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“Returning home”: Seven swoops on Neighbours in new deal

Updated: Seven boss has thrown Neighbours a lifeline in its hour of need -37 years after it first debuted on the network.

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Neighbours has been thrown a lifeline, heading back to Channel Seven, 37 years after it first premiered on the network.

In a stunning new deal, Seven has swooped on the iconic soap to begin a new chapter for the Ramsay Street serial.

It was Seven which first debuted the series in 1985 before 10 picked up the series in 1986, but it will return to 7Plus in a bold streaming investment in local drama.

“Everybody needs good Neighbours,” said CEO James Warburton, “and the much-loved drama has no better friend than 7Plus.

“We are proud to welcome the show back home to the network where it all began.

“Fans will continue to see the loves and lives of Toadie, Dr. Karl & Susan, Paul Robinson and everybody in Erinsborough, in coming months. Together with Home & Away Seven is now home to a legacy of 70 years of iconic Australian drama.”

Seven’s bold move comes after Channel 5 signalled the show would cease broadcasting, and 10 advised it could not continue without a British partner.

James Warburton struck a deal with Fremantle to fully fund the series by absorbing costs as part of Home & Away‘s production output -but it will result in startling new changes across the soapie universe.

Seven’s Chief Content Officer of Entertainment Angus Ross said Erinsborough will join the fictional ‘Yabbie Creek’ as a new surfside town to Summer Bay, opening up both to crossover storylines.

“It will be soapie heaven for drama fans,” he teased.

“I can’t give too much away but you can expect to see Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) side by flamin’ side on screen with Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) for the very first time, Irene (Lynne McGranger) working at Lassiters and Toadie (Ryan Moloney) in the Summer Bay surf shop.

“There’s no end to the possibilities of storylines, romances, and TV weddings.

“I can also reveal former Home & Away star Dannii Minogue will make her Neighbours debut as a long-lost Robinson relative, continuing soapie royalty tradition.”

A key piece of Seven’s business plan is to offer British fans a special 7Plus “Perfect Blend” streaming subscription. To get around the geo-blocking fans will need to recite the lyrics to Especially For You and have a River Boys “Blood & Sand” tattoo emblazoned across their chest.

7Plus is set to debut the new Neighbours era on August 1st -exactly 4 months after April 1st.

“It’s going to be bigger than Bouncer’s dream!” Ross added.

Updated: Yup, annual April Fool’s Day post.

136 Responses

  1. Unfortunately I must agree with most of the comments here with this article being in poor taste.

    Whilst the cast and crew are yet to cease production, I think it is a little like running salt into the wound.

    Whilst I love everything about this site, and everything you do, David, I think you might of been better off making up some ridiculous judging panel for AGT or Idol reboot…

  5. Nearly got me this morning, until the crossover part and I thought that’s crazy … oh no … got me until there lol. Very good. Even sillier of me as I thought last night what tricks will there be this morning but then forgot.

  6. Good one David.You had me going almost until the end when you said that British. viewers would have to recite the lyrics of Especially for you to log onto 7plus to watch the show.Then I finally twigged that it was an April fool’s day joke!How gullible and I?

  7. I thought straight away it wasn’t real but I also thought hundreds of people are going to be out of work soon & they may not find the funny side of this.

  8. It’s currently 5am, I’ve just woken up and this article was the first I have read today. Being all groggy, I almost wet my pants reading this, so wanting to believe it were true. I’ve had many a thought that this could be a possibility. Look at all the crossovers US TV shows have!! We brits love you Aussies this is our only real escapism.

  9. Ok, so this may have been “just an April Fool’s Day joke”, but it was a pretty mean one to play on the Neighbours cast & crew, David. They’ve probably just come to terms with the situation and now you’ve opened the wound again.

    Yes it becomes obvious towards the end of the article, but not everyone will read that far.

  10. Getting the hopes of Neighbours fans up just to find out that it’s a nasty joke. Imagine the people working on Neighbours reading this. Terrible.

  12. Ha ha! my first thought when I read this earlier was that whether April Fools or no April Fools, you were a brave man taking on the Neighbours fans. Another well considered April Fools post though. Well done.

  13. I’ve been visiting this site for many years and always enjoy the April Fools jokes that you do. I must admit that more often than not you catch me out with them….this one I picked without even reading the article!

    I forwarded the link to the article to a friend that is an avid Neighbours fan – she fell for it…I still haven’t stopped laughing.

    Thanks for the joke!

      1. Yes we can take a joke but this one was in extremely poor taste. It’s like when someone tells a racist joke and defends it by saying it’s just a joke. An apology is in order I think

  17. Pretty hopeless April Fools’ Day joke this year David. I twigged immediately that it was an April Fools’ Day joke. It must’ve had a devastating effect on the actors and production crew of Neighbours who didn’t realise that it was a joke. I put this in the same category as the radio station in WA last year who said that Covid was over because a cure had been found

  20. David to be honest this is the worst April fools Joke I ever heard and I agree with most of the comments here
    that this joke has poor taste, Also lets just hope that you will have a better April fools Joke to come up with for next year.

  22. Yes April 1st guys…. it’s fair to say a mixed reaction to this year’s post and as always annual stories are debunked within about 2 mins of reading them. I’ve been sternly reminded not to mess with Neighbours fans.

  23. What fantastic news!

    Now if Seven could do a deal with Shortland Street we could really go to town on the crossovers. Just imagine, one of the Neighbours cast goes fishing with Alf and has a medical episode. The tide pulls them to New Zealand and they visit Shortland Street for emergency surgery, but due to a NZ Government bungle the doctors get deported to Australia and the Aussies have to pose as doctors to keep the hospital running until the real doctors manage to raid Seven’s archives and use Ted Bullpit’s Kingswood to magically drive across the ditch and intervene in the operating theatre before disaster strikes.

  25. Not even remotely funny; how many cast and crew will lose their jobs with the end of Neighbours and you think it’s clever to take the p**s out of them at their lowest ebb? Many thousands of UK viewers are devastated by the loss of a programme that pulls in double the audience your turgid drivel Home and Away ever has, and you think you’re oh so clever mocking them; it’s no wonder H&A has been dire since the decision to introduce the Braxton’s. Shame on you for mocking those losing their jobs and raising the hopes, albeit briefly, of those for whom Neighbours has been a way of life in a way your Baywatch on steroids could never hope to be.

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