Neighbours to end run on Amazon in 40th year

The Reg Watson created serial is coming to a halt for a third time after two years as a streaming serial…

The saga that launched in Australia forty years ago this year is facing it’s “third axing” reports today suggest. The Australian soap opera will stop production this summer after Fremantle, who create the content for Amazon, failed to agree a new deal to carry on production for the streaming service.

As the show carries on across its 40th anniversary year several press outlets note that the show will not see 2026 with its final finale airing in December.

A ‘source’ told The Sun, ‘Amazon gave Fremantle two years to see if it worked but sadly they just didn’t get the viewers. It’s a really sad day especially for the cast and crew who work on the show in Melbourne. This really is the end of Neighbours just as it’s celebrated it’s 40th birthday.’ 

It was announced in November 2022 that the soap set in a fictional cul-de-sac in Melbourne would be back in Mid-2023 following a deal to air four episodes a week on Amazon’s video streaming offering. The deal saw Neighbours get a first screening on Prime Video in the UK with episodes also streaming Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

While the show didn’t return to terrestrial television in the UK in its native Australia editions have also been airing on Network 10, however it has failed to draw viewers to the channel with episodes pushed earlier in the schedules last year.

In July 2023, the last episode of the Australian soap, which aired for 37 years at the time, aired on Channel 5 in the UK. The broadcaster ditched the programme to free up money for its drama budget. A petition against the show’s cancellation garnered over 71,000 signatures. In an announcement in February of 2022 Viacom, owners of Channel 5, confirmed they had failed to renew a contract to keep airing the show. Network 10 said without a partner the series couldn’t carry on in Australia either.

“Neighbours will no longer air on Channel 5 beyond this summer. It’s been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we’d like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series,” Channel 5 said in a statement.

“We’d also of course like to thank the fans for their loyal support of Neighbours across the years. We recognise that there will be disappointment about this decision, however our current focus is on increasing our investment in original UK drama, which has strong appeal for our viewers.” – Channel 5 / Viacom

It was the second time the show had been dropped by a channel with the Seven Network in Australia first terminating the series back in 1986.

Neighbours originally aired on BBC One in the UK between 1986 and 2008, before Channel 5 bought the rights to the show to make an ‘Aussie Soap Hour‘ having previously gained the rights to Seven Network’s Home and Away, in 2000, which had aired on ITV since 1989. It joined the network’s line-up in 2001.

The serial set in Ramsay Street was still, when dropped, one of Channel 5’s most-watched programmes however bosses at the station were apparently ’embarrassed’ by the programme with one executive allegedly commenting that ‘the only people who could be proud of Neighbours are the people who work on it’.

Created by Reg Watson, who also devised UK soap Crossroads (1964-88/2001-03), The Young Doctors (1976-83), Prisoner: Cell Block H (1979-86) and Sons and Daughters (1982-87) – to name only a few – it follows the lives of a group of families and friends living on a street in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough, itself an anagram of Neighbours.

Storylines in the early days revolved around the three key families on the street, the Robinsons, Ramsays and Clarkes. Since the show was first broadcast on 18th March 1985, on the Seven Network, it has become part of the daily routine for millions of viewers around the world and has launched the careers of some of the biggest names in showbusiness, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Delta Goodrem and Holly Valance. It’s big finale on Channel 5/Network 10 saw the return of some of those big names including Kylie and Jason.

Neighbours streams on Amazon with episodes dropping Monday to Thursday from 7 am