Neighbours[a] is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap Sons and Daughters. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and was cancelled by Seven four months after it began airing. It was immediately commissioned by rival Network Ten for a second production season, which began screening on 20 January 1986. Neighbours became the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. In 2005, it was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.
Until 2022, Neighbours was screened in Australia as a 22-minute episode on weeknights, in an early-evening slot. It moved to Ten's digital channel, Eleven (later rebranded 10 Peach) on 11 January 2011, and was broadcast each weeknight at 6:30 pm. The show was produced by Fremantle Australia and has been sold to over sixty countries around the world, making it one of Australia's most successful media exports. Neighbours had been especially successful in the United Kingdom, where it was first screened on 27 October 1986 on BBC One, and achieved huge popularity among British audiences in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 2008, it moved in the UK to Channel 5; since 2008 it had been largely paid for by the UK broadcaster as it was no longer commercially viable for Ten to fund it alone.[1] In 2018, after a new deal was secured with Channel 5, the show became the first Australian drama to air all year round. In February 2022, Channel 5 announced that it would be dropping Neighbours from its schedule; the cancellation of the show was confirmed the following month. The show's finale was broadcast as a 90-minute episode in Australia on 28 July 2022 on Network 10 and 10 Peach, while the finale in the United Kingdom aired on 29 July 2022 as a normal 30-minute episode in the regular daytime schedule followed by an hour-long prime-time episode. Due to timing, some scenes were cut from the UK showing. The finale was broadcast in Ireland on 3 August 2022 and in New Zealand on 2 September 2022.
In November 2022, it was announced that Amazon Freevee and Fremantle had agreed to a deal that would restart the series. The series would also return to Network 10 on a permanent basis, after 11 years on 10 Peach. Regular production resumed on 17 April 2023, and the show resumed on 18 September.
Neighbours was created by Australian TV executive Reg Watson.[2][3] Watson got the idea for Neighbours during his time working on Crossroads and watching fellow soap Coronation Street in Britain.[4] He had already created successful Australian made soap operas The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Sons and Daughters.[2] Watson proposed the idea of making a show that would focus on more realistic stories and portray teens and adults who talk openly to each other and solve their problems together.[3][5] He also wanted the show to appeal to both Australian and British audiences.[4] Several titles were discussed, including People Like Us, One Way Street, No Through Road and Living Together, before Neighbours was chosen.[2] Watson said "In the end it came down to being what it is, a story around neighbours."[6] Reporters from the Herald Sun said that Watson took his idea to the Nine Network in 1982, but it was rejected.[7][8] Former Nine executive Ian Johnson described the rejection as "one of the biggest 'missed opportunities'" during his time at the network.[7] The show was then offered to the Seven Network, who commissioned the show in September 1984. The serial went into production that November with an $8 million budget.[9] The show's initial premise focused on three households, made up of 12 core characters, living in Ramsay Street, dealing with everyday life with humour and drama.[10] The first episode was broadcast on 18 March 1985 and reviews for the show were favourable.[10][11] However, the Melbourne-produced program underperformed in the Sydney market and Seven announced on 12 July 1985 that it was cancelling the show.[12][11]
In 2007, the show underwent a revamp, which included a switch to recording in HDTV, the introduction of a new family, the departure of several existing characters and a new version of the show's theme song and opening titles.[20] In addition, episode titles were abandoned, having been in use for the previous three years. Daniel Bennett, the new head of drama at Network Ten, announced that the crux of the Ramsay Street story would go "back to basics" and follow a less sensational path than of late with the emphasis on family relations and suburban reality.[21] Executive producer Ric Pellizzeri said new writers, actors and sets would bring the soap back to its glory days. He added "We moved too far into event-driven stories rather than the character-driven stories that made Neighbours what it is".[21] The relaunch failed to attract more viewers in Australia.[22] Pellizzeri left the series at the end of 2007 and former Neighbours scriptwriter, Susan Bower, became the new executive producer.[23] In 2008, Neighbours was branded "too white" by black and Asian viewers in Britain and in Australia there was talk of a "White Australia policy" when it came to casting actors for soaps.[24][25] In response to the criticism, Bower made a decision to add more ethnically diverse extras, small walk-on roles and speaking parts, as well as introducing the character of Sunny Lee (played by Hany Lee), an exchange student from South Korea.[25]
On 25 October 2011, it was announced Bower would leave Neighbours in December 2011 to move into a new international role with FremantleMedia.[33][34] Of her departure, Bower told Colin Vickery of the Herald Sun, "I love Neighbours, it is a wonderful show and because of this I felt it was important that fresh eyes and brains take over to keep this Australian icon contemporary. Having said that, I'm really excited about the new role and thank FremantleMedia for this wonderful opportunity."[33] Former City Homicide producer, Richard Jasek, took over Bower's role, while Alan Hardy took over the role of producer.[34] On 4 December 2013, it was confirmed that Jasek would be leaving Neighbours and Jason Herbison had been promoted to series producer. FremantleMedia's head of drama Jo Porter became executive producer, while Laurence Wilson became the associate producer.[35] The show celebrated its 7,000th episode on 24 October 2014.[36] In March 2015, Neighbours celebrated its 30th anniversary and twelve former cast members returned for the anniversary episodes that revolved around an Erinsborough Festival.[37][38] Network Ten and Channel 5 aired a documentary special titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which featured interviews with current and former cast members, including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce, reflecting on their time on the show.[39][40] Natalie Lynch succeeded Wilson as producer in early 2016.[41]
In 2017, there was speculation that Neighbours would cease production following the breakdown of its deals in the United Kingdom, and Network Ten entering voluntary administration.[42][43] On 9 October 2017, Stewart Clarke of Variety reported that Channel 5 and FremantleMedia had agreed a new deal that would see the yearly episode count increased from 240 to 258, as well as plans for new primetime specials.[44] The deal meant that from 2018, Neighbours would run across the full year for the first time in its history, including over December and January.[44] Herbison stated, "We value our global audiences and are delighted to stay on this journey together. Come the end of 2018 we will also make history by becoming the first Australian drama series to screen all year round."[44] Following the departure of Sonya Rebecchi in 2019, actor Eve Morey stated that the killing off of her character was a measure to reduce production costs for the program as part of its new negotiations.[45] When the cast and crew returned from their annual production break on 13 January 2020, they filmed a scene addressing the Australian bushfires for the episode airing on 15 January. The scene features the characters Sheila Canning (Colette Mann), David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) and Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) discussing the fires and a charity event Sheila is organising. Channel 5 directed its viewers to a dedicated information page on their website at the end of the episode.[46] Neighbours suspended production for two days amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, after a crew member came into contact with someone who had the virus.[47] Production shut down early for the scheduled Easter break before resuming after four weeks on 27 April 2020, making Neighbours the first mainstream scripted show to resume production during the pandemic.[48] In order to adhere to government guidelines and social-distancing, Neighbours created separate areas to spread out the cast and crew. They removed intimate scenes between characters and editing allows producers to give the illusion of large crowds and groups. Daily temperature checks for cast and crew will also be carried out.[48] Herbison said that the pandemic would not be included in storylines. He stated, "We are currently plotting episodes that won't air until much later in the year, so anything we write now might feel very outdated. Further to this, there's a creative question: will our viewers want to switch on Neighbours and relive it again, or is our job to provide escapism? I tend to feel it's the latter."[48]
In February 2022, it was announced that Channel 5 would be dropping the serial from its schedule later that year, and that production would cease if an alternative British broadcaster was not secured.[49] In response to the threat to the series' future, a fan-run petition on Change.org asking Channel 5 to reconsider its decision was launched,[50] which was signed by over 50,000 people,[51] including cast member Lucinda Cowden.[52] The petition reached 50,000 signatures after one week. This also sparked #saveneighbours to trend on social media.[53] Former star Jason Donovan and Home and Away actor Shane Withington also expressed their support for the soap on Twitter.[54][55] Neighbours actor Jackie Woodburne said in an interview with The Project that the cast were "in shock" upon hearing the news,[56] while Alan Fletcher said the soap needs "a hero" to save it and Cowden explained that "the idea of no longer playing Mel is devastating."[57][52] Numerous current and former cast members, such as Annie Jones, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Geoff Paine,[58][59] expressed their sadness online, specifically Rob Mills, who called on the Morrison government to step in and help.[60] After the decision to cut the show's funding by British broadcaster Channel 5, an online campaign was launched trying to get Barry Crocker's version of the Neighbours theme song to number one in the UK charts. This success had the tune at number one on the iTunes chart for almost 24 hours.[61][53] An article in the Sydney Morning Herald noted that following the merger of Viacom and CBS, Channel 5 in the UK and Channel 10 in Australia became owned by the same corporate umbrella. Despite the soap being the 4th most popular in the UK (behind the country's traditional top 3 soaps), the funding arrangements meant that one part of ViacomCBS was cross-subsidising another.[62]
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