As Neighbours celebrates its 26th birthday today, The Perfect Blend reflects on a turbulent year that threatened to overshadow the significant anniversaries of 2010…

One year ago today, Neighbours celebrated a truly incredible 25 years on Australian television and the milestone was to be followed later in the year by the landmark 6,000th episode of the series. The occasions were marked throughout the year both on-screen and off. On-screen, the series celebrated the two major anniversaries by welcoming back old favourite Rosemary Daniels (Joy Chambers) as part of a slow-burning storyline involving the sole remaining original character Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and an intricate plot of passion and power-playing at Lassiter’s which ultimately led to Paul being shoved off the roof of Lassiter’s by wife Rebecca (Jane Hall) in Episode 6000 and the ‘Who Pushed PR?’ mystery. Running parallel throughout the year was the pregnancy storyline which thrust long-time characters Steph Scully (Carla Bonner), Libby Kennedy (Kym Valentine) and Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) centre-stage and created a major split right down the street, particularly between the Kennedy and Scully families. And teen sweethearts Ringo Brown (Sam Clark) and Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie) married in a fairytale wedding which included nods to the iconic Scott & Charlene wedding from the show’s heyday. Viewers were also treated to nightly memories of storylines and characters from yesteryear in specially made title cards which flashed up on screen at the beginning of the commercial break each evening.

Off-screen, there were even more celebrations. A party was held for cast and crew, both past and present, in the Neighbours studios in Nunawading. Addressing the event, Executive Producer Susan Bower remarked that viewers had been “coming home to Neighbours for 25 years” and likened the show to another well-known Aussie icon – Vegemite. The show’s creator, Reg Watson, paid tribute to the success of Neighbours, telling this site that he was “amazed that the serial has reached [the] incredible milestone”. An April Fool’s announcement on the Neighbours website tricked fans, momentarily, into thinking Ramsay Street was going to be renamed ‘25th Avenue’ in recognition of the anniversary. To acknowledge the huge role the UK has played in the show’s success over the last 25 years, a talent search was launched in collaboration with Channel 5 to find a British actress to feature in a specially written four week guest role on the series. Even Neighbours superstars Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan played a part in the anniversary coverage with an off-the cuff joke by Kylie that it would be “fun” to see her famous character Charlene return to Ramsay Street in the beat-up old mini she left in 20 years ago leading to a statement from Susan Bower declaring the popstar would be welcome back “with open arms”. Jason, meanwhile, revealed that while he had been approached to reprise his role as Scott Robinson, he declined due to other commitments. Press coverage around the world lauded the show for its staggering success and the long-list of internationally recognised stars it has produced over the course of the quarter century it has been on the air.

But while all these celebrations were occurring, Neighbours was underperforming in its native Australia when it came to the all-important matter of ratings. For a show that had pulled in 1 million viewers back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Neighbours had seen viewing figures drop steadily in the years that followed. However, 2010 was proving to be the worst yet for poor ratings. In January, it had recorded it’s lowest-ever figure of 426,000, with an even lower figure of 386,000 to follow late in the year. In July, a historically low average of 618,000 viewers was recorded. Speculation mounted in the press that Ten would be making a major change to the early-evening schedule and Neighbours would be moved out of the 6.30pm timeslot that it had occupied for the past 24 years to make way for extended news programming. Various theories abounded as to where Neighbours would go. There was talk of it moving to an earlier time of the day or to a new sister digital channel for Ten. It was unfortunate, of course, that the speculation about Neighbours and its future was being discussed at a time when it was celebrating such remarkable anniversaries as 25 years on air and the production of 6,000 episodes. Susan Bower and the production team continued to focus on all that was good about the series with statements, attempting to play down the increasing press reports that things were looking decidedly bleak out in Nunawading.

However, in the boardrooms of Network Ten and Fremantle Media, very significant discussions were being had about Neighbours and its future on Australian television. It even got to the point were canceling the series completely was discussed. "I think we would consider it as you would with a show that underperforms in any timeslot…It's fair to say it was a conversation but not a serious conversation because Eleven created an opportunity for it to have a long and bright future,” Network Ten Director of Programmes David Mott later told the Sydney Morning Herald. And then, in a somewhat poor case of timing, it was announced in August on the eve of the broadcast of Episode 6000 that, as rumoured, Neighbours would be moving off Ten and onto its new digital channel in January 2011. “NEIGHBOURS DUMPED FROM MAIN CHANNEL” and “NEIGHBOURS SHUNTED TO CHANNEL TEN SPIN-OFF” were among the headlines that greeted the news. Despite attempts at positive spin from programming chiefs at Ten and Fremantle, as well as the producers and cast, everyone knew the move to Eleven represented a demotion for Neighbours in terms of its standing in the Australian television landscape. Indeed, had it not been for the enduring international success of the series, it probably would not have even been considered for inclusion in Eleven’s line-up.

Talk then turned to a ‘cast exodus’ in light of the announcement. In a simple case of coincidence, four cast members – Jane Hall, Matthew Werkmeister, Margot Robbie and Erin Mullally - announced their intention to leave the series shortly after news of the move broke. Their departures followed the exits of Carla Bonner and Sam Clark leading to suggestions that the stars were all calling it quits. Of course, such reports failed to take into account the fact that, on average, Neighbours naturally loses about that many cast members each year and has done so since 1985. The press was also awash with speculation that the show would attempt to become raunchier and more risqué on account of the PG rating accorded to digital channels. While this has not yet been evidenced on screen on account of the fact that the episodes screening for the first part of 2011 were plotted way back in mid 2010 before any decision about the move to Eleven was made, there have been continuous assurances from Susan Bower that there would be no major change to the family-friendly Neighbours format. Perhaps the saddest element in the whole move to Eleven was the news towards the end of the year that the number of crew members was to be cut as part of a cost-cutting exercise. So many of the Neighbours crew have loyally been a part of the show’s success since the 1980s and the series had been their source of income for 25 years. As 2010 came to a close, what should have been a truly celebratory year for Neighbours had arguably turned into its most difficult one.

Neighbours debuted on Eleven on 11 January 2011 with expectations of ratings success very low. The Ten chiefs are said to have been anticipating an audience as low as 133,000. But Neighbours delivered a little bit more than that – recording an average audience of 254,000 for its first night on air at Eleven. And it has since bettered that, regularly averaging around the 350,000 mark - a very impressive rating for a show on digital. On February 16th, it scored its highest rating yet on Eleven – 397,000. Most significantly and somewhat ironically, Neighbours has regularly outperformed the very show that replaced it on is former home – Ten Evening News. The newspapers that last year were predicting the demise of Australia’s longest-running drama series are now even going as far as predicting it to triumphantly return to Ten. There is much more to play out in this saga with Ten now focusing on salvaging the mess it has created by expanding its news coverage to two and a half hours and understanding why the veteran journalist George Negus is not pulling in the numbers at 6pm. In recent weeks, Ten’s chief executive Grant Blackley – who oversaw the changes last year – has been forced out and Lachlan Murdoch – son of Rupert – has stepped into the breech as Acting CEO.

As Neighbours now begins its 26th year on Australian screens, it is coming to terms with a rapidly changing era for television. The arrival of DVDs, DVRs, the internet and phone apps has led to an increase in alternative ways to view your favourite TV show – and Neighbours has had to adapt to this new world. When Alison Grade – daughter of the then BBC 1 controller Michael Grade – famously had to skip school back in 1986 in order to watch Neighbours, little did she know then that by 2011 there would be countless ways to watch and enjoy the series. Neighbours has now embraced this new era of television viewing, with episodes now available on Eleven's own iPhone App which enables users to watch the events of Ramsay Street on the go, within three hours of it screening on television. It seems that the show the critics love to knock is once again proving its resilience.

Happy 26th Birthday Neighbours!

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