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Neighbors has been saved – just four months after the last episode aired.
The beloved soap came to an end in July after 37 years, with the last episode ever broadcast on Channel 5.
In a shocking announcement, Amazon Freevee and Fremantle have revealed the show will return to our TV screens.
A new series will begin filming in Australia next year and will include Stefan Dennis, [Paul Robinson] Alan Fletcher, [Dr Karl Kennedy]Ryan Moloney, [Toadfish] and Jackie Woodburne, [Susan Kennedy]returning to reprise their lead roles.
The series airs for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US and includes streaming rights to thousands of episodes from previous seasons.
The series is also streaming on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Production will begin in early 2023 with a world premiere scheduled for the second half of the year.
Neighbors are SAVED! Iconic soap returns after Fremantle signs a partnership with Amazon – just four months after the last episode aired
Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD original content and programming, Amazon Studios, said: ‘Neighbours has been captivating its audience for nearly 40 years, building a dedicated and loyal following for the lives and stories of the Ramsay Street characters.
“With the power of streaming, we can offer a catalog of thousands of Neighbors episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and for current fans to relive their favorite moments.
“We look forward to immersing audiences in new Ramsay Street experiences when we relaunch the show for Amazon Freevee and Prime Video customers next year.”
The last-ever episode of Neighbors ended on a high in July, when a peak of nearly 3 million UK viewers tuned into Channel 5.
UK fans got to see the final episode – featuring the return of Kylie Minogue Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce – on Friday, while Australian fans tuned in the day before.
And while the extended special was a hit here, it was a smash hit down there, with the episode winning the ratings for the first time in over a decade.
UK nightly ratings Neighbors averaged 2.6 million viewers, peaking at 2.9 million.
The Last Hooray garnered a 17.5% audience share and came fourth in the overall ratings behind BBC One’s The Commonweath Games coverage and ITV’s Emmerdale and ratings winner Coronation Street, bringing 3.5 million viewers to ITV.
Meanwhile, mid-week episodes, dubbed ‘the last week’, leading up to the final also crept into the top 20 in the UK ratings, with the third to last episode attracting 837,000 viewers.
As the number crept up for the penultimate episode, with 1.02 million fans watching.
In Australia, the episode, which was simulcast on Channel 10 and 10 Peach, attracted 873,000 subway viewers on both stations, largely due to the cast of returning favourites.
No other entertainment program came close to Neighbors, as it concluded its historic 37-year run with a 90-minute special, TV Blackbox reports.
It was the most watched program of the night, winning convincingly in all major demographic categories between the ages of 16 and 54.
British audiences were inundated with nostalgia during an emotional Neighbors finale that saw Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan make an epic soap comeback, joining a host of stars amid Margot Robbie and Holly Valance returning to Ramsay for the last time Street.
The Channel 5 soap first aired in 1985 and has been on screens for 37 years, but it was announced in March that the Australian series was being discontinued after 8,903 episodes, with the finale airing on Thursday in Australia and Friday night in the UK was broadcast.
The finale was packed with performances from characters long gone as fans were given a nostalgic look through Neighbors’ history, with characters flipping through photo albums in tears, a lingering melancholy piano score and an odd gag.
The finale centered on Toadie’s (Ryan Moloney) wedding to Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), with many familiar faces reuniting for the picturesque lakeside ceremony and street party afterwards, while other friends – including Margot Robbie’s Donna Freedman) – sent their well wishes in sweet video messages on the occasion of the big day.
And when they reappeared on screens, Kylie and Jason’s beloved characters Charlene and Scott Robinson made their long-awaited entrance to the garden party as they turned onto Ramsay Street in their recognizable green Mini before surprising their friends.
And viewers were quick to rave about Scott and Charlene’s first Ramsey Street performance in over 30 years, taking to Twitter to comment on how “nostalgic” and “emotional” it made them feel.
When the iconic pair hit the screens, Kylie and Jason’s real life love song, Special For You, was playing in the background, with fans elated at the unexpected crossover. Kylie and Jason recorded the love ballad in 1989 – a year after they left Neighbors and shortly before ending their three-year romance.
Scott and Charlene returned to Erinsborough for the first time since parting ways with the suburb and moving to Brisbane after tying the knot in a romantic wedding ceremony more than 30 years ago.
In addition to Kylie and Jason’s final appearance on the show, there were also epic comebacks from Holly Valance (Flick Scully), Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan), Guy Pearce (Mike Young) and Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) as they reprized their roles on the soap.
They were joined by Daniel MacPherson, (Joel Samuels), Peter O’Brien (Shane Ramsay), Natalie Bassingthwaighte, (Izzy Hoyland), Mark Little (Joe Mangel) and Paul Keane, who memorably played Des Clarke.
Also appearing in the finale were Annie Jones (Jane Harris), Anne Charleston, who played matriarch Madge Bishop, Jacinta Stapleton (Amy Greenwood), and Delta Goodrem (Nina Tucker).
And stars from more recent years on the soap took part in the episode, including Olympia Valance (Paige Smith), Jodi Gordon (Elly Conway), Zoe Cramond (Amy Williams) and Kate Kendall (Lauren Turner).
Ben Hall (Ned Willis), Olivia Junkeer (Yashvi Rebecchi) and Zima Anderson (Roxy Willis) round out the returning Neighbors alumni lineup.
Meanwhile, the set of Neighbors would be ‘dismantled’ after the soap’s 37-year run.
According to Terry Smit of Go West, the team behind the official ‘Neighbours’ tour, Ramsay Street, located in the mock town of Erinsborough, would be demolished to make way for a new project.
He told the Daily Star: ‘We have been informed by Fremantle Media that the sets will be dismantled and the space used for their next project, whatever that may be.’
It is said that the last Neighbors set tours will take place this weekend.
Terry continued, “While the sets are being dismantled, there is nothing left for us to tour, so the tour is being halted.”