Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera created by Reg Watson. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the serial in 1994, by order of first appearance. Until 9 May, characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Alan Coleman. Thereafter, they were introduced by his successor, Stanley Walsh. The 10th season of Neighbours began airing from 24 January 1994. Frank Bren began appearing as Colin Taylor in same month. Bren also played Colin's twin brother Alf. March saw the arrivals of Len Mangel, Sally Pritchard and Stonefish Rebecchi. Katerina Torelli made her first appearance in April, followed by Andrew MacKenzie in May. Elliot Patterson and Sam Kratz were introduced in June and Sam's grandmother Marlene Kratz began appearing in July. That month also saw the births of Louise Carpenter and Zac Willis. Serendipity Gottlieb made her debut in August. Stonefish's brother Shane Rebecchi arrived in September. He was followed by the first two members of the Kennedy family: doctor Karl Kennedy and his youngest son Billy. Karl's wife Susan and their elder children Malcolm and Libby followed in October. November saw Bianca Zanotti and Ling Mai Chan make their debut appearances.

Colin Taylor, played by Frank Bren, made his first appearance on 27 January 1994. The character was described as an "incurable chatterbox" and "irritating as hell" by a writer for Inside Soap. Writers later paired Colin with established character Marlene Kratz (Moya O'Sullivan). O'Sullivan said the pair "seem to hit it off in a big way" and that it was "definitely love". Marlene and Colin share similar interests and O'Sullivan thought it was nice that Marlene had someone of her own that cared for her.

Colin introduces himself to Philip (Ian Rawlings) and Julie Martin (Julie Mullins) when they arrive at their holiday bungalow in Queensland. The Martins find Colin friendly, but his tendency to ramble irritates them. Colin reappears several months later as Doug Willis's (Terence Donovan) roommate at the hospital. Colin takes a job at Philip's newsagency and competes against Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) at the auction for Number 28 Ramsay Street but ultimately loses out. Colin makes several changes to the newsagency, and he forms a Barbershop Trio with Philip and Vikram Chatterji (Nigel Rodrigues). Colin moves into Number 30 with Mark Gottlieb (Bruce Samazan) and Cody Willis (Peta Brady). Colin's twin brother Alf (also Bren) comes to visit him. When Colin pursues a relationship with Marlene Kratz, he believes Alf is also trying to making advances towards her and they fight. Alf then admits that he is not interested in Marlene, as he is gay. Colin proposes to Marlene. They argue about what type of ceremony to have, as Marlene is Catholic and Colin wants a civil ceremony. Shortly after, Colin is offered a job as a translator by the curator of the Modern Ceramics exhibition, which is going on a world tour. Marlene ends their relationship, as she does not want to leave her family. Colin then leaves for Argentina, after his friends throw him a leaving party.

Colin received a nomination for Most Annoying Character at the 1996 Inside Soap Awards. Dave Lanning of The People was not a fan of the Colin/Marlene pairing, commenting that the writers must have been on magic mushrooms when they came up with the storyline. He stated, "Moonie Marlene, who had an invisible cat and disappearing garden gnomes, is being wooed by the terminally boring Colin Taylor, who always appeared in a straw boater originally; pioneered barber shop quartets, and is back from China – banging a gong and muttering in Mandarin. You honestly wouldn't script it." Matthew Clifton, writing for HecklerSpray, included the character in his feature on the "Best Ever Mid-90s Neighbours Characters". Clifton said, "Colin was pompous and irritating, a pastiche of a middle class bore who looked a lot like a paedophile. Colin actor Frank Bren also played his identical twin Alf, the more go-getting, handsome one, who turned out to be gay."

Leonard G. "Len" Mangel, played by John Lee, made his first appearance on 16 March 1994. Len is Nell Mangel's (Vivean Gray) former husband, who was often mentioned during the early years of the programme, but never seen. He returns to Erinsborough "out of the blue" and romances Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy), as he wants to steal her widow's pension. An Inside Soap columnist branded Len an "evil conman", and commented, "Poor old Helen – it looks as if she's headed for a fall – again!"

Len is the former husband of Nell Mangel and father of Amanda Harris (Briony Behets) and Joe Mangel (Mark Little). After Len's granddaughter Jane (Annie Jones) suspects Nell has killed him, it is eventually revealed that Len has left Nell for another woman. Len files for divorce and wants to sell Number 32 Ramsay Street and split the proceeds between them. Nell refuses and blackmails Len by threatening to follow him wherever he goes if she should lose the house.

Seven years later, Len returns to Erinsborough after Michael Martin (Troy Beckwith) and Doug Willis (Terence Donovan) find some old war medals and a trombone case with the initials L.G.M inscribed on it, while renovating an old house. Len reveals he used to live in the house and the case and medals belong to him. He lets Michael keep all the medals except for the Flying Cross. Len then meets up with his former neighbour Helen Daniels, who he has not seen in many years and they reminisce about old times. Len mentions he had left Nell because of her incessant nagging and moved in with Mary Pengelly who turned out to be just as bad and faked his death to get away from her and planned to reappear to scare her, but Mary had died before Len had the chance. He also mentions he has since reconciled with Joe but Amanda will not forgive him for leaving Nell. Helen is initially appalled at Len's justification for his actions but continues to see him, much to the chagrin of Julie (Julie Mullins), Helen's granddaughter.

Len attempts to con some money out of Helen by suggesting she invest in Outback Tours. Despite warnings from her family, Helen is undeterred. When Michael returns Len's jacket to an address on his driving license he meets Gwen Childs (Robyn Bissett), who warns him that Len is not to be trusted, as he conned her into putting her money into a joint account and emptied it. Gwen thinks Len may do the same to Helen. Michael warns Helen, who continues not to listen, so he and his sister, Debbie (Marnie Reece-Wilmore), set a trap for Len. When Len is caught, he tries to explain himself to Helen, and she sends him packing.