His departure was publicised in the 8 November 1986 edition of TV Week, where Stephen Cook reported that Paine had quit the serial and would finish up when production took a break at the end of the year, with his final scenes airing in early 1987. Paine's decision came shortly after co-star Peter O'Brien left to take a role in The Flying Doctors on a rival network. Network 10 tried to keep Paine's departure a secret and he was not allowed to speak to TV Week about his exit. Paine later explained that Clive was too nice and the role was no longer believable. He said, "Clive was becoming just too good to be true. I mean, the guy was only 24 but he spent every spare minute either fixing someone's love life or Daphne's coffee machine." He did not regret leaving the show despite its popularity at the time, and was pleased with the career direction he took. In July 1989, Kevin Sadlier of The Sydney Morning Herald said that during research for an article on the show's 1000th episode, he heard of a plan to bring back a popular cast member from the previous year, and speculated that it was Paine. Paine went on to make a brief return later that year. Reintroduction In a December 2016 interview with Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy, Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison teased the return of a series regular from 1986 to 1987. Herbison said the character would return in a recurring capacity and would be seen in "a work environment". Paine's management later confirmed that he had reprised his role as Clive. Paine told Johnathon Hughes of the Radio Times that he had enquired about a return through his agent and the show's producers agreed to bring the character back. Paine also said that he had been asked to return numerous times since his departure, but he had always been busy with his acting career or personal life. Clive made his return during the episode broadcast on 9 March 2017. He was introduced as the Chief operating officer (COO) of Erinsborough Hospital. Paine said that in his time away from Erinsborough, Clive had "matured and is bit more buttoned up", but he wants to "re-establish a part of his life that he enjoyed, which was his time in Ramsay Street." Speaking about Clive's friendly rivalry with Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis),