Neighbours cancelled again after Amazon steps away

After a brief revival, the iconic soap will wrap production in 2025, closing a four-decade chapter in Australian television history.

Nearly 20 million watched the Neighbours episode where Scott and Charlene, played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, marry on November 8, 1988. Picture: Grundy Organisation

The death knell rings one more for Neighbours, just two years after it was revived by Amazon’s streaming service.

Production on Australia’s longest-running soap, which has been filmed in Melbourne since 1985, will wrap in July, it’s producer, Fremantle, confirmed.

“We are sad to announce that Neighbours will be resting from December 2025,” read an official statement.

New episodes will continue to air globally on Amazon Prime Video and, domestically, on Channel 10 four times a week until the close of 2025, “with all the big soapie twists and turns that our viewers love.”

The soap opera originally bid farewell in 2022 — with a star studded finale — after 37 years on air, when Fremantle failed to secure a new UK broadcaster following Channel 5’s decision to withdraw its support citing financial reasons.

Neighbours wedding (L to R): Ashleigh Brewer, Margot Robbie and Sam Clark

The cancellation prompted an outpouring of fan devotion, leading Amazon to intervene a few months later, reviving the show on its then-ad-supported streaming platform, Freevee.

In 2023, Neighbours: A New Chapter premiered to mixed fanfare. Last year, it became the first Australian drama to be nominated in the top category at the Daytime Emmys.

“Audiences all around the world have loved and embraced Neighbours for four decades and we are very proud of the huge success over the last two years,” Neighbours’ executive producer, Jason Herbison said.

“As this chapter closes, we appreciate and thank Amazon MGM Studios for all that they have done for Neighbours – bringing this iconic and much-loved series to new audiences globally. We value how much the fans love Neighbours and we believe there are more stories of the residents of Ramsay Street to tell in the future.”

The show has long held a revered place in Australian television culture, considered a rite of passage for many in the industry, who honed their craft on the set of Ramsay Street. Beyond that, it launched the careers of some of the biggest names in show business — Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, and Margot Robbie, to name just a few.

Actor Jason Donovan and Actress Kylie Minogue in Neighbours.

Guy Pearce returned for the would-be finale of Neighbours in 2022.

Channel 10, which aired the show for much of its life after it was axed by Seven, offered its own tribute, thanking the cast, crew, and “the Australian fans and audiences for their continued support of the series.”

“It is a mighty achievement that the series will reach its 40-year milestone next month,” said a spokesman for the network. “The program will be missed by the fans and the people who have been part of this amazing journey. We wish them well.”