Former Home and Away favourites are stepping back into the spotlight in dramatic fashion, as explosive new series The Imposter brings together familiar faces

from Australian television in a gripping, high-stakes family thriller that promises scandal, secrets, and shocking consequences. For fans of long-running soaps and emotionally

charged storytelling, this reunion feels both nostalgic and thrillingly new. Marking a major return for Dani Minogue to scripted acting for the first time since her Home and Away days,

The Imposter takes the concept of family drama and pushes it into dangerous territory—where love, loyalty, and inheritance collide with manipulation, betrayal, and even murder.

A Family Torn Apart by Secrets

At the centre of The Imposter is the wealthy and deeply fractured O’Reilly family. Helen O’Reilly (played by Neighbours icon Jackie Woodburne) is a formidable matriarch who owns and runs a prestigious Melbourne hotel alongside her three adult children. To the outside world, the O’Reillys are successful, respectable, and united. Behind closed doors, however, resentment simmers and long-buried wounds threaten to surface.

Helen’s carefully controlled world is thrown into chaos when her long-lost adoptive daughter Amanda suddenly reappears after decades of absence. Amanda’s arrival is anything but welcome—particularly to Helen’s other children, who immediately question her motives and fear she has returned to claim her share of the family fortune once the hotel is sold.

What begins as suspicion quickly escalates into something far darker.

Jackie Woodburne: A Powerful Matriarch at Breaking Point

Jackie Woodburne brings quiet authority and emotional depth to Helen O’Reilly, a woman who has built her life around control and order. Known to audiences worldwide as Susan Kennedy on Neighbours, Woodburne’s performance in The Imposter marks her most substantial television role outside Ramsay Street in decades.

Helen is firm, exacting, and emotionally distant—until Amanda’s return cracks her hardened exterior. For the first time, Helen is forced to confront the choices she made as a mother and the emotional cost of those decisions. As a health crisis looms, Helen must reassess her priorities, her legacy, and whether the family she built is worth saving.

Kim Marsh and Dani Minogue: Two Faces of Amanda

One of The Imposter’s most intriguing twists lies in the character of Amanda, portrayed by both Kim Marsh and Dani Minogue. Amanda’s complicated past—born in the UK, adopted young, and separated from her birth family—has shaped her into a woman who believes the world owes her something.

Kim Marsh delivers a sharp, emotionally layered performance as Amanda Clare: resourceful, wounded, and morally flexible. Best known for her long-running role as Michelle Connor on Coronation Street, Marsh brings both vulnerability and menace to the role, keeping viewers guessing about Amanda’s true intentions.

Dani Minogue’s return to acting adds another layer of fascination. Having last appeared in Home and Away in 1990 as Emma Jackson, The Imposter marks her first scripted TV role in more than three decades. Her involvement has generated enormous interest, not only because of her iconic pop career and television presenting work, but because her character plays a pivotal role in unraveling the O’Reilly family’s darkest secrets.

Sibling Rivalry Turns Deadly

The O’Reilly siblings are a powder keg waiting to explode.

Don Hany stars as Simon O’Reilly, a deeply flawed man whose lack of self-control has already destroyed his marriage and alienated his teenage son. Simon’s past affair—with a woman who may not be who she claims to be—comes back to haunt him in devastating ways. As paranoia grows, Simon’s desperation pushes him toward increasingly reckless decisions.

Jane Harber plays Kate O’Reilly, the dutiful daughter trapped between loyalty and self-preservation. Hardworking and honest to a fault, Kate struggles with both her domineering mother and a marriage that is quietly crumbling. Her internal conflict makes her one of the series’ most emotionally resonant characters.

Jackson Gallagher rounds out the siblings as Ian, the youngest and most compassionate of the three. Sensitive and hopeful, Ian dreams of starting a family with his partner Lee through surrogacy—an ambition that hinges on the sale of the hotel. As tensions rise, Ian finds himself caught between morality and survival.

A Supporting Cast That Raises the Stakes

Charlie Clausen, another Home and Away alumnus, appears as Todd, a charming real estate agent whose glossy exterior hides unsettling truths. Todd’s connection to Kate—and his role in the hotel’s potential sale—adds another layer of intrigue to the unfolding drama.

Kabir Singh plays Lee, Ian’s partner, a grounded and pragmatic presence who becomes increasingly uneasy as the family’s dysfunction spirals out of control. His outsider perspective highlights just how toxic the O’Reilly environment has become.

From Suspicion to Murder

What sets The Imposter apart is its willingness to push soap-style family drama into true thriller territory. Underhanded tactics escalate into acts of sabotage, medical malpractice, and ultimately, murder. Each revelation peels back another layer of deception, forcing viewers to question who can be trusted—and who is capable of crossing the ultimate line.

The series thrives on moral ambiguity. No one is entirely innocent, and no secret remains buried for long.

A Nostalgic Reunion with Modern Bite

For fans of Home and Away, Neighbours, and Coronation Street, The Imposter feels like a reunion event—bringing together beloved performers in a story that is darker, sharper, and more contemporary than traditional soaps. It balances nostalgia with risk, proving these actors are more than capable of reinventing themselves in bold new ways.

Will The Imposter Return for Season Two?

While no second series has been officially confirmed, the explosive finale leaves plenty of room for continuation. Given the show’s dramatic ending and strong cast appeal, fans would be unsurprised if the story continues.

The Imposter airs on Channel 5 at 9:00 p.m. from Monday, December 15 to Thursday, December 18, with all episodes available on demand afterward.

One thing is certain: for viewers who love family dramas where emotions run high and consequences are deadly, The Imposter is unmissable—and this reunion proves former Home and Away stars are still capable of delivering television at its most explosive.