Neighbours Celebrates 6000th Episode and Calls For Reg Watson To Be Honoured

Network Ten, the Australian broadcaster behind long running soap Neighbours held a celebratory party yesterday marking the show’s 6000^th episode.

 

 

Neighbours launched on the Seven Network, which had previously aired UK daily serial Crossroads in the 1970s, back in 1985. The soap was axed after 170 episodes and switched to rival Network Ten on a trial run. Within a year Neighbours had become a ratings success, following a strong publicity drive by the broadcasters promotions team.

Drama boss Rick Maier told the gathered guests, including many of the current cast, “Once the audience came and sampled it, they liked what they saw and we were away.”

 

He added, “This show has been such a great training ground for technicians, script people, directors, actors, post production. You cannot swing a cat in a television network in Australia without hitting someone who has a direct connection to Neighbours.”

Maier also pushed for the serial’s creator, Reg Watson – who was awarded the Order of Australia earlier this year (an MBE in the UK) – to be inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame (The Australian version of the BAFTA’s)

 

“He created The Restless Years, Sons and Daughters, Prisoner. He is a quiet, unassuming guy, a terribly modest man. Reg put the motor under the bonnet of the car that has driven us for 25 years.” Rick said.

 

Reg Watson moved to the UK in 1955 and first worked for BBC radio on shows such as The Archers. Later in the same year he began working for ATV Network as an entertainment and factual producer. Reg produced everything from farming information slots to chat shows. In 1964 he put together British television’s first “daily soap opera” – Crossroads – having studied the American versions some years earlier. Having steered that motel-based saga for ten years he returned to Australia to take a role with Fremantle Media (Grundy at the time) and a string of successful soap and drama serials followed.

 

One such hit was Prisoner Cell Block H, which arrived in the UK on ITV in 1984, with Neighbours joining the BBC One schedules in 1986. SevenNetwork finally had their own homegrown daily saga in 1989 when Home and Away launched; it also later joined the ITV schedules.

 

“ITV were more accepting and proud to air Reg Watson’s Australian imports than the home-grown Crossroads series he had produced for ITV.” Lynn Swift, ATV’s soap expert, adds. The first major Australian import on British television was The Sullivans which aired in the UK from 1978 onwards.

 

The 6000^th episode of Neighbours airs on Network Ten in August, cast pictured around a cake at the event included Stefan Dennis, Jackie Woodburne, Janet Andrewartha and Ryan Moloney.