Neighbours Goes to Summer Bay

After an introduction by an exuberant Eddie McGuire, the creation of the new Summer Bay series was co-announced by an unlikely duo, Ian Smith (Harold Bishop on Neighbours) and Ray Meagher (Alf Stewart on Home and Away), at a star-studded press conference at the Channel 9 studios in Melbourne. At the conclusion of the announcement, the playing of the new theme song, written especially for the show by Jimmy Barnes and sung by Casey Donovan and Shannon Noll, received a huge round of applause.

In explaining the reasons behind the shock move, Ian Smith said that there was only so much that the actors and writers could do with a television drama set in a quiet street in suburban Melbourne. "After twenty years of filming the microcosm of life in Ramsay St, rehashing storylines and trying to keep things interesting without being ludicrous, everyone, and I mean everyone involved with Neighbours had had enough" he said.

Unbeknownst to those at Neighbours, similar sentiments were being expressed by the cast and crew of Home and Away and it was only through a flippant conversation between Ian Smith and Ray Meagher at last year's Logie Awards that the idea was raised. "We laughed at the time," Ray said, "but the idea kept nagging away at both of us and eventually we got some of the cast and crew together and workshopped the ideas with some improvisation, team bonding exercises and writing on big sheets of paper with big colourful textas."

The cast and crew of the two shows have taken advantage of a little known clause in the fine print of their contracts which states that, if there is 100% agreement amongst the acting and production staff, they are free to take the show to another network. This clause, which is standard in Australian television industry contracts, was first included as a joke in the 1970s by a television executive and was quickly adopted across the board under the wide-spread belief that the level of organisation required would be well and truly beyond the capabilities of workers in the Autralian television industry.

Channels 7 and 10 were taken by surprise by the move and have had to move quickly to try to fill the gaps in their schedules. Time constraints and meagre local production budgets at Channels 7 and 10 will not allow the development of completely new drama shows. Channel 7, which is strapped for cash after shelling out an exorbitant amount of money for the Torino Winter Olympics, is planning a re-make of A Country Practice which will have new actors but use the old sets, costumes and scripts. Channel 10 initially toyed with the idea of picking up E Street from where it finished in 1993 but have decided instead to make a fly-on-the-wall reality television series about the inner workings of a television station which will be filmed in Melbourne and Sydney.

Both Neighbours and Home and Away will have wrapped up their less believable on-going storylines prior to the move to Channel 9 giving their characters an opportunity to make a fresh start. Channel 9 will begin airing its Summer Bay episodes mid-year, beginning with a two hour special in which the entire cast of Neighbours arrives in Summer Bay on tour buses for a week long holiday during which they finally realise that the crazy events that have shaped their lives in outer-suburban Erinsborough over the past few years haven’t been much fun. Over the course of the first episode they all decide to move to the seaside town of Summer Bay for a change in pace.

Fans of both shows can look forward to interesting times ahead when the ex-Erinsborough residents settle into their new lives in Summer Bay. With twice the number of cast members to work with the producers and scriptwriters are looking forward to having more freedom to develop interesting and realistic storylines and characters without having to resort to the ridiculous. They are staying close-lipped about what lies ahead but inside sources have hinted that there will be a lavish wedding, sometime in the first year, between two characters who initially take an instant dislike to each other.

The influx of city kids will certainly liven things up at Summer Bay High School under the watchful eyes of Barry Hyde and Sally Fletcher but how will the older characters take to each other? What will Harold Bishop think of the straight talking Alf Stewart? Is a sea-change all that is needed to re-ignite the spark between Karl and Susan? Will the devious Amanda revel in having new prey to set her sights on? We can only watch and find out.

Comments (3)

haha written by kaybers on September 26, 2006 I thoroughly endorse the merger of these two shows. Did you also hear that Alf is actually leaving the show? He has a spin off show called Outback Alf, which is to revolve around his search for a wife amongst the tourists visiting Ayers Rock. My god people are gullible. Also, the bogan woman (Janelle?) from Neighbours is launching a country music career, and will have cameras follow her around recording her daily activities - to be called The Bogan Show. Home and away written by bn on November 21, 2006 I think home and away is sooo kool i can not miss one show! omg what is the goss all about lol, : nabours written by bn on November 21, 2006 I thinks nabours is a bit boring it needs to add character to it don't u think?

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 hi our names are mira and tome we are big fans of neighbours and home and away we just like to say we think it is not good idea there for uses are taking away two shows from two different channels u people at channel nine can do this waoe of all the american shows i will name what to wape of such as days of our lives the young and the restless dr phil cold case er with out a trace csi csi newyork six feet under supernanny entertainment tonight late show with david letterman good moring america csi miami madtv get ready of all those shows they are crap and rubbish u people at channel nine should put all australian shows old or new but do not take way any other shows from other channels u should put back all the old australian shows uses had and take off aLL THOSE AMERICAN SHOWS WE NAMED AND WE MEAN IT FROM MIRA AND TOME

mira and tome , May 4, 2006 8:23

 no no and nooooooooooo that idea is sooo wrong i love neighbours and home and away but i would hate them to emerge dont do it.too many things will change and people will get confused.one of your worst ideas yet.

georgia, April 29, 2006 1:26

 This is a joke, right?

Lucy, April 14, 2006 10:28

 Brilliant...

Adam, April 12, 2006 9:31

 Hi,Iam Lori and I think this idea is stupid. I don`t understand why anyone would want to change something that is so good. I have always had the saying (if it`s not broken don`t fix it )the proven sucess of these two shows should be enough to leave well enough alone.I THINK IF THIS DID GO AHEAD YOU WOULD REGRET IT AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIX IT DONT CHANGE A THING Lori Burtt Leave Neighbours and Home and away alone

Lori Burtt, March 26, 2006 1:57

 hello my name is jane. i'm 25 years old and have grown up and watched both shows pretty much every night since they first started. And i'm not to sure about the two shows becoming one.channel 9 seems to be stealing everything of channels 10 & 7 these days. i know quite a few people who like one and not the other so how are they going to get over that hurdell. i mean how realistic is it that a whole town can just pack up and move to the beach. come on!!! It's in another state. i think this is really going to back fire. i don't even really watch channel 9 mostly 7 & 10 beacause they have the best shows. that's why there taking them both can't compete with real shows.jane

jane, March 25, 2006 4:40

 i think this absoloutly sucks and no one will watch it cause it will be so awkward,i9 think they should both stay in there places for now.

kala, March 22, 2006 4:40

 hey im conran!! ive watched home and away an neighbours for as long as i remember an i think this idea about joining the soaps is brill bring it on

Conran, February 21, 2006 8:49

 Hi I am David and I think that joining Neighbours and Home and Away is not the best idea. I really like the way that Neighbours is based in a "normal" (if you will) Melbourne suburb. I watch it all the time and I like the way that it is going. I don't watch Home and Away that often because I personally think that the acting and story-lines are very poor quality. It lives in Neighbours shadows. There are many ways that this new show could go wrong. You say that it will be more realistic story-lines but think how unrealistic it will be at the very start when the whole cast of Neighbours just decide to shut up shop to move to some new beach side town. How bloody stupid and pathetic is that.

David Bucknell, February 14, 2006 11:08

 hi my name is mira i would like to say i think the idea of neighbours going to summer bay is not a good idea there for because its bad for the people who love the show. and that i think neighbours is better at channel ten studios and home and away is better at channel seven studios and there for if channel nine likes to have shows like that then there should bring back the old australia shows there had and get rid of all the american rubish shows and put all new australian shows there for do not take neigbhours away from channel ten and do not take home and away from channel seven because those shows are better off where there are my family does not like the idea of it as well they will be stupid if they do this from mira

mira, February 14, 2006 7:49

 I refute the comments on this website, I have never been exuberant, and I do not do INTRODUCTIONS, I am the star, I am the main attraction.

Eddie McGuire, January 7, 2006 4:07