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Neighbours
"Neighbours" is an Australian international soap opera which was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who was best known for having created the highly popular serial Sons and Daughters. He proposed the idea of making a show that was based in a suburban location . It would be focused on realistic stories that portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems together. However, it underperformed in the ratings and was cancelled after just four months. The show was picked up by rival Network 10 and its fortunes began to change. Soon, audiences in Australia and abroad (especially in the UK) were glued to their TV sets as they followed the lives of the residents of Ramsay Street in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. The success of Neighbours led to Channel 7 having another go at making a soap. This time, it involved a small seaside town somewhere near Sydney, a nice beach, a foster family...
Neighbours' heyday was in the late 1980s but over time its ratings began to fall. By the time it was axed in March 2022, the bulk of its funding was coming from Channel 5 in the UK. When that station decided to stop paying its share of the Neighbours production budget, it was the end for the soap.[1] Its final episode aired in Australia on 28th July 2022, with its UK finale the following day. In Australia it had its highest audience since 2009. Many of the show's former stars reprised their roles, either on set or remotely [2]
As with Home and Away, thousands of actors, writers, directors and other creative people have worked on the show. Some household names whose careers got started on Neighbours include Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Craig McLachlan, Guy Pearce, Alan Dale, Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Liam Hemsworth, Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Vallance and Delta Goodrem. Over the years, many actors who appeared on Home and Away also spent time on Ramsay Street.
Surprisingly, Neighbours was resurrected from the dead for the 2nd time in November 2022. Amazon acquired the rights to the show and in September 2023, the show returned. As well as being broadcast on regular TV stations around the world, Amazon also made it available through its streaming services. It also made past episodes available, something Home and Away fans can only dream of.