In my last feature I spoke about how Neighbours made its way onto UK screens, the TV landscape prior to its launch in our country and how the BBC schedule re-jigging shaped it into the phenomenon that it is today.
Arrive Jason and Kylie
Of course, by the time that the BBC picked up the series in October 1986, the show had already been airing for nineteen months over in Australia and therefore it would be a while before fans would be introduced to Neighbours legends Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.
Jason’s character Scott Robinson had been portrayed by actor Darius Perkins for the first 170 episodes, and it wouldn’t be until episode 188 that Jason would resume the role. This episode first aired in February 1986, which aired in July 1987 to British audiences.
As for Kylie, she first appeared as Charlene Mitchell in episode 234 from April 1986, which aired in September 1987 in the UK. A full year later, Charlene departed Australian screens but would still be around in Britain until November 1989. Scott could be seen departing Ramsay Street eight months later in July 1990.
The pair’s on-screen romance transformed them into teen idols, and when they both left the show they began to release music. The release of the music was very well timed – with their song Especially for You debuting at number two in the UK Singles Chart in the same month that their alter-egos Scott and Charlene were married (November 1988). It would eventually go to number one for three consecutive weeks and stayed in the charts for a total of 14 weeks.
Timeline
- July 1987: Jason Donovan’s Scott Robinson arrives in Ramsay Street on BBC One. Scott and Charlene are married on Australian screens.
- September 1987: Kylie Minogue makes her first appearance as Charlene on UK screens
- July 1988: Kylie departs the show in Australia. Her debut album Kylie is released, with four of her singles hitting the top of the charts.
- November 1988: Scott and Charlene are married on British screens, in the same month that Especially for You was released.
- May 1989: Jason’s final episode airs in Australia.
- November 1989: Kylie’s last episode airs in the UK.
- July 1990: Scott’s exit finally airs in Britain.
It’s without a doubt that the chart success of the Neighbours cast helped spiral the viewing success of the show into the millions, with teenagers up and down the country able to buy the music released by their favourite pop stars and also watch them each tea time.
Competition creeps in
The success of Neighbours and its cast members undoubtedly had other networks looking to cash in. Network Seven, the channel which had previously dropped Neighbours after 170 episodes in November 1985 launched their own competition, Home and Away, in January 1988.
Home and Away would be, and continues to be, a success for Network Seven and was picked up by British broadcaster ITV in 1989; with the first episode, the 90 minute pilot, airing in primetime on Saturday 11th February. From the following Monday, ITV’s regions would schedule Home and Away in a similar manner to Neighbours, with a lunchtime viewing followed by a key spot post-Children’s ITV at tea time.
In recent years, the ratings for Neighbours have dwindled in its home country, probably due it being shunted to digital channel 10Peach in 2011, whilst Home and Away has continued to soar in ratings over on Network Seven. Meanwhile, our audiences have always preferred their daily dose of Ramsay Street to the beaches of Summer Bay, and had Channel 5 (H&A’s British broadcaster since 2001) not entered into a lifetime deal with the show’s producers it likely would’ve been axed long before the channel ditched Neighbours last year.
I’ll explore about both of the Aussie soaps’ big moves to Channel 5 in my next post plus a look at how the stars of Neighbours popped up on our screens everywhere – even in front of royalty. Keep an eye out!