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Reference > Erinsborough News > Channel Hoppers From Oz

Neighbours is on the move - not from Ramsay Street but from BBC1 to Five. Here are eight of the soap's secrets they're taking with them...

1. PUNISHING SCHEDULE
Around 30 episodes are worked on at once - half a dozen being planned and written, 18 at various points of filming, and six or so in post-production. They work a 48-week year, with just enough time off for Ramsay Street legends such as Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) to do panto in Britain.

2. HE ANSWERS TO NO-ONE
Nobody on the show gets more fan mail than Stefan Dennis, who plays bad boy Paul Robinson. And nobody replies to fewer letters than Stefan: “I have a phobia about writing letters and haven't replied to a fan letter for three years. Can I apologise through Radio Times for this? I've hated writing letters since being forced to write them to my parents as a public schoolboy.”

3. NEIGHBOURS' BIGGEST FAN?
It’s probably Miriam Stephens, 29 and single, from Brighton, East Sussex. A Transport for London manager, she never misses an episode and travelled all the way to Australia to catch a special story (the one where her favourite characters, Karl and Susan Kennedy, were reunited in 2006), rather than wait a mere two hours to watch it via the internet at home. “I sat there glued,” says Miriam. “I had a video camera trained on the screen, so I could take the episode back to the UK to watch again.”

4. KEEPING THE FAITH
Neighbours characters are never “pregnant”. They’re always “having a baby”. Why? “Because Australia is a Catholic country and it’s assumed that women are always going to have the baby they are carrying, rather than considering abortion,” explains Ryan Moloney, who plays Toadfish.

5. BOOTS MADE FOR WORKING
Reflecting the Neighbours team spirit are the communal Ugg boots - half a dozen pairs for the men and a similar number for the women. “They lie around the place and are especially useful on set for keeping your feet warm when the air conditioning is blasting out a little too strongly,” says Kym Valentine, who plays Libby Kennedy.

6. NO FRILLS ON US
There are no individual dressing rooms at the rambling Global Television studios, in the Melbourne suburb of Nunawading, where Neighbours is filmed. “There’s a big room for the girls to change in, another for the boys,” says Jane Hall, who plays Rebecca Napier. “Historically, the show’s never had dressing rooms for it’s actors. It supposedly helps build a sense of community and team spirit. But it’s probably the show with the least amount of frills on Australian television.”

7. NICE THAI
Tom Oliver buys all the pastel shirts Lou Carpenter wears during twice-yearly visits to Thailand. “The costume department give me a budget and off I go,” says Tom. “Lou started wearing the shirts I was wearing in real life. They’re light, comfortable, and only cost $10 (about £5) a pop.”

8. NO ESCAPING IT
As well as Neighbours, the TV studios in Nunawading were once home to cult drama Prisoner: Cell Block H. The infamous “Block H”, with it’s high, austere wall and barred windows, remains intact and clearly visible from the studio’s car park.

This article originally appeared in Radio Times magazine dated 15th January 2008

Article submitted by David