Wissenswertes

Although Ian Smith is now the longest serving actor on the Australian TV show "Neighbours", he has not played the character of Harold Bishop continuously. Ian originally played the character from 1987-1991, then left the show for 5 years before returning to play the character again in 1996.

Found out, at the age of 54, that he was adopted.

Reg Watson offered Ian the chance to work on Nachbarn (1985) on the day that Smith and his colleagues taped the final edition of Prisoner (1979) - Watson being the creator of both series. 30 years to the day of the Wentworth drama's first edition, Ian's final Ramsay Street appearance was transmitted by Network Ten.

Was in the audience watching a performance of Little Britain live when they toured Australia. During the show Vicki Pollard (played by Matt Lucas, who much like David Walliams had no idea Ian was in the audience) said she went to Ramsey Street and got fingered by Ian Smith's character, Harold Bishop.

Was the script supervisor for many episodes of Prisoner Cell Block H. Smith would later join the cast as a character, and later returned to his duties on set.

As script supervisor and occasional screenwriter for Prisoner (1979), it was he who came up with the onscreen nickname of the "The Freak" for the iconic antagonist, prison officer Joan Ferguson, who was introduced to the show during its fourth series in 1982.

The longest-serving member of the Nachbarn (1985) cast, having played Harold Bishop since episode 415 in 1987.