Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

Douglas McPherson bids a fond farewell to the long-running Australian soap.

- Douglas McPherson

SOME programmes become part of your life.

Back in the 1990s, when I was still living at home, every teatime was accompanied by the refrain: "Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours . . ."

At which point we'd sit down as a family to eat while we watched the daily adventures of Harold Bishop, Lou Carpenter, Helen Daniels, Dr Karl, Annalise Hartman, Toadie and the rest of Ramsay Street's residents.

"Neighbours" was the brainchild of scriptwriter and producer Reg Watson, who had overseen the first 10 years of Britain's first five-day-a-week soap, "Crossroads", and also created the Australian cult favourite "Prisoner: Cell Block H".

Set in a cul-de-sac in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, "Neighbours" was built around the lives of three families: the Ramsays, the Robinsons and the Clarkes.

Several titles were considered, including "One Way Street", "People Like Us", "Ramsay Street" and "Living Together", before "Neighbours" was finally chosen.

"In the end it came down to being what it is," Watson said. "A story around neighbours."

The theme tune was composed by Tony Hatch, who had previously written the theme tunes for "Crossroads" and "Emmerdale Farm", as well as pop hits such as "Downtown" by Petula Clark.

His wife Jackie Trent wrote the lyrics.

The show made its debut on Australian television on March 18, 1985.

It wasn't an immediate success and was cancelled by Channel Seven after four months.

It was rescued by Channel Ten, however, and revamped with a younger cast, including Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell and Jason Donovan as Scott Robinson.

The soap began broadcasting on BBC1 in the UK on October 27, 1986, and was soon pulling in 16 million viewers, which was roughly the entire population of Australia at the time!