Bosses at Channel 5 have hinted Home and Away might be on the move after the controversial to axe fellow Australian soap Neighbours. The long-running show, which first aired in 1985, ends this month after the UK network decided to invest in home-grown shows.
Ben Frow, Channel 5’s head of programming, suggested the money could be spent better elsewhere. He told Radio Times that axing Neighbours was “a business decision”.
To the suggestion that he could have spent large sums of money on keeping the show going, he replied: “Yes. Or I could spend the money on other things, which is what I decided to do. I can better spend the Neighbours money on UK shows.”
Asked if Home and Away was under threat as well, Frow said: “No. But I think it will be interesting to see what we do with it as we evolve. There might be somewhere else to put it in the 5 spectrum.”
He said: "But it’s a life-of-series deal, so it’s not going anywhere until the makers decide to cancel it.”
A source told The Star: “There are no concrete plans. Ben was just suggesting that if the show seems a better fit somewhere else where it might attract a greater fan base then it would be something to consider.”
Home and Away has aired on the channel since 2000.
Neighbours ends after 37 years on July 29 after no other financial backer could be found. Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will reprise their roles as Charlene and Scott Robinson in a celeb-filled finale.
Donovan and Minogue, who are both 54, played Scott and Charlene until their departures in 1989 and 1988, respectively. Their wedding episode was watched by more than two million Australian viewers when it first aired in 1987, and later pulled in an audience of almost 20 million when it was shown in the UK in 1988.
The soap also launched the careers of Hollywood stars such as Margot Robbie and Liam Hemsworth. Memento star Guy Pearce, who started his career playing Mike Young in the soap, is also reprising his role for the finale.
Joining them will be Peter O’Brien, who appeared in the show’s first episode as Shane Ramsay, as well as Ian Smith, who played Harold Bishop, Mark Little, who played Joe Mangel, and Paul Keane, who played Des Clarke. Among those returning from the 2000s are Chris Milligan, who played Kyle Canning, Morgan Baker as Callum Rebecchi, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, who played Izzy Hoyland, and James Mason as Chris Pappas.
