1981
As 1981 began, Lee used her illness to hold onto Doug, but actually saved the life of her rival, Julie: when Brent returned and tried to kill Julie, hoping to collect his reward, Lee pushed her out of harm's way. Lee was put into the Bayview Sanitarium and Doug and Julie moved in together. Eventually Lee was released. Doug and Julie remarried, but Lee had managed to turn Hope against Julie, and the girl chose to live with Tom and Alice rather than with her dad and Julie.
Alex adopted Jessica, and finally Marie told him she was his natural child, and they began to rekindle their relationship. Alex told Jessica the truth and she was angry with Marie. Marie left the convent to marry Alex, but when Jessica ran away, they decided to wait. Marie moved in with him, but refused sex and postponed the wedding. Jessica tried to enter a convent, but Marie stepped in, and Jessica was dismissed. Jessica developed multiple personality disorder.
Mary schemed to separate Marie and Alex, and when Alex was shot, Renee Dumonde was arrested, but Alex, paralyzed, could not identify the shooter.
Maggie became pregnant through artificial insemination and, by year's end, delivered a girl, Sarah. Dr. Evan Whyland learned he was the sperm donor and doted on Maggie.
Marlena was raped by Kellam, and his son Josh attempted to kill him. Instead, Kellam's other son, Tod, killed him while protecting his brother. Everyone kept the rape a secret. Then the Salem Strangler killed several women and terrorized Marlena. Jessica (and her two other personalities) became involved with Jake Kositchek.
Tony DiMera, the son of crime boss Stefano DiMera, arrived in town to reclaim his wife Liz. Tony became interested in Renee, but her sister Lee interfered.
New Year's Eve brought a gala celebration hosted by Liz, while the Salem Strangler attempted twice to kill Renee.
Stefano DiMera came to Salem in 1982, and Lee told him that Renee was his daughter. She was Renee's mother, not her sister. Stefano later faked a heart attack to keep Tony and Renee apart, but still in town.
Eugene Bradford confessed to being the Strangler, but the murders continued.
Tony forced Liz to stay with him, as their divorce had never been finalized.
Linda, Phyllis, and Melissa returned to Salem.
Evan tried to gain custody of Sarah, but Mickey and Maggie won custody.
David was arrested and jailed for shooting Alex, which he did not do. He was also suspected to be the Strangler. Shortly after Jessica left Jake for Josh, the Salem Strangler mistakenly killed Samantha, thinking she was Marlena. Jake turned out to be the murderer. After a confrontation with Roman, Jake shot himself. Jake's brother Chris felt guilty and found comfort in a relationship with Roman's sister Kayla. Josh and Jessica married and left town.
Alex and Evan worked for Stefano. When Mickey started snooping around the DiMera business, Stefano held him prisoner on the DiMera island while everyone believed he was dead.
David and Renee married, but Tony tried to stop the wedding when he learned he and Renee were not actually siblings.
Liz became pregnant with Neil's child, though Tony believed the child was his. Liz pushed Neil away for his own protection, and he turned to Marie.
Roman and Marlena became involved, but his long-missing wife Anna returned to Salem with their daughter, Carrie. Anna used Carrie against Roman, and he vowed vengeance. She was working for Stefano and attempted to discredit Roman, but when her plan didn't work and he disrupted Stefano's crime organization, Stefano in turn sought revenge on Roman.
As the year came to a close, romance was in the air: police officers Abe Carver and Danny competed for the affections of police secretary Nikki Wade; Chris dated Kayla; Eugene dated Gwen; and Don professed love to Maggie.
In 1983, Alex had become Stefano's right-hand man, and he tried to kill Kayla Brady and Alice Horton, but fumbled both attempts.
Though Liz caught Tony and Renee fooling around, she could not come up with enough evidence to sue him for divorce.
After abducting Marlena and Liz, Stefano was captured. He apparently died of a massive coronary while in prison. His will stipulated that Tony and Renee had to live together in the same home for a year in order to get their inheritances. Whoever gave Stefano a grandchild first would receive another $5 million. Renee and David, with Scotty, moved into the DiMera mansion with Tony and Anna.
Liz gave birth, but she lost consciousness and was unable to tell Neil he was the baby's father. Neil married Marie before he learned the truth, and Tony divorced Liz. Neil and Marie divorced after Liz shot Marie, thinking she was an intruder. Liz was convicted of attempted murder. Neil almost remarried Liz in prison, but a wound during an attempted prison break left her with amnesia, and she remembered only her marriage to Don.
Roman and Marlena married. After many attempts on his life, Roman went undercover to find Stefano, who was not really dead. Mickey escaped and returned to Salem. He had a non-fatal heart attack when he heard Maggie and Don declaring their love for each other.
Renee was married briefly to Alex, and exposed his scheming. She also lashed out at everyone whom she believed had wronged her. She was found dead shortly after. A serial killer was on the loose, and Roman was the prime suspect. With the help of Marlena and Alice, he escaped jail to search for the real killer. When the trail led him to Los Angeles, he found an ally in his ex-wife Anna, who was hiding from Alex. Carrie stayed with Marlena.
Hope was reintroduced to Roman's younger brother Bo, and they fought their attraction to each other until her 18th birthday. They almost made love, but Doug interrupted them. The shock caused Doug to have a heart attack.
As 1984 started, Hope and Bo tried to stay apart for Doug's sake. Then, to protect Bo, she was forced to marry crooked D.A. Larry Welch. That marriage was invalid. Bo and Hope finally made love in New Orleans, where they exchanged romantic--if not legally binding--wedding vows.
Stefano was behind the murders carried out by Andre, Tony's identical cousin, after DiMera imprisoned the real Tony and Anna. Roman faked his own death in order to outwit Stefano.
Liz regained her memory and she and Neil married. Maggie and Don broke things off, even though she had already divorced Mickey.
One of three powerful prisms made its way from Daphne to Melissa to Calliope and, finally, to Tony during the flight to a fashion photo shoot involving Eugene, Calliope, Bo, Hope, Anna, Liz, Carlo, Daphne, Andre, and Tony. Stefano planned to imprison them all but the plane crashed. Daphne died in Andre's arms. After a fight with Tony, Andre met his fate in quicksand. The rest survived on the island, where Tony gave Jasmine, a native girl, the prism necklace. It eventually made its way back to Stefano. On the island, however, Roman, who had joined the search for the missing passengers, fought with Stefano. Roman was shot and fell off a cliff, dying in his brother Bo's arms.
Kimberly Brady returned to Salem for Roman's memorial service. Bo's ex-girlfriend, Megan Hathaway, came to town too. She turned out to be Stefano's daughter. After Hope exposed Larry as corrupt, she became a police officer.
Linda was furious with her daughter Melissa for selling her shares in Anderson. Linda attempted to drive Melissa insane. On New Year's Eve, Tom and Alice watched a mystery man run from the explosion that left Anderson Manufacturing in flames.
Megan was murdered as 1985 began, and when Hope was framed for it, Stefano blamed the Brady family for her death. He attempted to kidnap Marlena and her twins. Marlena finally shot Stefano, but she was freed on a mistrial.
An anti-monarchist calling himself the Dragon was responsible for Emma Donovan's death. She had formerly been married to ISA agent Shane Donovan. In London, Bo, Hope, and Shane captured the Dragon, who died trying to kill Shane. There, Bo and Hope were married in a lavish ceremony provided by Lady Joanna as a reward for helping to end the Dragon's brief reign of terror.
Shane was dating Kimberly, who suffered stress-related blindness after a brief affair with Victor Kiriakis, one which helped Shane collect clues against the crooked Kiriakis. Later, Bo, Hope, Shane, and Kimberly tried to destroy Victor's criminal empire solving the mystery of the Power, the Purse, and the Pawn--Stefano, Victor, and a mysterious "pawn," a mysterious, unidentified man.
Alex Marshall continued to cause mischief after he and Linda burned down Anderson Manufacturing. They were blackmailed by Larry Welch. Melissa found out her mother was involved in Alex's dealings and was forced to go into hiding. Melissa ran into Ivy Selejko, who turned out to be Pete's ex-lover who was pregnant by him. Pete married Ivy. Then Melissa had a brief affair with her married parole officer, Ian.
Melissa was framed for drug dealing and chased by the police. She was also sought by Kiriakis' henchmen when she accidentally came into possession of some photos he wanted back. Pete joined her on the run. Steve "Patch" Johnson, a former Merchant Marine buddy of Bo's who now worked for Kiriakis, was responsible for losing the film that ended up with Melissa.
Finally safe in Salem, Pete divorced Ivy, and he and Melissa became engaged. Kim and Shane also became engaged before she discovered she was pregnant. Anna and Tony married and left town. Calliope and Eugene were married on New Year's Eve.