“Ramsay Street is eternal… I would never, ever blow it up”
Executive Producer has a very clear vision for how Neighbours will end, as cast prepare to celebrate its legacy.
- Published by David Knox
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EXCLUSIVE:
With the sad confirmation that Neighbours will cease production in June, TV Tonight posed a range of questions to Jason Herbison, Executive Producer.
When did you first hear the news the show would end and how are you personally feeling about it?
JH: We had some advance notice last year that it could be a possibility, which we shared with the cast and crew. We only had it confirmed this year slightly ahead of the news breaking. Naturally I’m very sad, but I’m also incredibly proud of the show and everything it has achieved. 37 years is an amazing innings. I’m also very grateful to our broadcasters, 10 and 5. They have always encouraged our ambition for the show, which I think reached great heights in recent years. We are going out on a high, which in many ways is a wonderful way to end.
Is ‘rested’ the same as ‘axed?’ Are cast released from contracts?
JH: Neighbours remains a beloved brand and the response from the viewers has only affirmed that. We’re open to all possibilities for the future which is why we are considering the show rested. But for the immediate future, the show is ending in June and cast will be free to move on to other projects.
In terms of storylines, how does a soap face its conclusion when by definition it is an endless neighbourhood? Do you blow it up, move to Queensland or switch off the lights and go to bed ready for another day?
JH: Ramsay Street is eternal and I like to think it will live on in the hearts and minds of the viewers, long after the final scene. I would never, ever blow it up. The ending will be a celebration of the past and the present, with the door very much left open for a future.
Have writers plotted the ending? How much is set in stone already?
JH: I have a vision for the finale. It came to me a while back and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. It isn’t plotted and it may evolve between now and June, but I feel like I know what I want to do.
Can you tease any returning cast, and who would you really like to see return?
JH: One of my great joys has been to bring back many former characters in recent years, which is something the show seemed reluctant to do prior. So I’m definitely hoping some of these faces return along with others we haven’t been able to lure back until now. I feel very strongly that the end must equally be a celebration of the current cast. Karl, Susan, Toadie and Paul have earned a very rightful place, front and centre.
Please tell me you’ve spoken with Kylie’s people at least… she’s in town, as if it was meant to be.
JH: I’m doing everything you’d expect me to be doing!
You did a lot of work to address years of non-inclusion, what moments make you most proud?
JH: I feel very proud of the progress we’ve made with diversity and inclusion. As a gay man, I know how it feels to be invisible on television, or depicted in the shadows of other characters. I wasn’t able to change everything overnight, however slowly but surely we made a meaningful difference. There are so many under represented groups I wanted to give a voice to and grow and learn from. Perhaps my greatest heartbreak is that I won’t have the chance to do that. I hope other productions continue to make strides. The easiest option is to do nothing – but then you achieve nothing.
How difficult was 2021 when the show was in the eye of the storm?
JH: It’s been a very challenging couple of years, beginning with Covid. I think I need a bit of distance and healing to be able to answer the question properly.
Should Australian fans see the finale at the same time as UK fans?
JH: It’s always a decision for the broadcasters.
What will happen to the set? Is there a part you would like to keep?
JH: Where do you begin with 37 years of history? At Neighbours we’ve enjoyed the benefit of having the entire Nunawading Studios to ourselves for decades – but it’s also meant we’ve been able store vast numbers of sets and props. You can’t open a cupboard without a piece of history falling out and I’ve made some wonderful discoveries over the years. I can say it will be a careful, considered, curated process. The famous painting over Karl and Susan’s fireplace will end up in my house, if there’s nowhere else to store it!
What will be Neighbours legacy?
JH: Neighbours leaves a huge legacy. Obviously it’s the longest running drama in Australian television history. Countless actors, writers, directors, make-up artists … the list goes on and on… so many people honed their skills on our set. The show also completely changed the landscape of British television, heralding the strip-drama formals of Corrie, Emmerdale and EastEnders today. Many international visitors would never have come to Melbourne if it wasn’t for the lure of Pin Oak Court. We know this, because they’ve told us time and time again! Very few shows can say they’ve entered the popular culture of two countries. Neighbours has done that in Australia and the UK. Not bad for a little show made in the Aussie burbs, is it?
Neighbours will wrap filming in June.
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23 Responses
David, I must ask, why didn’t you ask more pressing questions such as why did the show struggle to find an audience under his leadership? Seems so much blame is being placed in 10, 5, Paramount and CBS for not funding it, but if it’s not rating well, then what else are they to do? As a long time Neighbours fan, I would have loved to hear why he thinks the show’s ratings continued to decline and why he was unable to save it. The show was axed under his watch, so it’s decline is on him, he will forever be the EP who killed Neighbours. Instead it’s a sycophantic interview with basic questions which don’t give any info on what went so wrong for this once popular show to be axed.
It was a Q&A supplied in record time in appreciation of TVT’s long coverage of the show, and I think very few quotes from that day published elsewhere. Your feelings are clear but if we look to the cast they are full of praise for Jason’s steering of the show. In TV often forces conspire no matter how creative one is. Frankly it may well have ended sooner if not for his vision.
Great interview David. Thanks for asking about Kylie. It reminded me that you were also a fan and you wrote a play that I saw some time in the early or mid 00s, that had her songs in it. I don’t remember much about it apart from the fact a good looking young man who was a model on the Price is Right also appeared in it.
Good memory… 20 years ago last month. Hope you liked it.
I have watched Neighbours since i was a kid and it is a shame that it must come to an end.Neighbours produced so much talent over the years it’s an amazing list.You compare that to Home and Away they don’t come close,neither does there show.I don’t expect any new show debut in the slot either it will always be filled by repeats.Well Done to the cast,and crew throughout the years to help produce a very successful show.I’m not sure what i will watch now at 6.30PM maybe more computer time it’s going to be strange for a while.Thanks Neighbours for the memories
Go the cheesiest of cheesy endings.
Tie up all the current storylines then fade to black.
Fade back to Madge in bed saying “Shane, no!” as she wakes. Harold is by her side, “it’s ok my love.”
“Harold?”
“Yes my love. Do you know what today is? I have a surprise for you.”
Madge is in a nursing home with dementia.
Harold puts Madge into her wheelchair and takes her to her 80th birthday party.
“I couldn’t take you back to Ramsay street so I’ve bought Ramsay st to you.”
Cut to current and former cast members at her party – dead or alive – as past storylines have been Madge’s “reality”.
Barry Crocker is a resident there says to her “you should have told me you were having a party, I would have got the band here, but I think there’s a song we all know…”
This scene could conveniently also double up as a cast wrap party as production is obviously strapped for cash.
Great interview. It still sucks that it’s ending. I’m sure it’ll return in some capacity.
Channel 5 could be making a major mistake their future dramas might all bomb dropping Neighbours is a mistake they could regret soon
Apparently channel 5 is one of the lower at rated networks in the UK. So they could lose 1.5 million viewers. Big gamble. Maybe that will lead to a revival in 2023.
That’s a bit dubious. As mentioned, all the cast are being released to pursue other ventures and it’s unlikely that the standing sets will remain at Nunawading. Unless they do a complete reboot with maybe a few older characters involved, I can’t see it coming back in any form as we know it now
… speaking of the Nunawading studios … wonder how long before they are bulldozed to build housing? … I bet there will be a Ramsay Street when they do !!!
Has a heritage overlay.
As a kid who grew up near Pin Oak Court and had a Dad who worked at 10 in Nunawading during the 1980s, confirmation of the end of Neighbours is personally very sad. Now living in the UK, watching Neighbours was like looking through a window back to my old hood, recognising the locations and the familiarity of it all. I’ll definitely miss that daily connection.
Other commenters are right, this show has seriously hit its stride in recent years, probably as strong as those ‘golden years’. Full credit to Jason and the whole production, cast and crew. Rest well Neighbours.. you’ve earned it.
Very nice interview. I’m one of those who watched Neighbours as an 80s English kid before I knew my adult life would call Australia home so I’m sad to see this televisual ambassador leave the screens. I’ll gladly watch the final week or two coz I think it will be sent off in fine form.
Like many, I haven’t watched Neighbours in a long time, but as a child of the 80’s, I still hold great affections for it and it was nice to know it was there all this time. It’s also good to know that the shows final days are in the hands of someone like Jason who genuinely seems to love it.
Love this interview David, thank you.
Great interview, David. I love the answers. As a viewer from the beginning, I’d love to think of the show being “rested” for now, with the possibility of it coming back at some stage. I’m sad for all who work at the show, But I’m proud of them too. They’ve given us so many great stories over the years. It’s sad, but the ‘celebration’ will be wonderful. I really thought it would go on forever.
Great Questions, great Interview and insights.
Don’t forget Hollyoaks on Channel 4 in the UK Jason Herbison . it is a teen soap opera that airs every monday to friday at 6.30pm on channel 4 in the uk , however who knows if neighbours would come back in a few years time, it did for waterloo road a school drama from the BBC in the uk
10 then should show eps from season 1 ep 1 onwards either through 10 Play or on one of their channels to keep fans reminiscing about the show and bring nostalgia back
7 is rerunning sons and daughters and awhile back they were airing old old eps of home and away
Or My5 in the UK aswell . Channel 5 should air the first ever episode, i guess you don’t have My5 ?
If it’s anything like Home and Away, they can’t air the show from the beginning. Home and Away’s episodes had a defined amount of times they could rerun episodes based on certain contractual arrangements with the actors. If they have already rerun those episodes those amount of times, they can’t do so again unless they renegotiate with the actors involved.
Channel 5 in the UK can’t air old episodes by the way , they only air current episodes its not the kind of Channel that airs old episodes , but they may air the first ever episode , Channel 10 might do the same aswell , but we will see what happens, but in the uk we do have tv channels that air old episodes such as ITV3