‘Neighbours’ fans have organised a petition to try and save the soap, after it was suggested that its days on UK screens could be numbered.
The Australian soap has aired on Channel 5 here in Britain since 2008, though it was recently reported that the channel was having difficulty negotiating a fresh deal with show bosses.
It was even claimed over the weekend that if Channel 5 and ‘Neighbours’ producers are unable to reach a deal, the show could even be leaving UK screens completely, though some diehard fans of the show are doing their best to stop this from happening.
‘Neighbours’ fan Kate Winrow has set up a petition on Change.org, which is already nearing its 10,000 signature target, just 24 hours after launching, with more around 8600 supporters at the time of writing.
Kate wrote that the show is “a huge part of British culture”, adding that it should be kept on our screens due to its “massive UK following”.
Meanwhile, in a wonderfully serendipitous moment, one of the UK’s biggest exports, Adele, shared a snap from the set of ‘Neighbours’ over the weekend, having visited it during her Australian tour.
Quoting the show’s theme tune as she posed on Ramsay Street, she quoted the show’s icon theme tune in a photo caption on her Instagram page, writing: “That’s when good neighhhbours become goood friennnds.”
‘Neighbours’ celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015, but didn’t begin airing here in the UK until 1986.
For 22 years, it was part of BBC One’s daytime schedule, but when the broadcaster decided not to keep ‘Neighbours’ due to the amount they were being asked to pay to keep it, it moved to Channel 5.
Over the years, the soap has been responsible for launching the careers of several big-name Australian entertainers, including Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia, Jason Donovan and Natalie Bassingthwaite, who topped the UK singles chart as the lead singer of Rogue Traders.
