48 Facts About Neighbours

1.

Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera which was aired from 18 March 1985 until 28 July 2022.

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2.

Neighbours has since become the longest-running drama series in Australian television history.

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3.

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.

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4.

Neighbours had already created successful Australian made soap operas The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Sons and Daughters.

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5.

Neighbours wanted the show to appeal to both Australian and British audiences.

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6.

Neighbours then went to the Seven Network, who commissioned the show in September 1984.

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7.

Neighbours made its debut on BBC1 on 27 October 1986 starting with the pilot episode.

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8.

In 1988, Neighbours became the only television show to have its entire cast flown over to the UK to make an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen.

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9.

Neighbours has since become the longest running drama series in Australian television and the seventh longest running serial drama still on the air in the world.

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10.

In 2005, Neighbours celebrated its 20th anniversary and over twenty former cast members returned for a special episode, which saw the characters sitting down to watch a documentary about Ramsay Street and its residents.

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11.

Neighbours added "We moved too far into event-driven stories rather than the character-driven stories that made Neighbours what it is".

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12.

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.

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13.

In late 2010, the TV Tonight website reported Neighbours was to reduce crew operations in 2011 so production could be upgraded.

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14.

On 14 March 2011, The Australian reported that Neighbours has become the first television show available to watch on a free iPhone application.

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15.

In March 2015, Neighbours celebrated its 30th anniversary and twelve former cast members returned for the anniversary episodes that revolved around an Erinsborough Festival.

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16.

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.

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17.

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.

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18.

Ultimately, Neighbours is a product in the big business of film and television and like any other business, if a product isn't making money, it will make way for one that will.

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19.

Neighbours' focus is the fictional Ramsay Street, a residential cul-de-sac in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough.

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20.

Neighbours has been filmed in Pin Oak Court since the series began in 1985 and it has since become popular with tourists.

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21.

On 27 August 2010, Neighbours filmed scenes in Sydney's Darling Harbour and on board a cruise ship.

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22.

In October 2011, Neighbours filmed scenes in Port Douglas, Queensland and around the Great Barrier Reef region.

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23.

In March 2019, Neighbours filmed scenes at the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for an episode airing in 2020.

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24.

Until 2018, Neighbours was broadcast from early January to early December, before going off air for around four to five weeks during the Christmas and New Year period.

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25.

Network Ten's programmer, David Mott said "We believe Neighbours is perfectly suited to Eleven's audience strategy and will find a successful and enduring home on Eleven".

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26.

Neighbours moved to Eleven on 11 January 2011, the channel's launch day.

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27.

Neighbours has been sold to over 60 countries and is one of Australia's most successful media exports.

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28.

Neighbours has been very successful in the United Kingdom, and has proved to be more popular there than in Australia.

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29.

Neighbours went out with a lunchtime broadcast and then a morning broadcast repeat the following day.

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30.

On 5 February 2022, a report from The Sun, later confirmed by Digital Spy, stated that Neighbours had been cancelled in the UK after Channel 5 pulled its funding for budget reasons.

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31.

In Iceland, Neighbours has been aired on Stoð 2 since 1986 with Icelandic subtitles.

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32.

In Belgium, Neighbours has aired since 1988 as Buren, with Dutch subtitles on Een, the main TV network of VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster.

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33.

Neighbours achieved 998,000 viewers and placed 6th for the night, while Home And Away placed 7th.

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34.

In January 2010, Neighbours returned to Australian screens to an audience of 563,000.

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35.

Since moving to digital multichannel Eleven, Neighbours has traditionally rated between 250,000 and 350,000 viewers.

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36.

On 13 June 2011, Neighbours was watched by 455,000 viewers, making it the highest rating show on digital multichannels that night, and breaking its previous ratings record on the channel.

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37.

On 27 May 2013, episode 6651 of Neighbours was watched by an audience of 405,000 viewers, which was the highest rating the series had achieved in nearly two years.

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38.

Neighbours began going through a ratings decline in 2016, with episodes now averaging below 200,000 viewers.

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39.

Theme tune to Neighbours was composed by Tony Hatch whose then wife, Jackie Trent, wrote the lyrics.

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40.

Since Neighbours began in 1985, it used its opening titles sequence to introduce the major characters featuring in the show.

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41.

In 2002, Neighbours debuted an all new style of titles with a remixed version of the theme tune.

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42.

In September 2009, Susan Bower announced that Neighbours would introduce new opening titles for the 25th anniversary and they would feature a bit of "bling".

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43.

Neighbours has received a wide variety of awards and nominations throughout its run.

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44.

Two Neighbours actors have been nominated for Rose D'Or awards, once in 2004 for Ryan Moloney and again in 2005 for Jackie Woodburne.

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45.

In 1991, an officially licensed video game of Neighbours was created by Ian Copeland and developed by Zeppelin Games under their Impulze label for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Amiga; it was re-released by Zeppelin in 1992 on budget price.

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46.

Neighbours: Defining Moments was the first DVD box set released in 2002.

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47.

Neighbours has released several internet webisode series via their YouTube channel.

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48.

Neighbours has been cited as the cause of language change in the United Kingdom, including the adoption of Australian colloquialisms such as "no worries".

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