Amazon clearly believes that everyone needs good neighbors. After the long-running Australian soap opera went off the air in July, the streaming giant has decided to save it.
A new series will begin filming in Australia next year, after the Fremantle production company signed a deal with Amazon Freevee. A host of fan favorites will return, including Stefan Dennis as Paul Robinson, Alan Fletcher as Karl Kennedy, Jackie Woodburne as Susan Kennedy and Ryan Moloney as Toadie Rebecchi.
“Neighbors is a unique series with a powerful connection with its fans around the world,” said Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin. “We appreciate the show and all those who have been a part of its incredible history for many decades, so we are delighted to have found a new home.”
The announcement follows a much-celebrated farewell episode of the show, which saw a number of former stars return to pay tribute to the soap that gave them their big break. Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Margot Robbie and Guy Pearce were among the actors who reappeared in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough in Melbourne, with figures of three million views. The audience was the biggest since Channel 5 began showing the show in the UK 14 years ago.
As well as creating a new series of the soap, Amazon has announced that it will host the show’s back catalogue, giving viewers access to 37 years of classic episodes.
“Neighbors has captivated audiences for nearly 40 years, building a loyal and dedicated following for the lives and stories of Ramsay Street’s characters,” said Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD programming at Amazon.
“With the power of streaming, we can deliver thousands of episodes of Neighbors so new audiences can discover this legendary series and current fans can relive their favorite moments.”
To announce the show’s return, the official Neighbors account posted a meta video featuring Karl and Susan Kennedy, Toadie, plus Paul Robinson dialing in via Zoom. The characters discuss which streaming platform the soap opera will appear on, though it’s unclear how aware they are that their lives are being televised. They also specify that the program will be broadcast “in the second half of next year”. “Let me check my journal…” mutters Robinson. “Okay, I’ll make myself available. Happy?”
🚨 Breaking news from Erinsborough! 🚨
Neighbors is returning for a new series next year exclusively on @AmazonFreevee, along with thousands of episodes from previous seasons to stream on demand. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/1Qq2fIPgog
— Neighbors (@neighbors) November 17, 2022
In a strange twist, it seems many of the soap’s stars were unaware of the show’s return. Takaya Honda, who played Dr. David Tanaka of Neighbors for six years, posted an Instagram story with a photo of Fletcher, Woodburne and Moloney stating that “apart from these three and Stefan, the rest of the cast is figuring it out with you. Please give -us time to process.”
This raises questions about who exactly will appear on the show upon its return. With almost four months since the supposedly final episode aired in the UK, a number of actors will no doubt have moved on to other projects. It is not known if the show will have a substantially different cast, or how it will be explained, if so.
However, the news has been received with excitement by the many followers of the telenovela. The vocal reaction of its fan base to the final episodes has been hailed as the deciding factor in the show’s return.
“This revival of Neighbors is clearly down to the efforts of the soap’s fan base,” TV journalist and Guardian writer Scott Bryan commented on Twitter. “They’ve been very vocal since the rumors of its cancellation emerged, and clearly that convinced Amazon that it was worth doing.”