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TV Tonight reports that Neighbours has come up with an original new way to extend the characters' lives beyond the confines of the daily episodes by giving them their own Twitter accounts. The characters of Zeke, Donna, Ringo and Declan can now interact with each other, and fans, online, discussing their thoughts on current stories and their plans for the day, though UK fans should be warned that it's all at Australian pace, so will contain spoilers.

Ben Nicholas (Stingray Timmins) has been cast in the upcoming 10th anniversary production of hit musical Mamma Mia. Ben has been cast as Pepper for the Australian tour, which will begin in Sydney in October.

Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan) is set to return with her first album of new material in four years, Come To Life, in October. The album will reportedly feature three tracks co-written by Coldplay's Chris Martin, and another produced by Brian Eno.

Natalie Blair (Carmella Cammeniti) has been cast in low-budget thriller Stage Fright, currently being filmed on Australia's Gold Coast hinterland. Natalie returned from her new base in Hollywood to film her role as Connie, but will return to America at the end of filming.

Paul's youngest child, Andrew Robinson, is set for a return to Erinsborough. After leaving in 1992 with his parents for Hawaii, Andrew had a tumultuous life off-screen, fleeing with them to Brazil when Paul committed fraud, before apparently ending up in Scotland, then Sydney, where he's currently living with his mum, Christina.

In the final week of the 2009 season, Andrew will turn up on Ramsay Street, aged 16 and looking for his father. 20-year-old Queensland actor Jordan Smith will take over the role from Shannon Holmes, who played Andrew when he was a baby. The teenaged Andrew is described as having "charm and confidence that others find intoxicating", but at heart, all he wants is the attention and approval of his dad.

Click here to view a picture of the newest face in Erinsborough.

In other casting news, Janet Andrewartha (Lyn Scully) will now stay beyond the six months recently reported, and is back long-term in an 'ongoing guest' capacity.

From episode 5766 (due to be shown in Australia on August 31st and in the UK on November 2nd) viewers will notice some changes to their Neighbours fix. Each Monday episode will now start with a week-ahead sneak peek at major storylines to come, whilst the usual recap section will be revamped and will now air after the opening titles for the first time in 10 years. Plus, the sneak previews following the end of each episode will return on a daily basis for Australian viewers, and will now be made in-house at Neighbours, meaning that UK viewers will get to see them too.

To find out more, you can watch a video explaining the changes on YouTube - though it does contain some big spoilers for UK viewers.

A minor schedule change for UK viewers next week will see the evening showing of episode 5719, on Thursday 27th August, moved forward to 4.25pm, due to Five screening two football matches. There are currently no plans for changes on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August, however, with episodes airing as normal at 1.45pm and 5.30pm. However, there will be no repeat on Fiver that evening, instead the Monday and Tuesday episodes will be shown back-to-back on Tuesday 1st September from 7pm.

TV Week reports that Pippa Black (Elle) and Sweeney Young (Riley) having wrapped up filming a music video for Australian reality singing contest veteran Jacob Butler. The video for the song Coma features Pippa & Sweeney as a couple in crisis, and is currently viewable on Youtube. Jacob Butler is known for being the contestant who "quit" The X Factor back in 2005 so his friend who was also in his team wouldn't have to face being chopped, and then made it through to 8th Place in the 2007 season of Australian Idol.

Pippa's been a busy girl lately, as she's also found herself nominated, along with fellow actresses Jodi Gordon and Jessica Marais for Cosmopolitan magazine's Women Of The Year awards, in the category of Best TV Actress.

Hany Lee will shortly finish filming after just nine months in the role of Korean exchange student Sunny Lee. Hany won a six-month contract in late 2008, later extended by three months, having impressed producers during last year's Dolly Magazine Neighbours' Next Big Stars competition, but will film her final scenes in September, and will last appear on Australian screens in December.

Eve Morey has joined the Neighbours cast in the role of Sonya Mitchell. Sonya will be a new love interest for Toadie, and the pair's paths will first cross when she arrives to check on puppy Rocky, who Toadie and Callum are training up to be a guide dog. Eve is currently contracted to appear on a semi-regular basis for at least six months, and has previously had guest roles in shows including All Saints and Home & Away.

In other casting news, Shanyn Asmar will appear for three weeks, from September 22nd, as fashion designer Saffron Jankievicz, in a storyline involving Donna's new career ambitions; Perri Cummings is currently filming some more flashback scenes as Jill Ramsay; and the much-anticipated Lily Allen cameo will happen in episode 5772, due to go to air in Australia on Tuesday 9th September.

Young Fletcher O'Leary (Mickey Gannon) has been busy filming a television commerical for tourist attraction Sovereign Hill, while former Neighbour Sweeney Young (Riley Parker) has filmed a guest appearance for the second series of drama Rush.

Former Neighbours actors Shane Connor (Joe Scully) and Kevin Harrington (David Bishop) have set up their own school, coaching aspiring actors. For more information, visit theactorscoach.com.au

Holly Valance (Flick Scully) has split from boyfriend, musician Frankmusik, but is keeping herself busy with a new role in Bollywood film Kambakkht Ishq, which premiered in India this month and features cameos by Denise Richards and Sylvester Stallone.

And finally, Sam Clark (Ringo Brown) is set to release his debut single, Broken, in August. Visit samclarkmusic.com for more information and to view the video clip.

We're a bit late reporting it, but couldn't let it pass without marking the occasion - Friday July 17th saw Neighbours beat Home & Away in the Australian ratings, with 998,000 to their 981,000, thanks in part to some dramatic scenes, but also due to the huge success of Masterchef Australia, which had been boostings the ratings of lead-in Neighbours for some weeks.

Despite rumours in TV Soap magazine, our sources have denied that the character of Daniel Fitzgerald will be recast when actor Brett Tucker completes filming shortly. We have been told, however, that a new regular character has been cast, with an announcement expected in the next few weeks. Furthermore, Janet Andrewartha's (Lyn Scully) initial three-month contract has now been extended to six months, and she'll be filming until November.

In other casting news, comedian Scott Brennan will join the Neighbours cast for a three-week guest role as Josh Burns, editor of the West Waratah Star newspaper. His first appearance will be on Monday 27th July 2009. Also filming recently, though just as an extra, was Luke Ledger, cousin of the late Heath Ledger. Hailing from Western Australia, Luke was one of the finalists in last year's Dolly Magazine Neighbours' Next Big Star contest.

Nominations for this year's Australia's Writer's Guild awards have been announced, with two Neighbours episodes shortlisted for the Television Serial award, which rewards the original script for the episode, rather than the finished product seen on screen. Nominations this year have gone to episode 5474 (written by John Davies), which saw bi-polar Sam Fitzgerald suffer a manic episode in the bar, before inviting Oliver back to her hotel room, and episode 5786 (written by Anthony Morris), which saw several residents trying to escape a bushfire. The results will be announced on August 28th.

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