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Wales Online
National
Emily Martin

From Erinsborough to Summer Bay... all the Australian soaps that made it to UK shores

With news breaking that Neighbours is facing the axe after 37 years, many of us are still reeling, despite (if we're being completely honest) having not actually watched it for 20 years, we've found it comforting to know that we could at any moment switch on the TV and be transported back to Erinsborough.

In these uncertain times, we are soothing ourselves by taking a look at all the Aussie soaps that made it to our UK screens...

Neighbours

Starting with the longest-running and most popular Australian soap of all - Neighbours.

First broadcast in 1985, Neighbours is all about the lives of the people who live in the fictional Australian suburb of Erinsborough.

And no, despite what you may have heard Erinsborough is sadly not an anagram of Neighbours, although it should be.

At the last count, there had been 5,955 episodes of Neighbours when news broke this week that Australian production company Freemantle were seriously considering axing the soap.

Naturally there has been outcry and a petition has been set up to save the show, currently going strong with more than 20,000 signatures.

If you grew up watching Neighbours, you'll fondly remember when Harold fell off a cliff and then returned many years later but with amnesia.

Scott and Charlene (Birmingham Live)

And then it happened again to Susan Kennedy when she slipped over on some milk and forgot 30 years of her life.

Amnesia was an ever-present threat to our childhood.

To be honest, we're still somewhat irrationally worried about amnesia to this day.

Home and Away

Home and Away has always been the slightly edgier cousin of Neighbours - itself clocking up a huge 5,805 episode since it started in 1988.

The residents of Summer Bay seem to face grittier life events than their Ramsey Street counterparts.

Memorable moments over the years have included when Meg died in Blake's arms on the beach (NOOOO!), Shane and Angel's wedding when Angel managed to stand up out of her wheelchair and walk down the aisle (SOB) and when Ailsa Stewart had a breakdown and the ghost of Bobby appeared to her.

We'll never forget the good old days of the Surf Club. Michael and Pippa, Angel and Shane, Shannon and Selena, Alf and Ailsa. Irene! So many memories.

Shane and Angel's wedding was one of the highlights of the 1990s (CHP)

Remember the burger-shaped phone in The Diner?

Remember when Shane died of septicaemia? Shannon struggled with anorexia and Sam became addicted to marijuana? Big issues handled well by the brilliant cast.

"What IS marijuana?" We asked our friends at school. Hmmm...

Needless to say, we really hope you're all watching Home and Away right now as we can't go through the whole Neighbours being axed again.

Heartbreak High

Set at the fictional high school of Hartley High (see what they did there?), this show was meant to have a realistic edge and give an accurate portrayal of life as a teen. Storylines certainly didn't shy away from the dark side.

We had drugs, romance, religion, shop-lifting, mental health issues and pregnancy, to name but a few.

Hands up who had a massive crush on Drazic (played by Callan Mulvey)? Oh good, that's everyone then.

The Sullivans

The Sullivans was a period drama and ran from 1976 to 1983.

It was the story of a fictional family in Melbourne, set between 1939 and 1948, and was about the effects of the Second World War.

Grace Sullivan (née Grace Katherine Donovan) was played by Lorraine Bayly and was the Sullivan matriarch.

Even baby Kylie made a cameo on The Sullivans (Daily Record)

One of the most popular characters, interest in the show waned when she left.

Refusing to accept Lorraine's wish to leave, the producers instead offered her six months' leave and her character Grace was sent to London to care for her injured son John.

But when Bayly refused to return after six months, she was written out of the series and Grace was killed by a bomb during a London air raid...

The Flying Doctors

You know what's always been missing from UK TV show Doctors? A plane.

And that's exactly the kind of glamour that Australian soap, The Flying Doctors brought to our screens from 1986 to 1993.

With plenty of medical drama as well as plenty of drama in the doctors' personal lives too there was never a dull moment.

Sons and Daughters

Broadcast from 1981-1987, Sons and Daughters focussed on the lives of two households, both alike in dignity.

The Palmers of Melbourne; and the Hamiltons of Sydney. In the first episode we see two young people, David Palmer and Patricia Dunne, who came across a boarding house.

In desperate need of a place to stay, Fiona (the house owner) opens her home to the young people.

Patricia later gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl but the next morning, Pat bolted, taking the baby girl with her.

The series ended in exactly the same way it had started with the final episode playing out as young married couple in desperate need of shelter and they turned up at Fiona's mansion boarding house (replacing the old boarding house which had burned down and the wife giving birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl.

The series had come full circle. We love it when that happens.

Prisoner Cell Block H

This soap had a huge cult following.

It focused on the Wentworth Detention Centre and began with the arrival of two new prisoners, Karen Travers and Lynn Warner.

Travers was charged with murdering her husband in a crime of passion after he was found in-bed with another woman, whilst Warner insisted she was innocent despite her conviction for the abduction and attempted murder of a child.

Both women were sent to the prison's maximum-security wing (H Block), where they were horrified by their new surroundings.

Shortland Street

Don't start throwing things OK, we know. We know this one is from New Zealand, but it was created precisely due to a lack of New Zealand content and was meant to be a bit like Neighbours.

Set at fictional Shortland Street Hospital, the show was on for 29 years and had over 7,000 episodes.

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