Back in 1991 Neighbours’ iconic pooch Bouncer was bizarrely given a dream sequence, fantasising that he was ‘marrying’ Rosie, Clarrie McLachlan’s (Frederick Parslow) Border Collie, who lived next door.

The Times UK named it one of Neighbours most memorable moments, as did readers of Britain’s NOW Daniel Bettridge of The Guardian even said the “Neighbours‘ faithful golden retriever” was one of the best actors to “tread the Ramsay Street tarmac.” He described Bouncer’s dream as the “infamous episode dedicated to a doggy daydream where he married the saucepot sheepdog from next door. Woof.”

At the time, Bouncer’s fan cards became the most popular out of any cast member. Woof indeed.

Next week a Neighbours episode will enter the debate over a push to change Australia Day from January 26.

In the episode Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) has withdrawn Lassiters from celebrating Australia Day, but problems arise when a former statement she made was less supportive of change. Terese finds herself accused of being a hypocrite.

“Terese is disappointed by her past statements,” Elmaloglou has told TV Week. “She no longer stands by her comments, but knows she has to take responsibility for the things she’s said. After speaking to Jacinta (Maurial Spearim), she knows that apologising is very important.”

6:30pm Tuesday January 26 on 10 Peach.

Margot Robbie’s younger brother Cameron is following in her footsteps, joining the cast of Neighbours.

The 25 year old will play Jesse Porter, described as a ‘wealthy lifeguard’ who takes a summer job at Lassiters bar. His IMDb listing notes several short films.

“I’ve been working in and around film sets [and] behind the camera since I was in high school, and I’ve always studied acting and film since that time as well,” he said.

“There’s definitely a strong ‘want’ to do well with my work and grow with my abilities.”

Margot Robbie played Donna Freedman from 2008 – 2011 prior to her Hollywood career.

Cameron Robbie is expected 10 Peach screens around March.

Source: Digital Spy

We know the Brits love their soaps and even in a year when Coronation Street turned 60, it was Neighbours that topped a list of shows searched on Yahoo UK.

I suspect much of that has to do with Channel 5 pulling episodes back during the pandemic (ironic given it was Neighbours that came up with a model to continue production).

Here’s how Yahoo UK reported 2020 search results.

1. Neighbours
2. Des
3. The Masked Singer
4. Killing Eve
5. Love Island
6. This Morning
7. Strictly Come Dancing
8. Eastenders
9. Emmerdale
10. Coronation Street

Yes 2020 was a crazy, stupid year…

We threw out schedules for random press conferences. We learned to accept dodgy NBN Skype interviews as the norm (I’ve never seen up so many nostrils before). Studio audiences were banished, we kept presenters at opposite ends of their desks and a US election was disputed from outside the Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

In lockdown we binged more scripted and Reality TV than ever (thanks Schitt’s Creek and Tiger King). One of the weirdest moments I can recall was watching Dancing with the Stars couples sweating on the dance floor, halting for a live press conference in with ScoMo and Professor Brendan Murphy asking the nation to social distance, then we were straight back to the dancing. But I also recall filing TV ratings in my car awaiting a routine COVID test (negative!). Thanks 2020.

However it’s easy to overlook there were also a few rare moments on Australian TV.

Several were on MasterChef Australia, notably when 5 Asian Australians were being judged for their damn fine food: Brendan Pang, Jess Liemantara, Khanh Ong, Poh Ling Yeow and Reynold Poernomo. You’d never have seen that a decade ago. I also loved a moment when Melissa Leong answered a ringing phone in the middle of an off-site challenge, and proceeded to take a customer booking (normally this kinda thing would be edited out). Lastly, a Katy Perry visit sent contestants into meltdown … especially Reece “You’re the tits, Reece” Hignell.

Big kudos to Neighbours Series Producer Natalie Lynch & team for creating a COVID-friendly production model that drew praise around from Variety, Hollywood Reporter, NY Times, CNN and BBC and was subsequently cloned the world over. Give this woman a raise?

NITV introduced Australia’s very first Indigenous Breakfast show, Big Mob Brekky, as part of NAIDOC Week. On Q&A Meyne Wyatt lit a fuse with his compelling “I don’t wanna be quiet” monologue from his play City of Gold. An honourable mention to Gruen for quietly including two BIPOC female panelists in the same episode, without even needing to point it out.

2020 also brought us Alan Kohler’s books sitting, without comment, on his desk for ABC News broadcasts. Amongst his choices on the day the NSW Premier confirmed a secret romance: “A Damsel in Distress,” “The Indiscretions of Archie” and “Money for Nothing” by UK author and playwright P.G. Wodehouse.

No show demonstrated how we were living better than Gogglebox. It was as if we were collectively holding hands with the cast as they went through the various pandemic stages: disbelief, anger, monotony, depression.. including with Emily, Mick and Di all stepping back as a safety precaution.

Bluey ratings went through the roof, proof that good Kid’s TV can still pull a crowd. One episode on saw its Consolidated total leap to 1.09m viewers!

We had some pretty wonderful musical performances too, in the Firefight Australia concert, Music from the Homefront, The Sound and a glowing all-female tribute to Helen Reddy at the ARIAs.

Hey, 2020 even brought us a Life Drawing Live class on TV. Random. Should I also mention Sam Simmons having Fanta poured into his backside while he cavorted in a blow-up wading pool in LOL: Last One Laughing? Who says Aussie larrikinism is dead?

Bonus… Community TV had a last minute reprieve. And Sam Newman was finally let go by Nine.

See you in ’21.

Another blast from the past for Neighbours with Lucinda Cowden to reprise the role of Melanie Pearson in 2021.

She appeared as Melanie between 1987 and 1991, with her character marrying Joe Mangel (Mark Little) before returning in 2005 for the show’s 20th anniversary.

Her return was also teased in a promo this week in which Toadie was spotted with a mystery woman.

The announcement follows Jacinta Stapleton’s return as Amy Greenwood.

Source: Digital Spy

British fans of Neighbours are not happy Jan over plans by broadcaster Channel 5 to rest the series for one-and-a-half weeks over Christmas / New Year.

It will conclude this year on Wednesday, December 23 and won’t return until Monday, January 4.

But the problem is, the show was already lagging Australia due to a decision by Channel 5 to reduce episodes during COVID. That’s despite earlier moves to have the two countries broadcasting concurrently, and a year-round commitment by Fremantle and 10.

Channel 5 said in a statement, “Currently, Channel 5’s full schedule means it is unlikely that we will be able to catch up with the transmission of episodes in Australia in the near future.

“Neighbours will return to UK screens on January 4, 2021 and we hope that viewers will continue to enjoy watching Neighbours with the profound affection that we know many of them hold for the soap.”

But such is the passion that angry fans have taken to change.org for a petition.

“Let the UK catch up to Aus in Neighbours again​.​ Plus stop the Xmas break!!” the petition insists.

“You made a stupid call by reducing episodes at a time when people needed entertainment and their 30 mins of escapism per day.

“You had your reasons, and your mistake was forgivable, but you need to let us catch up and certainly not take a Xmas break!!!

“Stop the Xmas break and run late catch up episodes in January 2021.

“Treat UK Neighbours‘ fans (AKA: your channel’s audience!) with a little bit of due regard!”

So far around 900 signatures have joined the rally call.

10 Peach will screen Neighbours each weekday over summer (except Christmas Day / NY Day). Sorry ‘guv.

Source: Digital Spy

Neighbours has built a summer promo around cast member Benny Turland as Hendrix, to publicise the fact it will screen every weeknight across summer -updated: except Xmas Day / NY Day.

Get ready for a sweltering heat wave! The temperature is rising in Erinsborough as the residents of Ramsay Street prepare for their steamiest, sauciest and most suspenseful summer yet.

With the return of Amy Greenwood (Jacinta Stapleton) after 20 years away from Erinsborough, things are heating up between Jane (Annie Jones) and Clive (Geoff Paine), juicy secrets continue to haunt Nicolette (Charlotte Chimes) and Hendrix (Benny Turland) runs into trouble at every turn.

So, what better way to tease months’ worth of “ohhhs” and “ahhhs” than with a Neighbours style music video starring Hendrix (Benny Turland), the teen with his finger in every drama filled pie?

Benny Turland has performed with international superstars including Kelly Rowland, Rita Ora and the Ziegler sisters, and he’s put his best foot forward as he bursts through Erinsborough with his most impressive moves yet.

6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

On Monday night I was fortunate enough to attend the AACTA Awards, happily enjoying new-found freedoms and safely seated at socially-distanced tables.

It has been a punishing year for all so everybody was elated, if not disbelieving, we were actually seeing faces without a Zoom meeting.

In the room were the best of the best: cast and producers from such fine shows as Stateless, Wentworth, MasterChef, Bluey, Upright, Mystery Road, Mad As Hell….

All were being feted for their 2020 work, several of which achieved the near-impossible in 2020.

But as I looked around I couldn’t help but notice… where was Neighbours?

Sure, it may not a front-runner for Best Drama series, or necessarily a first choice for the Acting, Writing and Directing gongs.

But if there’s one series that set the model for restarting in 2020, it’s Neighbours -not just in Australia, but a model that was replicated around the world.

Deadline: Australia’s ‘Neighbours’ Sets Safety Protocols As It Resumes Production; First Show Back Could Be Road Map For Others April 2020

Bloomberg: No Kissing, No Extras: How to Make TV in the Age of the Virus April 2020

BBC: Neighbours: Australian soap to resume filming after Covid-19 shutdown April 2020

Variety: ‘Neighbours’ Iconic Australian Soap Opera Resumes Production April 2020

CNN: Beloved Australian soap opera ‘Neighbours’ is resuming production during the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s how. – April 2020

New York Times: An Australian Soap Opera Returns, With Distance (and No Kissing)  May 2020

It feels logical now, but back in April when we faced so many unknowns it took Series Producer Natalie Lynch to find a working model.

The studio was divided into quadrants, with an operational hub, three distinct production teams and only three actors allowed to cross between the units. If someone became sick, producers could close down one hub and keep others operational.

There was different catering for everyone, males went with no make-up, women’s make-up was not be touched up, there were no intimate scenes.

As director Kate Kendall told TV Tonight earlier this year, “(Natalie) left the building for two days and just put her head down and started drawing out a document to see how we could keep people employed in a safe way. We’re very blessed because we’ve got so much space. We’re all on site. We don’t have to go off-site to shoot locations and stuff. We’ve got our backlot here so it’s about minimising the risk.

“She put in place procedures that would mean if someone did have the virus or something, we’re three steps ahead of the game to shut it down.”

Since the Neighbours model was put in place under Executive Producer Jason Herbison, other dramas from Hollywood to London have adapted their own working equivalent.

As we look back on the best of 2020, it would have been fitting to recognise such creative enterprise.

TV Tonight is a partner of the AACTAs.

New Neighbours cast member Nathan Borg is the first actor on Australian television with a cochlear implant.

Today marks International Day of People with Disability, a United Nations observed day celebrating people living with disabilities.

Nathan Borg, 24, was born six weeks premature and contacted meningitis at the age of three months old leaving him profoundly deaf. He received a cochlear implant in his right ear at the age of two and started to learn and hear for the first time.

Following school’s theatre production he went on to complete various performing arts courses and workshops where he met Neighbours’ Executive Producer Jason Herbison and casting director Thea McLeod.

“Growing up I never saw anyone like me on television, so I knew it was time to have a hard of hearing actor on our Australian screens. I think it’s important in this industry that people with all disabilities of all ages get to tell their stories,” he said.

Borg began filming the role of Curtis Perkins last month, described as an easy-going guy starting his teaching career at Erinsborough High under the eye of Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) and Jane Harris (Annie Jones).

“Each time I film scenes with Jackie and Annie I am constantly growing as an actor. It is such a privilege to work with such inspiring icons. Jackie has taught me to take direction and Annie has taught me to let loose on set which has been a great balance,” he added Nathan.

Jason Herbison said: “Nathan’s passion for acting was clearly evident when I met him nearly a year ago and I’m delighted he is joining the cast in a recurring guest role as a young teacher fresh out of uni who isn’t defined by his hard of hearing status. He is independent and working in the community, and like everyone on Ramsay Street, we soon discover a link with one of our residents which is going to be a lot fun.”

His episodes will start airing on 10Peach from January 28.

Veteran actress Betty Bobbitt, best known as Prisoner‘s Judy Bryant, has died aged 81.

She died earlier today following a massive stroke last Wednesday.

Earlier today her son Chris broke the news she was not expected to recover, followed by a sad update.

Bobbitt played Judy Bryant from 1980 – 1985, Australian TV”s first sympathetic lesbian portrayal and becoming one of the show’s longest running characters.

“I loved working in the show. I made friends with all the cast members and had a good time,” she told TV Tonight in 2011.

“To me it was a happy experience. It gave me unbelievable money I never thought I would have. I bought a house while I was doing it.”

The Philadelphian-born actress was lured to Australia by US performer Jonathan Daly, who cast her in his 1960s variety show, Daly at Night, filmed at Channel Seven’s Teletheatre in Fitzroy.

“I was appearing as Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame and he thought I was funny so he said ‘Come to Australia and appear on my show as a comic,’” she said.

“I got Frank Thring to do Macbeth with me, and I did it in a Southern accent with a lot of fake blood.

“It went live to air, but now nobody has anything of it. I saw a Channel Seven history special and it wasn’t even mentioned.”

Prior to Prisoner there were ensemble roles with the Melbourne Theatre Company, plus Tikki & John’s famed theatre restaurant, allowing her to do everything from vaudeville to Shakespeare.

But it was as lesbian Judy Bryant that she would become best known. She lived 40k from the Nunawading studio and didn’t drive, so there were long taxi rides. On top of the long days she was a single parent of two boys.

“It was an amazing journey, but Elspeth (Ballantyne) was the same as a single parent, Val Lehman had three children, so we were all actors with a beautiful gig that paid us well and it was amazing.

“Towards the end I was keen to do something else. Enough already playing the same character. I’d been an actor all my life and I wanted to play someone else. I loved the cast but the ones I had been most bonded to had left,” she says.

“So the last year I was a little bit restless, but I still enjoyed it.

“When I finished I went straight into a play at the MTC. In ’86 I went back to the States to connect with my brother. When I came back I went straight into Nunsense on tour, which I later directed with June Bronhill.”

She had other credits including Matlock Police, Homicide, Special Squad, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers, Neighbours, and All Saints.

Unlike many of her colleagues who feared type-casting, Bobbitt didn’t feel the need to shun her Prisoner days. But she re-connected with fans via Facebook, including in the UK.

“I didn’t believe that this show we did in the early 80s was still popular. It’s only been in the last year that people have contacted me,” she said.

“Then I realised the following and it was amazing. I’m not very keen on being a star and all of that stuff. You want to pay me money for my autograph? Shutup!”

Actress Jacinta Stapleton is returning to Neighbours, for the first time in 15 years.

For much of her run from 1997 – 2000 her character Amy Greenwood was in a relationship with Lance Wilkinson (Andrew Bibby) and living in ‘The House of Trouser.’ But after a split she then had a relationship with flight attendant Damien Smith (John Ridley), eventually eloping together.

Stapleton returned briefly for a 2005 Neighbours anniversary.

Next month Amy will reappear, working in the fashion industry and turning up when a call for a new Lassiters uniform design goes out.

“As Amy Greenwood has always held a fond place in my heart, to reprise her 20 years later feels like a gift that rarely happens in one’s career,” said Stapleton.

“She’s effusive and flamboyant and joyous to play. Her time back in Erinsborough will see her experience everything from friendship to drama, to romance and heartbreak. It’s quite the ride.”

Executive producer Jason Herbison added, “Amy Greenwood is a heritage character I’ve wanted to reprise for a long time because she is so unpredictable and great fun, and I’m thrilled Jacinta was available for this guest part – she has slipped back into the role effortlessly.

“Amy is set to raise some eyebrows on Ramsay Street but also win a lot of hearts.”

Source: Digital Spy

TV Soap has this week published its last ever issue, bringing to an end a 36 year publishing history.

Publishers nextmedia said in a statement, “After what has been an amazing journey, the difficult decision has been made to cease publishing TV Soap in December 2020.

“The team would like to thank its loyal fans and readers who have made producing this magazine a reality over the last 30 years.”

TV Soap, which describes itself as “Australia’s number 1 magazine for lovers of TV Drama, gossip and glamour” heavily favours The Bold & the Beautiful (every cover) but also features Home & Away, Neighbours, Wentworth, Days of Our Lives, The Young & the Restless, Halifax: Retribution, Mrs. America, My Life is Murder, The Heights, Billions, The Bachelor and Real Housewives.

James Manning, Editor of Mediaweek tells TV Tonight, “TV Soap first appeared in 1984 edited by entertainment reporter Ben Mitchell and was published by then-Fairfax magazine division Magazine Promotions. The title survived several stops and starts across the years and found a home with a number of publishers before ending up most recently with German-owned nextmedia.

“The magazine’s final editor Vesna Petropoulos had been in charge for a long time and managed to find a way to keep an audience engaged with limited resources as many other magazines went by the wayside. Although the magazine covered the Australian, US and UK soaps, it did its best work covering US TV giants The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless.”

TV Soap also outlasted TV Hits which ceased publishing in 2010 after 22 years.

Iconic TV Week, which recently appointed Amber Giles as Editor, remains the pioneer and best-seller in its genre, reaching 63 years next week.

A Collectors Edition final copy is dated as 7th December 2020.

Neighbours has been recognised with two awards in the UK’s Inside Soap awards winning Best Daytime Soap as well as Stefan Dennis named Best Daytime star for resident baddie Paul Robinson.

The honours are particularly gratifying because the judging includes the series’ 35th Anniversary special episodes as well as stories filmed during COVID.

Neighbours was widely recognised worldwide for finding a working drama model to remain filming, formulated by Jason Herbison (Executive Producer), Kate Kendall and Andrew Thompson (both Producers) and Chris Donis (Line Producer). It was a model replicated by scripted drama around the world.

Remarkably the win for veteran Stefan Dennis is his first ever award.

“This a very special prize during what has been a hard year for many people and a big thank you to our UK fans who have stuck with us through thick, thin and COVID,” he said.

Producer and recent ADG award recipient Kate Kendall, said: “What a year it’s been. So proud of what we’ve achieved at Neighbours. No one knew what to expect. Every day has another challenge, a different challenge. Massive congratulations to our entire team, Channel 5 and of course to our loyal audience.”

World Exclusive: Drama coach, Agent & Casting remember how the Hemsworths were discovered. Plus rare footage of unaired pilot The Coast (2002).

Drama coach Louise Talmadge can still remember a hard-working young man named Luke Hemsworth was very popular in her drama classes -especially with the ladies.

“Somebody said, ‘He looks like Brad Pitt, doesn’t he?'” she recalls.

“He said, ‘You should see my brother, Chris’ So I said, ‘Let’s see him!'”

And with that, a show business family was born.

Talmadge was the first drama coach of the Hemsworth family, Luke, followed by Chris, Liam and mother Leonie. It was the late ’90s / early 2000s when Luke Hemsworth would drive from Phillip Island to Prahran to attend Talmadge’s drama classes. The US-born coach was renowned for her honest and sometimes brutal feedback and the ability to spot the emotional intelligence necessary for success.

“He used to come in wearing overalls from a job that made him greasy. Luke was very good. He had a lot of natural ability, very good at comedy, which unfortunately, I don’t see him doing. It’s too bad, because he’s really good at that,” she reveals.

“They would come from Phillip Island at night, after working. They were all a little bit afraid of me because I’d really give them hell if they didn’t know their lines. But the Hemsworths were hard workers.

“He had lots of natural ability”

“Chris was a teenager and he had lots of natural ability. What I taught them was really audition skills and confidence.”

Eventually all three boys, plus mother Leonie completed Intermediate & Advanced Courses.

“Luke wanted to be an actor and I think the others probably did it because he was doing it,” she reflects.

“I was worried about Liam because he was only about 15 or 16 and he was so tall. A good looking boy, but really tall. I remember telling his mother ‘He might not get any work as a young person, because casting directors can be silly. They think if a guy’s young, he’s got to be shorter than his dad… but he’s very good. He’ll do fine when he gets to a certain age.'”

Talmadge even recalls recommending the boys to an agent, who declined, preferring to focus on NIDA graduates.

“She was (kicking) herself that she missed the chance to have them!”

But agent Jennifer Hennessy, who came to represent Luke Hemsworth, also remembers meeting his younger brother.

“I remember quite well the day he asked if his younger brother could come in for a chat. I asked what his brother was like, and the answer from Luke, with a cheeky smile, was “taller and better looking”. I had a high opinion of Luke, so any sibling with the same qualities was exciting,” she insists.

“Luke brought his brother into the office, still wearing his school uniform”

“Luke brought his brother into the office, still wearing his school uniform, and Chris said he’d like to give acting go. Whilst it was a very casual, laid back meeting, it was obvious he -like his older brother- was taking the opportunity very seriously, which was unusual for his age.

“Both Luke and Chris were quick studies regarding the industry, their place in it, and what they needed to do to be constantly moving forward. You never had to repeat things, they were always available, they took every bit of advice on board and grabbed every opportunity with a professionalism you don’t often see at that age.”

Casting director Lou Mitchell cast Chris Hemsworth in a guest role as King Arthur in Guinevere Jones, a children’s series by producer Lynn Bayonas.

“Rather than audition kids, sometimes we used to say, ‘Can you tell us a bit about yourself?’ and the thing about the Hemsworth boys is they could always spin a yarn. They had outdoor / adventure lives, so they could always talk about surfing, camping or fishing or doing something with their family,” she says.

But their big break was due to be an ongoing role in a Nine / BSykB soap, The Coast.

Created by John Hugginson & Ray Harding it was set in a fishing village, filmed in Queenscliff. Produced by Linda Klejus and Peter Beilby of Circa Media, there were hopes it might become Nine’s answer to Neighbours and Home & Away. And for two young Hemsworths, it was set to be their first series role.

“We cast Luke Hemsworth, I think his character in the Pilot got injured, and we cast Chris Hemsworth in another family in the show, so they weren’t cast as brothers,” Mitchell recalls.

“Chris had already worked for us on Guinevere Jones. In that same year we cast him as in Marshall Law as a love interest for Lisa McCune in one episode, and then we cast him in The Coast.

“It was a very exciting time to be in Television”

“The Coast Pilot was absolutely gorgeous to look at. It was a very exciting time to be in Television. We were all hoping that was going to go ahead.”

Other cast members included Tracy Mann, Nicholas Bishop, Jude Beaumont, Rachel Gordon, Andrew Mitchell, Gary Files, Joe Petruzzi -and a guest role from a young Liam Hemsworth.

While producers delivered several half hour episodes pitched as soap, Nine execs also wanted to see the same show as a one hour adult drama, prompting a re-edit into another Pilot. Eventually the network passed on the series. It would be Home and Away that would become Chris Hemsworth’s starring vehicle, while Luke went on to Neighbours.

“You always know when someone’s going to go somewhere”

Their success does not surprise Mitchell.

“From a casting point of view, you always know when someone’s going to go somewhere. It was only a matter of time before somebody picked Chris up. Home & Away was exactly what Chris needed because he had a lot of charisma, but he needed to go through that factory of learning on the job.”

Jennifer Hennessy, who later started her own agency (Hennessy & Harman Management), bears no grudges in watching the trio go on to success with other representation.

“What you see is what you get”

“Luke, Chris and Liam had moved onto other agencies by the time I’d started mine, but was lucky enough to pick up Leonie and was once again working with another Hemsworth. Despite their huge success, you never lose that instinct to want to help, guide and protect some actors you start out with… the nice ones anyway. I can genuinely say you’d be hard pressed to find a more “normal” family in this industry. What you see is what you get, and that’s also probably a large part of their appeal, both here and in the US.”

Louise Talmadge is equally proud of her star graduates.

“Chris, when he won his Logie, said, ‘I want to thank my drama coach Louise Talmadge. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for her.’ I thought, ‘How cool is that?’ Actors usually thank their agent, but a lot of actors don’t want to admit that they needed training.”

She added, “I’ve heard from Luke quite a bit. When Chris got Thor, I said ‘My grandson loves Thor.’

“Chris sent me a lovely poster saying, ‘Your grandmother rules!'”

On Thursday November 19 Neighbours will mark International Men’s Day with a special episode, written by Executive Producer, Jason Herbison and directed by Scott Major.

The episode features all-male cast tackles toxic masculinity, toxic male behaviour and men’s mental health.

Jason Herbison, Neighbours’ Executive Producer, said: “After the success of our all-female episode for International Women’s Day last year, I wanted to do an episode surrounding the male characters.

“It struck me as an opportunity to explore some important social issues, such toxic masculinity and mental health. Two major storylines come to a head and ultimately we see our male characters supporting each other as they navigate some major challenges in their lives.”

What is International Men’s Day and how does it aim to help men? The aim of International Men’s Day is to celebrate and encourage positive male role models and to raise awareness of issues that men face in our community. What inspired the storylines in the all-male episode?
JH: It was a very organic process. We had a number of storylines involving our male characters that were already in motion and it felt natural for them to converge in the episode. We also had a great opportunity to tell parallel stories with two different generations of the cast.

Which social issues are covered in the episode, and how did Neighbours put its own spin on them?
JH: We touch on many issues including mental health, toxic masculinity, same sex parenting, relationship pressures and men supporting each other. Some of the material is confronting but there are uplifting moments too.

What do you hope viewers learn or get out of this episode?
JH: I don’t want it to be difficult viewing but I hope that it’s thought-provoking. The truth is, society puts pressure on us according to our gender and results in certain behaviours. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re male, female, transgender or identity as non-binary, but we do get defined by this idea of what society says we should be.

What was your favourite part of creating this episode?
JH: The episode was supposed to be filmed at incredible holiday house in the Dandenongs, however due to Covid, we had to relocate everything to the backlot at short notice. I was so proud to see cast amd crew come together to complete the episode under challenging circumstances. Scott Major did an incredible job directing.

Arriving at schoolies, the boys are ready to let loose. Things take a turn when Hendrix finds out about “The Ladder”, an app that boys at school are using to rank their female classmates. Ollie shows so much disrespect for the girls that Hendrix takes a stand.

Alarmed by Hendrix stealing his car, Pierce heads off to the campsite to pull his son in line and winds up with unlikely passengers for the journey, Aaron, David and Paul. Shane is not far behind with Karl and Toadie.

Shane’s grievances with Pierce get the better of him on the road and when the two men arrive at the site the tension boils over into a physical brawl.

6:30pm Thursday November 19 on 10 Peach.

In the recent overhaul of Australian quotas is a proposal to address a “loophole” which sees New Zealand television qualifying as Australian content.

Under the Australia-NZ Economic Trade Agreement, NZ titles such as The Brokenwood Mysteries (pictured top), Westside, Mean Mums, Funny Girls (pictured bottom), Border Patrol, Motorway Patrol have counted towards local content quotas in Australia.

It’s a situation which has frustrated local producers especially where a broadcaster has leant heavily upon NZ drama on its multichannels to count towards quota.

From 2021 networks will have more flexibility in meeting local content obligations, which dispense with sub-quotas in Drama, Documentary and Children’s.

Networks will still have to meet 250 local points, through a complex system allocated to Series, Miniseries, Children’s, Movies, Documentary as they see fit -with the latter capped at 50 points (to avoid a saturation of Reality TV).

One change flagged for NZ content will mean networks will now be required to invest from start-up, rather than licensing as an acquisition only. What is less clear is how that is defined -does $1 qualify as investment, or a percentage of budget overall?

In the flurry to announce new content measures, this has not been detailed, and is the subject of industry discussion.

Recently Foxtel dumped NZ made Shortland Street, which it attributed to declining audience numbers. While it may look like the two are linked (given Foxtel is not an investor in the series), Foxtel’s content rules also differ from Free to Air: it must spend a percentage of budget on production -so the NZ soap did not contribute to quota anyway.

Meanwhile there is also debate about whether soaps such as Neighbours and Home & Away will see networks satisfy much of their new obligations. Both Seven and 10 have stressed that’s not the case, but under the new points system an increased per hour cost could mean their value increases significantly -including as Offset, and potentially doubling their points’ worth.

But networks are at pains to point out local drama rates with audiences and is the reason they want to keep producing them.

Nine’s Head of Drama Andy Ryan recently told TV Tonight, “The bottom line is that the new system gives us a lot more flexibility and that’s a good thing from our point of view. So, in that sense, we’re pleased. The thing to remember, in any discussion about Drama, is that we don’t commission Dramas to meet quota. We commission Drama, because it is successful, and gives us texture to the programming.

“So that approach is not going to change.”

In 2020 Neighbours has multiracial actors, gay characters and a transgender teen.

But do people still think of Ramsay Street as Harold, Toadie & Paul Robinson?

This week 10 Head of Drama and Executive Production Rick Maier was asked if Erinsborough had progressed in its diversity?

Speaking to Media Mentor’s Running Live panel, he said many people failed to recognise the progress achieved under Executive Producer Jason Herbison.

“When The Heights launched I read a blurb that said, ‘This is the real suburbs, it’s nothing like Neighbours,'” he said.

“They were comparing it to Neighbours from 30 years ago. Neighbours has changed quite a lot. I think if you look at the demography of the show, and I’m not going to isolate individuals, but the storytelling is exceptionally progressive and very diverse.”

“When people talk about Home & Away, if they haven’t watched it, they go ‘That’s the show with Alf.’ When they talk about Neighbours, they say, ‘That’s the show with Toadie.'”

He added, “Shows evolve over time and they progress. I think Neighbours is an incredibly diverse show.”

ABC’s Sally Riley, Head of Scripted Production, said, “I think that The Heights is very different to Neighbours because every family was diverse. It’s kind of more gritty, I guess. That’s what people were talking about.

“It actually has some writers from Neighbours on it who were mentoring all the younger writers on it. Neighbours is such a good vehicle for bringing in new writers. But when we were developing it, we did talk about Neighbours and go, ‘No, we want it to… dig into issues more deeply, I guess.'”

Yet while Neighbours has 3 decades behind it, The Heights is unlikely to reach 3 seasons.

“It’s just a shame with our financial situation at the moment, we couldn’t continue with that,” said Riley.

“We haven’t committed to a third season. But the BBC bought the first two seasons, so you never know. I think it went really well in their daytime slot over there. So who knows, if they came on board things could change.”

Veteran actress Joy Westmore, best known for Prisoner, Cluedo and Neighbours has died, aged 88.

She played Officer Joyce Barry for 246 episodes of Prisoner from 1979 – 1986. She was initially cast as a recurring cast member before becoming one of the ensemble, with her character marrying Mervyn Pringle (Ernie Bourne). The role led to a win at the Penguin Awards.

In Nine’s mystery series Cluedo she played Mrs White and she had two roles in Neighbours as Mrs. Forster in 1991 and as Dee Bliss’ (Madeleine West) grandmother, Nancy Bliss, in 2003.

Westmore appeared in many TV productions including Bellbird, The Sullivans, The Sentimental Bloke, Cop Shop, The Worst Day of My Life, Col’n Carpenter, Embassy, The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, Waiting at the Royal, Fergus McPhail, Blue Heelers, The Librarians, It’s a Date and films A Slice of Life, The Odd Angry Shot and the film Les Patterson Saves the World.

Westmore worked several times with Barry Humphries.

“I was his long suffering wife, Lady Patterson,” she once said. “A very lovely lady she was.”

She added, “A revue I did was in 1956, an Olympic year, and the name of the sketch was Olympic Hostess. That was one of the first times Barry Humphries ever did Edna Everage.”

Westmore was also a regular on The Ernie Sigley Show and The Graham Kennedy Show and worked across theatre including the Melbourne Theatre Company, plus Radio 3UZ, shorts and voice work.

Aussie Murray Bartlett (Tales of the City, Looking, Nashville, The Secret Life of Us, Neighbours) has landed a new US role in upcoming HBO drama The White Lotus.

Created, executive produced, written and directed by Mike White (Enlightened), the HBO limited series The White Lotus begins production this month on location in Hawaii, filming under strict COVID-19 guidelines.

A social satire set at an exclusive tropical resort, The White Lotus follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week.

Also appearing in the 6 part series are Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O’Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney and Steve Zahn.

“Mike (White) is an unparalleled talent whose groundbreaking work has transformed both the film and TV space,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. “We couldn’t be happier to collaborate with him again on yet another hilarious and perceptive piece that exposes the complexities of life and humanity itself.”

“It’s beyond exciting to return to HBO with this project and such an incredible cast,” said White. “I am very grateful to everyone who has made it possible for us to bring our little bubble to Hawaii, a place I am proud to think of as a second home.”

Neighbours, Upright, The Commons, Hardball and Stateless were amongst winners in the 2020 Australian Directors Guild Awards.

Winners were announced in a virtual ceremony last night, with recipients making pre-recorded acceptance speeches.

This year more than 50% of the Awards were also won by female directors, across film, television, online, music and advertising.

ADG President Samantha Lang said: “The Awards come at a moment when key creatives and organisations in our screen industry are lobbying government to ‘Make It Australian’ and keep Australian storytelling on our local and global screens. The films, television shows, music videos, student films and commercial work of directors nominated and awarded tonight are a shining example of the creative, cultural and fiscal success of Australian content. It’s also heartwarming to see an immense diversity of Australian directors awarded tonight – a reflection of who we are – both as content creators – and audiences.”

Kate Kendall (pictured) won for Eve Morey’s final episode last year at Neighbours, directing the death of Sonya.

“I’m thrilled for everyone involved at Neighbours.  This was a huge responsibility in honouring one of our most beloved characters in Sonya.  It was an amazing experience.  Thanks to the ADG for their acknowledgment.  I’m incredibly proud,” she said.

Executive Producer Jason Herbison said: “We are thrilled that Kate has been honoured for her work directing Neighbours.  The episode featured a long running character losing their battle with cancer and Kate’s sensitive direction resonated deeply with our viewers.”

Eve Morey said: “The episode was not only a farewell to the character, it was also the end of Ryan and I working together after 11 years so we were heavily invested emotionally and Kate guided us all the way through the technical and acting process to ensure the story of Sonya was told with truth and integrity.  I couldn’t be more thrilled for her.”

A record 202 entries were received in this year’s ADG Awards, up from 117 in 2019. Ben Lawrence – won Best Direction Feature over $1m for Hearts and Bones.

TV and related winners in bold:

Best Direction of a TV or SVOD Drama Series
Jeffrey Walker – The Commons – Season 1 Episode 1
Nash Edgerton – Mr. Inbetween – Season 2 Episode 4
Peter Andrikidis – Reckoning – Season 1 Episode 4
Tony Krawitz – Secret City – Season 2 Episode 1
Rachel Perkins – Total Control – Season 1 Episode 4
Kevin Carlin – Wentworth – Season 7Episode 10

Best Direction of a TV or SVOD Mini-Series
Mat King – Bloom – Episode 5
Sophie Hyde – The Hunting – Episode 4
Jeffrey Walker – Lambs Of God – Episode 1
Emma Freeman – Stateless – Episode 3

Best Direction of a Documentary Series
Rosie Jones – The Cult Of The Family – Episode 1
Cian O’Clery – Love On The Spectrum – Episode 1
Genevieve Clay Smith – Perspective Shift – Episode 1

Best Direction of a Documentary Feature
Ian Darling – The Final Quarter
Maya Newell – In My Blood It Runs
Peter Hegedus – Lili
Allan Hardy ACS – Viva The Underdogs

Best Direction of a TV or SVOD Comedy Series
Matthew Moore – Diary Of An Uber Driver – Episode 2
Amanda Brotchie – The Letdown – Episode 1
Trent O’Donnell – The Letdown – Season 2 Episode 4
Matthew Saville – Upright – Episode 5

Esben Storm Award for Best Direction of a Children’s TV or SVOD Drama Program
Kacie Anning – Hardball – Episode 6
Isaac Elliott – The Legend of Burnout Barry
Lucy Gaffy – The Unlisted – Episode 10
Rebecca O’Brien – The Unlisted – Episode 13

Best Direction of a TV or SVOD Drama Serial
Renee Webster – The Heights – Episode 15
Darlene Johnson – The Heights – Episode 22
Arnie Custo – Home and Away – Episode 7117
Danny Raco – Home and Away – Episode 7225
David Gould – Home and Away – Episode 7271
Tony Gardiner – Neighbours – Episode 8325
Kate Kendall – Neighbours – Episode 8052

Best Direction of an Animated Project
Jo Boag – Alice-Miranda Friends Forever
Holly Hargreaves – Bonnie The Elephant

The 2020 ADG Awards Ceremony is available to be viewed online via social media on the @AustralianDirectorsGuild facebook page or Click Here to catch up after the show.

For over 30 years 10 and Seven have had primetime serials in Neighbours & Home & Away, respectively.

Both are sold internationally, particularly strong in the UK, with Seven also owning the IP to Home & Away and producing through Seven Studios.

But the last serial on Nine was arguably Pacific Drive all the way back in 1996.

When Nine does soap well, it pays off handsomely. Nothing surpassed the iconic The Sullivans produced by Crawford Productions in 1976.

Would it ever consider an early evening serial again?

Andy Ryan, Head of Drama at Nine told TV Tonight, “It’s possible and we do talk about it a lot.

“There are a lot of challenges, commercially and programming-wise to get a serial up. You do have to commit to a large volume of episodes to get traction. I would never say never. There are different ways that could happen moving forward. I’m very open minded to it.”

With the changes in the Drama quotas, both Seven and 10 will see the majority of their 200 points delivered by their respective soaps. That leaves much of their primetime schedule available for Reality and Entertainment formats.

“Those two shows Neighbours and Home & Away are absolute icons of our industry,” Ryan continued.

“They are hugely successful overseas and that is a massive boon to their financial model. To get to that point, of being internationally successful to the extent that they are, that’s the hurdle.

“That’s the barrier to entry for a new serialised drama.”

These are the key Nine serials (5 x 30 mins per week):

The Young Doctors 1976 1,396 episodes
The Sullivans 1976 1,114 episodes
Paradise Beach 1993 260 episodes
Pacific Drive 1996 390 episodes

• 10 Peach: Neighbours
• 10 Bold: new NCIS: New Orleans, MacGyver, SEAL Team
• 10 Shake: local kids’ dramas: Dive Club, The Bureau of Magical Things
• 10 Shake: Inside Amy Schumer, Pimp My Ride, Just Tattoo Of Us USA

Yesterday as part of its 2021 Upfronts 10 also announced a handful of new titles for its multichannels, including local Kid’s dramas Dive Club and a new season of Bureau of Magical Things.

Network 10 Head of Programming, Daniel Monaghan, said: “With access to the most entertaining and engaging content in the world through ViacomCBS, 10 Peach and 10 Bold have really hit their stride.

“The addition of 10 Shake to our family of channels has been fantastic. With 10 Bold up 17% year-on year and 10 Peach up 9% year-on-year, I am proud to say we are the only network where all our multi-channels are growing.”

10 Bold

10 Bold the #1 commercial multi-channel in total people.

Monaghan said: “10 Bold is the fastest growing commercial multi-channel, up 17% year-on- year. It’s also up 24% year-on-year in its key demographic of people over 40 and has achieved a phenomenal 20 months of consecutive year-on-year audience growth.”

Returning series include Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and CSI: Miami and Hawaii 5-0.

10 Bold is also boasting brand new first-run seasons of L.A.’s Finest Season 2, NCIS: New Orleans Season 7, MacGyver Season 5 and SEAL Team Season 4.

10 Peach

10 Peach features Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, Mom, 2 Broke Girls and Australia’s longest running drama, Neighbours.

Monaghan said: “We’ve been building great momentum on 10 Peach this year. It is up 32% year-on-year in its key demographic of 16 to 39s. Not only is it the #1 multi-channel in this demographic, but it has also achieved 37 consecutive weeks of year-on-year growth.”

10 Shake

Newly launched 10 Shake boasts more hours of kids content than any other commercial multi-channel and free-to-air premieres of shows for Under 40s including South Park Season 24, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and The Late Late Show with James Corden. There will also be free-to-air premieres of Ridiculousness, Teen Mom OG, Comedy Central Stand Up, Ex on the Beach, Drunk History (S4-5), BoJack Horseman (S3-6), Catfish (S6-7), and Tosh.0.

Also joining the 10 Shake lineup is Inside Amy Schumer, Pimp My Ride and the free-to-air premiere of Just Tattoo Of Us USA.

Aussie kids’ shows include local titles Totally Wild, Ready Set Dance, Crocamole and Scope, as well as brand new children’s drama series Dive Club and The Bureau of Magical Things.

International titles include  Paw Patrol, Blues Clues & You!, Blaze and the Monster Machines, The Thundermans, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House and Henry Danger plus Paramount and Roadshow movies.

10 holds its 2021 Upfronts tomorrow afternoon in an online presentation to clients and media.

Amongst their notable achievements this year are a revamped MasterChef Australia, Australian Survivor, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, The Masked Singer, Gogglebox and Have You Been Paying Attention?

Of course, there have been challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly affecting a second season of Australian Survivor and delays to The Amazing Race Australia. But 10 also moved quickly to revive Junior MasterChef which hit screens this week. It also launched 10 Shake late last month.

As the pandemic subsides across much of the country, 2021 is already looking brighter. Big reality shows are back, including a domestic sojourn for The Amazing Race Australia and 10 will finally confirm a NSW setting for I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

On the rumour front is Celebrity MasterChef, a possible revival of Australian Idol plus a kid’s multichannel show Early Show. Pilot Week could also be back on the agenda for 2021.

10 Upfronts also have a tendency to include shows that are still to screen in the current calendar year (last year it included Playing for Keeps in its 2020 Upfronts because 2019 episodes were on air). But they usually come with a sense of irreverence, in keeping with the third channel. Nine’s event was a little lacking on showbiz, but 10 will probably draw upon its favourite stars.

10 All Access will also be rebranded and relaunched as Paramount+.

Confirmed:

I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here,
MasterChef Australia,
The Amazing Race Australia,
The Masked Singer,
Dive Club,

Expected to return:

Have You Been Paying Attention?,
Gogglebox,
The Project,
The Bachelor,
The Bachelorette,
Australian Survivor,
Neighbours,
Hughesy We Have A Problem,
The Living Room,
Ambulance Australia,

Did not air in 2020:

Five Bedrooms,
Playing for Keeps,
The Amazing Race Australia,
Pilot Week

Future unknown:

Dancing with the Stars,
Bachelor in Paradise,
Kinne Tonight,
Taboo,
How to Stay Married,
Todd Sampson’s BodyHack,
Bondi Rescue,
Family Feud,
Studio 10,
One Born Every Minute Australia,
My Life is Murder,
Trial by Kyle,
Celebrity Name Game,
Junior MasterChef

Rumour:

Celebrity MasterChef,
Australian Idol,
Early Show

TV Tonight will be Live blogging from 12:30pm AEDT Thursday October 15 (just hit refresh!).

Neighbours stars Alan Fletcher and Stefan Dennis have been recruited to assist in a COVID video for Britain’s National Health Service.

Alan Fletcher, who plays Dr. Karl Kennedy, has told The Age, “I was thrilled to be asked to help because for me the UK is really a second home. For the last 20 years I’ve been over at least once a year. This is probably the first year I won’t get over. I have friends there, I have family there.

In this video Fletcher & Dennis say they have download an NHS tracing app “to protect my Neighbours” (although oddly both are based in Melbourne).

Nevertheless, both are recognised by Brits given the show’s enduring popularity, and gave their time freely to assist in safety messaging.

“My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered in the UK and I love doing any small thing I can to help promote good practices,” said Fletcher.

“To be honest, I feel safer working at Neighbours than I do in the supermarket,” he added.

“I get a lot of feedback from people saying they love their half-an-hour of Neighbours at the end of the day because it just takes away the constant coronavirus presence that hangs over people.”

Lucky Izzy (Natalie Bassingthwaighte) wasn’t roped in to the video too, might have been a bit derailed otherwise…!

If you’ve ever had an idea for a TV format now’s your chance.

AFI | AACTA has announced the AACTA Reg Grundy Award, a $50,000 prize to any Australian with the best new idea for an unscripted television entertainment program.

Established in partnership with Reg Grundy’s widow, Joy Chambers-Grundy, Chairman of RG Capital, the Award is designed to keep Reg’s heritage of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit alive whilst finding a home to foster the next generation’s brilliant and creative ideas.

Reg Grundy formats sold around the world, including Sale Of The Century and Blankety Blanks. In addition to producing Wheel Of Fortune, Family Feud, The Price Is Right and Perfect Match, the Grundy Organization created Sons & Daughters, The Young Doctors, The Restless Years, Prisoner and Neighbours.

Joy Chambers-Grundy said: “I am delighted to partner with AACTA to launch a legacy to my extraordinary husband Reg Grundy that speaks to his remarkable success. Reg’s philosophy, ‘be local to be global’, amassed for him international success producing local versions of television shows for each country and saw him pursue his life-long passion of entertaining people,”

“The AACTA Reg Grundy Award has been created to help discover budding entrepreneurs of Australian entertainment in Reg Grundy’s name. We hope like-minded Australians are able to emulate the spirit of Reg and create formats for new shows.”

“We’re thrilled to honour Reg’s incredible impact on the global television industry with the launch of the AACTA Reg Grundy Award. Reg was a trailblazer who paved the way for entertainment television to develop it into what it is today,” said AFI | AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella.

“With this Award we hope to uncover some incredible new show concepts and grow the Australian entertainment format footprint in the international television landscape. This is an incredible prize – with the opportunity to further develop your concept with invaluable exposure to some of Australia’s key content commissioners and producers alongside the $50,000 prize money and development funds.”

Ian Hogg, former CEO, FremantleMedia Australia and Asia Pacific, is one of 4 judges.

Speaking with TV Tonight, he recalled Reg Grundy as a both business savvy and a creative storyteller.

“He really was a genuinely leader, a great businessman, a phenomenal philanthropist, an incredibly generous and caring human being which, in an industry which is not known for its generosity, is a rare condition,” he said.

“It’s giving people outside of the industry, for the first time, a proper opportunity to prosper. It’s always been a closed industry in some way, shape or form. This is open to any Australian and if any creed or colour.

“Reg had a charisma second to none. He had a business brain second to none. His wit was infectious, but he crossed business and creativity and that’s a really hard thing to do.

“I remember when he saw the first episode of Wentworth, I got a message saying, ‘Absolutely extraordinary. What an amazing reinvention of something from 1978.’

“He was over in Bermuda, watching content and he’s relevant and engaged. And I think that cuts to the cloth of the guy that he was always curious.”

He added, “The best television minds that I’ve ever worked with are the ones that ask questions and listen answers. Reg was a great listener.”

Also on the judging panel are Chris Culvenor (Eureka Productions), Marion Farrelly (producer, Industry Consultant) and Sharon Sussman-Wheeler (Producer and ex Grundy staffer).

To apply visit AACTA

Entry:

$50 for non-members
$25 for AACTA Members
Closes Sunday 4 October 11.59pm AEST

How to Pitch includes:
Julian Cress and David Barbour, The Block
David Mott, Love Island
Chris Oliver-Taylor, Farmer Wants a Wife
Kirk Docker, Docker Media, You Can’t Ask That
Jon Casimir, Ex ABC TV, Gruen, You Can’t Ask That, Hard Quiz
Nick Murray and Toni Malone, CJZ, Marry Me Marry My Family, The Checkout
Chris Walker, Hard Quiz, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and Tomorrow Tonight
Tom Gleisner, Working Dog, Have You Been Paying Attention?

TV Tonight is partner of the 2020 AACTA Awards.

Long-running soap Neighbours has entered the fray in the tug of war over local quotas.

In an article with ABC, Fremantle chief executive Chris Oliver-Taylor said, “I think in the free-to-air environment Neighbours could most certainly be at risk if the quotas were to change.”

The 10 Peach currently comprises a hefty slice of 10’s annual local drama quota, although they have been suspended for 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the independent production sector is pushing the government to confirm their restoration for 2021 so that local commissions and production can ramp up now.

Suzanne Ryan, founder of SLR Productions, which makes children’s shows such as Lexi and Lottie: Trusty Twin Detectives, and Berry Bees ,said producers are on tenterhooks.

“We are in production now but we don’t know if we will have any productions next year. And until we know that we can’t keep anyone employed after our current productions finish,” she said.

FreeTV Australia CEO Bridget Fair said, “These rules are a bit like stepping into a time machine back into the 1980.

“That’s when most of the rules that we’re currently living with were dreamt up — at a time when we had three commercial television stations, we had no internet and no pay TV.”

There is also an ongoing push for streaming services to meet local quota minimums.

“We want Netflix, Amazon … Disney Plus to commission Australian content [and] to want to,” Oliver-Taylor said.

“It’s with those sorts of quotas that we will see a strong production.”

Both points are currently under consideration as part of the government’s Supporting Australian stories on our screens options paper.

Oliver-Taylor also questioned the $400m allocated to lure international production to Australia when  local producers were suffering.

“To hand over $400 million to international production, which effectively now favours international over domestic, can’t be good screen policy,” he said.

You can read more here.

Last week there were 2 new local dramas on our screens.

Halifax: Retribution won its slot while Hungry Ghosts failed to fire for SBS (at least in overnight broadcast numbers). Bearing in mind some of these had late night slots (and one is even on a multichannel) here are the numbers for scripted shows last week:

Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell: 616,000
Home & Away: 596,000
Halifax: Retribution: 521,000 / 469,000
Rosehaven: 490,000
The Heights: 197,000
Between Two Worlds: 126,000 / 104,000
Neighbours: 111,000
Hungry Ghosts: 93,000

Seven won the week in Total People, while Nine led the 16-39 and 25-54 demos.

Network:
Seven: 28.8
Nine: 27.7
ABC: 17.1
10: 17.0
SBS: 9.4

Primary channel:
Seven / Nine: 19.3
ABC: 12.8
10: 10.8
SBS: 5.8

Multichannels:
10 BOLD: 4.0
7mate: 3.7
7TWO: 3.6
9GO!: 2.5
9GEM / ABC KIDS Comedy: 2.4
7flix / 9Life / 10 Peach: 2.2
ABC News / SBS VICELAND / SBS World Movies: 1.5
9RUSH: 1.2
SBS Food: 0.9
ABC ME: 0.4
NITV: 0.3

Best brands last week were:

Seven: Seven News (Sun: 1.19m), Farmer Wants a Wife (Finale: 923,000), The Chase (607,000) and Home & Away (596,000).

Nine: Nine News (1.07m), The Block (Launch: 951,000), A Current Affair (699,000) and A Current Affair (528,000).

ABC: ABC News (Sun: 755,000), Hard Quiz (701,000), Vera (691,000) and Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell (616,000).

1o: The Masked Singer (Mon Reveal 812,000), Have You Been Paying Attention? (701,000), Gogglebox (610,000) and The Bachelor (Wed: 579,000).

SBS: The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys (342,000), Great Asian Railway Journeys (296,000), Britain’s Ancient Tracks (266,000) and The Salisbury Poisonings (257,000).

Infograph supplied by Nine.

Respected actor Don Hany (East West 101, Offspring) is about to appear on Neighbours in a classic soap switcheroo, replacing Tim Robards in the role of billionaire businessman Pierce Greyson.

Robards was due to scheduled to finish filming with the show in Melbourne next month. But due to COVID-19 regulations and travel restrictions, he has wrapped early to return to Sydney to be with his wife, Anna Heinrich, as they prepare for the arrival of their first child.

Hany will assume the character for his final weeks on air.

Tim Robards’ final episode will air on Monday, 19 October with Hany to become Pierce from Friday, 23 October.

Tim Robards said: “I would like to thank the amazing cast, crew, Fremantle and Network 10 for the incredible opportunity to play Pierce Greyson. I have absolutely loved my time on the show and will miss it immensely.

“I made the gut wrenching decision to depart Neighbours early as my responsibilities as a husband and father have to take precedence. If I’ve learnt anything in this pandemic it’s that the health and wellbeing of my family has to come first.”

Don Hany said: “I’m thrilled to have been invited to be part of a show that is part of Australian television history. I’ve never done the show before, so it’s all new and I’m so happy to be here.

“It’s a testament to the resilience of Neighbours that it’s still running at a time like this.”

Executive Producer, Jason Herbison said: “With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit movement and with the risk of Tim potentially not being able to travel, we all felt that in these astonishing times, Tim should return home to Sydney to be with his wife Anna ahead of the impending birth of their first child.

“We thank Tim for his passion for Neighbours and wish him and Anna every happiness as they embark on parenthood.”

It’s not the first time Neighbours has seen roles replaced temporarily including Michala Banas replacing Kym Valentine in the role of Libby, and various other recasting for the roles of Scott Robinson, Lucy Robinson, Jack Scully amongst others.

Victoria’s new Stage 4 rules allow for Television production to proceed -but only for shows that are already underway.

The government has been fine tuning its rules since they were announced on Monday.

As at 5 August, 11:59pm, Permitted Work Premises include:
Feature film, television and documentary (excluding television commercials, student and corporate productions) that is already in physical production and operating as a closed set and post-production relating to it is a Permitted Work Premises and remains open on the condition that a COVID-Safe plan is in place.

Caroline Pitcher CEO, Film Victoria, said in a statement, “We understand these restrictions will impact on many projects and screen businesses. These measures reflect the declaration of a State of Disaster in Victoria and are part of a comprehensive effort to reduce movement across our city and slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).”

While The Masked Singer, Neighbours, Wentworth, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, News Breakfast, Insiders, Junior MasterChef can continue there are others that are looking to resume production:

• Gogglebox for both Foxtel and 10. Whilst filming can resume with its NSW cast, it includes several Victorian cast members. Update: Foxtel advises this is on track to resume.
• Hot Seat was planning to resume in coming weeks for Nine.
• Jack Irish yet to be formally announced by ABC.
• New Gold Mountain is also due to film in Victoria, although Regional Victoria is in Stage 3 not Stage 4.
• Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries was recently announced for Seven /Acorn TV although without production dates.

Below provides a summary of the latest advice for projects and businesses in metropolitan Melbourne.

Permitted Work Premises
Employers at Permitted Work Premises are only permitted to have employees on-site if it is not reasonably practicable for the employee to work from home and the employer and employee comply with the Directions currently in force, including the Workplace Directions and the Permitted Worker Permit Scheme Directions. Visit the Department of Health and Human Services for further information.

Workplace Directions
Victoria’s Workplace Directions set out a number of measures that must be taken at Permitted Workplaces including measures related to face coverings, the implementation of a COVID Safe plan, record keeping, cleaning and more. See the full Workplace Directions here.

Creating a COVID Safe Plan
Under the latest Workplace Directions, Permitted workplaces have until 11:59pm on Friday 7 August to implement their COVID Safe plan. Guidance, FAQs and a template for a COVID Safe plan is available via the Business Victoria website – https://www.business.vic.gov.au/disputes-disasters-and-succession-planning/covid-safe-business/covid-safe-plan

The Australian Screen Production Industry COVID Safe Guidelines have also been developed to provide specific guidance to the Australian screen industry that may help with your COVID Safe plan. NB: The Victorian Government’s Workplace Directions take precedence.

Permitted Worker Scheme
Under Victoria’s latest Workplace Directions, from 11:59pm on 5 August, employers that require their staff to attend a work site must issue a worker permit to their employees – this is the employer’s responsibility. For information on the Permitted Worker Scheme and to download the permit, visit https://www.vic.gov.au/worker-permit-scheme

Business Support
Grants are available through the Victorian Government’s Business Support Fund – Expansion for Victorian businesses in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria that have been impacted by the latest restrictions. For more information on what is available visit Business Victoria.

This post updates.

Broadcasting and Production will be able to continue in Victoria under Stage 4 restrictions.

The following industries will be allowed to remain open with a COVID-Safe Plan:

• Telecommunications services
• Newspaper and magazine publishing
• Radio broadcasting
• Television broadcasting
• Internet publishing and broadcasting
• Internet Service Providers, Web Search Portals and Data Processing Services
• Production, broadcast and distribution of telecommunication and supporting infrastructure required to support critical functions, such as law enforcement, public safety, medical or other critical industries and where it cannot be undertaken virtually.
• Screen production.

The following businesses will be closed for on-site work:

• Book Publishing
• Directory and Mailing List Publishing
• Other Publishing
• Software Publishing
• Motion Picture and Sound Recording Activities
• Library and Other Information Services

Current production in Victoria includes news programmes, Neighbours, Wentworth, The Masked Singer, Mad as Hell, Have You Been Paying Attention? The Project, News Breakfast, Insiders, Junior MasterChef  and more.

Victorian restrictions are in place for 6 weeks from 11:59pm Wednesday.

Hats off to actors Geoff Paine and Annie Jones, who, some 30 years after they were Neighbours principals, have returned to the opening titles.

Geoff Paine, who plays Clive Gibbons, first appeared in 1986 delivering a gorilla-gram, but left in 1987. There were brief returns before a part-time return from 2017. 33 years after his departure he is now back in the opening titles alongside friend and on-screen squeeze Colette Mann.

Annie Jones, who also first appeared in 1986 as ‘plain’ Jane Harris until 1989, is also restored. Jones similarly made sporadic appearances before a full-time return. Joining them is Charlotte Chimes as on-screen daughter, Nicolette.

Executive Producer Jason Herbison tells TV Tonight, “We’re thrilled to update the opening titles to include Annie, Charlotte and Geoff.

“While Annie and Charlotte are regular characters, Geoff will continue to be seen on a semi-regular basis, which works very well for us and for him.  We’ve included him in the titles to reflect Dr Clive’s importance to the community and we know the fans wanted it too – including fan club president Colette Mann!”

The Masked Singer is due to film in Melbourne in coming weeks, but now faces the added complication of a Melbourne metro lockdown and border closure with NSW.

That’s enough to test any experienced producer, let alone one that needs to keep info under wraps.

Lindsay Lohan is not expected to appear in person (but could be on satellite from the US), while the show is likely to have a stronger field of celebrities given many performers have been out of work.

10 yesterday confirmed the new characters that will feature this season: The Dragonfly, The Hammerhead, The Kitten, The Wizard, The Frillneck, The Sloth, The Cactus, The Goldfish, The Bushranger, The Queen, The Puppet and The Echidna -at least they will be masked!

Whilst Television can continue in Melbourne, newly-won freedoms will also need to revert to Stage 3 restrictions from midnight.

Productions currently underway in Melbourne include:

Neighbours,
Wentworth,
Five Bedrooms,
The Weekly with Charlie Pickering,
The Chase,
The Front Bar,
Have You Been Paying Attention?,
The Project,
Insiders,
Offsiders,
Q&A (also Sydney),
Junior MasterChef,
News (7, 9, 10, ABC)
News Breakfast,

Yet to recommence:

Clickbait,
The Real Housewives of Melbourne,
Hot Seat,

Update:
“Neighbours will continue under its current production model adopted when Stage 3 restrictions were first introduced in Victoria,” a Fremantle spokesperson said.

“The strict health and safety measures we have adhered to for the past 11 weeks will be maintained, ensuring the well-being of our cast and crew remains intact.” –Daily Mail

A new-look Living Room debuted on 10 last night.

The new show does away with the studio audience and separate segments for a new ‘home-base’ with the cast giving a hero family a makeover.

Social media was divided over the new format. While some were not in favour of change, others welcomed the makeovers and bright colours. Everybody seemed to welcome Amanda Keller, Chris Brown, Miguel Maestre and Barry du Bois back on screen after the show was previously axed by 10.

But there is little explanation around why the presenters are ignoring social distancing, including yesterday in a Live interview on Studio 10. This was even more stark given Studio 10 presenters were observing current guidance -as does The Project, Neighbours, Have You Been Paying Attention?, MasterChef Australia.

Amanda Keller this week told TV Tonight, “That’s because we’ve been in a bubble with each other. We film with each other in the same way your family has a bubble, and certain friendships can have a bubble.”

10 did not respond to enquiries.

NSW govt regulations:

Keep a distance of 1.5 metres between yourself and other people.
Do not shake hands, hug or kiss as a greeting.

The Equity Foundation has named Brisbane-based performer Tatiana E. Silva as the winner of the 2020 Neighbours Internship.

A graduate of the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory, in Queensland, she was selected from more than 150 applicants. The internship entails behind the scenes training and a potential role. She will receive return flights and accommodation for the duration of an internship, and paid at the award rate.

Neighbours casting director Thea McLeod, McLeod Casting, says: “We were absolutely spoilt for choice and are delighted to see such a wide variety of talented actors emerging in the industry. Tatiana shone through with her dynamic and natural performance. She is going to be an amazing asset to this industry and we look forward to watching her journey.”

“I am really looking forward to this new adventure and excited to gain experience for the future. Thank you Equity, Fremantle, Showcast and Media Super, this is such a wonderful opportunity,” Tatiana said.

Media Super CEO Tony Griffin says: “Australians are a talented group of people and more than ever, it’s important to provide opportunities for emerging talent. As the industry’s own super fund we’re proud to support the internship and give Tatiana the opportunity to both work and learn from some very talented people on one of the country’s iconic television productions.”

Annie Jones is returning to Neighbours as Jane Harris. ‘

First appearing in 1986, alongside Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Jason Donovan, her character became known as “Plain Jane Super Brain,” staying until 1989.

Jane returned for reprisals in 2005 and 2018, and most recently for the show’s 35th anniversary in March, finally acting on her feelings for Des Clarke (Paul Keane). Jones recently appeared on Secret Bridesmaids’ Business.

Jane now returns to Erinsborough with her daughter, Nicolette Stone, played by new cast member, Charlotte Chimes (Schapelle, Catching Milat). Tune in to Neighbours on Wednesday, 15 July for Charlotte’s debut.

Annie Jones said: “I’m so thrilled to be back playing Jane Harris! I’m grateful to again be working with the dedicated cast, crew and team at Neighbours.

“Jane is returning to her old neighbourhood and bringing with her an insight into what her life away from Ramsay Street has been like for the past 30 years. Audiences will learn more about her family life, as fans are introduced to her daughter Nicolette for the first time.”

Charlotte Chimes said: “I’m not going to lie, I have Margot Robbie on my vision board three times. Little did I know I that I’d also end up on Australia’s most iconic series following in her footsteps.

“Getting to work so closely with Annie Jones day in and day out is a gift. Her work is always truthful and nuanced. She sets the bar high, which gives me a lot to work with and bounce off.”

Annie Jones appears from Wednesday, 8 July at 6.30pm on 10 Peach and Charlotte Chimes on July 15.

British Neighbours fans came out in force in a show of support in the Radio Times Soap Awards -it was a clean sweep in all 5 categories.

The awards are voted by readers of Radio Times.

Best Soap
Coronation Street
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks
Neighbours
Home and Away

Best Actor
Coronation Street’s Ian Bartholomew
EastEnders’ Max Bowden
Emmerdale’s Jeff Hordley
Hollyoaks’ Gregory Finnegan
Neighbours’ Rob Mills
Home & Away’s Ray Meagher

Best Actress
Coronation Street’s Shelley King
EastEnders’ Letitia Dean
Emmerdale’s Michelle Hardwick
Hollyoaks’ Anna Passey
Neighbours’ Jackie Woodburne
Home & Away’s Lynne McGranger

Best Newcomer
Coronation Street’s Mollie Gallagher
EastEnders’ Milly Zero
Emmerdale’s Mark Womack
Hollyoaks’ Joe McGann
Neighbours’ Jemma Donovan
Home & Away’s Kawakawa Fox-Reo

Best Storyline
Coronation Street – Coercive Control
EastEnders – Boat Disaster
Emmerdale – Who killed Graham?
Hollyoaks – Ste’s Radicalisation
Neighbours – Finn’s Revenge
Home and Away – Hospital Siege

Channel 5’s Commissioning Editor, Greg Barnett, said “It’s an absolute thrill to see Neighbours win each and every one of the awards – thank you RT fans! The Finn’s Revenge storyline champions a united push between producer and broadcaster to deliver something unmissable for viewers and pin-points Neighbours as an essential part of Channel 5’s programming schedule. To see the talent and the series win is a further testament to the hard work of the cast and crew and indicates the huge affection Britain still has for it 35 years on. We couldn’t be more delighted.”

Last October, just days before Seven’s 2020 Upfronts Nine made a decision not to exercise their option over Big Brother.

That was all Seven needed to swoop on the show with producers Endemol Shine Australia. Some 8 months later it has been rebooted to early success for Seven, in both Total People and Demos. There are rumours it has caught Nine on the hop, and whispers of some soul-searching over that decision.

Meanwhile Nine has held onto Love Island rights, which include the prized UK season, that Seven was also considering.

TV critic Colin Vickery who first tipped Seven’s Big Brother move told TV Tonight, “At the moment Big Brother seems to be delivering for Seven – not only in pure numbers but also helping attract younger viewers to the network – a win / win.

“After Nine commissioned Love Island Australia it seems that Big Brother became a bit redundant for them – and with most of their 7.30pm shows rating well there wasn’t a lot of room for it in the schedule either – so I can see why they decided to let it go and James Warburton pounced.

“I don’t think many experts (or even Seven executives) predicted how well the show would launch but we have seen a slight dip in ratings across the first few nights so week two will probably give a better indication of just how successful it will or won’t be long term.“

Big Brother is not the only show that switched networks and went on to further success. Here’s a few more…

Neighbours
Reg Watson originally took Neighbours to Nine but it was rejected in 1982 (oops) before it screened on Seven in 1985. But the soap under-performed in Sydney and was cancelled after just 4 months. 10 immediately swooped on the series, despite Seven destroying the sets to avoid another network getting the show. Thankfully the famed Pin-Oak court with exteriors was a mere 5 minute drive from ATV-0 studios in Nunawading. The rest is history.

Thank God You’re Here
Working Dog’s improvisation show enjoyed 3 seasons on 10 from 2006 – 2007 but was absent in 2008. 10 maintains it had been trying to lure the show back when producers struck a deal to move to Seven. The season ran for 10 new episodes on Seven. Working Dog have never ruled out a possible return with new comics.

Kath & Kim
Gina Riley & Jane Turner’s sitcom began as a sketch in Seven’s Big Girl’s Blouse but was originally rejected by the ABC Comedy department. Thankfully ABC Drama saw fit to produce the series under Robyn Kershaw. It ran for three smash hit seasons and a telemovie from 2002 – 2005 before producer Rick McKenna stuck a deal with Seven, including with (shock horror!) commercials. 8 new episodes followed. Ironically in 2017 Nine got rerun rights, including the episodes Seven had produced, which it screened against them. It next plays out on Wednesday night.

Australian Survivor
First on Nine in 2002 in Eyre Peninsula, SA, then as Celebrity Survivor in Vanuatu on Seven in 2006. 10 rebooted the series in Samoa in 2016 with host Jonathan LaPaglia with thrilling results.

A Place to Call Home
Seven axed Bevan Lee’s drama in 2014 after just two seasons, citing costs and older demos. Fans were outraged and began petitions. Such campaigns normally fall on deaf ears but Foxtel’s Brian Walsh felt it pitched perfectly to older subscribers where it ran for 4 more seasons. Still produced by Seven, another rare move in Australia, it managed to retain the original cast.

The Mike Walsh Show
Not many remember that Mike Walsh’s long-running daytime show originally screened on 10 from 1973 – 1976. On Nine he was a network superstar, screening from 1977 – 1984, attracting all the big superstars to Willoughby studios. It was the fore-runner to 14 years of Midday with subsequent hosts Ray Martin, Derryn Hinch, Tracy Grimshaw & David Reyne and Kerri-Anne Kennerley.

Australia’s Got Talent
AGT ran for 7 seasons on Seven, discovering the likes of Justice Crew, Jack Vidgen, Bonnie Anderson. Just hours after Seven axed it in 2012, Nine pounced on the show, where it ran for two seasons. But the move led to a public court case over the use of Mel B (which Seven won). Seven then revived it once more in 2019 with international acts and is awaiting to resume filming.

Other notable shows:

Game shows: Family Feud / The Price is Right / Blankety Blanks
Hinch
The X Factor

Also worth a mention is A Country Practice, which ran for 12 years on Seven before being axed. 10 tried to repeat its Neighbours success by grabbing the show, relocating it to Emerald, in outer Melbourne, with 3 original cast. It flopped.

Packed to the Rafters is also on the way back, now as Back to the Rafters for Amazon Prime (still produced by Seven) while The Farmer Wants a Wife has switched from Nine to Seven, to screen in coming months.

While Neighbours and Home and Away have resumed production COVID-19 shutdown has impacted a slate of other favourite titles.

But there are also shows that are awaiting formal renewals. It isn’t clear if COVID-19 has cancelled their chances altogether, but given the government recently suspended quotas for the remainder of 2020, their chance of returning this year are not good.

A note about the following ratings… these refer to Overnight Metro figures, but of course when execs are considering a total audience, they factor in all the eyeballs from national, Timeshifted, catch-up and even repeats. This can see some titles double in number…

Total Control ABC
If any series has a strong suit to return it is the searing Deborah Mailman / Rachel Griffiths political drama from Blackfella Films. Kicking off with 722,000 viewers it finished just 10,000 short. Producer Rachel Griffiths is on record as saying the creative team are looking to return. ABC has described an eventual renewal as “a no-brainer.”

Jack Irish ABC
Last seen in 2018, the Guy Pearce, Marta Dusseldorp series is always critically acclaimed and 720,000 viewers is a solid number. Rumours are hot for a return when in-demand Pearce is available.

SeaChange Nine
Nine revived the Sigrid Thornton series in 2019 as “Paradise Reclaimed” with originals John Howard, Kerry Armstrong and Kevin Harrington. It added newcomers Dan Wyllie, Brooke Satchwell, Darren McMullen, Katrina Milosevic and Kate Lister. Relocated to a new backdrop in Brunswick Heads was a tall order, but there was plenty of buzz. Aussies tuned in with bumper numbers at 930,000 metro viewers, although there was a mixed reception and the tide settled at around the 600,000 mark. No decision.

Les Norton ABC
At 10 episodes ABC’s larrikin drama was much longer than the usual 6 episode outing, when it introduced Alexander Bertrand. The series kicked off at 695,000 before wrapping at around 400,000. Producers had indicated they were developing ideas for a second season, however ABC is facing cuts which will make decisions tricky across the board.

My Life is Murder, 10
Lucy Lawless has a strong fanbase but CJZ’s whodunnit is another yet to be formally renewed. While the series began with 546,000 viewers it later hovered at around 400,000. It was sold to streaming services in the UK and US, so fingers crossed it gets another shot, which could result in some stronger episodes second time around.

Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries Seven
Every Cloud’s spin-off from the hit series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries didn’t quite live up to its fore-runner, despite the pairing of Geraldine Hakewill and Joel Jackson. At around 350,000 it has not rushed back into production. But don’t rule out a possible new model with a streaming player in the mix.

Diary of an Uber Driver ABC
What a quirky little detour this show with Sam Cotton was… where almost anyone could get into the back of the car. The show has even landed a German adaptation. But sitting around the 200,000 mark, albeit in a 9:30 slot, leaves it revving in a holding bay.

Playing For Keeps 10
10’s AFL drama around footy WAGS has seen two seasons with stars including Madeleine West, Annie Maynard, Cece Peters and Olympia Valance. Produced by Screentime the series struggled in its last outing, kicking off at 300,000 but falling to under 200,000. Given the expense of Drama, this is not sustainable, even factoring in repeat and Timeshifted audiences. Whilst 10 announced the show at its 2020 Upfronts, the network later indicated that referred to the current season which was still playing out.

Upright, Foxtel
Recently sold to Sundance Now in the US, this offbeat Tim Minchin and Milly Alcock series won plenty of praise. So much so that Minchin has previously indicated “Season two has becomes serious.”

Robbie Hood, SBS
Creator Dylan River recently told TV Tonight he was developing a prequel based around Robbie’s mother, Robyn. Bring. It. On.

The Gloaming, Stan
Vicki Madden’s gothic mystery is in development for a second season.

Now screening: Neighbours, Home and Away, The Heights.

Completed: Between Two Worlds, Wentworth (2020), Halifax: Retribution, Hungry Beasts, Australian Gangster, The End, The Reckoning.

Awaiting restart: Five Bedrooms, Harrow, RFDS, New Gold Mountain, Back to the Rafters, Yes Chef, The Bureau of Magical Things, Wakefield, The Tailings, With Intent, Wentworth (2021).

Renewed: Doctor Doctor, Mr Inbetween

Former Sale of the Century star Alyce Platt is back on TV screens tomorrow in a guest role on Neighbours.

She briefly reprised her role as Olivia Bell last month with her former flame, Dr Karl “Casanova” Kennedy (Alan Fletcher).

But now she returns to rock the usually unfazed Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), with a tell-all book about evil Finn Kelly (Rob Mills), which points the finger directly at the Ramsay Street matriarch as the instigator behind Kelly’s chaos.

Singer and actress Platt is best known for her years on Sale of the Century from 1986 to 1991, but has screen credits in Sons and Daughters, Elephant Princess, City Homicide, Seven Types of Ambiguity, Satisfaction, Blue Heelers amongst others.

6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

21 year old Richie Morris has first major TV role in Neighbours.

He will play Levi Canning, grandson of Sheila (Colette Mann) and cousin of Kyle (Chris Milligan).

A graduate of Sydney Theatre School he has also studied at the Sydney Film School, is a
A martial arts expert and is trained in kick boxing, judo and Jiu jitsu.

“Being a part of the Canning family is so humbling because they are such a fun and iconic family,” says Morris. “They provide not only loads of drama but also so much humour, I couldn’t ask for more.

“Plus I get to work and learn from both Chris Milligan (Kyle) and Colette Mann (Sheila) who I idolise.”

Colette Mann added, “Richie is a terrific young man who can into the show as a serious young actor, but Chris and I have beaten him into a Canning with a great sense of humour about himself and as loud as the rest of us!”

He joins from next week.

Meanwhile Johnny Ruffo guest stars on Monday and Russell Brand a week later.

Source: Radio Times

Former Neighbours actor Kate Kendall will become a Producer on the 10 Peach soap.

She steps in for Series Producer Natalie Lynch, who begins maternity leave.

Kendall has already been directing for the series, including the much-lauded Sonya / Toadie episode with Eve Morey’s farewell.

She first joined Neighbours in 2013 playing Lauren Turner, enjoying a 5 year run, but developed her TV directing skills on the Fremantle soap.

“They were finishing up with the character of Lauren, so in the last six months while I was acting, I started to direct little scenes here and there,” she tells TV Tonight.

“I’ve always been interested in storytelling, no matter from what perspective, whether it was directing or acting.

“I hadn’t really done it with the cameras. I’d told stories through one-woman shows and stuff like that. But I didn’t know the Technical, so it was really helpful to have a group of people who support you, and teach you everything they know.”

“In serial television you’ve got to be across all the stories”

Now as a producer, alongside fellow producer Andrew Thompson, she is believed to be the show’s first Actor / Director / Producer. Her new role gives her greater oversight of the show which has won global praise for its pathway back to production during COVID-19.

“It’s trying to keep all the stories in your head. In serial television you’ve got to be across all the stories…. stories that are coming up in 10 weeks’ time, stories that we’re shooting now, any kind of big stories and stunts. Making sure that everybody’s happy and that it’s as good environment as it can be for to get the best outcomes from people,” she explains.

“I’m a very kind of collaborative person so the hard thing for me has been not being able to touch with people because of this Coronavirus. The communication over zoom is good to an extent but things get missed and I can articulate myself better talking to someone, than I can in an email.”

“She  just put her head down … to see how we could keep people employed in a safe way.”

Filling Lynch’s boots may be a tall order. As Kendall explains, it was Lynch who was responsible for mapping out a plan to keep Neighbours in production -a model that is being replicated in various forms around the world.

“She left the building for two days and just put her head down and started drawing out a document to see how we could keep people employed in a safe way. We’re very blessed because we’ve got so much space. We’re all on site. We don’t have to go off-site to shoot locations and stuff. We’ve got our backlot here so it’s about minimising the risk,” Kendall continues.

“She put in place procedures that would mean if someone did have the virus or something, we’re three steps ahead of the game to shut it down.

“We’re trying to ensure the integrity of the editorial content”

“It was hard for the writers, because they had to change the way they were going to write scripts to a certain extent. Some characters just weren’t going to be seen on the same screen as other characters because we couldn’t have them crossing over. So that was really tough. But we’ve kind of found our feet with it, and we’re trying to ensure the integrity of the editorial content as much as possible.”

Kate Kendall joined Neighbours in 2013

Neighbours has shot minimal scenes at its Pin Oak Court location, and there are no extras being incorporated. The pandemic has not been incorporated into storylines themselves, but there are glimpses here and there to reflect the “new normal.”

“There will probably be a hangover from it with things like hygiene. People will be going into Harold’s coffee shop and sanitising their hands. So we’re filling things like that into the fabric of the show.”

“Kate was a natural choice to step up”

Jason Herbison,  Executive Producer, welcomed Kendall’s new role and thanked Natalie Lynch for her progressive planning.

“Natalie been integral to keeping Neighbours running during Covid-19 and we all owe her a huge debt of gratitude,” he said. “I’m constantly learning from her and will miss her terribly when she’s away, but of course I’m thrilled that she’s adding to her beautiful family. Kate was a natural choice to step up to producing having extensive experience both sides of the camera, and along with Andrew Thompson, I’m confident the show is in very safe hands going forward.”

Rebekah Elmaloglou (Terese Willis) added, “Kate and I started on Neighbours at the same time, so personally I am just thrilled to see her progression. She has a unique insight to Neighbours from both the performance perspective and the intricacies of production through her directing – it’s a natural next step for her and I know the entire and cast and crew feel the same way.”

As for whether Kendall will return to acting on screen anytime soon, she merely teases, “I’d love to act again. Sometimes the best way for me to get back into acting is going through theatre. Because it gets you fit again.”

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

Australia, you’ve done it again…. and for that matter so has Network 10.

“Australia, which hasn’t been hit as hard by the global pandemic as some other countries, is showing the world how to resume film and TV production. Neighbours, the long-running soap, was one of the first suspended scripted dramas to return to production with safety protocols in place.” -Deadline.

Another Aussie production is winning global press coverage for its measures in social distancing, in the roadmap back to production.

US trade site Deadline is reporting on new measures by MasterChef Australia, which hit screens this week.

A reference to the absence of Melissa Leong on Monday’s episode is particularly interesting.

Here’s how Deadline reported….

In the Australian version, additional hand sanitizing stations were put in across the set, while the cooking benches were spaced out further to keep contestants further away from each other and gloves were provided for team challenges where equipment was shared as well as when contestants went to get food from the store cupboards. Extra sinks were also added as well as dedicated hand washing stations.

In terms of the judges – this season featuring Andy Allen, Melissa Leong, and Jock Zonfrillo – they stepped up to taste the individually portioned meals and didn’t share cutlery or plates.

Contestants were kept separated, and there were obviously no high-fives and hugs when things went well or badly. The first episode back helped as it was a relay challenge, where the contestants work one after each other, waiting for one cook to finish before stepping in.

However, an example of how seriously producers took the health concerns was the absence of Leong from the episode. She revealed that she had sinusitis and went to the doctors, before being cleared and returning to the set for future episodes.

Endemol Shine Australia, which produces the show, this season titled MasterChef: Back To Win, said, “MasterChef Australia has always employed the highest standards of food safety and hygiene, and we now have an even keener focus on that. All recommendations outlined by Federal and State government health authorities are being followed. Under the current circumstances, we are introducing new measures for the foreseeable future.”

Wentworth returns for its 8th season in late July.

Joining the cast this season are Kate Box (Upright, Les Norton, Rake) as former top dog Lou Kelly; Zoe Terakes (Janet King, The End) is trans character Rebel ‘Reb’ Keane, Jane Hall (Neighbours, House Husbands) is the new General Manager, Ann Reynolds and Vivienne Awosoga (Neighbours, The Time of our Lives) as Judy Bryant.

As previously confirmed the show also sees the return of Pamela Rabe as Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson.

Foxtel previously announced a June return for the show, along with a Foxtel Con fan event which obviously cannot proceed under current restrictions.

Wentworth, still the reigning Most Outstanding Drama at the Logie Awards, is available on Foxtel and Foxtel Now but not on Binge.

Wentworth’s season 7 finale had fans on the edge of their seats with a siege that saw inmates murdered by a corrupt guard, new life born amongst the chaos and a much loved inmate take her final breath all before the final jaw dropping scene revealing Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson is very much alive.

When Wentworth returns in 2020, the prison community is still reeling from the aftermath of the bloody siege with a new leader at the helm and four heritage characters from the original Prisoner series set to enter the compound.

International broadcasters including 5STAR (UK) and TVNZ (New Zealand) are scheduled to roll out the next chapter within days of Foxtel’s unveiling, with many more global territories set to follow.

Season 8 cast includes: Leah Purcell (Rita Connors),  Pamela Rabe (Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson), Kate Atkinson (Vera Bennett), Katrina Milosevic (Sue ‘Boomer’ Jenkins), Robbie Magasiva (Will Jackson), Kate Jenkinson (Allie Novak), Bernard Curry (Jake Stewart), Rarriwuy Hick (Ruby Mitchell) and Susie Porter (Marie Winter) along with new cast members Kate Box (Lou Kelly), Jane Hall (Ann Reynolds), Zoe Terakes (Rebel ‘Reb’ Keane), Vivienne Awosoga (Judy Bryant) and support cast Jacquie Brennan (Linda Miles) and David de Lautour (Dr. Greg Miller).

Wentworth is a Fremantle production for Foxtel with Fremantle Director of Scripted, Jo Porter and Foxtel’s Senior Drama Consultant, Penny Win as executive producers. Pino Amenta is series producer for season eight. The directors are Kevin Carlin, Beck Cole, Fiona Banks, Corrie Chen, Roger Hodgman and Mat King. The writers are John Ridley, Kim Wilson, Pete McTighe, Max Conroy and Marcia Gardner, who is both script producer and writer.  Season 8 is supported by funding from Film Victoria.

8.30pm Tuesday July 28 on FOX Showcase.

Updated.

Pacific islands including Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea will have free access to a selection of Australian TV titles in the new PacificAus TV initiative, announced today.

Titles from Free TV commercial broadcasters Seven, Nine and 10 will include Neighbours, Better Homes & Gardens, Totally Wild, Border Security, 60 Minutes, The Voice, MasterChef, 800 Words, Paramedics and Lego Masters.

1000-plus hours of Australian television content will be delivered each year for the next three years to Pacific Partner broadcasters using either a file-based internet distribution portal or satellite depending on their requirements. The local broadcasters will then incorporate the content into their own broadcast services.

Over the coming months, PacificAus TV will also roll out to additional nations including Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru. In some markets where broadcasters do not currently have the necessary satellite dishes, such as Tuvalu and Nauru, Free TV has ordered satellite dishes.

“Our close neighbours across the Pacific can now enjoy more Australian television content including lifestyle programs, news, drama and sports on their local free-to-air television stations through the initiative. I want to acknowledge the efforts of FreeTV who made this possible,” Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne, said, “Having the opportunity to watch the same stories on our screens will only deepen the connection with our Pacific family. For decades, many Pacific countries have had access to Australian programmes and televised sporting matches and this initiative will expand those entertainment options. Free TV Australia is in the process of finalising arrangements for sport to be broadcast from codes including netball, cricket, soccer, AFL and NRL.”

“We are excited to share with our Pacific neighbours so many of the quality television programs that Australian audiences know and love,” said Bridget Fair, CEO, Free TV Australia. “Through our Pacific partner broadcasters PacificAus TV will offer the best of Australian drama, entertainment, children’s programming, sport and lifestyle shows to viewers in our region.”

A full list of programs is available on the PacificAus TV website.

The initiative is worth $17.1 million over three years.

Screenworks’ will conduct a webinar How to Run an Online Writers Room by screenwriter and script producer Peter Mattessi (EastEnders, Neighbours, The Heights), talking about how an online room differs from physically being in the room with other writers.

Held on May 21st from 11am – 12:30 pm via zoom, the webinar will include a Q & A with attendees.

“During these challenging times we are constantly seeking innovative ways to support our members and screen practitioners across regional Australia so they can continue with their work” explained Screenworks CEO Ken Crouch.

“We have had a number of requests for advice on how to structure an online writers room and we were delighted that Peter Mattessi has agreed to deliver this session given his extensive national and international experience.”

This 90-minute webinar is ideally suited to anyone looking for online solutions in order to collaborate with writers and creatives, as well as early-career writers and producers seeking advice and techniques for running an effect online writers room.

During COVID-19 this is a ‘pay what you can afford’ webinar.

Good news from Seven’s camp today with Home & Away set to resume filming later this month.

Production was suspended in late March due to pandemic restrictions.

A Seven spokesperson said in a statement, “Home and Away will resume filming on May 25 at Seven’s studios. This follows a seven-week break that was implemented as a precautionary response to COVID-19 but also included Easter holidays.

“A range of measures will be in place to minimise risk for cast and crew, to be overseen by dedicated safety officers. The measures include temperature checks on arrival, increased hygiene practices and rigorous cleaning schedules.

“Scripts will also be reworked to reduce close contact, in constant consultation with the cast and crew to ensure the health and safety of all.”

Georgie Parker recently told TV Tonight, “It’s all to do with when restrictions will be lessened. We were working right up until about (four) and a half weeks ago and we were doing really well. We had adjusted filming in a very effective manner, adhering to as much spatial distancing as was possible.”

She added, “You can’t do a classic two-shot because you can’t have people standing that close to each other. So then everything is about cheating the distance with camera angles, and then it’s about staggering people in the frame.”

This follows Neighbours resuming filming in late April at its Nunawading site, for which it has attracted global media coverage.

While Home & Away is yet to confirm location work, production restart on both soaps puts Australia ahead of UK soaps.

Source: The Daily Telegraph.

• 10 to announce new third multichannel
• Coming in 2020: Bachelor in Paradise, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, The Masked Singer, Junior Masterchef, new-look Living Room

10 will announce a new general entertainment channel later this year. The third multichannel, confirmed today in a network presentation to advertisers, will draw upon ViacomCBS content. A launch date has not been confirmed.

In a virtual presentation to media buyers today Beverley McGarvey ViacomCBS Australia & New Zealand Chief Content Officer & EVP and Rod Prosser ViacomCBS and Network 10 Chief Sales Officer talked up its early 2020 results including for MasterChef Australia, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Australian Survivor, The Project and Gogglebox.

“The new normal in Australia is very different,” Beverley McGarvey said.

“10 is no longer the third TV network. We are ViacomCBS, a vital and confident multiplatform network within a content powerhouse attracting the most valuable audiences, challenging our competitors in ways they never imagined.”

Confirmed as still coming in 2020 are Bachelor in Paradise, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and The Masked Singer -all hosted by Osher Günsberg- the return of Junior Masterchef and a new look Living Room.

As always there will also be more Gogglebox while Kinne Tonight is returning.

Absent were a planned domestic season for The Amazing Race Australia and any sign of more Australian Survivor this year -both have been hit hard by restrictions.

There was no word on further local drama, but Neighbours continues to win praise for finding a way forward with production.

Media reports today also confirm I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here is back for 2021 -but potentially filmed in Australia.

Today’s presentation featured 10 personalities led by Julia Morris, Osher Gunsberg, Jonathan LaPaglia, Tom Gleisner, Dave Hughes, Chris Brown and more.

This post updates.

Network 10 will detail its remaining 2020 highlights to advertisers and media on Monday.

10 has had a good 4 months including I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Australian Survivor MasterChef Australia, Gogglebox, The Project but COVID-19 has thrown much into disarray.

Australian Survivor has not resumed filming, The Bachelor has stopped before completion, The Bachelorette has not been announced, Five Bedrooms has halted and The Amazing Race Australia hopes to shift to domestic destinations (even that’s a long shot given current regulations).

But Neighbours has won worldwide praise for finding a way to resume Drama production.

On Monday a virtual presentation will put 10’s best foot forward, likely to detail its Junior MasterChef plans, and confirm The Masked Singer as proceeding. Bachelor in Paradise is already completed.

It will be led by ViacomCBS Australia & New Zealand Chief Content Officer and EVP Beverley McGarvey and ViacomCBS and Network 10 Chief Sales Officer Rod Prosser.

TV Tonight will bring you a full rundown on 10’s plans.

Channel 10’s Head of Popular Factual, Sarah Thornton and Fremantle CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor will discuss how Production is dealing with the impact of COVID-10, including Neighbours and The Project.

Running Free Live : Pivoting Production will discuss fast turn-around commissions and how the industry is rethinking production and development during the current restrictions.

Channel 10’s Head of Popular Factual, Sarah Thornton, will be talking about her productions – including The Project – and what shows she would be interested in commissioning in the current climate. Producer Dan Brown will discuss how he worked with Sarah to turn Coronavirus Australia: Our Story around in 16 days. Fremantle Australia CEO Chris Oliver Taylor will tackle re-thinking development and production – including rebooting Neighbours for 10.

All guests will be available for live virtual networking following the discussion.

Running Free Live will be held on the second Thursday of every month. Each panel includes established makers from across the screen industries sharing their knowledge and advice on topical issues, while digging into their careers, past and present, to reveal what they’ve done to get where they are now. Following each panel discussion, viewers will be invited to join breakout sessions and take part in virtual networking.

Running Free Live: Pivoting Production
Thursday 7 May
Live: 7pm-8.30pm
Featuring Channel 10’s Head of Popular Factual, Sarah Thornton, Producer Dan Brown, and Fremantle CEO Chris Oliver Taylor and MC Denise Eriksen from Media Mentors Australia.

Running Free Live will be held on the second Thursday of every month. More at acmi.net.au
Running Free Live is presented in partnership by ACMI, Film Victoria and Media Mentors Australia.
Note: Running Free Live is a strictly online-only series available to view via the ACMI Youtube channel.

youtube.com/acmionline

There was plenty of Aussie drama on air last week.

Home and Away was the top drama of the week at 609,000 viewers followed by Mystery Road (577,000), Informer 3838 (565,000), Doctor Doctor (510,000), Top of the Lake: China Girl (419,000), The Secrets She Keeps (399,000), The Heights (248,000) and Neighbours (145,000) –Thalu also screened on NITV but numbers are not available at deadline. All can be expected to lift with 7 and 28 Day Timeshifting (as well as catch-up).

Nine won another week, but it was the closest week with Seven this year and 10’s best survey week.

Network:
Nine: 26.8
Seven: 26.2
10: 20.4
ABC: 18.1
SBS: 8.5

Primary channel:
Nine: 18.3
Seven: 17.9
10: 14.5
ABC: 13.4
SBS: 5.3

Multichannels:
10 BOLD: 3.8
7mate: 3.2
7TWO: 3.1
9GEM: 3.0
9GO!: 2.6
ABC KIDS Comedy: 2.5
10 Peach: 2.1
7flix: 2.0
9Life: 1.9
ABC News: 1.7
SBS VICELAND: 1.3
9RUSH: 1.0
SBS Food: 0.9
SBS World Movies: 0.8
ABC ME: 0.5
NITV: 0.1

Nine won 25-54 but 10 won 16-39.

Seven led on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Nine won Sunday & Monday. 10 claimed on Wednesday and bettered Nine on Tuesday & Thursday. ABC bettered 10 on Monday Friday & Saturday.

Seven won in Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth. Nine claimed Sydney & Melbourne.

Best brands last week were:

Nine: Lego Masters (Sun: 1.18m), Nine News (Sun: 1.14m), A Current Affair (712,000) and Hot Seat (613,000).

Seven: Seven News (Sun: 1.27m), The Chase (680,000), House Rules (Sun: 640,000) and Better Homes & Gardens (630,000).

10: MasterChef Australia (Tues: 1.08m), Gogglebox (847,000), The Project (7pm: 632,000) and 10 News First (476,000).

ABC: Australian Story (910,000), ABC News (Sat: 872,000), Death in Paradise (822,000) and Four Corners (747,000).

SBS: Great Canadian Railways (352,000), The World’s Most Beautiful Railway (317,000), Britain’s Cathedrals with Tony Robinson and Scotland: Rome’s Final Frontier (both 291,000).

Infograph supplied by Nine.

UK broadcaster Channel 5 is resuming Neighbours and Home & Away episodes 5 days a week from Monday May 11.

Each had been reduced to 2 days a week last month as production was halted on both.

Neighbours resumed full production earlier this week, winning global coverage for the progressive it has made to keep cast and crew safe. There will be no intimate scenes, cast and crew will be isolated into three distinct groups, and camera tricks will be used to make physically-distanced actors look more intimate.

Home and Away is yet to resume filming, but Seven has returned new episodes to air after a three week hiatus during news coverage.

Georgie Parker told TV Tonight, “We were working right up until about (four) and a half weeks ago and we were doing really well. We had adjusted filming in a very effective manner, adhering to as much spatial distancing as was possible.

“If they take the restrictions back a step or two, we will be able to resume filming. So we’re just waiting for that. We’re all guessing June, July.”

Source: The Sun

The BBC is watching production of Neighbours as it considers how to re-start TV drama production.

BBC soaps EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City have all halted production but are not yet ready to resume work. Shows including Peaky Blinders and Line Of Duty are amongst primetime dramas which have paused.

BBC drama controller Piers Wenger said future work will require a focus on managing actor production clashes, telling stories that do not involve international travel, and tapping into producer “ingenuity.”

Wenger’s team has taken note of the camera trickery being used on Neighbours to make actors look closer together, though he made clear that BBC continuing dramas, such as EastEnders and Casualty, are “not quite at that point yet.”

Neighbours benefits from a large backlot and single-use facility but is taking other measures to keep cast and crew safe. It has won global media coverage for the steps it is taking.

The Nunawading site has been divided into quadrants, with an operational hub, three distinct production teams and only three actors allowed to cross between the units. There are no intimate scenes.

Moving forward Wenger expects BBC dramas to focus on local stories.

“We will be, without doubt, spending more on shows that are shot within the UK because of the restrictions that are going to go on way beyond lockdown. We are really going to be leaning into a variety of stories set around the whole of the UK,” he said.

Source: Deadline

Sub-editors at The Age don’t quite know their Scotts from their Henrys in a story on Neighbours.

The story with a picture from “Grundy Organisation” is about the long-running soap resuming full filming today with social-distancing rules.

Kylie Minogue (Charlene) is pictured with Craig McLachlan (Henry Ramsay) on her wedding day. Both played siblings in the 1980s and Henry walked her down the aisle in her famed wedding to Scott (Jason Donovan).

Filming on Neighbours will recommence this week in what is the first Drama to resume filming in Australia during COVID-19.

But there will be strict measures in place for the protection of cast and crew. Limited production resumes this week with pull production from April 27.

There will be no intimate scenes, cast and crew will be isolated into three distinct groups, and camera tricks will be used to make physically-distanced actors look more intimate.

A Fremantle spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Neighbours returns from its scheduled production hiatus next week with a revised production model which fully complies with the Government’s strict health and safety measures for work environments around COVID-19.”

The studio has been divided into quadrants, with an operational hub, three distinct production teams and only three actors allowed to cross between the units.

“There will be no more than 100 people a day in any area, we’ll implement the four-square-metre rule and the one-and-a-half-metre social distancing rule,” Fremantle CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor has told ABC.

“We’ve got a nurse on set, different catering for everyone, males will have no make-up, women’s [make-up] will not be touched up, there are no intimate scenes.

“We’re going to assume if someone does get sick we don’t need to shut the entire shoot — we just close that group and carry on.”

Other productions are looking to the model to see how successfully it can operate.

Fremantle is not yet resuming production on Wentworth, which does require intimate scenes, but also has time up its sleeve.

2020 episodes are complete and due to screen from June. Filming on 2021 episodes has been suspended.

EXCLUSIVE: 10 will maintain its local content in 2020 despite fears from the production sector that already-completed local Drama, Documentary and Kids’ television may be held back.

With the government announcing local sub-quotas were suspended commercial networks will attract no further quota points this year -meaning content is effectively more valuable to screen in 2021. Seven has already responded by dropping Kids titles from 7TWO.

But  a 10 spokesperson told TV Tonight, “We’ve always spoken about the importance of supporting the local production community…. we have a number of scripted and drama productions in the can to broadcast this year and will not use the relief as a reason to hold them for another year.”

6 part Lingo Pictures drama The Secrets She Keeps premieres on Wednesday having premiered on 10 Play over Easter along with How to Stay Married S2 and Drunk History. Other dramas including Five Bedrooms and Neighbours have halted production due to COVID-19 precautions.

Nine premieres Informer 3838 this evening and resumes Doctor Doctor on Wednesday. Upcoming drama Halifax: Retribution is in post-production.

Seven planned a big push for Between Two Worlds, from writer Bevan Lee, post-Olympics. While the Games are postponed to 2021, Seven sources confirmed they still plan to screen the drama in 2020. Home and Away and Amazon-commissioned Back to the Rafters have both paused production.

While the government offered quota relief to networks the dramatic move has ignited a backlash from the creative community, already doing it tough.

Patrick Brammall: “Forgive my tone @PaulFletcherMP But you’re saving the stadiums and forgetting the players. In the US networks are increasing development so production can begin the second this is over. Removing the content imperative entirely is like using a hammer to defuse a bomb.”

Adam Zwar: “They’ve been wanting to do this for years and now they’ve taken their chance. And it’s going to take a brave govt to bring those obligations back. I hope the Libs like their kids speaking in American accents because that’s the future.”

Anthony Hayes: “These wolves have been circling the local industry, waiting for the moment they can do this. Purchase cheap shit overseas & make nothing. It’s the lowest, most dog act to do this under the guise a virus is responsible. More Australian content is how you save jobs and industry”

Matt Le Nevez: “Allowing those stadiums to import foreign content like our cinemas already do is a death nail to an industry already kneecapped by this govt. Their death by a million cuts for over a decade has now laid waste to a sledgehammer approach to culture. Shame on you @PaulFletcherMP”

Screen Producers Australia wanted temporary averaging flexibility, which allows for quotas to be shifted over a three year period, rather than a complete suspension.

“This would ensure demand returns to the system at levels sufficient to get the sector back on its feet and able to pump out productions and employ large numbers of people,” said CEO Matthew Deaner.

Screen Producers Australia has released an update on the impact of Coronavirus from its Screen Production survey.

The number of affected productions has now skyrocketed to 119.

These are the confirmed Film & TV productions impacted (others are undisclosed):

AAR Productions – Mason Stone
Aiyai Pty Ltd – Aiyai: Wrathful Soul
Aquarius Films – Poor Boy & The Usual Suspects
Aster Caplan – Super Cars
Avoca Blue – MSO Live Recordings
Bazmark – Untitled Elvis Presley Project
Brindle Films – MaveriX
Bus Stop Films – See Me – Vivid 2020
Cascade Films – Pollyannas Wish
Closer Productions – Yes, Chef
Endemol Shine Australia – RFDS & Australian Survivor
Everyone We Know – The Greenhouse
FG Film Productions (Australia) – Never Too Late
films & casting TEMPLE – Bollywood Downunder
Frankendipity Enterprises – Back to Nature
Fremantle Australia – Australia’s Got Talent, Neighbours & Wentworth
Fremantle Australia & Eureka Productions – Holey Moley
Hoodlum Entertainment – Five Bedrooms S5 & Harrow S3
Inov8 Entertainment – Crooks
Jonathan M Shiff Productions – The Bureau of Magical Things s 2
Jungle Entertainment – Wakefield
Krystle Kleyr Kutting – House of Wellness
Liz Doran Productions – The Tailings
Marvel Studios – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Matchbox Pictures – Real Housewives of Melbourne s 5 & Clickbait
Ned Lander Media – Little J & Big Cuz s 2
Nine Network – The Block
People Productions – Untitled Documentary
Periscope Pictures – Virtual Whadjuk
Piper Films – 7 Dates
Pooches at Play – Pooches at Play
ScreenLaunch – Encircled
Screentime: SAS: Who Dares Win
See-Saw Films – The Unknown Man
Seven Studios – Home and Away
Slim Film – Around the World in 80 Days
SLR Productions – Space Nova
Taste Creative – Perspective Shift s 2
Uncovered Films – Too Many Lawyers
Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia – The Bachelor Australia

The reported budgetary figure on the line has now risen to almost half a billion dollars (comprised of $232 million in actuals and $239 million in estimates). Recent responses to the SPA survey also captured an additional $20 million in lost export revenue, bringing the total reported loss to just shy of $100 million.

When adding in estimated budgets for the Hollywood blockbusters filming in Australia pre-COVID (Marvel Studio’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Baz Luhrmann’s Untitled Elvis Presley Project), as well as flow on effects of business failures caused by the pandemic in production, distribution and exhibition, SPA maintains that damage to sector will likely be greater than $2 billion, affecting over 30,000 working employees, freelancers and contractors.

This week the Federal Government announced a temporary suspension of local content sub-quotas, but CEO Matthew Deaner says, “While we welcome the many initiatives that various Governments have announced to provide targeted assistance to businesses, there is an immediate crisis unfolding in the production sector and the temporary suspension of content quotas has the very real potential of crippling an industry already on its knees.

“As I have already stated, bold and decisive Government intervention is critical not only for our economic and cultural recovery but also to protect our national sovereignty, which is why SPA has issued a call to the Government to implement a $1 billion content fund and to instigate platform neutral content regulation by immediately extending quotas to cover SVOD services.

“SPA is continuing to work to protect the future of Australian stories, including our recent partnership with the Australian Made campaign to help build the export potential of our sector, and we will engage with our membership over the coming weeks to craft our response to the Options Paper released yesterday.”

However some work continues to be made across varied genres such as children’s animation, light entertainment, documentaries and potentially drama in the weeks ahead. There are also many hours of content already produced and awaiting release on broadcasters and distributor’s shelves.

Madeleine West will make a guest return to Neighbours later this month, as both Dee Bliss and twin Andrea Somers.

Her character/s resurface when Elly (Jodie Anasta) faces trial for the murder of Finn (Rob Mills).

West was last seen in July as part of wild storylines resolving the mystery of Dee’s disappearance. But a phone call from Toadie draws Dee back to Erinsborough. Will she come face to face with Andrea?

She returns from Tuesday, 21 April on 10 Peach.

Neighbours had been hoping to film until its scheduled production break next Friday.

But it has now decided to bring it forward by one week.

A Fremantle spokesperson tells TV Tonight:  “To allow us to refine the Neighbours production model in light of the current Government restrictions in place, Fremantle has decided to start its planned Easter break one week earlier than scheduled, and the series will break for two weeks from the end of shoot this evening (March 27).

“The health, safety and well-being of our cast and crew and all involved on the series is our priority. Production is planned to resume April 14 with no interruption to on-air delivery. “

It’s no wonder ABC has a series that centres around young Evie Macdonald -she’s a star on the rise.

First Day is a 4 part series based on a one-off episode by Writer / Director Julie Kalceff (Starting from Now). It went on to win the prestigious Prix Jeunesse Gender Equity Prize at the MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards. And why wouldn’t it? This presents the topic of transitioning as a child in an utterly disarming way…

Hannah (Evie Macdonald) is about to have her first day of high school at Hillview High. Having endured bullying at primary school as Thomas, she is ready to make the change at her new school. But the shift won’t come easily.

While mum (Jo Hunt), dad (Mark Saturno) and teen brother Jack (Ethan Gifford) are all incredibly supportive of her identity, school principal (Anthony Brandon Wong) has a few conditions: he wants Hannah to use the sick bay toilets, at least for now.

For Hannah it’s a crushing blow and she fears it will only raise questions amongst her new school mates.

“I’m not a boy,” she insists. “I just want to be treated like everyone else.”

Despite her nerves, she bonds well on day one with Olivia (Elena Liu) and falls in with a small cluster of selfie-lovin’ girls. Teacher Ms. Fraser (Brenna Harding) also casts a watchful eye over the young Hannah, but trouble arises when she is recognised by a former primary student Isabella (Isabel Burmester).

Suddenly Hannah’s secret is at risk of becoming public, right at the time she wants to join in a sleepover with her new besties.

Julie Kalceff handles the conflict delicately, never speaking down to the audience. To do this she draws upon the sensitive talents of Evie Macdonald, who steps up to the demands of performing in every scene, and with beautiful nuance.

Even a scene with Hannah confiding in her friend is played without sensationalising the drama -and drawing upon a reference to Caitlyn Jenner.

At just 4 episodes, I don’t expect this to tackle its conflict beyond secrecy, nerves and peer group pressure -which is a bit of a shame. While all dramas need conflict it would be lovely to see this move beyond those around identity too, as Neighbours has managed to do with McKenzie (Georgie Stone).

This aside, the Adelaide-produced drama is the most inclusive, most authentic kid’s drama since Dance Academy.

14 years ago Play School caused an uproar when it featured two same-sex parents (trivia: they were Brenna Harding’s mums). Hopefully in 2020 we realise we are all facing much bigger battles than those around identity.

First Day is another example of why Children’s Television is so pivotal to our audiences, not just our production sector.

And Evie Macdonald is destined for big things.

First Day 4:30pm Monday – Friday on ABC ME.

Britain’s Channel 5 has announced it will trim Neighbours and Home and Away from 5 to 2 episodes a week each due to the coronavirus.

“As a result of COVID-19, we have taken the decision to reduce the number of episodes for Neighbours and Home and Away from five to two per week for both soaps, so that our viewers can continue to enjoy them for as long as possible,” the broadcaster said.

“Both programmes will air on Monday and Fridays, effective from Monday 30th March.”

Home & Away is currently off air in Australia for news specials, whilst production has also halted.

But Neighbours resumed after a brief pause last week and hopes to continue to its scheduled production break at the end of next week.

A 10 spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Neighbours will continue to give viewers fresh entertainment while they are at home – five nights a week on 10 Peach.”

Source: Digital Spy.

Neighbours this week updated its opening credits with Georgie Stone (Mackenzie) included and the theme sung by Bonnie Anderson.

“It was an honour to be asked to do this, honestly I got quite emotional. I get a bit nervous singing this song because it’s been around for 35 years,” Anderson said.

“I know there are so many fans out there, so I hope to do you proud and that my version grows on you. I am very grateful for this opportunity.”

From the classic version recorded by Barry Crocker 35 years ago to Melbourne producer, Dariush Etemad’s Mardi Gras remix in 2019, the theme has seen many make-overs and now it’s time for Bonnie to make her mark.

Joining the Neighbours cast in 2018, Bonnie’s character, Bea Nillson has quickly become a fan favourite. On screen her musical talents have made their way to Erinsborough and now she’ll join the honour roll of performers chosen to put their twist on our favourite television tune.

Colette Mann has come up against many performing challenges during her long career, but little that has rippled as much as the coronavirus pandemic.

Yet she remains pragmatic about this latest curveball and has some friendly advice for her younger cast members on Neighbours.

“As I said to the young ones yesterday, ‘This is the biggest thing that’s happened in my lifetime. And I can say that because I’m so much older than all of you. And bigger things may happen to all of you, but I won’t be here to see them!'” she tells TV Tonight.

“We just have to push through it and everybody has to pull together, and that’s what we’re all doing.”

While other shows were shutting down, filming on the 10 Peach soap resumed this week at Nunawading. According to Mann, who plays Erinsborough’s Sheila Canning, “nothing stops Neighbours!”

Filming has adjusted to new government rules and social distancing requirements.

“We’re more apart from each other in the green room and people are walking past each other and  thank God all that hugging has disappeared! I’m not a fan of that, I find it really exhausting. So actually this is very positive,” she admits.

“There are rules on how many people are on the set”

“There are rules on how many people are on the set at any one time. There are sanitising stations, you can’t touch anybody, they’re shooting everything in wide shot and everything, but we’re adapting. Change is a good thing.

“I did seven scenes yesterday, didn’t touch anyone, and I still managed to be my brilliant self!”

Producers hope to make it through to a scheduled production break due at the end of next week.

“If somebody tested positive we would stop, but at the moment, we’re just pressing on because – as I explained to one of the kids yesterday, ‘We’re not in the service industry. I know you think we’re giving a service to the people, but we’re not!’

“They’ve stopped all the things like the Neighbours tours, and extras and all that sort of stuff.

“I’m extremely resilient and I love change.”

“I love it. I’m extremely resilient and I love change. I was just getting to the ‘bored’ stage and now something’s different!”

Tonight viewers will see Sheila tackle some of her most emotional scenes yet when she learns of the death of her son Gary (Damien Richardson), after a week of suped-up storylines centred around evil Finn (Rob Mills).

To prepare for her tearful scenes, Mann says she went on location to watch Richardson’s final moments.

“Even though Sheila doesn’t see him die, Colette needed to see him die. So I went out and watched that because I happen to be finished that day,” she recalls.

“I travelled out to Plenty Gorge and watched all of those scenes being done.”

But Sheila’s mourning and recovery has required so much tears, Mann admits it even began to take its toll on her body.

“In order to do it correctly, you actually have to go to that place. You have to go to somewhere in your body that feels that grief,” she explains.

“I cried so much I was dehydrated and both my ankles blew up. And then another big day of crying I got terrible vertigo.

“My doctor said, ‘Your body doesn’t know you’re pretending.'”

But she is also pleased that writers have not been dismissive of the impact it has on her character in subsequent weeks.

“If I lost one of my sons, I wouldn’t be over it in a week. I said to Jason (Herbison, producer) and the writers, ‘Please don’t make it that I’m back doing gags in The Waterhole the following week’, which sometimes in soap opera,” she continues.

“She’s behaving fairly normally but she still has moments of reflection and sadness. And I think that’s really fabulous that they do that.”

“Sheila’s really independent.”

Fans can also look forward to more of ‘Shlive’ -the name given to Sheila’s relationship with Clive (Geoff Paine)- with two more webisode specials in the can. But marriage is not on the cards -and Mann is fine with that, thanks.

“Sheila’s really independent. I mean, yes, she’s had two or three love interests of which Clive’s been by far the longest. But if something happened, and Clive wasn’t there anymore, she would continue on,” she insists.

“I think it’s great that she’s an older woman and an independent woman.”

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

10 drama Five Bedrooms is another that has closed down production as a precaution to COVID-19.

Filming of the second season was underway in Melbourne.

Hoodlum Executive Producer Nathan Mayfield said: “While no cast or crew member has been diagnosed with COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to temporarily halt filming due to myriad logistic challenges.

“We thank our amazing family of cast and crew for their tremendous co-operation in these extraordinary times. While they return to their own homes for an early hiatus, we will continue with post-production on the episodes already filmed for season two.”

It follows the postponement of Australian Survivor and shifting The Amazing Race from overseas to domestic sites.

Neighbours halted this week but has now resumed.

Source: TV Blackbox

That was quick.

TV Tonight can reveal Neighbours will be back in front of the cameras from today.

Filming will recommence today by splitting its crews and working within restricted zones.

Shooting was halted on Wednesday after a casual crew member came into contact with someone off set who had been diagnosed positive. The crew member has since tested negative.

Full cast and crew will resume from Monday working to new guidelines. But in a social-distancing challenge for all, cast will be forced to avoid intimate scenes -which is tricky even for a PG soap.

The pressure on Fremantle’s other key drama Wentworth is less demanding, given the 2020 season is complete. Producers opted to extend a production break until late April.

This week marked Neighbours’ 35th anniversary.

Australian Survivor is the latest show to face upheaval due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Another 2020 season, due to begin filming in Fiji from April, has been postponed.

A Network 10 spokesperson said in a statement, “Following the Australian Government’s latest advice on overseas travel, plus discussions with the Fijian Government, production of the new season of Australian Survivor has been postponed.

“While this news is disappointing, the health and safety of everyone involved with the show is our number one priority. We will update everyone on when production will start as soon as we can.”

Host Jonathan LaPaglia is already out for the Australian Survivor: Reunion, due to conclude the current season, wth Osher Gunsberg stepping in -LaPaglia will appear from LA.

Like all networks, 10’s production slate is being heavily impacted by coronavirus measures including changes to The Amazing Race Australia and Neighbours.

While 10 is yet to clarify any production change to Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, Five Bedrooms, all currently in production, or upcoming seasons of The Bachelorette and The Masked Singer, it is remaining upbeat.

Today the government announced a closure of the borders to all non-residents coming to Australia, effective 9pm Friday March 20. It follows a 14 day self-isolation rule for all international arrivals.

The spokesperson added, “…for those viewers who are concerned that they won’t have anything to watch if they are self-isolating, 10 has plenty of shows coming up to keep you entertained including MasterChef Australia: Back To Win, Bachelor In Paradise, The Secret She Keeps, How To Stay Married and Drunk History, just to name a few.”

The BBC has suspended all of its ongoing dramas as a precaution amid the coronavirus crisis.

“In light of the spread of Covid-19, after much consideration, it has been decided that filming on all BBC Studios continuing dramas will be postponed until further notice. The decision was made after the latest government update,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

“We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and public health organisations.”

Affected productions include Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, River City and Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm.

The news is not expected to impact episodes in the short term.

This follows the suspension of UK dramas Peaky Blinders, Line of Duty, The Witcher. and cancellation of the British Academy Television Awards, British Academy Television Craft Awards and the The 2020 Olivier Awards.

ITV is yet to announce a closure to Coronation Street or Emmerdale.

In Australia TV dramas are also hitting the pause button including Wentworth, Neighbours and Clickbait.

On their 35th anniversary -to the day- Neighbours has announced it will suspend production -but only until next week- while it assesses filming procedures.

Producers, cast and crew hope to come up with a workable solution, such as smaller crews, to resume work next week.

Network 10 and Fremantle said in a statement, “Neighbours has decided to take a short break this week to ensure the production model in place can withstand any potential impact of the current COVID-19 situation. Today, all cast and crew met to discuss this issue as a result of a specific concern about the pandemic.

“Production will resume on Monday as planned with no interruption to the on-air or delivery schedule. The health and well-being of everyone on the set of Neighbours will always be our priority.”

Neighbours began on Australian television on March 18 1985.

Updated: A casual crew member advised they had been in contact with someone last week off set, not production related, who has since been diagnosed with the virus. The crew member is not displaying any symptoms and informed production as precaution.

Heightened rules around travel and crowds announced today will impact further on Television production, already at a fragile state around the country.

The government has instructed Australians not to travel overseas.

This will immediately impact (but not limited to) the following:

ABC:
ABC News,
Foreign Correspondent,
Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery,
Four Corners

Seven:
Seven News,
Sunrise,
Olympic Games,
Paralympics,
Holey Moley,

Nine:
Nine News,
60 Minutes,
Today,
A Current Affair,
Love Island Australia,
Getaway,
NRL
Travel Guides (2021)
Married at First Sight (2021)

10:
10 News First,
The Project,
Australian Survivor,
Neighbours

SBS:
Eurovision Song Contest,
Dateline,
Who Do You Think You Are?,
Every Family Has A Secret ,
Tour de France

Foxtel:
SKY News
Wentworth Con (Chicago  / New Jersey)
NRL

There is a ban on more than 100 people indoors, however workplace arrangements may continue. While no studio audiences are proceeding, normal television production can continue with crews & talent. However as we’ve seen in recent days there are no guarantees any production underway or commencing will be completed on time.

Further, the rule on handshaking, hugging and social distancing will likely impact on numerous shows -including Drama and Reality: The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, The Block, Neighbours, Wentworth, The Amazing Race Australia, Harrow, Home and Away, Five Bedrooms, RFDS, Back to the Rafters, The Secrets She Keeps, The Bureau of Magical Things, With Intent and more…

It is clear that large numbers of working Australians in the sector will lose work and livelihood as a result of an evolving situation.  ilostmygig.net.au is estimating 380,000 people affected in the Entertainment sector.

One crew member told me, “I feel like the whole TV industry is only just seeing the tip of then iceberg and there’s a lot of people, especially given we are a huge freelance industry, really starting to worry about what the next few months will bring. Unlike some people who are full time at a network, most production crew, (and I’m talking from a drama production perspective), can not work from home and if we shut down or go into hiatus, not one knows when our next jobs will happen. And if we don’t work we don’t earn, so the level of uncertainty is very high amongst the whole freelance industry.”

This is also a good time to remind readers of the expectation for respectful comments on TV Tonight. While humour is useful in times of crisis, please be considerate and remember there are hard-working Aussies on all of these shows, whether such shows are to your personal taste or not.

I also note that many readers are looking to Television for entertainment and escapism at this time, with feedback that there is a news overload on screens. It reminds me to keep a balance of stories here too (especially as we look for more binge titles) as we work through this News phase.

Meanwhile there are many shows that have completed production and will continue to roll out across our screens in coming weeks and months.

They include Travel Guides, Lego Masters, Between Two Worlds, Bachelor in Paradise, Rosehaven, Hungry Ghosts, Celebrity Name Game, Farmer Wants a Wife, Hard Quiz etc.

We all share a passion for TV. It’s why we’re here. Now is the time to support those who make it for you.

David.

Update:

Wentworth to halt filming from Monday March 23.
The Block will continue for now.

Today marks 35 years since Neighbours first premiered on Australian television.

It was 18th March 1985 when the soap created by the late Reg Watson first debuted on Seven. It ran for just over six months, underperforming in Sydney, when programmers pulled the pin.

But 10 swooped on the series -forced to rebuild sets after Seven destroyed them- and from January 1986 the rest, as they say, is history.

The series is now the longest-running drama in Australian TV history, having launched thousands of careers both in front of and behind the cameras.

One who says she owes it all to the show, and famed casting director Jan Russ, is Stephanie McIntosh who returns to the show this week as part of 35th anniversary storylines under Executive Producer Jason Herbison.

McIntosh played Sky Mangel (the teen version of a former series infant) for just over 4 years from 2003. With a famous half-brother in Jason Donovan (Scott Robinson), and neighbour to Alan Fletcher (Dr. Karl Kennedy) she already had links to the show.

“When I became a teenager, I started babysitting for Alan Fletcher and I would come out to set with him,” she tells TV Tonight.

“I actually think I even said to him once ‘I’m going to come back as Sky Mangel.’

“Lo and behold a few years later, they wrote her in again as a teenager coming back to see Harold (Ian Smith).

“I got the call for the audition from the divine Jan Russ. She gave me that break, and I’ll be forever grateful. Neighbours changed my life, in all the best ways.”

“It felt like we were some sort of a platform”

Sky was portrayed as an alternative adolescent in a very vanilla street, having teen romances with Boyd Hoyland (Kyal Marsh), Dylan (Damien Bodie) and ‘Stingray’ (Ben Nicholas). But it was the crush from Lana (Bridget Neval) that drew wider attention, for portraying a same-sex teen romance in an early evening timeslot.

Bridget Naval, Stephanie McIntosh

“That was really exciting and a privilege to go down that route at a time where maybe it wasn’t as socially accepted. I’m proud of Neighbours for grabbing onto something that should be so ‘normalised’ so early on,” she continues.

“I got a huge volume of extremely positive feedback and a lot of people coming out to me, wanting to say thank you for bringing attention to something that they feel they needed in the LGBT community.

“It felt like we were some sort of a platform for people that needed that.”

“Someone’s got to lead the way”

Any press controversy at the time was outweighed by the benefits.

“I understand that it wasn’t as socially accepted, so to speak, but I think that’s where Neighbours just did the right thing. Someone’s got to lead the way.”

McIntosh has been invited back to the show on previous occasions -she made an appearance by Skype for the 30th- but as a mother of 2, the timing was right to make it happen in 2020.

“It was like walking into a time machine”

Returning to the Nunawading set brought a rush of emotions.

“It was a really out of body experience. It was like walking into a time machine …but then not. I keep saying to everyone It’s ‘Same same but different,'” she explains.

“The drive here starts to become nostalgic, as you’re turning onto Hawthorn Road and then you come through those back doors and there’s a smell, a memory that’s triggered instantly every time you walk through the Cast backdoors. Everything just comes flooding back, and it’s a life that I know so well.

“In one breath it feels like there’s been no time gone at all, and then in the other it’s “Wow there’s so much history here!’

“Often you do a project and it wraps and that’s it. To come back to something I was so fond of, and so lucky to be a part of… it’s the best.”

“That was a major moment of feeling very nostalgic.”

Her return reunites her with her former castmates Alan Fletcher, Jackie Woodburne, Ryan Moloney and Stefan Dennis.

“It was really lovely seeing them. That was a major moment of feeling very nostalgic. But then, of course, you look around and you see all the new faces and you realise that time has moved on. Including my niece.”

Her niece, Jemma Donovan is now playing Harlow Robinson. McIntosh also feels the time away has given her added maturity to appreciate the experience more.

“It’s so beautiful coming back and having this hindsight this time around, and having a lot of growth. A maturity that I didn’t have back then, and an appreciation maybe that I didn’t have. I definitely knew how lucky I was landing the role initially, but there’s definitely a different sense of gratitude this time around.”

Neighbours 35th anniversary week includes a string of weddings, and Sky’s return will see her tie the knot with Lana.

“I find that this is very authentic and for Sky they’ve come full circle with a storyline that had a huge effect on a lot of people,” she hints.

“I’ve been focusing on playing mum”

And while family comes first, she is open to the idea of more acting work should it come her way again.

“I have two beautiful girls, a five and one year old. So that is always the focus personally, but I did step back for a little bit while I’ve been focusing on playing mum. So it feels so great coming back into work. and maybe seeing what’s out there again professionally for me.

“I’m excited and optimistic about going forward again.”

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

Public interest in COVID-19 information led to a lift in news and current affairs programming last night -including several 2020 highs.

Seven News topped the night at 1.1m / 1.02m but Nine News was also high at 1.07m / 1.05m -both were respective highs for weeknight news this year.

Meanwhile in other slots there were lifts for 7:30, ABC News, A Current Affair, The Project, 10 News First, SBS World News and a very spartan edition of Q&A. Breakfast TV was also boosted across the board.

Married at First Sight topped the entertainment timeslot and the demos at 1.04m defeating 7:30 (888,000), Australian Story (713,000), Australian Survivor (700,000) and My Kitchen Rules (476,000) -which scraped in at #20.

A Nine News special on COVID-19 drew 632,000 ahead of Media Watch (579,000), Four Corners (537,000 from 8:30pm), The Latest (340,000) and Hughesy We Have a Problem (293,000).

Nine network won Monday with 29.2% then Seven 23.2%, ABC 22.1%, 10 19.4% and SBS 6.0%.

A Current Affair enjoyed a 2020 high at 848,000 for Nine. Hot Seat was 478,000 / 299,000. Footy Classified was 178,000 in 3 cities and 100% Footy was 80,000 in 2 cities.

Home and Away pulled 579,000 and The Chase was 554,000 / 367,000. Talking Footy drew 79,000 for its repeat in 3 cities.

ABC News won its slot at 856,000 for ABC with Q&A at 517,000 and The Drum also up at 221,000.

The Project was at a 2020 high at 582,000 / 387,000 as was  10 News First (519,000 / 330,000).

On SBS it was SBS World News (144,000, Michael Mosley’s Placebo Experiment (129,000), Planet Expedition (120,000), Michael Mosley: Medical Mavericks (85,000) and Mastermind (79,000).

Bluey led multichannels at 180,000. Neighbours drew 154,000 / 142,000 for its two episodes.

Sunrise: 315,000
Today: 236,000
News Breakfast: 156,000 / 72,000

OzTAM Overnights: Monday 16 March 2020

Neighbours begins its 35th anniversary week tonight, including with its special End Game episodes from 7pm.

Rob Mills said: “Filming Neighbours End Game was such an intense experience with the unravelling of Finn’s psyche, his vulnerability and the extreme turn he takes on the island.

“I feel incredibly privileged to be part of the Neighbours family, especially in the show’s 35th year as it continues to push boundaries and engage with audiences in Australia and around the world.”

Tonight at 6:30pm, the highly-anticipated Wedding Expo kicks off in Erinsborough with Lucy Robinson (Melissa Bell) and Mark Gottlieb (Bruce Samazan) rekindling their love by taking a leap of faith and saying, “I do”.

Wedding bells continue to ring with four more weddings this week with Paige Smith (Olympia Valance) and Scott McGregor (Mark Brennan), Prue Wallace (Denise Van Outen) and Gary Canning (Damien Richardson), Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh) and Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval), and Des Clark (Paul Keane) and Jane Harris (Annie Jones) all getting bitten by the love bug.

Forget about toilet paper and stock up on tissues, because with this many white dresses and heart felt declarations of love, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. We’re not crying, you’re crying.

At 7:00pm Neighbours End Game sees Elly Conway (Jodi Anasta), Finn Kelly (Rob Mills), Bea Nilsson (Bonnie Anderson), Chloe Brennan (April Rose Pengilly), Pierce Greyson (Tim Robards) and Toadie (Ryan Moloney) pack their bags and head off to an insta-worthy island to celebrate Elly’s 35th birthday glamping in five-star style.

Preoccupied by the sun-soaked beach and each other’s bikini and board short clad bodies, the party goers ignore the signs that Finn’s memory is returning. Driven by his utter infatuation with Elly, Finn is plotting to win her back and will take out anyone who is standing in his way.

Things go from sunny and cheery to dark and twisted very quickly as Bea is first to fall victim to Finn’s old ways. Will she make it back to Erinsborough alive?

6:30pm and 7pm this week on 10 Peach.

New rules around 14 day self-isolation for incoming travellers will ripple across television production.

Today weatherman Tim Davies last night confirmed he would be forced to undergo self-isolation after flying in from Dubai after the midnight deadline.

But there will be others, whether as talent, crew or network executives.

A number of shows such as 60 Minutes, Foreign Correspondent and Dateline rely on their reporters travelling the globe. Interview shows including The Project, Sunrise, Today, Studio 10, The Morning Show, Q&A regularly feature international guests.

“It will be difficult to convince top talent to return if they have to self-isolate for 2 weeks”

The Voice has already completed its Blind Auditions and Battle Rounds, which has bought it some time -but will Boy George and Kelly Rowland return for Live shows if this drags on? The Masked Singer also has Lindsay Lohan returning in coming months -it will be difficult to convince top talent to return if they have to self-isolate for 2 weeks.

Australia’s Got Talent has no international judges this year, but would be expected to fly in international acts. AGT has the double whammy of facing no audiences. Also facing impacts are Holey Moley (to film in the US), SAS: Who Dares Wins (NZ shooting – potentially 2 x 2 weeks isolation each).

Seven’s Olympics -should they miraculously proceed (which nobody but Seven believes)- could potentially mean self-isolation for the entire commentary / hosting team based in Japan.

Australian Ninja Warrior begins filming its fourth season today at its new site, Melbourne Showgrounds.

A Nine spokesperson confirmed to TV Tonight it will be without an audience aside from a few family and friends -particularly challenging given the expansive course.

Australian Survivor is due to film in Fiji from April and entails a hefty cast and crew. In truth it only needs a tropical backdrop (Queensland anybody?) but Fiji offers infrastructure from season to season as well as financial incentives.

Meanwhile, Christian Wilkins, competing on Dancing with the Stars, was not aware of his father Richard Wilkins’ positive diagnosis until after the episode wrapped last night.

Although he does not believe he has been exposed, he has self-isolated and will be tested first thing on Monday morning.

A Network 10 spokesperson said: “A number of precautions had already been put in place for Sunday’s show to minimise any potential exposure or spread of the virus including promoting good hygiene practices backstage and in-studio, and filming without a studio audience.  

“All Dancing With The Stars cast and crew have been asked to self-monitor for symptoms relating to COVID-19 while we await the results of Christian’s test. Warner Bros. and Network 10 will provide all cast and crew the appropriate accommodation and support during this time.”

Thankfully, there are many shows that have safely completed filming including Lego Masters, Travel Guides, Between Two Worlds, Bachelor in Paradise, Rosehaven, Hungry Ghosts, Farmer Wants a Wife, Hard Quiz, Informer 3838, The Heights, Hughesy We Have a Problem, How to Stay Married, The Secrets She Keeps, The End, Mystery Road while others are underway locally including The Block, Wentworth, Five Bedrooms, RFDS, Neighbours, Home and Away, Mad as Hell, MasterChef Australia.

Safest shoot in Australia right now? The Big Brother house or the Gogglebox couch…

But there are also risks for projects that are currently in production with a ‘one out / all out’ threat.

Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner, said, “The screen industry is a powerful sector. $3 billion in economic contribution. Some 30,000 FTE jobs. Finances flow from every shoot, from every business into communities around Australia. Nimble SMEs driving employment that export our stories to the globe. But like a lot of creative industries the screen sector is also fragile. There is limited ongoing security: a gig-based model for both for the businesses and the workforce.

“A massive disruption created by a pandemic will severely disrupt our industry. Productions employ thousands in teams; actors and crews need to be with each other to work. There is no remote opportunity for employment on physical production.

” This may mean an automatic stand down of the production for at least 2 weeks.”

“Diagnosed cases will mean suspension, delays or terminations of productions. If one person on a shoot contracts the coronavirus, this may mean an automatic stand down of the production for at least 2 weeks. This could be repeated endlessly resulting in the termination of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of work.

“Help will be needed to ride out this crisis. While businesses are undertaking continuity planning and efforts are being made to minimise the impact, support will be needed to minimise bankruptcies and job losses.

“We will continue to work with the Government to ensure the continuing health of our sector in these difficult times.”

Australian television is coming to terms with the impact of COVID-19 on current and upcoming productions.

The Amazing Race Australia has already confirmed it will not be filming overseas this June, playing it safer with a domestic race. But it’s far from being alone.

Multiple Australian productions are faced with big decisions to keep cast & crew safe, whether due to international travel, studio audiences or fan events. Almost all Australian shows entail a degree of domestic travel for crew / guests.

Q&A tells TV Tonight, “It’s an evolving situation that we’re keeping under continuous review. Currently we’re advising people that if they have any symptoms of illness they should not participate in the studio audience.”

FOX Footy show Bounce has put its studio audience on hold “until further notice.”

Australian Survivor is due to film from April in Fiji and is yet to advise of any changes, following CBS suspending the US Survivor.

It’s also not clear how dating shows, which film intimate body to body contact will fare, including The Bachelor & The Bachelorette.

Many productions have completed filming, including Travel Guides, Lego Masters, Between Two Worlds, Bachelor in Paradise, Rosehaven, Hungry Ghosts, Celebrity Name Game, Farmer Wants a Wife, Hard Quiz etc.

Here are the key shows most likely to be impacted over the next 6 months.

Studio Audiences / Sport:

ABC:
Q&A,
Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell,
The Weekly with Charlie Pickering,
Gruen,
Hard Quiz (2021)

Seven:
AFL,
AFLW,
Plate of Origin,
The Front Bar,
Australia’s Got Talent,
Holey Moley

Nine:
NRL,
State of Origin,
TV Week Logie Awards,
Hot Seat,
Australian Ninja Warrior,
The Voice,
The Block,*
Step Back in Time

10:
Australian Grand Prix,
Dancing with the Stars,
Studio 10,
The Project,
The Masked Singer,
The Living Room,
MasterChef Australia*,
Have You Been Paying Attention?,

SBS:
Insight,
Mastermind,
NBL

Foxtel:
Australia Grand Prix,
One Day International Cricket,
W League,
Bounce,
The Matty Johns Show,
The Professor’s Late Hit,
Wentworth Con (Melb)

International travel:

ABC:
ABC News,
Foreign Correspondent,
Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery,
Four Corners

Seven:
Seven News,
Sunrise,
Olympic Games,
Paralympics,
Holey Moley,
SAS: Who Dares Wins,

Nine:
Nine News,
60 Minutes,
Today,
A Current Affair,
Love Island Australia,
Getaway,
Travel Guides (2021)
Married at First Sight (2021)

10:
10 News First,
The Project,
The Amazing Race Australia,
Australian Survivor,
Neighbours

SBS:
Eurovision Song Contest,
Dateline,
Who Do You Think You Are?,
Every Family Has A Secret ,
Tour de France

Foxtel:
SKY News
Wentworth Con (Chicago  / New Jersey)

* select events

Call her a tireless performer, or call her ‘Courtney Everywhere’, but Courtney Act / Shane Jenek is as busy as ever.

Most recently she was co-hosting the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras for SBS. On Sunday she returns to Dancing with the Stars on 10.

On Monday Shane / Courtney is the subject of an Australian Story episode for ABC.

And she is currently acting in upcoming episodes of Neighbours.

These come on the back of recent Australian and international appearances on Eurovision: Australia Decides, Celebrity Big Brother (UK), The Bi-Life (as host) and back in 2014, RuPaul’s Drag Race (USA).

Not bad for someone whose star shone singing “You Don’t Own Me” on Australian Idol in 2003.

“Australian Idol’s first season was so huge and popular and where my name became known,” she tells TV Tonight.

“I look back at a lot of stuff I’ve done over the years where I was really trying. But I think ‘God you really weren’t ready for anything!’

“But the last 17 years of slogging away at it I’ve slowly gotten better.

“I was absolutely horrible!”

“I was watching myself at Mardi Gras about 15 years ago and I was absolutely horrible!”

This year she was praised for her impromptu street interviews during a raucous Live Mardi Gras broadcast.

On Sunday as 2019 runner-up she returns to Dancing with the Stars as a guest judge. The episode will see Craig Revel Horwood, Sharna Burgess and Tristan MacManus each lead their own contestants in dance battles.

“The judges’ performance was such a highlight last year. Doing the number with Craig was so much fun as a departure from the regular dancing,” she recalls.

“I wonder if Craig will be in drag again this year? I saw him on Strictly Come Dancing do Hello Dolly, so you can’t stop him.

“They sent me a list of the styles of dance and Josh, my dance partner from last year, has been reminding me what to look out for.

“I had it drilled into me last year for 40 hours a week!”

“I want to see everybody embrace the truth of who they are.”

She has already been casting an eye over the current batch of dancers, but having survived 2019’s season, is looking for more than just technical prowess.

“Dami Im has done some great dances but from what I’ve seen she hasn’t let go yet,” she suggests.

“And Christian Wilkins should lean into it more, give us the gold hot pants! I want to see everybody embrace the truth of who they are.

“I’ll leave the technical commentary to Craig, Sharna and Tristan and I’ll focus on the performance aspects.

“Obviously I know what it’s like to put that much work into it. At Week 6 they should be all settled and I think we will see some great performances.”

In Monday’s Australian Story she reveals how having two separate identities sometimes  felt unhealthy until Shane was introduced to the concept of gender fluidity by Chaz Bono, while filming RuPaul’s Drag Race.

“The idea that gender exists on a spectrum and you can just express yourself freely and outside the confines of what it means to be a man or a woman was absolutely transformative,” Jenek tells ABC.

“Courtney Act is coming to Lassiter’s Pride”

Meanwhile Courtney is currently filming episodes of Neighbours, following on from her recent cameo in a Mardi Gras-themed episode.

“I’m filming a multi-episodic arc. Courtney Act is coming to Lassiter’s Pride, which is very exciting. But while I’m in town I’ll be tending to some other business.

“I’m in as Shane and Courtney. They’ve had cameos from real people before but I believe anyone’s actually played themselves in a story arc.

“I’ve been living in the UK for the last two years and I Googled Neighbours ratings. One website I looked at with the top 50 shows in the UK had Neighbours as 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, and 16th! Holy shit it’s massive there!

“It was always a rite of passage that you would do a role on Neighbours”

“It was always a rite of passage that you would do a role on Neighbours, go to the UK, do pantomimes, but I’ve kind of done it backwards.”

She adds, “There’s still a storyline open for me to be Scott & Charlene’s love child, but nobody has said yes to that.”

Dancing with the Stars 7pm Sunday on 10
Australian Story 8pm Monday on ABC
Update: Courtney will no longer appear on Q&A.

Neighbours cast & crew due to visit UK and Ireland for filming and a 35th anniversary fan event later this month have now been postponed.

Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburne were set to travel to Dublin to film scenes for the 10 Peach drama.

“Due to the current coronavirus situation and cautions around international travel, cast who were flying in from Australia will no longer be visiting the UK for the Neighbours 35th anniversary celebrations,” a statement said.

“Whilst this is obviously very disappointing, the wellbeing of all our cast and crew is our utmost priority.

“Filming in Dublin with Alan and Jackie has therefore been cancelled for now. However, we love our UK and Irish audience and will definitely be back in the future.”

Fremantle is understood to have halted all staff worldwide from non-essential international travel.

Yesterday a Wentworth Con event was announced for Melbourne this June by Foxtel.

Next week marks Neighbours 35th anniversary week and additional episodes known as Neighbours End Game will screen at 7pm Monday – Friday.

Neighbours: End Game is a contrast to the weddings in the 6:30pm time slot, playing with a darker plot that includes soapie deaths.

However there is no change to the PG classification.

Tip: one for Goggleboxers…

The drama of the additional five episodes centres around Elly Conway (Jodi Anasta) being whisked away to Pierce Greyson’s (Tim Robards) remote island glamping resort to celebrate her 35th birthday with a key group of her Ramsay Street friends.

Elly, Finn, Bea, Chloe, Pierce and Toadie have their glamping gear ready and head off by luxury boat to a picturesque island to celebrate Elly’s 35th birthday.

There’s tension in the air as Bea remains besotted with Finn but Elly knows that his heart lies elsewhere. Elly begs Finn to find a kind way to break it off with Bea but also shuts down any hopes of rekindling their romance.

Harlow and Hendrix hitch a ride to the island with a man who claims to be a local fisherman. Little do they know they are getting into a boat with Harry Sinclair, fresh from his stint in jail. When they arrive, Harlow suggests to Hendrix that they forget about joining the others and find their own camping spot.

Finn slips away to investigate an abandoned mine on the other side of the island. When the group meet up again at camp, Finn suggests that he and Bea have some alone time and whisks her off on a nature walk.

Actress Melissa Bell jokes that she is the most ‘returning actor’ in the history of Neighbours.

Since first cast as Lucy Robinson in 1991, she has appeared around 8 times, including for the latest 35th anniversary storylines.

Bell is no stranger to soap, having subsequently appeared as Bonnie, an ensemble member of E-Street and Emily on Paradise Beach. But she also has no hang-ups about the genre.

“I’ve always talked fondly about Neighbours, E-Street and Paradise Beach. They are years of my life,” she tells TV Tonight.

“Paradise Beach is where I became friends with Isla Fisher. We all would all hang out together and it was a really good time.”

“It was a family. A nurturing environment.”

It was casting director Jan Russ who offered Bell a role on Neighbours, as ‘wild child’ Lucy Robinson, performing alongside Stefan Dennis and later Alan Fletcher, Jackie Woodburne and Ryan Moloney.

“I had just turned 18 so I was training and doing acting classes, working two jobs and waiting for a break. I got the call and this was the show. I was so young, but it was a family. A nurturing environment.

“Lucy came out of boarding school, she tried modelling, had a failed marriage, a drinking problem, then she got her life together and ends up as the CEO of Lassiters worldwide.”

“We just have this connection”

Amongst Bell’s numerous soapie connections is a long-term friendship with Bruce Samazan (Mark Gottlieb). Both worked together on E-Street and Neighbours, where they are currently reuniting.

“Bruce is a really good person. We just have this connection and I think you’re really going to see that come through.

“(We met when) he was playing (E-Street‘s) Max, the policeman. Our characters ended up getting together and at the end of the series he said, ‘Will you marry me, Bonnie?’ and the show ended.

Both are rekindling their flames in Neighbours episodes on 10 Peach. Returning to the show was an easy decision for Bell, who also owns her own women’s clothing store on the Gold Coast.

“I’m in a good time in my life, personally,” she explains.

“Once your family grows up, there’s time for you again”

“My kids are older now, so it’s about reclaiming who I am as a person and what do I want to do? What am I passionate about? Once your family grows up, there’s time for you again, and that’s the space I’m in. I’m lucky, I had my kids young, and throughout the years I’ve done stuff off and on.

“But now it’s time to get back to what I love doing.”

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

When Bruce Samazan played police constable Max Simmons in E-Street from 1990 – 1993 he was a superstar.

Magazine covers, nightclubs, shopping centres, fan mail. It took him just 18 months to go from a six week crash course in acting to winning a Silver Logie as the Most Popular Actor on Australian television.

He would go on to success in Neighbours and later Home and Away.

But after a decade of popularity, Samazan found he had been stereotyped and struggled to get work. Soap had become a stigma.

“I wish I’d had the chance to go to WAAPA or NIDA because of the credibility that gives you as an actor,” he tells TV Tonight.

“People would say ‘He’s a soap star, he’s not really an actor and he doesn’t really have any training.’

“In the 90s it was the elephant in the room. People wouldn’t necessarily be honest with me.

“I was asking for feedback from my agent and they would say ‘The producer thought you were a little bit too commercial.’ I just thought if that’s really the feedback, I needed to start thinking about another career.”

“I should actually think about getting some sort career that I could fall back on”

Samazan pursued a career in the real estate business in Helensburgh before 11 years in digital marketing with realestate.com.au. He is now based in Noosa working for downsizing.com which specialises in retirement villages.

“I had to say to myself, ‘I should actually think about getting some sort career that I could fall back on.’ Real estate proved to be a good choice.”

At the height of his career Samazan was in demand, even releasing a rap single (“One of A Kind -and that’s exactly what it is!”). He admits to partying until dawn regularly at Rogues nightclub on Oxford Street in the 1990s. He was living the life as an E-Street heartthrob.

“One time we did an E-Street cast event at Darling Harbour there was 10,000 people”

“I had just turned 19 and I was being flown around the country doing night club appearances, shopping centres. I remember one time we did an E-Street cast event at Darling Harbour and there was 10,000 people on the dockside. We were there for six hours signing autographs,” he recalls.

“Some shopping centre appearances had to be shut down because people were potentially going to fall off the balconies.

“I would travel with two security guys, which Channel 10 funded, who ended up becoming my very good friends.

“But it wasn’t just the attention I was getting from the girls, there would always be their (angry) boyfriends….”

“I’d have pigeon holes full of fan mail”

Yet Samazan, now 49, insists he was still a hard-worker, devoting much time to responding to thousands of fans.

“I’d have pigeon holes full of fan mail, and I would spend hours signing fan cards.

“I was happy to stay back that extra half an hour to try and sign every single possible autograph, if possible. I think that helped my personal marketing, in regards to getting the popularity that I did, as well as through the character.”

When E-Street was axed in 1993 viewers never got a resolution to a wedding proposal Max made to Bonnie (Melissa Bell) but he soon moved to Neighbours for a two year role as chef Mark Gottlieb. Friends on and off screen, both would reunite in Ramsay Street, when Bell returned as Lucy Robinson. But he was paired largely with Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies),

“He was a bit of a playboy,” Samazan continues. “At one stage he was even having a little fling with Annalise’s sister. It was all a bit weird. But that’s what happens in this world!”

Mark would eventually be sent off to soap’s equivalent to ’90s lifestlye show, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise.

“Fun, Fit and Food!” he laughs. “So basically, he left to become a celebrity chef. He moved to Sydney and apparently did that quite successfully.”

Having made his mark in Erinsborough, Samazan was repeatedly invited to make guest returns but commitments prevented. Until the show’s 35th anniversary celebrations.

As luck would have it Melissa Bell is also back.

“This year the stars aligned, which is pretty exciting,” he explains.

“The moment they see each other sparks start flying”

“Mark bumps into Lucy Robinson who’s in town from the US, organising a big wedding expo and a Mardi Gras event at Lassiters. The moment they see each other sparks start flying.

“One thing leads to another and there’s a bit of courting going on to the point that they get it on.”

Trivia addicts may finally get some closure to unfinished soapie business.

“I must admit that I had a few butterflies”

Samazan’s three week stint marks his first return to Neighbours in over 25 years, but he’s hoping it may spark a second career phase. He’s open to offers.

“The first day I arrived it was a bit surreal,” he recalls.

“I must admit that I had a few butterflies, because I haven’t worked for quite some time. But once I knocked the first one off, it was ‘You know what you’re doing!’

“Now I’m just going to see what happens. I’m going back to my beautiful little part of the world to see my beautiful family and just resume my everyday normal activities.

“I’ve been in a holding pattern for for quite some time and I’m curious, as are probably some other people, to see what sort of reaction it gets.”

Bruce Samazan returns to Neighbours 6:30pm Thursday February 27 on 10 Peach.

On Friday the Neighbours community frocks up for a very fabulous Mardi Gras episode.

This includes scenes with Aaron (Matt Wilson) and David (Takaya Honda) cleverly filmed last March in Sydney during the 2019 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Meanwhile the Erinsborough clan don their best sequins to watch the event on TV (some serious frocks on show).

This episode guest stars Bruce Samazan, Melissa Bell, Courtney Act, Joel Creasey and Jake Shears.

And should we talk about those shirts? One seriously camp episode…

While all of Erinsborough gather in The Waterhole to watch the Mardi Gras parade, Aaron and David are living it up in Sydney, gallivanting around town, taking photos and having run ins with all sorts of people including Courtney Act.

Back in Erinsborough, Paul helps Lucy and Mark Gottlieb reconnect by giving them the History Book to reminisce over old memories.

6:30pm Friday on 10 Peach.

10 has confirmed details around Deborra-lee Furness directing a block of episodes on Neighbours.

The show’s production team has worked closely with Furness to develop a story where two Erinsborough favourites permanent carers of displaced children.

Deborra-lee said: “I am thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Neighbours to direct these episodes and tell a story that is not often represented in mainstream media.

“There are almost 50,000 Australian children currently in temporary out-of-home care. We only get glimpses into their reality, and unfortunately that is usually when there are catastrophic outcomes.

“To have an iconic television institution like Neighbours joining the conversation and reflecting the lives of so many Australian children is extremely powerful. Awareness is the essential first step in creating a positive shift in both culture and policy towards permanent solutions.”

Executive Producer Jason Herbison said: “To have a director who is so personally committed and emotionally invested in telling such an important story, lifts the bar for all us and we’re just thrilled to have Deborra-lee join us on Ramsay Street.”

Former Neighbours star Jason Donovan has stepped back onto Ramsay Street in a nostalgic visit to his daughter, actress Jemma Donovan.

“30 years ago… this street changed my life!” he said on Instagram.

“This was where we said goodbye, when Charlene went to Brisbane.”

Donovan reached superstar status alongside Kylie Minogue when he appeared in the soap from 1985-1989.

Daughter Jemma joined the series as Harlow Robinson last year, marking three generations of Donovans in the show (father Terence Donovan appeared from 1990 – 2016)

His half-sister Stephanie McIntosh has also recently filmed episodes as part of the upcoming 35th anniversary.

Jason Donovan, 51, is currently performing on stage in Chicago in Melbourne.

A same-sex kiss between Home & Away‘s Alex (Zoe Ventoura) and Willow (Sarah Roberts) was cut from Australian broadcasting, but screened in New Zealand, which Seven blames on “human error.”

A close relationship between the two characters has been developing in recent months and has been praised by LGBT fans of the show.

However after one episode aired in November some New Zealand viewers drew attention to key differences from the Australian edition.

The NZ scene continued for another 40 seconds after the Aussie version.

Seven released a statement saying, “Unfortunately due to human error, the two episodes that aired in Australia were not the final versions.

“As with any television show, numerous changes are made throughout the post production process all the way up until final broadcast.

“7Plus has been updated to reflect the final versions of these episodes.”

YouTuber Alex Shillington says there have been other instances of subtle cuts which diminish the intimacy of the relationship.

In another scene shown in Australia, Willow gives a long and emotional speech to her girlfriend and the scene ends before Alex reacts. In the New Zealand version, the scene continues for another 40 seconds with Alex kissing Willow and the pair planning a trip away.

A third scene has a line cut from it where the character Alex tells her girlfriend she did not expect to meet her when she took up a job as a doctor in Summer Bay.

“That edited version really downplays their relationship,” Shillington said.

“It kind of feels like they prepared two different versions, so they had a version they could pull the plug on that couple if it didn’t go well, but they got a good reaction from the audience.”

Since the introduction of Ventoura’s character Home & Away has actually been more relaxed with her same-sex identity than the show’s dreadful track record in this area.

Historically the Summer Bay soap has a notoriously bad record on LGBT, most notably when network execs order a 2009 kiss be watered down between Charlie (Esther Anderson) and Joey (Kate Bell) before ever being broadcast, after newspapers whipped it up into a media frenzy.

It took almost a decade before gay characters stepped back into the soap. In 2018 a same-sex teen kiss between Ty (Darius Williams) and his friend Ryder (Lukas Radovich) passed without incident.

Meanwhile Neighbours has embraced rainbow characters gay and transgender, with gay weddings and progressive storylines for sustained characters. Even Dance Academy had same-sex kisses in 2010 on ABC3.

TV Historian Andrew Mercado told TV Tonight, ““I would be very disappointed if Seven is filming two different versions of gay scenes. Especially given how long it has taken them to introduce a regular gay character. And let’s not forget their past ugly history of censoring gay moments like this.

“How does Australia, which screens the show at 7pm, get a ‘tamer’ non-kiss version, while New Zealand, screening it in an earlier timeslot, is OK with a gay kiss?”

Source: ABC

EXCLUSIVE: 10 has a spring in step and has changed the game in 2020 by launching I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here early and kicking off Q1 with Dancing with the Stars & Australian Survivor.

A year ago the network’s first quarter struggled against the Married at First Sight / My Kitchen Rules battle, with Changing Rooms yanked off air. Now those expectations have changed with I’m a Celebrity having performed as the promo platform the network needed.

“Don’t think we weren’t nervous about it”

“Don’t think we weren’t nervous about it, but we really believed it would work because we’ve gone from January 13 last year (to January 5) and we just keep moving back. I keep making the joke that next time it will be on Boxing Day,” laughs 10 Head of Programming Daniel Monaghan.

“But we’re proving people want something to watch. They don’t want to just have to flick around Netflix. They want something light and entertaining, like I’m A Celebrity.

“There’s nearly 900,000 people watching the series at the moment, which is up about 10 or 13%. That’s a lot of people to be getting in front of, and they are heavily under 50 which is allegedly appealing to advertisers and our target audience.”

I’m a Celebrity‘s super-early launch is part of a wider push within 10 for 50 weeks of programming.

“Seven and Nine are effectively not switching off, with the Cricket and Tennis. So we don’t want to switch off either. We want a piece of that pie.

“This is where mass reach is, come and get it.”

“I think when we look back to Week 2, the commercial television audience was increasing year on year, and that’s our goal as one player in the industry, to increase the commercial TV audience all through those weeks. We should all be doing that, and I think we all are.

“As an industry we need to get on board and show advertisers this is where mass reach is, come and get it.”

Monaghan declines to tip a series winner but does hint to good news for fans of the show.

“I’d be stunned if it wasn’t back next year.”

10 swings from the jungle to the island when Australian Survivor: All Stars is unleashed next Monday, with returning players competing for a $500,000 prize. A further season is due early in Q3.

“We’re providing entertainment that is entirely different to MAFS and MKR. We have a loyal audience that we believe will come to it.

“The first, second and third episodes are three of the best we’ve ever made.

“They just come out to play hard. It’s a perfect competition. Brutal in some of the physical challenges. There are a lot of saints with smiles on their faces.”

“When you get the likes of Claudia on board you’ve already won”

It will be complemented by a second season of Dancing with the Stars, screening Live on Sunday nights from Melbourne with the likes of Claudia Karvan, Dami Im, Beau Ryan & Angie Kent.

“When you get the likes of Claudia on board you’ve already won, and then Ed Kavalee and Celia Pacquola… it’s people that you wouldn’t have thought would have done this show, who are willing to do it on 10, which is really refreshing,” he continues.

“We were so happy with last year and the way the show was pulled together. We want more numbers this year, but the show that Warner Bros. pulled together last year was beautiful.”

Monaghan is pragmatic about the show’s first elimination facing stiff competition from the live Fire Fight Australia benefit.

“It is what it is. The firefighting concert is very important. We support it wholeheartedly and would love to have been involved in some way, had we been able. I’m sure Nine feel the same.”

An extended 10 News First, which has seen a lift in network share in the 6pm slot, will continued to be ‘trialled.’

“Sadly it’s been a heavy news cycle over the summer with the bushfires, which has devastated the country. People are desperate to be informed on what’s happening so we’re glad we can provide a service at 6:00.

“Celebrity Name Game is living on BOLD at the moment. I think we’re very happy with the way News is performing. The amount of work from the news team for an extra half hour has been extraordinary.

“We don’t have any plans to go back into the studio for Celebrity Name Game.”

“Gogglebox has three new families this year”

Also in Q1 are Hughesy, We Have a Problem, Ambulance Australia now filmed in Queensland, and by the end of February the first of two Gogglebox seasons for 2020.

“Gogglebox has three new families this year, including two boys from the Gold Coast.”

Neighbours will mark its 35th anniversary on 10 Peach in March.

“It’s just started picking up year on year which is nice and the summer audience has returned. So we’re happy with how it’s going,” says Monaghan. “We’re working closely of course with our new friends at Channel 5. There are a number of big storylines coming up, with a couple of deaths as per the soap genre.”

Scenes specially filmed during the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras will also air in coming weeks.

“We’ve got the characters coming back that you will want”

Following Australian Survivor / DWTS 10 heads back to Fiji for more Bachelor in Paradise.

“We’ve got the characters coming back that you will want, we haven’t (announced) any of them, but I feel like they have been named by New Idea or papped by certain people. But it’s a good cast from Angie and Matt’s seasons and quite a handful of favourites from previous seasons.”

Monaghan hopes to begin Bachelor “before Easter, ideally,” but adds, “I’m not going to play it against MAFS. We’ll be clear of each other and there’s no point splitting the audience.”

Quarter 2, post-Easter, again features MasterChef Australia, now with all-new judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong & Andy Allen and 24 contestants who have previously been in the top 10. With no auditions, Gordon Ramsay kicks off Week 1 of cooking.

“Andy, Jock & Mel are really a breath of fresh air into the series and having all those ex-contestants genuinely back to win… you’d think it might be a bit of a celebrity version, but it is not. They are there to win. They want this crown, they fumble and stumble and they are hungry to win,” Monaghan insists.

“This is the shot in the arm the show needed”

“We’ve started filming it, and it’s very strong. The new judges are really settling in very well. Whatever happened with the old Masterchef, we’ll let bygones be bygones but this is the shot in the arm the show needed.”

Also expected in the second quarter is the replacement show for The Living Room. Details are still under wraps, including just who is producing.

“The team will be back this year, in some incarnation at Friday nights at 7:30 with Amanda, Chris, Barry & Miguel,” he assures.

“For a variety of reasons which I’m not going to go into, the decision was made that change was needed. But they will be back with lifestyle content, as they have delivered for the past 7 years.”

Peter Helliar and Lisa McCune comedy How to Stay Married is back in Q2.

“We really loved the first season. It’s a sort of gentle, family comedy which really appeals to that MasterChef audience, so we’d love to try and capitalise on that.”

New local drama The Secrets She Keeps is also expected in Q2. The six part series by Lingo Pictures stars Laura Carmichael and Jessica De Gouw as two women from vastly different backgrounds with explosive secrets that could destroy everything they hold dear.

“I’ve only seen the first few episodes so far, but it is a great thriller. And evidenced that it is very good by selling very well around the world at the moment, which is really exciting. It’s something different for us to go into that thriller genre, but it’s very commercial in the way that the story is told.

“To get Laura Carmichael from Downton Abbey was a real coup for us, and partly the reason why it is selling so well, particularly in the UK and the US.

“Then we’ll go into the second season of Five Bedrooms after that. I saw the other day that it had been picked up by Peacock. the NBC streaming service, which is great. So that’ll return at the end of MasterChef, towards The Bachelor. It has such a good cast and the writing is fantastic. I’m glad that people enjoyed it as much as we did.”

“Our intention with our dramas is always to try and get them away at 8:30”

I also ask about starting times for their local dramas.

“Our intention with our dramas is always to try and get them away at 8:30 -or the Australian 8:30 which is 8:40.

“We also have Drunk History coming up which (is partly scripted). That’s something we can play at 9:00 because it’s a different kind of show. It’s not a straight comedy or one hour drama. But for the scripted projects we’d like the audience to see them as early as possible.

“People are flicking when the big franchises finish and the dramas have become harder to get away. It’s a commitment for people to sit there and say ‘I’m going to definitely watch this drama for an hour.’ People are so flippant with their time and they like bitesize things, which is why you end up seeing the success of things like Gogglebox and Have You Been Paying Attention. Shows where you essentially you feel you don’t have to commit to the whole hour, but you end up being so entertained you do.”

‘”Anne Edmonds is doing the story of Dame Nelly Melba”

First names of Drunk History are now revealed.

“In the first episode, Anne Edmonds is doing the story of Dame Nelly Melba and we have Susie Youssef playing Dame Nelly Melba. Darren McMullen is in that one in an acting capacity, and Yvie Jones does a brief cameo. Then we’re doing the story of Burke & Wills. Harley Breen reads and we have Osher and James Mathison playing Burke & Wills.”

Sketch comedy Kinne Tonight is also back however the network is now undecided over more of Playing for Keeps.

“Obviously we were very disappointed with the numbers that it pulled last year. It was, we consider to be, a good melodrama with a very loyal fanbase,” Monaghan explains.

“It was the show on the back end of last year that I got asked about the most, which fascinated me. Perhaps it’s the circles that I run in.”

Ever-popular Have You Been Paying Attention? is back in May and runs through to the end of the year. Last year the show had its highest rating ever, and regularly causes headaches for rival networks.

In Q3 Monaghan says 10 will compete against Olympics with alternative programming, due to include a ‘regular’ Australian Survivor plus The Bachelor. The latter is yet to be cast.

“Trial by Kyle is awaiting a decision”

Bondi Rescue and Body Hack are both back this year but there are now question marks over three other shows, all of which were announced at Upfronts.

“Trial by Kyle is awaiting a decision,” Monaghan admits, “…it probably didn’t perform to the level we had hoped.” However he was “relatively comfortable” with One Born Every Minute.

“Taboo we haven’t made a decision on as yet.”

There are also no decisions on My Life is Murder, I Am Roxy or Mr. Black.

Show Me the Movie and Sunday Night Take Away are formally axed while there are no plans for The Secret Life of Four Year Olds, Shark Tank or Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures. I prod gently over a final word on Offspring?

“I’m not saying no to Offspring, because one day it might happen!” Monaghan teases.

Q4 will feature new hit The Masked Singer with its returning guessing panel & host Osher Gunsberg.

“I thought the cast was great and the guessing panel was obviously amazing. Next season we’ll step it up and I think it’ll look fantastic. We might give a few more difficult clues….” he laughs.

I ask if 10 would have first dibs on US plans for The Masked Dancer.

“I think we would like to take a look at it before anyone else, but that’s not entirely how it works,” Monaghan explains.

“I don’t know how long I could watch someone dance around in a Unicorn costume in silence.”

The Bachelorette and The Amazing Race Australia are back in Q4, with the latter enjoying longer pre-production time to expand on travel destinations.

“We went through Asia & Africa as a starting point but we’d desire fresh locations this year, with a bit more time up our sleeve.”

“It’s a jewel in the crown”

Amongst sporting highlights, Monaghan notes, “It was a huge undertaking for us to launch the Melbourne Cup last year, having it back on 10 after so many years. It performed well for us, we were thrilled with how the event came together. It’s a jewel in the crown during that period of the year for our schedule.”

Elsewhere, there is no decision on a second host for The Loop and no changes planned for Studio 10.

“No changes, we’re comfortable with the way it has performed over summer. It gets a boost over summer which we’ve seen in previous years. The look has changed this January, and it’s looking very fresh and we’ve added Narelda Jacobs to the panel.”

The Project plans to cement hosts on regular nights.

“With a core group like Carrie, Lisa, Pete, Waleed, and Tommy and previously Hamish on a Sunday night, I think the audience knows what they’re going to get,” he explains. “Our intention for the Monday to Friday is that every night in terms of day of week, you get the person that you’re expecting.

“We have such good group of core talent putting them on the same night every week will be key for the audience seeing who they want to see, with a great rotation of (guest) panelists.”

“We would certainly welcome him back.”

Will Hamish Macdonald be seen on The Project in 2020?

“I hope so. He has a great gig, we’re happy for him to do Q&A and we love him on The Project so we would certainly welcome him back.”

Amongst international titles, The Graham Norton Show will premiere on Fridays (Sundays are repeats), with NCIS and SVU franchises back in play.

Newcomers include FBI Most Wanted.

“It stars Julian McMahon so it obviously has great appeal for Australian audiences. When the original FBI launched, it launched very well for us.”

Tomorrow: Hamish Turner, Nine Network.

Noeline Brown, Hugo Weaving, Johanna Griggs, Peter Overton, Carlotta, Rachel Griffiths and Tim Minchin are amongst recipients of the Australia Day Honours 2020.

Also honoured are Jane Turner, Robert Penfold, Heather Mitchell, Caroline O’Connor, Paul Mercurio and Neighbours star Georgie Stone -at 19 the youngest of all honourees.

Veteran Noeline Brown (pictured top left), much-loved to Australians through The Naked Vicar Show, Blankety Blanks and theatre, received a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the performing arts as an actor and entertainer.

“It was a great surprise, and a thrill. I’m very, very honoured,” she told TV Tonight on learning of her accolade.

“My family will be over the moon when they hear about this. And my little great nieces. When I was an ambassador they used to almost curtsy!

“One of the loveliest jobs I ever had was chairing the Actors Benevolent Fund. It was a completely non-paid job for everyone on the board, of course, but it was marvellous to be able to use one’s so called ‘celebrity’ for the good of other people.”

Brown was also an Ambassador for the Ageing.

“It was initially for a Labor government and then was taken on by the Liberal government, so it was 3 years working for both governments, which was really good.”

Brown, who last performed in the stage tour of Mother & Son alongside actor Darren Gilshenan, is a previous recipient of the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award. She plans on celebrating her honour with close friends today.

“We’ll be having ‘la-a-a-amb’ for Australia Day!” she joked.

“I’m certainly waiting by the phone for my next job, like all actors! I’ve written a couple of books, which keeps me active as well. And like everybody else I have a very active life in the community.”

Better Homes & Gardens host Johanna Griggs also becomes a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to community health, to television, and to sport.
“I’m so chuffed and humbled by the nod. It’s not the sort of thing you expect or go looking for… but to be acknowledged for doing things you love is really special,” she told TV Tonight.

“I decided when I started out in media, following my swimming career almost 28 years ago, that if I ever had a platform or profile that’s I’d try and use it for good.

“Over the years I’ve been lucky to work closely with a lot of different charities and organisations that I still work with, but the work I do with Beyond Blue is by far what I’m proudest of. I’ve been a director if the board for several years now, and am the Chair for the ‘Be You’ National Advisory Council.”

Griggs says the national Mental Health Initiative has been furiously busy these past few weeks adapting a specific program both for Bushfire Affected areas.

“So I’m ridiculously excited about the AM, and can’t wait for what will be a big 2020… with a huge year planned for Better Homes and Gardens and hosting my 7th Olympics and 2nd Paralympic Games.”

Nine News presenter Peter Overton was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for significant service to the broadcast media, and to the community.

“It’s such an honour to be included and a lovely surprise but the recognition belongs to the charities that I have worked with over the past 30 years,” he said.

“I was brought up to always contribute to the community and my charity work continues to enrich my life.”

Nine News boss Darren Wick said of Peter Overton & Robert Penfold, “At Nine, we are delighted for Peter and Rob and their families and immensely proud of the recognition they have received today.

“We’re privileged to have worked alongside them as colleagues and grown to know them as genuine people of true character. What I mean by character is the moral and mental strength they exhibit in demonstrating their personalities. It’s essentially the way they show up to work every day and the way they present themselves.

“Pete and Rob are two of the most decent blokes you’ll ever meet. They’re also two of the best news professionals Australian journalism has ever seen.”

Here are the TV and related honours:

Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)

Ian Healy
For distinguished service to cricket at the national and international level as a player, to the broadcast media, and to the community.

Hugo Weaving
For distinguished service to the performing arts as an actor, and as a mentor of young writers, directors and film makers.

Member of the Order of Australia (AM)

Bettina Arndt
For significant service to the community as a social commentator, and to gender equity through advocacy for men.

Paul Field
For significant service to the arts, particularly to children’s entertainment, and as a supporter of charitable endeavours.

Johanna Griggs
For significant service to community health, to television, and to sport.

Rachel Griffiths
For significant service to the performing arts as an actor.

Gael Jennings
For significant service to science, and to the broadcast media.

Rachel Maza
For significant service to the performing arts as an artistic director

Kate McClymont
For significant service to the print media, and to investigative journalism.

Tim Minchin
For significant service to the performing arts, and to the community.

Peter Overton
For significant service to the broadcast media, and to the community.

Robert Penfold
For significant service to the broadcast media, and to journalism.

Paul Mercurio
For significant service to the performing arts, particularly to dance.

Heather Mitchell
For significant service to the performing arts, and to the community.

Caroline O’Connor
For significant service to the performing arts, particularly to musical theatre.

Carol “Carlotta” Spencer
For significant service to the performing arts, and to the LGBTIQ community.

Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

Noeline Brown
For service to the performing arts as an actor and entertainer.

Peter Combe
For service to the performing arts, particularly music for children.

Maude Davey
For service to the performing arts, particularly as an artistic director.

John Lo Piccolo (John St. Peeters)
For service to the performing arts.

Mary Kenneally
For service to the performing arts.

John McCoy
For service to the broadcast media, and to the community.

Kate Mulvany
For service to the performing arts.

Katrina Sedgwick
For service to performing, screen, and visual arts administration

Georgie Stone
For service to the trans and gender diverse community

Kate Torney
For service to the broadcast media, and to the cultural sector.

Jane Turner
For service to the performing arts as a writer, actor and comedian.

Also honoured were music stars Deborah Conway, Glenn Shorrock, Andrew Farris, Keith Urban and Paul Stewart.

Jodi Anasta has quit Neighbours after nearly four years but denied it is related to her taking time off for exhaustion last year.

Anasta, who joined in July 2016, will be exiting as Elly Conway later this year in order to pursue other projects and move back to Sydney.

“Ramsay Street and Neighbours has really become my world, my life and my family,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

“While it is sad to say goodbye, it is also a really exciting time for me and the future. I will have so much more time with my beautiful daughter. I’ll get to do more school drop offs, all that kind of stuff, and just get back into auditioning again. I like being busy but just being back in Sydney and having that stability is a wonderful thing.”

Executive producer Jason Herbison told Digital Spy “Jodi is a much loved member of the Neighbours family and we’re grateful that she’s spent the past four years in Ramsay Street.

“The writers have thrown many challenges at her character Elly Conway and Jodi has sold every twist and turn with conviction, and I’m delighted she will be part of our next milestone, the 35th anniversary.

“We wish her well as she approaches the next chapter of her life and her career.”

Anasta said she wants to explore other opportunities, whether that be in television, film, design, beauty or music.

Well done to the Neighbours team for including a scene acknowledging firefighters and volunteers, with Sheila Canning (Colette Mann), David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) and Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) discussing the bushfires and a fundraiser auction.

It is the first time Neighbours has reflected a real life emergency in this way.

The scene was filmed on Monday when the cast and crew returned from their production break and dropped into Wednesday’s episode. It was written by writers last week as part of forward planning.

Channel 5 ran donation details at the end of the episode for UK viewers wanting to help. There was also no press release sent around the move to avoid the gesture being misinterpreted.

Welcome to 2020! You made it.

Happy New Year, hope you had a great night and a safe one given the situation around the country. Allow me to distract you from the toils of news with some entertainment choices and a look ahead to the year in TV.

Stan kicks things off with the first new Aussie drama of the year today, The Gloaming. Emma Booth & Ewen Leslie lead this mystery which plummets Tasmania back into winter, Scandinoir style. Worth a look.

Netflix also unleashes its wild reality format The Circle with a bunch of overt young Americans -you’ll either love or hate this, there isn’t much in between. I’m also enjoying first eps of Messiah by Aussie Michael Petroni which drops today… review to come.

Tomorrow Jodie Whittaker returns in a new season of Doctor Who. “Spyfall Part I” is hot off the BBC satellite. You can see it on iview from 6:55am tomorrow. Subsequent eps should be on iview each Monday but won’t screen until 8pm Thursdays if you want to wait for the hi-res. Dracula, from former Who-showrunner Steven Moffat, infests Netflix from Saturday.

On Sunday 10 is back into the jungle with Julia Morris, Chris Brown and a bunch of new celebs. This is the earliest I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here has ever launched. Then on Monday it’s game on for Sunrise v Today as Karl Stefanovic & Allison Langdon take on David Koch & Sam Armytage. Expect much noise while you are still enjoying your summer break.

Monday is also the Golden Globe Awards, Live from 12pm AEDT on Arena. Marry Me Marry My Family returns to SBS next Tuesday.

The Australian Open follows from January 20 and big reality shows will follow from around February 3. Married at First Sight is again the one to beat. Official OzTAM ratings are not with us until February 9.

I’ve documented some 2020 highlights here.

The year is noteworthy for the Tokyo Olympics which screen on Seven for two weeks from July 24. Unlike Rio, timezones will be extremely favourable for Aussie primetime. All other networks will be forced to programme around this period with either “alternate” entertainment or just treading water. Seven will promote the hell out of post-Olympic programming so expect big guns blazing in August, including the expected new take on Big Brother.

In 2020 we also get a bunch of big talent shows filming in new studio spaces, a new-look MasterChef Australia and My Kitchen Rules, David Speers on Insiders, Informer 3838 as the first of two expected drama on Lawyer X, 35 years of Neighbours, another Pilot Week, double Australian Survivor, and Michael Portillo (finally) on Great Australian Railway Journeys.

Sunday marks another milestone for the blog and the winners of the annual TV Tonight Awards will be published next week.

You can still vote for both the TVT Awards and Show of the Decade survey until Friday!

David.

Amended.

Neighbours will have its second Christmas Day episode this week, in which danger comes to Ramsay Street and threatens a festive concert.

The episode features Adam Hunter as escapee Robert Robinson.

Last year Neighbours became the first ever Australian serial to screen a Christmas Day episode.

As the police search for Robert, Toadie and Chloe consider cancelling the Christmas concert because of everything happening. David is barely clinging to life and Harlow can’t help feeling responsible for Robert’s actions.

Meanwhile, a shaken Paul tells Aaron he will step up his efforts to find a kidney by any means possible but with Robert out on the loose, the question of is Paul hangs over everyone’s heads.

An exhausted and heavily pregnant Elly decides to stay home from the concert to rest, but when she witnesses a terrifying sight out on Ramsay Street, her water breaks at the worst possible moment. Will Elly’s baby be safely delivered into the world, or will this be a Christmas to remember for all the wrong reasons?

6:30pm Wednesday on 10 Peach.

You watch it? We’ve got it! #ViacomCBS brings together your favorite shows. Sit back, relax, and enjoy! pic.twitter.com/F2V1s051DN

— ViacomCBS (@ViacomCBS) December 10, 2019

Australian Survivor gets a mention in global promo …but not Neighbours?

10 has made some changes to its arvo schedule from next week which sees a daily Neighbours out and replaced with Judge Judge from 2:30pm.

This now means an hour of Judge Judy util 3pm.

It isn’t clear if it’s a move designed to get the jump on Nine’s Tipping Point which has recently entered the game.

EXCLUSIVE: 10 News First will trial a 90 minute news bulletin from Monday in all markets.

With the summer non-ratings, and various changes elsewhere by competitors, 10 has opted to test an extended bulletin.

Central to the move is the network’s long challenge with the 6pm slot.

Celebrity Name Game, which began in May, often rates lower than its predecessor Pointless. This impacts the entire evening schedule with the network having to rebuild its audience all over again.

On occasions 10 can even be leading with 7:30 and 8:30 shows, but still lose the night because of its early evening woes.

This isn’t the first time 10 has broadcast 90 minute bulletins. Back in 2011 it also broadcast 90 minute editions after shuffling 6pm with George Negus to a 6:30 slot (back then The Project aired at 7pm).

A Network 10 spokesperson told TV Tonight, “We have decided to take the opportunity of changes to the commercial news landscape along with an intense news cycle to better serve our audiences by offering a quality extended local news service in all states.

“This is a trial and in the meantime Celebrity Name Game will play on BOLD.”

Celebrity Name Game is understood to have a stockpile of episodes already completed which it could feasibly broadcast until April.

Other moves, including returning Neighbours to a 6pm slot, have been rejected with a view it would be unlikely to pull an audience higher than 200,000 -which is its current problem with Celebrity Name Game.

90 minutes of new may seem excessive, but given the bigger picture, and summer season underway from tomorrow, 10 effectively has nothing to lose with its trial and everything to gain.

10 has now confirmed a recent TVT scoop that Stephanie McIntosh will appear in Neighbours.

She will be joined by Melissa Bell as part of the show’s 35th anniversary celebrations, to screen next March.

McIntosh played Sky Mangel from 2003 – 2007.

In a statement to TV Tonight, Stephanie McIntosh said, “I am thrilled to be back on Ramsay Street, at my old stomping ground to celebrate such a great milestone, it truly is a lovely honour to be invited back.

“I can’t wait for fans of the show to see what Sky has been up to and to have the opportunity to reconnect with her, as will I! It’s all very special and the storyline is awesome, remaining true and authentic to who Sky has been and is! Neighbours has held such a special place in my heart now and always will and even more special having my niece Jemma apart of the cast and that we can share this experience together.

“I feel very grateful to have been on the show and very grateful to be returning at such a wonderful and exciting time. I can’t wait to help celebrate the show that we have grown up loving that is the ever wonderful Neighbours.”

Melissa Bell played Lucy Robinson, primarily from 1991- 1993, but made several returns in 1995, 2005, and variously between 2013- 2016.

“I love what I do, I’m still very passionate about acting and it’s great to see the character evolving – like we all do in life. I have returned a number of times now, I’m probably the most consistent character to reappear which is quite an honour!,” she said in a statement.

“I was really interested in seeing how the character has grown and I’m also in a different space in my own personal life, so I was really excited to be invited back.

“I don’t want to give anything away but I absolutely love the storyline, it’s brilliant. For Lucy, it will be a full circle for her which I’m really excited about. It’s more a nervous energy, I just want to get back into and I feel I know the character so well now, it’s great to see what is in store for her this time around.”

Melissa Bell, Bruce Samazan

Update: 10 also confirms  Bruce Samazan (Mark Gottlieb),  Olympia Valance (Paige Smith), Paul Keane (Des Clark), Andrew Morley (plays Jack Callahan), Annie Jones (Jane Harris), Damien Bodie (Dylan Timmins) and Scott McGregor (Mark Brennan) to return.

Executive Producer of Neighbours, Jason Herbison said: “Neighbours has a reputation for going big with our anniversary milestones and the 35^th will be no exception. We’re thrilled to be joined by an honour-roll of returnees, chosen to represent a cross section of past eras of the show. Together we’re in the midst of filming our most ambitious storylines ever and I can’t wait for viewers to see what we have in store.”

Network 10 Executive Producer of Neighbours, Paul Leadon, said: “35 years on Ramsay Street is certainly worth celebrating. We’ve seen romance, drama, births, weddings, feuds, even murders! But above all, we’ve enjoyed a cavalcade of memorable characters. And many of our favourites will be returning to Erinsborough to join the big birthday party. It will be a lot of fun.”

According to her Instagram McIntosh has recently been spending time in Melbourne.

Her return to Ramsay Street is the latest blast from the past from producer Jason Herbison.

McIntosh played Sky Mangel on the series from 2003- 2007. She also appeared in the 30th anniversary celebrations in 2015.

An appearance in Erinsborough should also see her perform alongside Jemma Donovan, daughter of her half-brother, Jason Donovan.

The Loop host Scott Tweedie is exiting 10 and is bound for a new role overseas.

“I have spent the last eight amazing years, growing up on screen, as part of both The Loop and the 10 family,” he told 10 Daily.

“The Network has given me so many awesome opportunities, and now it’s time to take a big step into something new – and I can’t wait to share that big news with you very soon!”

Tweedie has been hosting The Loop since January 2012, alongside Ash London both Liv Phyland during his run, with additional 10 roles with I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Studio 10, Movie Juice and appearances with Dancing with the Stars, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Neighbours and more.

Prior to 10 he was a presenter of ABC3’s Prank Patrol and Splatalot.

EXCLUSIVE: Break out the sequins, TV Tonight can confirm SBS will screen a Live to Air broadcast of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in 2020.

Josh Martin, Commissioning Editor of Entertainment, revealed the news this week at the Screen Forever conference.

SBS has previously offered live stream at SBS On Demand ahead of an edited version the following night. Foxtel has also previously screened Live broadcasts.

The technical challenges around a Live parade telecast are significant, not just around sound, but the gaps that occur in between floats bing somewhat unpredictable. Producers Blink TV have previously offered some great showcases of community groups to highlight preparations and community involvement.

This year 10 was a participant with a Neighbours float, to celebrate celebrate the marriage of Aaron (Matt Wilson) and David (Takaya Honda). Next year ABC will also have an entry, funded through donations.

UK pop singer Dua Lipa has been announced as the headline act for 2020. The official theme for next year’s festival is What Matters.

The exterior home used by Neighbours‘ Karl and Susan Kennedy is on the market for the first time since 1985.

It was also once home to Des (Paul Keane) and Daphne (Elaine Smith).

The home at 5 Pin Oak Court Vermont could be sold for between $1.05 million and $1.15 million, according to Perth Now. In 1978 it sold for just $68,000. Wow.

Should you purchase this one, you would also be getting regular location fees from Fremantle, to compensate for the ongoing property access, shooting, vehicles and nosey fans (security is usually a regular feature on the street).

You can inspect in person at 6pm Wednesday. No doubt plenty will.

The quiet cul de sac otherwise known as Ramsay Street offers up one of its most iconic homes for the first time in several decades. Add your surname to the honour roll of the Kennedys, Kinskis and Kellys from this television famous showcase of family living. Set at top of the court amid fragrant rose gardens, with a contemporary stone top kitchen, private bedroom wing and magnificent views from its elevated front living room across the internationally renowned cul de sac. All the hallmarks of a happy family home are right here – from the bright living rooms overlooking the gardens to the 2 private outdoor living areas for BBQs and weekend entertaining.
With a tranquil water feature, a separate master bedroom retreat and private placement perched high above the court, there’s no need for any real-life drama, just pure relaxation in this family friendly pocket. A versatile separate room with its own entrance also serves as a hobby space, office or private quarters for visitors wanting to experience real life Ramsay Street for themselves. This is a rare opportunity to stake your claim in Australia’s long running soap opera which has screened in 60 countries around the world – a landmark location close to schools, parks, shops and transport connections including Vermont South Shopping Centre and The Glen. Des and Daphne and Karl and Susan found love here. Be the next lucky couple to join the neighbourhood which has graced our screens since 1985.

Reg Watson’s name has been restored to international credits for Neighbours, following his death last month.

His name has remained on the longer Friday closing credits in Australia, but the version shown on Channel 5 in the UK, as well as other international territories, had his name removed.

Following his death on October 8th viewers launched a campaign to #GiveRegACred.

“Thank you to @channel5_tv, @FremantleAus and @Neighbours for listening to us…” fan podcast Ramsay Speak tweeted.

Source: ATV Today

Network 10 personalities were out in force at Flemington yesterday for Derby Day.

Mingling with management and sponsors were stars from Gogglebox, 10 News First, The Masked Singer, Neighbours, Studio 10, The Loop, Celebrity Name Game, MasterChef and more.

10 will have a new US exec to oversee its operations for the merged ViacomCBS board.

He is David Lynn, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom International Media Networks since 2017, now overseeing all of Viacom’s media networks and related businesses outside the U.S.

Previously, he was President of VIMN UK, Northern and Eastern Europe, during which time he helped lead the acquisition of Channel 5 Broadcasting in 2014. He assumed this position after serving as Executive Vice President, Managing Director of the group.

Before that, Lynn was responsible for Viacom’s distribution strategy outside the U.S., overseeing deals with key international affiliates and securing distribution for Viacom content on video-on-demand platforms. Lynn joined Viacom in 1999 and has held a range of positions across the company’s brands.

Encouragingly he has been a regular visitor to Australia in his role for Viacom and at Channel 5 he had both Neighbours and Home & Away on the schedule.

Until now 10 has been under the watch of CBS Global Distribution Group CEO Armando Nuñez, who is so fond of 10 he has been to several Upfronts and knows 10 personalities by name.

Nuñez will serve as Chairman, Global Distribution and Chief Content Licensing Officer, ViacomCBS, which should keep him close to 10’s US titles and programming team.

Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, Viacom, will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of ViacomCBS.

The merger remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by early December.

Source: tvweek.com