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News Headlines

Digital Spy reports that former Neighbour Simon Gleeson has joined the cast of EastEnders as new character Sid. Sid will be the 'brother' of new Australian character SJ Fletcher, and will make his first appearance on Friday 11th August. Simon previously appeared on Neighbours in 2000, playing Max Crawford.

Inside Soap magazine has confirmed that Stephen Lovatt has filmed his final scenes as Max Hoyland. According to the report, Carla Bonner is sticking around, so it seems that the Hoyland marriage will be coming to an end after only two years.

Australian band Rogue Traders, featuring Neighbours' Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Izzy Hoyland) on vocals, have added to their success in their own country by taking the UK charts by storm. Their debut UK single, Voodoo Child, which hit number four in Australia, has gone in at number three in the UK charts, and their album Here Come The Drums is set to be released on Monday 24th July.

Internet radio series The Soap Show will be interviewing more Neighbours stars over the coming weeks. Both Blair McDonough (Stuart Parker) and Scott Major (Darren Stark #1) will be appearing on stage in the UK, and, if you have a question you'd like to see put to either of them, you can suggest it by visiting the Listener's Forum.

Three episodes of Neighbours have been nominated for the 2006 Australian Writers' Guild (AWGIE) awards, which are judged on the original script submitted by the writers rather than the finished product that we see on screen. The nominations for Neighbours are in the 'Television Serial' category and the nominees are as follows:

Prenatal Depression by Peter Mattessi
God's Will Be Done by Katrina Foster
Bad Samaritan by Anthony Morris

Also nominated in that category is episode 4121 of Home and Away by Sam Meikle, which was the episode in which the character of Flynn Saunders died. The last time Neighbours won was in 2004 for episode 4293 which was written by Shane Porteus aka John Hanlon who also won in 2001.

The winners will be announced on Friday August 25th, and a full list of the 2006 AWGIE award nominations is available here.

Stephanie McIntosh (Sky Mangel) is set to release her debut single to Australian audiences on July 29th. The single, Mistake is taken from her album, Tightrope, due for release in September. Later this month, her new reality series, The Steph Show, charting the balancing act of her new musical career with her acting and personal life, will begin on Network Ten.

Voting has commenced for the UK's 2006 National Television Awards and Neighbours is once again up for the Most Popular Daytime Programme award, against such popular shows as Deal Or No Deal, This Morning and Doctors. Visit the website to vote.

MediaGuardian reports that plans are being considered to air new episodes of Neighbours on BBC Three. It is suggested that episodes will be shown on Three the day before they're seen on BBC One in a bid to boost ratings for the digital channel, though no firm decision on the matter has been made.

For UK fans of Kylie Minogue (Charlene Robinson), she’s giving her first television interview since her cancer diagnosis last year. Kylie: The Interview, presented by Cat Deeley will be screened on Sky One, on Sunday 16th July at 9pm.

Inside Soap magazine is currently taking votes for its 2006 awards. Neighbours and its actors are short-listed in almost every category, with Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson) and Ian Smith up for Best Actor, and Carla Bonner (Steph Hoyland) and Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kinski) up for Best Actress. In the Sexiest Male and Sexiest Female categories, Kyal Marsh (Boyd Hoyland), Blair McDonough (Stuart Parker), Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Izzy Hoyland) and Stephanie McIntosh (Sky Mangel) are all nominated.

Elsewhere, Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Bree Timmins) is up for Best Young Actor, Pippa Black (Elle Robinson) and Caitlin Stasey (Rachel Kinski) are up for Best Newcomer, while Stefan Dennis is nominated again, this time for Best Bad Boy, while Natalie Bassingthwaighte receives her second nomination, in the category of Best Bitch. In the Best Couple category, Max and Steph Hoyland, and Paul Robinson and Izzy Hoyland are nominated, while both Nell Feeney (Janelle Timmins) and Tom Oliver are up for Funniest Performance.

Finally, both the Plane Crash and Steph’s Cancer Battle/Baby Joy are nominated for Best Storyline, the Hoylands and Timminses are up for Best Family, and Neighbours itself is up for Best Soap.

Visit www.insidesoap.co.uk or use the voting form in the magazine to place your votes. The awards ceremony will take place on Monday 25th September.

Stuart Parker may have only just said goodbye to UK viewers, but Blair McDonough isn't letting the grass grow under his feet. He's just been announced as part of the cast for The Vegemite Tales, a play about a group of Australians flat-sharing in London. The play opens for its London West End debut in July and more information will shortly be available on our Neighbourhood Watch page.

The Soap Show, a recently launched online radio show dedicated to British and Australian soap operas, currently features interviews with a couple of former Neighbours stars - Marcella Russo (Liljana Bishop) and Kevin Harrington (David Bishop). And, from tomorrow, they will also have an interview with Lucinda Cowden (Melanie Pearson).

Four new faces begin filming this week as Ramsay Street welcomes a new group of twentysomethings. The Sunday Mail reports that Christian Clark will join the cast as Will, along with Ben Lawson as Frazer, Nicky Whelan as Pepper and Natalie Saleeba as Rosetta. According to Ric Pellizzeri, the characters will be young and single with long-term issue-based storylines, but also connections to the street. The characters will hit Australian screens in October and the UK by early 2007. Click here for a picture of the newcomers.

UPDATE: These now look to be the final times for the next month, with episodes now being broadcast on June 22nd and 23rd where there were previously thought to be no showings. These are all still subject to last-minute changes:
BBC
Friday June 9th - BBC One 13.40 (no repeat)
Monday June 12th - BBC One 13.40 (no repeat)
Tuesday June 13th - No episode
Wednesday June 14th - BBC One 13.40 & 17.35 as normal
Thursday June 15th - BBC One 13.40 & 17.35 as normal
Friday June 16th - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Monday June 19th - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Tuesday June 20th - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Wednesday June 21st - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Thursday June 22nd - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Friday June 23rd - BBC One 17.35 (no first showing)
Monday June 26th - Friday July 7th (inclusive) - no episodes due to Wimbledon/Ascot coverage

RTE
Friday June 9th: - RTE 1 07.05 (repeat) & 16.20
Monday June 12th - RTE 1 07.15 (repeat) & 16.20
Tuesday June 13th - RTE 1 07.05 (repeat)
Wednesday June 14th - RTE 1 17.30
Thursday June 15th - RTE 1 07.15 (repeat) & 17.30
Friday June 16th - RTE 1 07.05 (repeat) & 17.30
Monday June 19th - RTE 1 07.15 (repeat) & 17.30
Tuesday June 20th - RTE 1 07.05 (repeat) & RTE 2 17.35
Wednesday June 21st - RTE 1 07.00 (repeat) RTE 2 17.35
Thursday June 22nd - RTE 1 07.15 (repeat) RTE 2 17.35
Friday June 23rd - RTE 1 07.05 (repeat) RTE 2 17.35
Monday June 26th - Friday July 7th (inclusive) - no episodes

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