked readers to nominate their twenty favourite obscure characters. Maria came in fourteenth place in list. In her review of the serial, Jacqueline Lee Lewis of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' felt Bláhová "gives a particularly sensitive performance" as Maria.Maria is the daughter of an Italian father, Franco and a Czech mother, Anna. She is married to Max Ramsay, whom she met when he worked with her father in Queensland. They live at Number 24 Ramsay Street with their sons Shane and Danny. Maria's marriage to Max is rocky as their personalities are different. She notices that Max does not have the same interest in Danny as he does with Shane, and she suspects that Max knows he is not Danny's real father. Maria interviews Terry Inglis (Maxine Klibingaitis) to be Max's assistant and Terry tells her that she is keen to prove that she can do the job as well as any man. Maria supports her and gives Terry the job.
When Danny turns eighteen, Maria tells Max that when she found him with another woman on their wedding anniversary, she ran away to a country inn, where she met Tim Duncan (Nick Carrafa). They had a one-night stand and she later found out she was pregnant with Danny. Only her friend Helen Daniels knew the truth. Max becomes enraged and moves into a bedsit. While the couple were separated, Maria falls in love with Richard Morrison (Peter Flett). Danny does not accept the relationship and forces Maria to choose between him and Richard. She makes the difficult choice to be with Richard and she leaves Erinsborough to live in Hong Kong with him. After a few months, Maria returns to her mother's home and she calls Max. Max agrees to give their marriage a second chance and he moves to Brisbane to be with her. Nearly 40 years later, Shane returns to Erinsborough to buy into Lassiter's Hotel. When 24 Ramsay Street is put up for sale, he calls Maria and promises to buy it for her. Provided by Wikipedia
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