Neighbours EP on writing out Toadie: “Our long-term plans will become clearer”

EXCLUSIVE:

Neighbours star Ryan Moloney this week confirmed his departure from Neighbours was not his decision telling Back to the Bay, “It actually wasn’t my choice. It was their choice,” but adding, “I’m quite grateful that they actually made that decision for me because I don’t think that I could ever say no to a contract. I think I’d always be kind of like, ‘oh, yes, okay, I’ll do another one.'”

With this in mind, TV Tonight asked Executive Producer Jason Herbison about the decision to wrap a much-loved character.

Ryan Moloney has indicated his departure from Neighbours was not his decision. Can you expand more on the decision to write him out of the show?

JH: Ryan is a beloved cast member and Toadie is an iconic Neighbours character, so this decision has been a careful one. It’s a little hard for me to talk about as we’re in the middle of a very big storyline involving Toadie, however our long-term plans will become clearer in the fullness of time. Both Ryan and Toadie are very important to the Neighbours universe, and this was uppermost in our minds as we look to the future.

What was behind the decision? Did writers feel he had reached the end of natural storylines or was it cost-cutting?

JH: Like all long-running shows around the world, we want Neighbours to constantly evolve to best match what’s happening in the world and to keep the production model fresh and sustainable. We want to keep viewers on their toes, while also progressing storylines in a natural way. We have a huge week coming up set in the outback where Toadie’s odyssey comes to a head. It’s big and bold but there’s an authentic character journey there too. Ryan has absolutely knocked it out of the park with his performance.

‘Toadie’ is one of your heritage characters. It can’t have been an easy decision?

JH:  Neighbours is incredibly fortunate to have a number of legacy characters. We’ve put a lot of thought into keeping them on the screen over the years and that speaks to how much we value them. Just recently we welcomed Harold back to the show, as a semi-regular character rather than full time. So much for him drowning in 1991! While it might seem like the end of Toadie, anything is possible in the future.

How did the discussion go with Ryan?

JH: To get very sentimental for a moment, I’ve known Ryan for many years and care about him a great deal, which I believe goes both ways. In approaching the discussion, I saw it not so much as doors closing but doors opening. Like everyone he moved on with his life when the series ended in 2022. It was great that he agreed to come back but I also sensed a shift in him, in terms of his future ambitions. For many years he’s expressed his interest in becoming a director and I realised I could support that. We have a great tradition of keeping people in the family at Neighbours and it’s so great we could make that happen.

He stays on as part of the family behind the scenes. This has obviously been underway for some time, how is it proceeding?

JH: Ryan directed his first episode a couple of months back and did an amazing job. He obviously has a huge head start after acting on the show for so many years. We were all impressed by how much creativity and passion he brought to it. He’s continuing to work his way through our mentoring program and I’m excited to see what he does next.

What’s coming up for Toadie’s final episodes?

JH: As our viewers will know, we are building to a big storyline with Toadie. It’s steeped in history and character and kind of sums up his life on the show. Very early into the reboot, Ryan shared with me his take on where Toadie was emotionally. It was a bit deeper and darker than what I had in my head, but I thought about it and realised he was absolutely right. I realised there was a great opportunity to do a story about a man at a certain stage of life finding himself in a mental health crisis. We’ve really leaned into this in this new chapter, and it’s important for viewers to see that. These things can creep up on you, often in a most unexpected way. Admittedly, we are telling the story through a serial drama lens, but there’s a full circle element to it that I believe has gravitas.

Neighbours screens 4pm Monday – Thursday on 10 plus Prime Video.