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Former Neighbours scriptwriter Susan Bower has been named as the new executive producer of Neighbours. She will take over the role from Ric Pellizzeri who has been the executive producer for five years, and will be starting on set when the show resumes production on Monday 21st January.

Susan has worked on numerous Australian dramas, including McLeod's Daughters, Home & Away, All Saints and A Country Practice, and penned several Neighbours episodes in the mid-to-late 1990s. Ric Pellizzeri, meanwhile, will take up a new role in Drama Development for FremantleMedia.

A couple of former Neighbours turned chart-toppers are set to team up next year. Kylie Minogue (Charlene Robinson) and Delta Goodren (Nina Tucker) will be joining forces to record a track in aid of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Hospital in Melbourne. Details are still being finalised, but it's expected that the song will be recorded early in the new year.

The Soap Show will be providing Neighbours fans with a few treats this festive season, with three of the show's actors, past and present, set to give audio interviews. Between now and January 14th 2008, look out for interviews with Lara Sacher (Serena Bishop), Eliza Taylor-Cotter (Janae Timmins) and Natalie Blair (Carmella Cammeniti).

Jason Donovan (Scott Robinson) and Kylie Minogue (Charlene Robinson) will be back on TV this Saturday night, as they both perform on the final of The X Factor. The songs won't be revealed until the night, but Kylie is set to perform a duet with finalist Leon Jackson, while Jason will sing with Same Difference.

Jason will then be back on ITV1 in the New Year, appearing as Daniel Marrack in the drama Echo Beach.

As the time for Neighbours to change channels in the UK approaches, Five are preparing a documentary to be shown the night before the big move. Filming is currently underway at the Neighbours studios and locations in Australia, while several Neighbours actors based in the UK will also be taking part.

And there'll be a chance for fans to get involved next week when a segment for the documentary will be filmed at Alan Fletcher's Waiting Room gig in Manchester on Wednesday 12th December.

BBC One is set to take its longest Neighbours Christmas break in several years. 2007 is the final Christmas and New Year period that Neighbours will feature on the channel before its move to Five, but the BBC clearly aren't feeling festive, as they'll be taking the show off air on Friday 14th December, bringing it back three weeks later, on Monday 7th January 2008.

Viewers on Australia's Ten Network have a slightly longer break to contend with. The annual season finale will this year air on Friday 14th December, with the 2008 season premiering on Monday 14th January 2008.

BBC One has announced plans for a new Australian soap to fill the gap left by Neighbours. They've ordered 130 episodes of Out Of The Blue, set in Manly and centred around a group of thirtysomethings who return for a reunion, only for one of them to be murdered. Production will begin early in 2008, and it is thought that it may replace Neighbours in the early evening slot when it moves to Five in the Spring.

Perfect Blend would like to send our congratulations to Delta Goodrem (Nina Tucker), who this week announced her engagement to boyfriend Brian McFadden. It's thought that McFadden popped the question last weekend as the couple returned to Sydney.

Also celebrating is Benjamin Hart (Adam Rhodes), who's become a father for the first time. Little Isabella was born on Friday.

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