List of Neighbours characters introduced in 1987

Robert "Rob" Lewis, played by Ernie Bourne, made his first appearance on 17 March 1987. Neil Wallis and Dave Hogan, authors of ''The Neighbours Factfile'' described Rob as "a nice ordinary guy with very simple tastes, though a bit too fond of both his favourite beer – Tooheys – and betting." They also added that he was a "mechanical genius", who could rebuild any car. A writer for BBC Online said the character's most notable moment as "Arriving drunk and embarrassing Gail".

Rob opens his own garage in Erinsborough and moves into Number 22 Ramsay Street with his adopted daughter, Gail (Fiona Corke). He moves out when Gail marries Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) but remains local. He goes into partnership with Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) but problems crop up due to the two men being polar opposites and constant arguing. Matters are made worse when Rob tries to woo Madge Ramsay (Anne Charleston). Rob misses the wedding of Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue) for a lone drinking session, although he also gives Charlene indenture papers for a four-year apprenticeship at the garage as a wedding present. Gail is concerned about his change in behaviour and Harold accuses Rob of stealing money from the garage, which Rob confesses to. Rob reveals he took the money to pay off debts incurred by betting on racehorses. Harold is annoyed and sells his half of the business to Jim Robinson (Alan Dale).

When Gail decides to look for her biological parents, Rob is upset at the idea. Gail is distraught to discover her biological mother, Louise is dead but finds her father, Ian Chadwick (Robin Bowering). Rob, out of jealousy, confronts Ian and warns him away. His plan backfires and Gail is disgusted and refuses to speak to Rob until he apologises to Ian. Rob grows more and more stubborn and competes for Gail's affections with Ian by buying gifts for Gail and Paul's wedding anniversary. Gail tells Rob, no matter what, he will always be her real father and he apologises and gives Ian his blessing to remain in contact with Gail.

Rob meets Gloria Gardner (Beverly Phillips) and falls in love with her. Gail is unimpressed due to Gloria's dress sense and loud personality. Their engagement is met with hostility from Gail and Gloria's son Dean (Andrew Larkins), but they realise their respective single parents love each other and are meant to be together. Paul soon discovers Rob is receiving stolen parts in order to save money and an argument ensues resulting in Rob driving off in a rainstorm and crashing his car. He is hospitalized with serious injuries and comatose for several days. Rob regains consciousness and tells Gloria and Gail to look after each other before going into cardiac arrest and dying. Provided by Wikipedia