Talk:Neighbours

1984 - Channel Seven

Just a question. The Herald Sun is quoted an awful lot here and the notion that Reg Watson pitched the concept which became Neighbours to them in 1982 (something never stated by Watson himself as far as I know, he has persiatently referred to Channel Seven and Channel Ten). Well, that's fine, but something that has often been stated, stretching right back to the '80s, is that Watson pitched the show to Channel Seven in 1984. Yet 1984 is not mentioned here. Why not? It really is an established fact! The show was pitched to Seven in '84, Watson then went to work on the details and casting, and it appeared on screen in '85. You seem to be implying here that Watson took the concept to Seven in 1982, and they took two years to make up their minds! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.141.187.156 (talk) 02:41, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Please provide reliable sources for this established fact and it can be added. I can check a few books in case it's mentioned there. - JuneGloom Talk 00:04, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

Please study James Oram's book, Neighbours Behind The Scenes (he is a respected Australian journalist). There are other on-line sources - simply Google "neighbours" 1984 "channel seven". There are interviews with various crew and cast members on Perfect Blend, but for some reason you seem to believe that one particular newspaper is an acceptable source for multiple references on this subject, but other reputable sources (and there is a Perfect Blend link on the article page and cast and crew have granted interviews, including Reg Watson) are not to be trusted. I don't understand. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.141.187.156 (talk) 00:13, 19 October 2012 (UTC) Another published resource from the 1980s is the book "Soap Box" by Hilary Kingsley, which contains a "Neighbours" section, quotes from cast and crew - including Reg Watson. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.141.187.156 (talk) 00:38, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

There was also this old discussion that was on a talk page until an editor accidentally deleted it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Neighbours/Archive_5#1982_and_other_Reg_Watson.2FReg_Grundy_Organisation_soap_operas.3B_other_issues Format (talk) 22:30, 17 November 2012 (UTC) --As it was never properly discussed I'll reproduce the text below so we can comment on it here:

1982 and other Reg Watson/Reg Grundy Organisation soap operas; other issues

Following the above discussions...

This is a really interesting thread. My gut feeling is that ideas for new shows are generally pitched to all networks at various stages of their development. (I generally think that what was pitched, to whom, and at what stage of its development is unlikely to be acurately documented at the time in a news source-these are routine behind-the-scenes negotiations about future potential shows - not so interesting to the general public.)

In mid 1982 the Reg Grundy Organisation was busy producing lavish serial Taurus Rising for the Nine Network in Australia. Taurus Rising had been created by Reg Watson [1]. Taurus Rising, a Dynasty-type serial, was quickly cancelled and moved to a late night slot within the year. This article suggests Neighbours was pitched to Nine: [2] but it mentions Sale of the Century, ignoring Taurus Rising.

The following year, 1983, Channel Nine broadcast new Grundy soaps Waterloo Station (created by Reg Watson) and later, Starting Out (created by Reg Watson). These shows were both cancelled within the year. Both shows had a large number of youngsters in the cast, mixed with older parental and authority figures. David Clencie, later of Neighbours, was in Starting Out.

In 1985 Watson's soap Possession was being broadcast by the Nine Network. It was cancelled within the year. Possession featured Anne Charleston, Maggie Millar, Ally Fowler, Briony Behets who all later acted in Neighbours. (Fowler had previously been in Sons and Daughters; Millar and Behets had been in Prisoner).

I guess it is possible that Neighbours was pitched to Nine. Clearly - what with Taurus Rising, Waterloo Station, Starting Out, Possession, Prime Time (TV series), Nine were seriously considering new soap operas. And clearly Watson had been creating and pitching various soaps c.1982 (many actually got made afterall.)

On this topic I get the feeling that recent press reports on Neighbours like to conveniently ignore lots of intervening Australian soaps - it makes for a tighter, more dramatic and simpler article. However they are giving a misleading picture.

Unfortunately I can't find the "Slippery Soap" article online, but it is used in this wikipedia article as a reference suggesting Neighbours was spawned by the success of Coronation Street and Crossroads (TV series). But the suggestion that "Watson decided to create a soap opera [Neighbours] after working on Crossroads and seeing the success that it and Coronation Street were having" seems wrong to me. A quote above mentions Watson and Ian Holmes and Corrie, yet back in 1971 Ian Holmes had asked for a "Coronation Street type serial" for the Ten Network, with the result being Number 96 (TV series). (Australian TV: The First 25 Years. Melbourne, 1981); [3]. Holmes was no stranger to soaps.

There were several Australian teen soaps in the years before Neighbours, so Crossroads and Coronation Street wouldn't really have been a direct influence. To say that Watson could "decide" to create Neighbours based on the success of Crossroads and Coronation Street ignores intervening serials which surely had some influence. Watson had been working in Australian commercial television routinely creating soaps for years before Neighbours - Neighbours was just another of his soaps. He might, as he claims, had had the idea to make a Coronation Street type serial when he was in England watching that series. However it wasn't that novel an idea and pilots in Australia like Lane End (seven 30 minute episodes in 1972, featuring Carole Skinner), Somerset Street (made by Harry Michaels) and People Like Us [4] had tried the same thing (families and a suburban locale).

But overall, linking Neighbours directly to Coronation Street seem wrong because it was Number 96 (1972-1977) that came about due to the success of Coronation Street. At least one of the 96 scriptwriters, Johnny Whyte, had previously worked on Corrie. Since 96 had already been a big success on Australian TV, its influence can't really be ignored.

Number 96 had spawned a series of teen soaps in the 1970s (Class of 74, The Restless Years). The success of those two Grundy teen soaps is more likely what led to Neighbours. Coronation Street hadn't been on Australian TV since the early 1970s and wasn't really very well known in Australia at the time; there was no internet or cable TV in those days and in Australia we really never heard anything about Coronation Street at all.

On topic but a relatively minor thing: the lead of this WP Neighbours article talks of Watson's "other" soap, Sons and Daughters, yet it wasn't his "other" soap - he had several other soaps.

Format (talk) 22:18, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

As per above I see this line is still in the article: "Watson decided to create a soap opera after working on Crossroads and seeing how successful it and Coronation Street were in Britain."

It sounds so twee and naive. Watson created a host of Australian soaps/dramas starting 1975 (Until Tomorrow, The Young Doctors, Glenview High, The Restless Years and Sons and Daughters) so if he also created Neighbours, it wasn't only due to the success of Crossroads and Coronation Street. I reckon the success of TYD, TRY, S&D probably came in to it too. Format (talk) 23:16, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

Neighbours Formation - Early To Mid-1980s

I have just reverted an edit here which altered the "early-to-mid 1980s" creation period of Neighbours to "mid-1980s". According to interviews and books from the 1980s, Reg Watson set to work on the show in 1984, which is mid-1980s, but an Australian newspaper has stated in more recent years that Reg Watson pitched an idea for a Street saga to an Australian TV station in 1982. In all interviews I have read or seen, Mr Watson has referred to 1984 as being the year he set to work on Neighbours - and this would almost certainly be the year that the nuts and bolts of the show, characters, casting, setting, title (Mr Watson has stated that he had great difficulty coming up with a title), first scripts, etc, were worked out, and, with the show being launched in 1985 on one TV channel and then tweaked and relaunched on another in 1986, it would probably be most factual to say, on all available evidence from the series's early years, that the "mid 1980s" covered the show's entire creation process. Australian author James Oram, who wrote Neighbours Behind The Scenes in 1988 and who was granted access to Neighbours cast and crew at the time, points only to 1984 and not 1982 for the initial pitching of the Street saga idea. But it can take a long time from the initial vague glimmering of an idea to a finished product in the world of television, so taking on board the 1982 pitching recalled by a TV executive a few years ago, it is probably safest to pinpoint the creation process to "early-to-mid 1980s". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.141.188.55 (talk) 23:43, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

That's fine. If I'd have noticed the edit, I probably would have undone it too. - JuneGloom Talk 01:04, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Notable cast members

Why is Natalie Bassingthwaighte not in the Notable cast members section? She had a successful music career as the lead singer of Rogue Traders during her time on Neighbours and a successful solo music career after she left Neighbours. Natalie Imbruglia and Delta Goodrem are listed there because of their successful music careers and so should Natalie. 114.77.226.195 (talk) 01:42, 25 April 2013 (UTC)