The Isle of Man’s reputation was called into question in a recent episode of the Australian soap opera Neighbours.

In the scene, character Mackenzie Hargreaves asks her boss, lawyer ’Toadie’ Rebecchi, if she can tell Rose Walker about the ’dodgy things’ that her estranged husband James has been doing.

She says this includes ’His assets - the boat, the city apartment, his accounts in the Isle of Man’.

Both Toadie and apprentice Mackenzie are worried about Rose’s decision to take an unfair divorce settlement from James, as they know he is secretly hiding a number of his assets in places like the Isle of Man - and so she is entitled to a lot more.

Toadie insists that they cannot tell Rose as it would be a breach of client confidentiality, but as he no longer represents James, Mackenzie takes the initiative to meet up with Rose and drop subtle hints as to where she can find the hidden assets, making references to his bank accounts.

When asked for comment about the Isle of Man being referred to in this way, Executive Director of the Crown and External Relations Division Peter Boxer said: ’I haven’t watched Neighbours for decades.

’I remember it being all about Charlene, Scott and Bouncer, and it looks like the writers’ knowledge of the Isle of Man is as out of date as my knowledge of Neighbours.’

In other Neighbours news, former star of the show Jason Donovan is scheduled to perform next December at the Villa Gaiety.

The Australian actor and singer, famous for his portrayal of Scott Robinson on the show before starting his music career, was originally due to star in his musical Even More Good Reasons Tour on the island in Feburary 2021, but this was postponed because of the pandemic.