Farewell to Neighbours: “I really wanted it to be a celebration of the past & the present.”

Jason Herbison was a high school student when he wrote to producers,
eventually rising to Executive Producer and the man entrusted with its exit.
Today he reflects on its successes -including how it forever changed British television.

You don’t always appreciate what you’ve got until it’s gone, as Executive Producer Jason Herbison (pictured top left) has been starkly reminded of following the news in February that Channel 5 would discontinue to fund the long-running Australian soap.

If its place in TV schedules had been somewhat taken for granted, suddenly there was an outpouring of emotion from viewers.

“It’s only really since the show was announced to be finishing, that we’ve seen this enormous reaction from the audience and we really heard how much it means to them,” he tells TV Tonight.

“But you don’t invite a television show into your living room for decades on end, if you’re not getting something very important and special from that show. And I think this has been giving our audience that.

“How often would a show be become part of the popular culture, not just in its home country, but in another country -for decades?”

Neighbours was Herbison’s first job in television, some time after penning a “Dear Producers c/0 Nunawading” letter as a Year 11 student. Story editor Ray Kolle responded, eventually offering him a job as storyliner, then scriptwriter. He returned in 2013 becoming Series Producer succeeding Richard Jasek, before Executive Producer in late 2015.

Fittingly, he has scripted the final episodes, including the much-anticipated extended finale which includes returns from Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, and Guy Pearce. New names have been confirmed: Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Delta Goodrem, Kym Valentine and Carla Bonner, while UK reports suggest Natalie Imbruglia & Holly Valance have also filmed special videos.

Surprise! 👀

You didn’t think we were done did you?!

We’re thrilled to share that Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Delta Goodrem, Kym Valentine and Carla Bonner will all make an appearance in our finale! 🎉 #CelebratingNeighbours pic.twitter.com/KjzoLDKvx6

— Neighbours (@NeighboursTV) July 23, 2022

At the time we speak, details had managed to stay under wraps.

“I always had in my mind, how I would end the show if it came to an end,” he explains.

“It’s looking amazing. The finale I think, is a very befitting, celebratory finale, which is what I wanted it to be. I think, I hope, people are really going to like it.

“Obviously, people know what we’ve announced and I’ve seen various speculation about how all these people are going to come back and what they’re going to do. I think exactly what we ended up doing is not out there.

“A really nice balance of the past and the present, always with the door open to the future as well”

“I really wanted it to be a celebration of the past and the present. That was very important to me, that we really celebrate the show today. It’s not all about yesteryear. But I wanted it to be both. So I think what we settled on is a really nice balance of the past and the present, always with the door open to the future as well. Whatever that could be.”

Over the past six years, Herbison has crafted ways of bringing the past into the present, with a mix of new and heritage characters returning including Madeleine West, Carla Bonner, Ally Fowler, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Annie Jones, and overhauled a lack of diversity with a same-sex wedding, transgender, non-binary, people with disabilities and a range of ethnic backgrounds including Indigenous.

If Herbison was making up for lost time on the show, it’s clear that whatever spark attracted him to Ramsay Street as a teenage boy has not left him.

“I remember as a teenager, when I became a huge fan of the show, there were a lot of older characters in the show. People might remember Scott and Charlene, but the balance was actually older,” he recalls.

“It was a sense of family, a sense of belonging, a sense of community”

“The younger characters back then, really got something out of the older characters and I think it was a sense of family, a sense of belonging, a sense of community that they maybe didn’t have in their own lives.

“When I think back to the mid ’80s when Neighbours launched, I think it struck – and it’s corny to say it- the ‘perfect blend’ of storytelling that no other show had done. Very simply, a mix of the drama, the comedy, the heartland.

“It was a blend that was quite unique at the time, and then others followed. We even saw the British soaps start to change and evolve and adapt.”

Herbison is adamant on this point, and one that Australian audiences don’t really appreciate.

“When Neighbours began in 1986 in the UK, all of the British soaps were on twice a week. But it was Neighbours coming on five episodes a week and pretty soon, twice a day. That completely revolutionised all of the serial dramas in the UK, and incrementally they went up to 3, 4, 5, 6 episodes -and it’s all because of Neighbours.

“Neighbours completely changed the landscape of British television”

“I think this is something that doesn’t get enough recognition. Neighbours completely changed the landscape of British television.

“I think was very aspirational, there was a lot of escapism in it. But it was also very captivating. I do think that over the years, whilst it’s evolved and the show has moved with the times, if you compare a 1980s episode to Neighbours 2022, you will see it’s it’s moved on. But there are some benchmarks that remain the same.”

Jason Herbison (Executive Producer), Chris Donis (Line Producer), Kate Kendall (Producer Director) and Andrew Thompson (Producer)

Neighbours was also a world-leader in television drama finding a pathway forward during the height of the pandemic. Production companies from around the world, and press as far away as the BBC and New York Times, all reached out to hear the solution that Herbison and his team had forged to shoot safely -and achievement that should never be forgotten.

“Those of us in Melbourne… know how difficult it was just for life to go on, let alone a workplace to go on”

“That’s an absolutely huge thing that I know we’ve been recognised for and that is wonderful. But it was a very difficult couple of years and I think those of us in Melbourne, as you are one of those people, know how difficult it was just for life to go on, let alone a workplace to go on,” he acknowledges.

“This is a contact sport, people have to interact with each other. It was a very challenging time that I’m very proud we got through.”

Already moving onto a newly-announced miniseries, Riptide, for 10 / Channel 5, Herbison has little time to pause.

I finish by asking for the fans, does he envisage a time when Neighbours might be revived?

He keeps all options open…

“It’s a beloved brand. Obviously, nowadays shows do come back after a year, 5 years, 20 years. We’ve seen lots of things rebooted. I think anything’s possible, but certainly now it’s the end.”

Neighbours Finale Week:
Monday July 25 6:30pm – 8pm 10 Peach
Tuesday July 26 6:30pm – 8pm 10 Peach
Wednesday July 27 6:30pm – 8pm 10 Peach
Thursday July 28 7.30pm – 9pm on 10 and 10 Peach

Attention British fans: TV Tonight will be filing a finale story following the Australian broadcast.