Neighbours: The end is nigh for Ramsay Street but might this drama have one last twist? – Scotsman comment

It will be the end of an era when, after nearly 40 years, the last episode of Australian soap opera Neighbours is broadcast later this year.

Neighbours stars turned pop singers Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue rehearse at the Dominion Theatre, London, in 1989 (Picture: Malcolm Croft/PA)

Admittedly, even some of its biggest fans from the show’s 1980s’ heyday may have assumed this particular era ended some time ago, but nonetheless it will mark the closing of a significant chapter in television history.

Neighbours was once so popular that the same episode was broadcast twice a day. And its viewers included more people than just the stereotypical soap opera fan. Student common rooms would often be packed as the young generation got their daily fix of Charlene, Madge and Harold Bishop.

The show had such a profound effect on comedian Josh Widdicombe that it provided the title of a memoir of his early life: Watching Neighbours Twice a Day: How ’90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me For Life.

After initially being dropped by Australia’s Seven network in 1985, it was picked up by channel Ten in 1986 and soon became an international hit.

In 1988, the wedding of Charlene and Scott was watched by a UK audience of nearly 20 million people, more than a third of the population.

Neighbours also helped launch the careers of a host of household names, including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe.

So there may well be more than a few people who find themselves tuning in to watch the last few episodes and shedding a tear or two at the last.

And who knows? If enough people do that, perhaps this long-running show may see yet another dramatic twist.

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