0/5

Dear ABC, please replay your Neighbours special on finale night?

ABC's special on Ramsay Street was so good it would make great viewing for heartbroken fans in 2 weeks.

If you missed the Neighbours: End of the Road special on Monday night on ABC (not 10) you missed a rather fab tribute to the drama as it nears its conclusion after 37 seasons.

Including cast, producers, writers, critics, it outlined the stars, storylins, fandom, employment and diversity (both positive and negative aspects) for the Fremantle drama.

Most of the special by journalist Margaret Paul focussed on the social aspect of the series on Melbourne and Australia, including the Brits who relocated to Australia as a result of the show’s endless sunny skies and big back yards.

It was warm and unsuprisingly sad, given the show’s conclusion in two weeks.

Which brings me to a suggestion that ABC should replay this on the night of the last ever episode.

10 is screening the 90 minute finale in primetime on both 10 and 10 Peach from 7:30pm -9pm. There will be big crowds watching this across the country, including to see the pop culture moment when Scott & Charlene return.

Whilst I fully expect The Project to devote some serious time to the last episode ahead of its broadcast, the finale is followed by a repeat of Law & Order: SVU. By contrast Channel 5 will have two Neighbours specials for British fans.

So how about ABC replays Neighbours: End of the Road at 9pm for all those heartbroken fans who will be a bit lost? At the moment ABC has a Louis Theroux special scheduled following a Foreign Correspondent 30th anniversary special.

But I think they could be a magnet for all those Neighbours fans who could then watch:

7:30pm 10 / 10 Peach. Neighbours final
9pm ABC Neighbours: End of the Road special

Just a thought!

18 Responses

  1. I was quite shocked that the special appeared on channel 2 and not channel 10. I was very grateful for it though, especially after what happened (or didnt) at the Logies. I did thoroughly enjoy the segments/interviews that Studio 10 organised, and yes it Is a channel 10 show, but it wold have been even nicer (and (more) fitting for channel 10 to have organised a special documentary in itself, re Neighbours.

    So, in short, yes I welcome the hope and hopeful possibility for channel 2 to repeat its doccumentary/special on Neighbours re its historical ending.

    I also agree with what else has been said here.

  2. Hi guys, I like the initiative by TVTonight.

    I was excited to hear that ABC choose to document a Neighbours show on its channel. well done to them.

    I couldn’t help but feel that they were testing the waters for a perhaps Neighbours being on their network. I really hope this is the case.

    I hope this website jointly with other websites could contact the ABC Network or its cultural minister (someone from the government) to perhaps being Neighbours back. Just an idea.

  3. As a regular fan for over 22 years I found this special fantastic. I congratulate ABC TV for putting together such a ell crafted programme.
    Some clips I do not remember as I only started watching 22 years ago.

  4. Ironically Monday’s special rated 202, 000 –
    exactly double Monday’s regular new episode of 101,000.

    Seems many more people are interested in its past, than “heartbroken” about where it’s going.

    (Loved the honesty of one the head writers – Philippa Burne?)

  5. These current affairs specials are made by News and Current Affairs under the title Video Lab, they are intended for iView and have been used to fill some late night slots. With Neighbours finishing this one got a run on the main channel, though they have kept it away from Channel 10’s efforts.

  6. Agree, this was a great program and a nice tribute to the show. So far we appear to be seeing no specials from 10. It’s been up to Studio 10 to do all the effort, and maybe The Project nearer to the finale. The problem there is, Studio 10 does not get a large audience, and I don’t watch the Project.

  7. I agree that it was a great show, and was surprised at how much old footage they included. It was also good that they pointed out what I think is a major difference between Neighbours and H&A, the present-day diversity in Neighbours cast and characters. It was great to see Magda again, officiating at Aaron & David’s same-sex wedding. H&A has been very poor in this area – apparently Summer Bay is pretty much an LGBT-free zone. The special was a worthy tribute to the show and a replay would go down well.

    1. Yep. Home and Away has well and truly earned its nickname of “Home and No Gay”.

      I’d rather Home and Away was ending, if there had to be a choice, given their lack of progress on this and other fronts.

  8. One thing I hated about this special was everyone kept on saying the word “neighbours” every minute literally, I wish I counted how many times they said that word but it was used every minute too often

  9. Completely agree with your post on the end of Neighbours special David!
    At first I was s little surprised to find this on the ABC but the show is undoubtedly a very significant one in the history of Aussie (and UK) telly so the program was probably justified on that angle alone.

    It was just so beautifully done – so affectionate, great interviews, fantastic and well-chosen archive, and not afraid to raise a small critical note about the lack of diversity (until the latter years, anyway).
    I haven’t watched Neighbours for a long, long time but it brought back some happy, nostalgic memories for me particularly of when Neighbours hit ratings high with the ‘Kylie and Jason’ era and in particular THAT wedding episode!
    Even if it’s not repeated on the day/week of final shows, I assume fans/others that may’ve missed it on Mon eve can likely catch it on ABC iView for a good while probably?

  10. Yes! I was surprised how emotional I was watching this special. Might not help that I am also currently catching up on last week’s powerful episodes. Also feel the show gets singled out for lack of diversity when so many other shows, some current, still lack the diversity that Neighbours is scrutinised on so often.

Leave a Reply