Ramsay Street on Neighbours does not exist! 🤯
There's also no Erinsborough, no Waterhole, no Harold's Cafe... they're all figments of the imagination... just like the Australia presented in the soap, sorry to say 😩.
The final episode of the long-running Aussie soap Neighbours was shown on this day in 2022*. I admit I did watch it... it was the first time I saw a full Neighbours episode since 1987, but at least they did have some dry, self-deprecating Aussie humour in it. But I was never much of a fan, and one of the reasons why is that as one of the millions of Aussies of Balkan/Mediterranean origin, the Anglo-Celtic-centric world of Neighbours just didn't represent the reality of the Australia we lived in.
That's not to say that Australia was not making TV that didn't represent the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. There's even a public broadcaster, SBS, that has been dedicated to providing multicultural TV and radio since 1975.
In 1987, not long after Neighbours started up, SBS offered a more realistic alternative: In Between. Set in the inner suburbs of the same city as Neighbours, Melbourne, the cast starred Aussies of Anglo-Celtic, Macedonian, Turkish and Cambodian origin, with real issues affecting people of non-English-speaking and working-class background, and dialogue in "not obvious" languages (Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic were the big ones at the time in Australia)
So why then has Neighbours lasted for so long? 🤷
Primarily because for the last decade (at least) of its existence, its UK broadcaster was bankrolling it... and also ultimately calling the shots.
Neighbours had been a phenomenon in the UK in the 1980s, its popularity to some degree based as what former Neighbours' script-writer Ben Michaels told SBS: the BBC and British audience were looking for “an older nostalgic version of Australia, almost like they wanted to escape their own issues with a diverse culture and enjoy a fantasy of a sunny country populated by people with an English background”.
Many UK people raised on Neighbours are shocked when they come to Australia to see that the country is actually very ethnically diverse, particularly big cities like Melbourne.
Much was discussed of the lack of diversity on Neighbours, and attempts were made to rectify this, but it was a case of too little, too late, such as the Kapoor family (pictured) introduced in 2011 and then written off in 2013. You can find out more about the fate of the Kapoors and the extraordinary story how the production team tried to diversify Neighbours in this article.
Neighbours is an icon and will always have a special place in Aussie culture, not to mention was the launchpad for many illustrious careers in the TV and movie industry, but we must remind ourselves that like most other soap operas, it was a fantasy land, not a documentary.
And the award for Australian soap Neighbours' greatest contribution to the world goes to [drum roll 🥁]...
But before that, a little background and the nominees.
After 37 years on the air (yipes, I remember when it started!), the world's sixth longest-running soap opera, the iconic Australian TV series set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, made its dramatic conclusion in July 2022. OK, make that a pause as it restarted on Amazon MGM Studios a year later. Actually, this was the second time it finished; the original series, a gritty suburban drama, only lasted 4 months in 1985, only for the next year the show being taken up by a rival commercial network and relaunched with a relentless but glitzy promotional campaign. Soon after we were getting reports of its massive popularity in the UK, turning local actors into international superstars. No one could predict its success.
The series restarted for its third iteration in September 2023, but in February 2025 the series was cancelled again, with production concluding in July and episodes ceasing to air in December.
Back to the nominees and obviously it would be the huge number of Neighbours alumni who later made it big as international pop stars 🎤 or Hollywood actors.
The list includes (let's see who you know out of these):
⭐ Kylie Minogue
⭐ Jason Donovan
⭐ Guy Pearce
⭐ Russell Crowe
⭐ Deborah-Lee Furness
⭐ Margot Robbie
⭐ Ben Mendelsohn
⭐ Natalie Imbruglia
⭐ The Hemsworth brothers
⭐Holly Valance
And the list goes on...
Not only has Neighbours, like its rival Aussie soap Home and Away, been a boot camp for Aussie-raised international actors and singers, it too has provided for the past four decades the first break and invaluable hands-on experience for many of the people we don't see: the writers, camera people, set designers, costume designers... many who have gone on to successful careers in their field in Australia and worldwide.
But Neighbour's greatest (and very unsung) contribution has been....bringing standard Australian English to a worldwide audience.
How many times have I said something Australia-specific, particularly in the UK, thinking that the person I'm talking to won't understand me, only for them to reply 'ah yes, that's what they say on Neighbours. I'm a big fan'. Honestly, if you want to familiarise yourself with standard Australian, skip Crocodile Dundee and watch the real (ok, real-ish) stuff, Neighbours and Home and Away.
Now rack off (just joking)!
"That's where good neighbours become... good... friends...
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