he "bombarded" the Grundy Organisation with tapes of his performances. He then attended a general audition at Grundys, where he auditioned for Neighbours casting director Jan Russ. He was cast as teenager Mike Young, who became one of several characters introduced in 1986 to give the show "a more youthful look". Two days after finishing his HSC exams, Pearce relocated from Geelong to Melbourne. He started work at Neighbours on 2 December 1985. Mike was his first professional acting role. Pearce was critical of his early performances, saying "I was really awful because I didn't know what I was doing." He admitted that for the first two and a half years, he "was running behind the eight-ball" as he filmed two and a half hours worth of episodes a week, but he eventually settled into his acting and the character began to come naturally to him. Pearce later stated that being cast as Mike was "a fantastic break for an 18-year-old". He said "I'd been doing amateur theatre in Geelong and suddenly I was in a national television show." Pearce made his debut as Mike on 20 January 1986, which was the first episode broadcast on Network Ten following the show's move from Seven Network. Development Characterisation and introduction Mike is introduced as a school friend of Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan). His official character's biography states that he is "a thoroughly nice young man. Scott Robinson recommends him for the job at the coffee shop which he does outside school hours. He is ambitious and hardworking, and often studies in the coffee shop." He is also characterised as "a nice well adjusted young guy with a bright future." Unbeknown to his friends, Mike and his mother Barbara (Rona McLeod; Diana Greentree) are physically abused by his father David Young (Stewart Faichney). This motivates Mike to take the job at the coffee shop, as he wants to earn enough money to get himself and his mother away from David. His boss Daphne Lawrence (Elaine Smith) finds out about his situation and tries to help persuade Barbara to leave her husband, so she and Mike can start afresh, but Barbara is so afraid of David that she cannot make the break. Daphne later suggests that Mike comes to live with her and her partner Des Clarke (Paul Keane), who become his guardians. The storyline led to Pearce receiving hundreds of letters from