portrayal of Madge, Charleston won the Performance by an Actress in a Series or Serial accolade at the 1987 Penguin Awards. The episode featuring Madge's death earned writer Shane Porteous (under the pen name John Hanlon) the Australian Writers' Guild award for "Best Episode in a Television Serial". In 2007, Australian newspaper the Herald Sun placed Madge's death at number two on their list of Neighbours Top Ten moments. They said "One of the most memorable characters in the show was Madge Bishop, played by Anne Charleston, who now lives in the UK. After enduring so much, she and husband Harold were looking forward to a happy retirement until Madge was diagnosed with cancer, dying a few months later in the arms of Harold in 2001. It was a death that rivaled Daphne's in the sadness stakes". Holy Soap also named Madge's death as one of their top Neighbours moments. They called her one of the most memorable characters in the show and said viewers were left in mourning when she died in Harold's arms. Tony Squires from The Sydney Morning Herald branded Madge a "classically over-the-top character", who producers should have given more screen time to. Ruth Deller of television website Lowculture gave Madge a five out of five for her contribution to Neighbours, during a feature called "A guide to recognising your Ramsays and Robinsons". Deller said "The longest-serving and most loved member of the Ramsay clan was the formidable Madge". Deller added that "Madge was a force to be reckoned with on the street" and she called Madge's death "one of the most emotional storylines in the show". British satellite broadcasting company, Sky, named Madge one of their twenty-five most memorable Neighbours characters of all time. Of Madge, Sky said "If Helen Daniels was the kindly matriarch of Ramsay Street, Madge was happy to croak her way to being the fiery, fiercely protective mother figure of her pop brood, Craig McLachlan and Kylie. Her temperament made her romance with mild-mannered Harold all the more touching, from initially choosing him over Lou, to being the right and proper owners of the coffee shop, and finally the teary scenes when she died of cancer in 2001. That being said, it's the voice that she's really remembered for, standing on a causeway and yelling Harold's name at the ocean like a demented fishwife." Virgin Media included Madge in their top