Toby Mangel
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Ben Geurens (1990–1993)
| Toby Mangel | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Geurens as Toby Mangel | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Finn Greentree-Keane (1988–1990) Ben Geurens (1990–1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1988–1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 10 November 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 3 February 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Don Battye | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Toby Mangel is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Ben Geurens. He made his first on-screen appearance on 10 November 1988. Toby was originally played by Finn Greentree-Keane from 1988 until 1990. He departed on 3 February 1993.
From his introduction in 1988, Toby was portrayed by Finn Greentree-Keane.[1] Ben Geurens then took over the role when Greentree-Keane decided to leave in 1990.[1] Geurens had previously done a stunt on Neighbours the year before with the New Generation Stunts company and had doubled for some of the other children.[1] When the producers needed a new actor to play the part of Toby they thought Geurens would be ideal as he already had experience with the show.[1] Geurens said that everything seemed so big on his first day on set and he found working with adults to be "strange".[2] He thought his acting was bad, as he had never done it before, but he later improved.[2] Geurens later recalled that it was an "amazing feeling" to be cast, saying "I remember walking onto the set on the first day to start work but it's hard to take everything in when you're a kid. It all seems like a bit of a blur."[1]
In the 5 December 1992 issue of TV Week, Mark McGowan reported that producers had decided to write Geurens out of the show.[2] Guerens admitted that he was "a bit sad" with the decision, commenting "I guess that's the way the ball bounces."[2] He was told that the writers could not do much more with his character and there was nowhere for him to go.[2] McGowan said there was talk of Toby returning for guest appearances, but Guerens did not think that would happen, adding "Once you go, you go."[2] He departed in 1993.[1]