Aviva "Viv" Newton is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Mouche Phillips. She made her first appearance on 5 July 1989 and departed on 25 May 1990. Casting When Phillips auditioned for the role of Viv she was living with established cast member Justine Clarke, who plays Roo Stewart. The producers left a message on Phillips answering machine telling her she had the part. Phillips said that she began filming the same week that Clarke finished filming and felt like they were doing a swap. Phillips said that her first day of filming was "dreadful". She told TV Week that "I felt like I was just warming up in a scene and they'd say 'done!. Phillips told a writer from Look-in that she liked to be kept busy on set. She explained that "people" were often left trying to find her because she was not where she should have been. Character development Karen Krizanovich from TV Guide said that the character has been created specifically to "bring a little glamour to the day-to-day lives at Summer Bay". In the Home and Away – Official Collector’s Edition a writer described Viv as a "feisty and beautiful" character. In one storyline Viv dates Matt Wilson (Greg Benson). They later break up because Matt is romancing other women and she gets back together with Steven Matheson (Adam Willits). In his book The who's who of soap operas; Anthony Howard said that Steven did not have the same sex appeal as Matt, but he was more "loving and reliable" to Viv. The character was written out of Home and Away during 1990. Phillips told Graeme Kay from BIG! that the role had taken up too much of her time and she preferred having a free schedule. Storylines Viv meets Steven and Brian 'Dodge' Forbes (Kelly Dingwall) while they are in the city. Viv reveals she is running from her abusive father John (John Gregg), who is a reverend and Steven and Dodge take her back to Summer Bay. Lance Smart (Peter Vroom) and his mother, Colleen (Lyn Collingwood) agree to cover for Viv and lie that she is a relative staying with them. The truth is revealed and John turns up looking for Viv and charms everybody. John manipulates Viv by using her younger sister, Tammy (Katy Edwards) in order to guilt trip her into