Thoughts After Catching Neighbours' 40th Anniversary Week

I have just finished watching today's episode of Neighbours. So - that means I've seen all of the entire fortieth anniversary celebration.

To be fair, this week had a lot going on. But, that was the point.

I read somewhere that the aim for the week was to celebrate the genre of soap. So, we got to see a lot of tropes over the past four days.

In no particular order (and I'm sure I'm going to miss some things out) we had:

• A marriage
• Unfaithfulness ahead of the marriage
• A fire with main characters trapped (teasing a potential death or deaths)
• A baby introduced with a 'whose father?' storyline
• A former actor returning as a new character*
• A former character returning 
• A potential murder (today's episode ended with one of the characters face down in a lake)
• See immediately above for this example: CLIFFHANGERS!

As I noted, I'm sure I've missed a few things. Those are the ones from the top of my head.

I put an asterisk next to 'a former actor returning as a new character' because I thought that was the highlight of the week, to be fair.

Anne Charleston, who played Madge Ramsay/Bishop for many years before the character was killed off, returned again (she had came back as a ghost a few years ago, plus she appeared in the closing scenes from what was meant to the programme's end three years ago). This time, Charleston portrayed the character of Agnes - many of the characters were stunned by the similarities between her and Madge. They even had interaction between Agnes and Harold Bishop (Madge's husband). It was so great to see Anne Charleston and Ian Smith back on-screen together again. It's also sad because Smith has departed the show due to having a terminal illness. 

It has been a really cool week using the soap trope ideas. Seeing how they pulled it off makes me reluctantly excited to see how the writers, cast and crew pull of the final week of episodes. They have a challenge considering how amazing the 2022 ending was.

Neighbours Going Again?

It looks like Neighbours is done for. Again.

According to reports, Amazon has informed the Australian soap's production company - Fremantle - that it can no longer fund the series thus ending any negotiations which may have been going on between the partners to extend a two-year deal.

Amazon had saved Neighbours after it was cancelled by Channel 5 in the UK. 

I thought the return has been excellent. I'm sorry to see it go (again). However, I am not surprised by the news. I sensed the partnership would conclude and even speculated as such in this post from January 1st.

I hope there's a saviour of some kind. 

The Neighbours Tweets

Every few days, I come across Twitter posts still urging people to save Neighbours.

Months ago, I would have been all up for saving the Aussie soap. However, upon reflection, I am no longer THAT keen to see it back.

I'm sure what made me reach that conclusion - other than the fact that there's little chance of the show backing a comeback - is how things ended.

The final episode was the perfect close. 

I get that there are people out there wishing their daily routine, and the enjoyment it brought, could come back. 

It's time to realise it's not going to.

Neighbours Week (Day 7): After Neighbours

It has almost been two days since Channel 5 aired the finale episode of Neighbours and - as I have been writing about the Australian soap for a week - I thought I would use day seven to write about some of the other things I enjoyed about the closing instalment.

I covered the returns of Charlene Robinson, Scott Robinson and Mike Young in yesterday's post, so - for today - I'll like to concentrate on other highlights from the episode. Before I do, though, I want to repeat once again: Guy Pearce's return as Mike was the best part of the final two episodes.

Other things came close.

While Susan was doing her closing monologue, I was surprised to see Phil Martin at the street party. I had no idea Ian Rawlings, who was a regular in the series from 1992 to 1999, was coming back. 

As soon as I saw him, I couldn't help but laugh. The reason why is because, maybe this is ironic, one of my neighbours looked like Philp Martin back in the '90s. I'm happy to report that they STILL look similar!

It wasn't just Philip Martin's appearance which surprised me. 

Earlier in the episode we witnessed the returns of Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Valance, Margot Robbie and a plethora of other actors. However, it was the unlikely returns of certain characters which made it all the more of a viewing spectacle.

As Susan spoke about Ramsay Street, but more specifically - characters who couldn't come back, the camera panned to a few former regulars that passed away in the soap's storylines over its history. This gave the actors who played them the opportunity to appear in the final scenes as ghosts.

We once again got to see Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) back together with her husband - Harold - for one last time. Sitting at the table, also as a ghost/image in Susan's mind, was Doug Willis (Jason Donovan's real-life dad, Terence, who was in the show for four years between 1990 and 1994, but made sporadic appearances after that).

Madge and Doug weren't the only ghostly returnees. 

Susan mentioned characters who were 'just lost' and then popped up her nemesis, Finn Kelly, who was killed off in 2020, but returned a year later in scenes in which saw Susan still haunted by the baddie.

Sonya Rebecchi, who passed away from ovarian cancer in heartbreaking scenes in 2019, was reunited with her son, Callum, and daughter, Nell in the sequence.

There was also a comeback by Hendrix Grayson, played by Benny Turland, who was written out a little over a month ago. 

Hendrix will go down in Neighbours trivia as the last character to die in the soap's history.

Following Susan's speech, the episode eventually faded out with Susan and Karl Kennedy as the last characters we'll see on screen. The credits fittingly had other pictures from the soap's history starting with Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) and her son-in-law, Jim Robinson (Alan Dale), who were the main two characters in the programme's early years.

Once the credits, and theme song - which was a medley of all of the songs that have been used over the years - had ended, the final thing shown was a thank you message to the fans.

And that was it. 

Home and Away will now move into Neighbours' slot on the TV schedules here in the UK. That means my own schedule will change slightly after Neighbours. I might even revert back to watching Home and Away's premiere episode a day before it lands on Channel 5. 

All this talk about 'schedules' made me think back to the days of Neighbours on BBC 1. 

My life, back then, went by the 'After Neighbours' schedule. Everything seemed to happen once it was 6PM.

Homework, baths, showers, getting ready for cubs, scouts, youth clubs, nightclubs, or simply hanging out with friends. All those things were done... After Neighbours.

Neighbours Week (Day 6): Initial Thoughts After Watching The Finale

I am a little over forty minutes removed from watching the final episode of Neighbours as I sit here at my computer with - other than the words I've just written - a blank screen.

How am I meant to write about what I've just watched with so little time before my intended 12AM BST cut-off to send the blog out live?

The finale was a fitting way to call time on Neighbours. 

One of the things I wrote about, after finding out about the show's cancellation, was my concern about who would have the final words. I had argued it should have been Karl or Susan Kennedy because they had the longest tenure. The important monologue was performed by Susan (Jackie Woodburne). However, there was little-to-minor dialogue said by Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) as the scenes started to close out. 

It was fitting to see Stefan Dennis do the opening voiceover considering his character of Paul Robinson was there from episode one and was a major part of the series with a few-year gap  sandwiched inside his reign.

As for the episode itself, and in my humble opinion, the star - among the many stars who showed up to celebrate this closing special - was Guy Pearce.

Pearce's character of Mike Young, who left the soap in 1989, returned in the penultimate episode to set up the rekindling of his love for Jane Harris (Annie Jones) which played out in the finale.

Jane takes Mike on a trip through all of the houses in the cul-de-sac. In a way, I could see these brief scenes with Mike acting as the fans - both old and new - being shown around for one final time. 

It was really cool to see Mike back at the home he shared with Des and Daphne Clarke. But, that wasn't all. 

It was even cooler to see Guy Pearce once again share screen time with Paul Keane, who reprised his role as Des for the finale.

The most famous couple in the soap's history also made their appearance mid-way through the episode. 

Scott and Charlene Robinson returned to Ramsay Street in a green Mini. The choice of vehicle was a nod to Charlene's exit from the soap because she did so in a green Mini she had christened 'Willy' as in 'Will He Go Or Won't He?'

Oh, and guess which song was playing when they made their reappearance - none other than 'Especially For You' by Jason and Kylie.

(It should have been 'Suddenly' by Angry Anderson).

Those weren't the only nods to the history of Scott and Charlene. 

Charlene stopped at the open window of her old home. This was significant because it's where she first met Scott because she was trying to enter the house through the window, Scott thought she was a burglar and pulled her out only to get a punch in the face for his trouble.

It didn't seem as though Guy Pearce was on set the same day as Jason and Kylie. Their characters were reunited, but it was done through trickery.

Jane met up with her former schoolfriends while Mike was still on the street. The scene then cut to Mike realising that Scott and Charlene were also in town. He ran to embrace them.

The scene then cut away before we were able to witness the four musketeers as one for the first time in over thirty years.

Clever camera directions was also performed in part of the closing sequence to give the impression that Mike was with Jane, Harold, Paul, Scott and Charlene as they overlooked the street party going on below them.

As you can see, in the images both above and below, Guy Pearce does not share any shots with Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue in one of the final scenes of the soap.

Even though I noticed it, I think it's worth overlooking it just for how special it was just for these iconic characters to be back for one final time whether they properly shared the stage together or not. They still did due to the efforts of the production staff, who should also be honoured for all their work over the years.

So, yeah, as already noted - Guy Pearce's return for the final two episodes makes him the MVP of the final week of Neighbours for me.

With that said, there were some other returns in the finale which stood out. 

But that's a story for tomorrow.

Neighbours Week (Day 5): The Best Comeback

Today is the day. At 9PM BST, Channel 5 will air the final-ever episode of Neighbours.

As you've probably figured out, if you've read the other posts in my Neighbours Week, Neighbours was something I enjoyed watching as a child. I was young when the programme was at its most popular here in Britain. 

My following of the show was briefly halted in the 2000's. However, there was a renaissance many years ago when I began to watch it again following its move to Channel 5.

One of the things which kept me glued in each weekday was the return of some of the characters from the past for brief stints. I thought it was quite fun to see how some of those names again. I was even more pleased to see characters come back as regulars. 

With a handful, and then some, of old characters coming back tonight, I am bound to be in my element. With that said, their returns come with the knowledge that it'll be for one last hurrah.

As you can see, the TV magazine - which came with one of last weekend's editions of The Sun - has Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan on this week's cover to honour the final episode of the soap.

In years from now, people will look back at Neighbours and they'll point to the returns of Charlene and Scott Robinson as being one of the most iconic returns to the soap.

I'd like to argue that, in my opinion obviously, the greatest comeback in Neighbours history is Harold Bishop's.

Harold, who was lost at sea in 1991 (I believe), returned five years later under a new name of Ted after suffering amnesia from his accident. He eventually regained his memory and became good old Harold for many years afterwards. Ian Smith, who plays Harold, returned a few weeks ago for the final run to the finish line.

Harold's mid-1990's comeback will always be number one. An honourable mention has to go to Jim Robinson's ghostly return during Christmas of 2018, though.

In tomorrow's post, I'll share my immediate thoughts after watching tonight's finale.

Neighbours Week (Day 4): Cards

Over the past couple of days, I've written about the merchandising opportunities that arose when Neighbours became popular over here int he 1980's.

In today's post, I have another thing on my mind: Neighbours trading cards

As you can see, just like with the others things I've written about this week, there is a market for the Neighbours trading cards on eBay. 

One of the things I fondly remember from my early days at junior school are the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards which were very popular back then.

They were produced by Topps. Each packet came with a stick of bubble gum.

Years later, when Neighbours was close to its peak, Topps released Neighbours trading cards. Just like with the Garbage Pail Kids, they also became fairly popular in the playground.

But, here's the thing - they were TOO popular. I saw children with the cards in my school. However, I could never find them in any of the shops I would go to on the way back-and-forth to school each day.

The search concluded in a different country.

Yes, you read that right.

Back in late-1988, my mother took my sister over to Ireland to buy a communion dress. My mum and sister returned home from that weekend away not only with the dress, but also with packets of the Neighbours trading cards for me.

The only thing I can remember from those cards is the reverse of the one with Harold Bishop's face on it said that the actor who portrays him, Ian Smith, appeared in 'Prisoner'. 

It was around that time when Prisoner Cell Block H was airing on late-night TV over here, so I was obviously interested to find out that somebody from Neighbours was in it.

Looking at eBay, it seems that there were other editions of the Neighbours cards produced. I can only recall the ones which came in the purple packets with the pink Neighbours logo.

Just like with the sticker album, I didn't complete the collection. Not surprising considering the difficulty I faced in finding packets over here.

Neighbours Week (Day 3): The Sticker Collection

In yesterday's post, I wrote about how The Sun newspaper jumped on the Neighbours boom within Great Britain by launching a Neighbours-themed competition 

It wasn't the only thing The Sun latched onto.

As you'll see below, I've had a look on eBay to see if a Neighbours sticker album, which was published by The Sun,  is on there. It is and it's going for a ridiculous price.

£20 for that!? I got mine for free. But it came with some disappointment along the way.

You see, back when The Sun launched the Neighbours sticker album, the newspaper gave away free books. In order to get one, I had to collect coupons inside the daily newspaper and then bring them to a newsagent once I had saved up enough.

Once I had cut out and collected enough of the numbered squares, I glued them onto the form (which was also cut out of the paper) and took it to a local newsagent. 

I asked the old lady who owned the shop if she had any copies of the Neighbours sticker album. She told me she hadn't and that she would 'look out for it'. 

I returned to the shop the next morning. I asked again. Still no. I then visited again after school. Same result. 

The process repeated each and every school day. For weeks. The piece of paper with coupons glued to it remained in my mother's purse for the time when the sticker book was finally on the shelf of that shop.

And then it was there.

I rushed outside the shop and to my mother who was walking me home from school. I asked for the coupons and she handed them to me.

Returning to the shop, I grabbed the book from its shelf and walked up to the counter. The lady I had pestered for weeks was sat behind the counter waiting for me. I handed her the sticker book and then parted with my coupons. I was finally going to be an owner of the Neighbours sticker book and my collecting could begin.

To quote Lee Corso from ESPN College GameDay: Not so fast, my friend.

'What's this?' asked the shopkeeper.

'It's to get a free copy of the sticker book. It's from The Sun.'

She read the small print on the coupon. Importantly for her, I am sure she came across the part which told the retailer to give the person the book and The Sun would reimburse them for the loss.

'I don't do that.' She told me.

And that was that. She handed back the piece of newspaper with the coupons and I put the book back on the shelf.

I still think about that anticlimactic build-up every time I am reminded of the lady and her shop. Sure, she probably had a right to refuse the 'sale', but it wasn't as if she was going to lose anything. She simply didn't want to be bothered having to deal with the process of reimbursement. Had it been me, and I had seen a child come into my shop twice a day for weeks asking for something, I would have happily handed the item over. Even if you want to look at it from a business decision - that child was going to have to come back to the shop, again and again, to buy stickers for the book!

This story ends happily ever after. Sort of.

I was able to find a shop with the album and managed to use the coupons to get a copy. As for the collecting - well, I didn't manage to complete the book.

Neighbours Week (Day 2): Games And Competitions

In yesterday's post, I wrote about how popular the Australian soap opera - Neighbours - was with the British public in its early years.

Whenever something becomes hot, there is an opportunity for merchandising and other forms of synergy. Neighbours was no exception.

Sometime in 1988, a Neighbours-themed board game was released. 

The first time I played it was at a schoolfriend's home. 

I went to his place for dinner after school one day. To start off, he showed us a videotape he had received from a relative in Australia. It was an episode of Neighbours. Back then, the BBC was eighteen months behind Australia when it came to airing the programme. Therefore, my friend and I had the opportunity to watch an episode with characters that hadn't debuted over here.

It was the first time I got to see Todd and Katie Landers. I vividly recall seeing them visiting Paul and Gail Robinson's home.

That's really all I can remember about that particular episode.

The video wasn't the only thing my friend's relative had sent him. He was also given The Neighbours Game. 

Going by memory - in the game, each player gets a handful of cards with certain character names and situations. It is then their job to create a storyline using the character and situation cards.

For example - one of the players may have been dealt cards with 'Harold Bishop', 'buys a plant' and 'gets sent to a nursing home' and then they could have used those three cards to build up a sentence for a storyline when it was their turn to add their plot to the game board.

I've had a look on eBay as I'm writing this post. Boxes of the game are on there.

I ended up getting my own Neighbours Game back in 1988. There was something different between my edition and the one my friend had direct from Australia.

As I've already noted, we were eighteen months behind Australia. Therefore, my friend's edition contained names of characters yet to appear on our screens. Mine, on the other hand, only had characters that were on UK screens.

With that said, it was a fun game. Thinking about it, it's the kind of game that I would even enjoy playing nowadays. 

There is one other 'game' I can recall from Neighbours' British Boom. 

The Sun newspaper ran a competition in which readers were given a list of characters from Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm (it was before they dropped 'Farm' from the name!), Eastenders and - possibly - Brookside.

The aim of the comp was to work out which characters/actors from Britain would be perfect to play already established characters from Neighbours.

I remember only one person in my entry.

I had Cy Chadwick, who played Nick Bates in Emmerdale Farm, as my pick to portray Scott Robinson in Neighbours.

Chadwick had the blonde hair and was close to the same age as Jason Donovan. I thought it was my best selection.

As noted, I cannot remember any of the other people I had in my entry. 

It should go without saying I didn't end up winning that competition. But, I'd be very surprised if Cy Chadwick as Scott Robinson was not on the winners' list.

Neighbours Week (Day 1): Working Out The First Time I Watched Neighbours

With the Australian soap opera - Neighbours - ending its run after thirty-seven years later this week, I thought I would dedicate a week of posts to the programme.

In today's post, I'll discuss how I came across the series and how its popularity grew here in the UK.

***

I'll go out on a limb and say that the first time I ever watched an episode of Neighbours was sometime in 1987. 

The programme first started airing on the BBC on October 27th 1986 (thanks Wikipedia), so I am sure it would have been months afterwards.

With the programme only showing on weekday afternoons initially, I think there was a good chance that I watched my first-ever episode while off school with sickness. Either that, or it was during a school holiday.

The reason why I suggested an illness is not something I came up with without thought. I recall a few days - in 1988 - when I was off school with a fever and had Neighbours on in the living room while I was nearly out for the count on the living room sofa.

I was already a fan by 1988, though. 

I remember the announcement that Neighbours would be repeated at 5:35PM to allow schoolchildren, and other people who couldn't watch the first daily airings, to follow all the goings on in Ramsay Street. The second airings began in early January of 1988. 

Therefore - it absolutely must have been '87. 

Another way to try and work out when I first came across Neighbours is to cast my mind back to the earliest characters or storylines I can recall.

The first character I can remember seeing was Shane Ramsay. That's quite a coincidence seeing as he has recently been brought back for the final few weeks.

Shane - or maybe Jim Robinson - was in a relationship with a pregnant lady named Zoe. By the time I was following the programme daily, the character of Zoe had departed.

A quick look online (thanks again, Wikipedia!) states that Zoe Davis was in the series from January to September of 1986. With Britain a year-plus behind Australia, the estimation that 1987 was the first year I came across Neighbours seems spot on.

As I noted, the episodes were repeated at teatime from January 1988. Nearly every person I knew at school were fans of it either by then or shortly afterwards.

Ratings for Neighbours at that time were huge. According to Wikipedia, the peak number came in on January 26th 1990 when 'over 21 million viewers' had tuned in combined for the afternoon and early evening airings.

Curious, I looked at the Radio Times archive to see what was going on in the soap on that particular day. It read:

Todd and Katie are on the move again. Nick and Sharon mend their broken relationship

Todd Landers and Nick Page were two of my favourite characters back then. With that said, I have no idea why that episode drew such a big number. 

Before writing this post, I had been under the belief that the wedding between Scott and Charlene (Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue) was the biggest recorded figure for a Neighbours episode on the BBC. 

The ceremony, which took place in Episode 523, brought in 2 Million viewers when it aired in Australia on July 1st 1987. To contrast, the same episode had an audience of 19.6 Million when Britain had its chance to watch it in November '88.

I know that the TV industry has changed a lot since then. However, looking at the ratio between Australian and British viewers back then, it's not difficult to understand how important Britain was to keeping the soap on the air as long as it did.