List of Neighbours characters (1994)

Colin Taylor, played by Frank Bren, made his first appearance on 27 January 1994. The character was described as an "incurable chatterbox" and "irritating as hell" by a writer for ''Inside Soap''. Writers later paired Colin with established character Marlene Kratz (Moya O'Sullivan). O'Sullivan said the pair "seem to hit it off in a big way" and that it was "definitely love". Marlene and Colin share similar interests and O'Sullivan thought it was nice that Marlene had someone of her own that cared for her.

Colin introduces himself to Philip (Ian Rawlings) and Julie Martin (Julie Mullins) when they arrive at their holiday bungalow in Queensland. The Martins find Colin friendly, but his tendency to ramble irritates them. Colin reappears several months later as Doug Willis's (Terence Donovan) roommate at the hospital. Colin takes a job at Philip's newsagency and competes against Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) at the auction for Number 28 Ramsay Street but ultimately loses out. Colin makes several changes to the newsagency, and he forms a Barbershop Trio with Philip and Vikram Chatterji (Nigel Rodrigues). Colin moves into Number 30 with Mark Gottlieb (Bruce Samazan) and Cody Willis (Peta Brady). Colin's twin brother Alf (also Bren) comes to visit him. When Colin pursues a relationship with Marlene Kratz, he believes Alf is also trying to making advances towards her and they fight. Alf then admits that he is not interested in Marlene, as he is gay. Colin proposes to Marlene. They argue about what type of ceremony to have, as Marlene is Catholic and Colin wants a civil ceremony. Shortly after, Colin is offered a job as a translator by the curator of the Modern Ceramics exhibition, which is going on a world tour. Marlene ends their relationship, as she does not want to leave her family. Colin then leaves for Argentina, after his friends throw him a leaving party.

Colin received a nomination for Most Annoying Character at the 1996 ''Inside Soap'' Awards. Dave Lanning of ''The People'' was not a fan of the Colin/Marlene pairing, commenting that the writers must have been on magic mushrooms when they came up with the storyline. He stated, "Moonie Marlene, who had an invisible cat and disappearing garden gnomes, is being wooed by the terminally boring Colin Taylor, who always appeared in a straw boater originally; pioneered barber shop quartets, and is back from China – banging a gong and muttering in Mandarin. You honestly wouldn't script it." Matthew Clifton, writing for HecklerSpray, included the character in his feature on the "Best Ever Mid-90s ''Neighbours'' Characters". Clifton said, "Colin was pompous and irritating, a pastiche of a middle class bore who looked a lot like a paedophile. Colin actor Frank Bren also played his identical twin Alf, the more go-getting, handsome one, who turned out to be gay." Provided by Wikipedia