Neighbours: Discussion Thread

[Manny]

I never saw Neighbors, was looking forward to them on Prime. But looks like it ain't happening on Prime Germany... I don't see any Iconic episodes.

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[All My Shadows]

I'm excited to watch the classic episodes on FreeVee! That might be a nice summer project. It looks like the first 400 or so episodes of Home and Away have also been moved over to FreeVee after being on regular Prime for a few years.

[te.]

Had completely missed that it's being revived on FreeVee - great news, not just for the show itself but for the soap opera genre itself. Hopefully it can show how a daily show can bring users to an app. 

[JamesF]

I attended the Neighbours Celebration tour this evening with Jackie, Alan, Ryan, Annie, Stefan and April. It was absolutely surreal sitting in a full theatre, surrounded by fans of the show, when it's something I watched as a daily habit for over 30 years but rarely discussed outside of a couple of friends. 

The Freevee deal was naturally mentioned quite a few times and the cast were visibly very deeply touched by both the tour reaction and the reboot. It was a beautiful, warm show with a bunch of people who clearly adore working with each other. Really hope the Freevee move comes off for the show and also others that may follow the same path in the next few years.

[Liberty City]

Watching Charlene & Scott's wedding episode and despite not hearing the dialogue, you can still sense the love that's in the scenes. Wonderful.

[Liberty City]

Shane Isheev is returning to Neighbours after his stint on Hollyoaks.

[DRW50]

https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2023/03/15/neighbours-interview-alan-fletcher-and-ryan-moloney-discuss-ramsay-street-return/

[Vee]

Very happy for them. It sounds like that reunion with Guy Pearce won't take for Jane unless she's only a guest.

[DRW50]

I'm hoping they may just give her stories outside of her love life and keep her with Mike offcamera, but of course I can understand why they may not want to do that.

[DRW50]

Not specifically Neighbours related, but still, it's fun and has a few mentions. And as several comments remind, she has way more to say and do here than she did in the finale.

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Edited March 18, 2023 by DRW50

[victoria foxton]

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Edited March 22, 2023 by victoria foxton

[Skylover]

Lol, I love the Mrs Mangel and Gail bits

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I went to the Neighbours Tour at the weekend in Brighton and it was great! I posted this elsewhere, but will post it here too.

I go to a lot of events, mainly music gigs, and the Neighbours Tour totally blew everything out of the water that I'd seen before, which I think is testament to how good it was, and I can definitely be the biggest critic when it comes to all things Neighbours, so I'm thrilled with how it went. As someone who is very audio and visual driven, it completely exceeded my expectations in that sense, and I don't want to go into the finer details for risk of ruining it for anyone who is still to attend, but it absolutely can't be underestimated how much more of a satisfying experience this was that it was created by fan(s), it was a complete labour of love and that much was plainly obvious. It was everything you'd want it to be and more, it just couldn't and wouldn't have been the same if it was created by someone with more distance from the show, and that made it a completely unmissable experience. There's a risk with these things that placing so much emphasis on interviewing cast members can be a bit same old, with them recounting stories that you've heard hundreds of times before on This Morning and the like, but there was plenty of material and stories that had never been shared before which kept you engaged throughout. The choice of Leah Boleto as host was inspired, because she knows and loves Neighbours, and could delve into areas that lesser hosts wouldn't and couldn't have gone, and you're left getting the kind of experience that you get from modern day podcasts which offer so much more to the viewer than the average interview, but of course this was on a much larger scale. 

Again, I don't want to go into too many specifics because many people are yet to see the show, but I did almost have tears in my eyes at points and it was an emotional experience in many ways. Some moments I will truly never forget, for example (spoiler alert) a clip of Madge's death and the collective 'awwww' from the audience. It was amazing to be in a room full of people who love Neighbours as much as I do. It was also interesting to see the reaction of the audience at certain points, for example there were a lot of cheers when Pierce was mentioned, but stone cold silence when Elly was mentioned (which I certainly found interesting!).

Being perfectly honest, I'd had a terrible week in my personal life and didn't know if I was going to make it to the show. One of my longtime colleagues is currently on a syringe driver and palliative care, and that had taken a huge toll on my mental health this week. I've hardly slept for the last week, and have had huge bags under my eyes and my skin was breaking out, and amid feeling pretty deflated and upset, I didn't know if I'd have the energy to go to this, and I felt pretty sad that my photos in the M&G were going to be from a time when I wasn't looking my best. That's all very superficial though, because my friend and colleague is in her last days, so I shouldn't be selfish about my appearance of all things. I was in a pretty bad way when I turned up for the M&G, I'd not had a lot of time to prepare to come to Brighton unfortunately.

It turned out it was just what I needed really. I met April, Ryan and Annie first, and then Alan and Stefan (Jackie was ill, but was there for the show later). I was very nervous, but they were all lovely. I said to April she'd probably know me better as Edward Skylover and her shocked face was a picture, then she told Ryan and Annie that I started the petition (the host gave me a shoutout when they started the question section of the show too, which was a lovely touch!). Ryan gave me a high five and thanked me for the support, I then went on to explain that I came up with my username because I really loved the character of Sky back in the day. One of my main takeaways from this part of the M&G was just how stunning Annie Jones was. I shook her hand, and was in total awe of her utter beauty. She has the most stunningly attractive smile and I'll cherish the memory of being in her presence, she came across so genuine, graceful and sweet. April was also gorgeous. It's not that these people aren't attractive on screen, but I've experienced this with other celebrities too, they tend to look remarkably attractive in real life.

I also absolutely loved meeting Alan and Stefan though, that was probably my favourite part, because while I was disappointed Jackie wasn't there, it felt a lot less intimidating meeting just the two actors at a time, and I was more engaged than overcome with anxiety like I was with the first 3. An online fan involved in security sneaked over and told them about the petition and they were hugely grateful/thankful for that, but I said to them that I should be the one thanking them for bringing so much happiness to my life over the years. Alan said Amazon had told them the reason the show was coming back was because of the huge backlash over it being axed. Both of them were absolutely stellar gentleman and being in their presence was an absolute privelege. I told Alan that Karl and Susan were like my second parents, my 'TV parents' as I called it. I'm sure a lot of people feel that way.

But yeah, all this and the show later on was just what I needed to lift my spirits. I met the creator of the tour briefly at the show (lovely bloke!) and another online fan after the show. Had some great conversations with people in the queue, and people I was sitting near. 2 women I met in the queue said they had a Neighbours Whatsapp group with their friends, which I thought was brilliant. Another guy I met said he'd watched the show for as long as he could remember, but took a break between the late 90s and late 2000s, I got to tell him he should look for some 2004 episodes on Amazon! On the way home, I stopped at a bus stop to roll a cigarette and some people from the show were waiting for the bus and a member of the public took great fascination in their Ramsay Street sign and knowing that 'Toadfish' was currently in Brighton, and we all had a good chat about the power of nostalgia with the guy saying how he's watching old episodes of Brookside on the STV Player at the moment. I was impressed by how the message of Neighbours coming back on Freevee is spreading nicely (even the people at the bus stop were talking about how you'll be able to watch new episodes of Neighbours on Freevee soon!). 

But yeah, excellent night. I hope the creators are proud of the show, it is a complete work of art, and I don't say that lightly. My Ramsay Street sign you get as part of the M&G was too big to fit in my bag, so I got quite a few looks when I was walking round Brighton and London with it  

Edited March 21, 2023 by Skylover

[DRW50]

@Skylover Thank you for sharing such a lovely, personal story with us. You often hear about actors with attitude, or who are unable to connect, so I'm glad you had a very positive experience, especially with what you're going through right now. 

I have to admit I laughed at the part about Elly, because I never liked her either. 

[Liberty City]

 

[Dion]

That's good news. Hopefully we'll soon find out more details about who else is coming back