Neighbours actor Ian Smith ‘defying the odds’ after terminal cancer diagnosis

Neighbours star Ian Smith has said he is “defying the odds” after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The 86-year-old actor and writer, known for playing former cafe owner Harold Bishop in the Australian soap, previously revealed that he has a rare form of lung cancer, called pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.

Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Adrian Chiles programme: “I’ve got cancer, yes, I’m going to die soon but I seem to be defying the odds, which is good.

“I’m not unhappy about that at all. I have got this very rare cancer. The knowledge (brain) is saying: ‘Ian you are going to die in March’.”

He added that he “almost gave in” but on Friday December 13 he got “good news”.

Smith said: “I’m an atheist. I couldn’t say, ‘Thank you God’. I just had to say, ‘Thank you someone’ for giving me a second chance.

“And I took the second chance and I had to say to myself, what are you going to do with it?

“I’m still not sure I’ve worked out the answer to that but I’m certainly not going to mope around.”

He said that he is “determined to have an electric car before I die”, adding: “And I was speaking to a salesman. I said, ‘Now, what about the delivery? Can you get to me before I’m dead?’ And he was so shocked. I said, ‘Come on, let’s have a giggle’.”

In December, Smith stepped away from playing beloved blunderer Harold, a character he has portrayed on and off since 1987.

At the same time, he revealed his condition was “a very aggressive non-fixable cancer” and doctors “expect me to die”, in an interview with Australia’s 10 News First.

He also said he had gone through chemotherapy, and tried the new treatment immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells.

Smith said: “I’ve really put my hand up, I think, just to be a guinea pig, plus the fact I don’t want to die, I want to stay alive with quality as long as I can, and if they can do that I’m very happy.

“But I wake up every morning hoping there’s no pain because I know that’s the beginning of the bad part.”

He revealed previously he had originally been asked to be a writer on Neighbours, but his practice turn as Harold – the tuba-playing, vegetarian Samaritan, and old flame of Madge (Anne Charleston) – earned him praise from production.

Smith was only supposed to be in a few episodes but ended up staying until 1991, when Harold was washed out to sea while on holiday, before returning from 1996 to 2009.

The character made brief guest appearances in the soap over the years, and it was announced in April 2024 that Harold would be returning to Ramsay Street 15 years after his departure as a regular character.

Earlier this year, Neighbours was cancelled for a second time after being revived by Amazon Prime Video since its initial axing by Channel 5 in 2022.

Executive producer Jason Herbison said he believes “there are more stories of the residents of Ramsay Street to tell in the future”, as the soap is set to air until December 2025.

Outside Neighbours, Smith concentrated on writing and producing, scripting numerous episodes of Australian prison drama Prisoner: Cell Block H.