Joe Mangel

Infobox soap character
colour = Television colour|Neighbours
name = Joe Mangel
series=Neighbours


first = August 8, 1988
Episode 786
last = November 23, 2005
Episode 4858
cause = To Help Toby on his farm
nickname =
alias =
gender = Male
age =
born =
death =
occupation = Farmer/Construction Worker
title =
parents = Leonard Mangel (father)
Eleanor Mangel (mother)
siblings = Amanda Harris
spouse = Noeline Mangel (?-1989; divorced)
Kerry Bishop (1989-1990; widowed)
Melanie Pearson (1991-1993; divorced)
children = Toby Mangel (son)
Sky Mangel (adoptive daughter)
nieces/nephews = Jane Harris (niece)
grandchildren = Kerry Mangel, Jr. (adoptive granddaughter)
aunts/uncles=Cedric Mangel (uncle)
Isabelle (aunt)

episode =
portrayer = Mark Little
creator = Ray Kolle
residence = Western Australia

Joe Mangel was a fictional character who appears in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours", played by Mark Little. He first appeared in 1988 until 1991, and made a brief return for several months in 2005.

Character's background

Joe was the youngest child of Len and Nell Mangel. In contrast, to his studious sister Amanda, Joe was laidback and roguish and often disappointed his mother. Joe and Nell's relationship fell apart when Nell found a gun and immediately assumed Joe was involved in a hold-up on a local service Station.

Joe left home and moved to Darwin and later fell in love with and married Noeline. They had a son called Toby (Ben Guerens). Their happiness wasn't to last as Joe couldn't cope with the financial burden of a family and left when Toby was three.

Sometime later, Joe's niece Jane Harris (Annie Jones) found a pistol buried in the back yard and Nell explained about Joe. Jane, with the help of Neighbour, Henry Ramsay (Craig McLachlan) went to track down Joe and found him in a Neighbouring suburb of Erinsborough.

Joe initially didn't want to contact Nell after everything, but eventually did. The gun issue was resolved but Nell and Joe's relationship took a while to develop

When Nell remarried and moved to England, Joe took over Number 32 and moved a lot of his junk in, much to the disgust of Jane.

Joe later bonded with Nell's dog, Bouncer.

Joe set up a landscape gardening business with Henry after becoming firm friends.

Noeline made a reappearance in Joe's life with a Nine-year-old, Toby. Joe took a while to get used to being a father and initially saw his son as soft. However, he warmed to him.

When Noelene eventually came to collect, Toby, Joe was sad to see him leave and was horrified when it was revealed that Noeline's new husband, Ted had been beating both Noeline and Toby. After Joe came to the rescue of his ex-wife and their son, He and Noeline worked out an understanding between them.

Joe later began seeing Kerry Bishop, Harold's (Ian Smith) daughter. Harold was not best pleased with that especially when he found out Kerry had spent the night with Joe.

Kerry didn't really want to get seriously involved but Joe's quick thinking, when her daughter Sky (Miranda Fryer) was bitten by a redback spider while on a picnic, managed to sway her feelings.

Joe and Kerry decided to get married alongside their friends Henry and Bronwyn (Rachel Friend), and Jane and her fiancee Des Clarke (Paul Keane) in a triple wedding ceremony. When Nell fell ill in England, Jane decided to fly out and visit her. Joe and Kerry wound up marrying alone in a butterfly sanctuary with all their family and friends present.

In early 1990, Noelene returned wanting Toby to live with her in Darwin, having gotten a new job there. Toby made a hard choice and decided to go and live with his mother. This was short-lived as Noeline was hit by a car and killed, forcing Toby to return to Joe and Kerry. Joe and Kerry helped Toby through his grief. A while later Joe and Kerry agreed to adopt each other's children.

Tragedy struck later that year when Kerry was shot by a stray bullet while protesting against Duck hunters, she was rushed to hospital, but she died in Theatre and also lost the baby she was carrying. Joe and Harold were grief stricken.

Following Kerry's funeral, Sky's biological father, Eric Jensen came to claim custody of Sky. Joe lost in court and Eric gained custody. Joe made a desperate attempt to hang on to his daughter and grabbed her while Eric and his wife weren't looking and headed off into the Bush with her and Toby. Joe, after much persuasion from Harold eventually gave himself up and returned Sky to the Jensens. Eric eventually handed Sky back when he admitted couldn't cope with her as well as a new baby he and his wife were due to have.

Joe later fell for his lodger Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden) and they were married in October 1991. On hearing the news that Nell had had another Heart Attack, Joe realised that he and Melanie would have to sell the house to afford the medical bills. On leaving for England, Joe arranged for Toby to live with Dorothy Burke (Maggie Dence), who lived next door, while they were gone.

Joe, Melanie and Sky later returned to Australia and sent for Toby to join them in the countryside. Several Years later, Joe and Melanie divorced.

In 2005, Joe returned to Erinsborough on the eve of Sky's 18th Birthday and stayed for several months. He had many clashes with Janelle Timmins (Nell Feeney) and his former-in-laws, the Bishops. Joe became involved with Lyn Scully (Janet Andrewartha), who was separated from her husband also named Joe (Shane Connor). Lyn's eldest daughter, Steph (Carla Bonner) originally resented this union but came around.

Joe proved to be a great support to Harold and Sky after David (Kevin Harrington), Liljana (Marcella Russo) and Serena (Lara Sacher) died in a plane crash above the Tasman Sea.

Joe and Lyn announced their engagement but it was cut short when Toby phoned from Western Australia needing help on his farm. Joe was reluctant to leave, but Lyn persuaded him to go and help his son. Joe then left town after saying goodbye to Sky and returned to the bush once more.

Character Notes

*Joe's final words were "See ya round like a rissole!" to Kim Timmins.
*On Joe's 2005 return, Mark Little was originally meant to stay for three months, but was granted six. However, following disputes over pay and character direction, he only stayed four months.