Neighbours 1985 season, quite different to 1986 and onwards.

[CAEF]

I know Channel 7 aired Neighbours first season in 1985 and dropped it, only for Channel 10 to pick it up and make it a success.

But the 1985 series of Neighbours did feel radically different to 1986 and onwards. Reasons:-

In 1985 there was no Lassiters.
In 1985 only 3 Ramsay St houses featured.
In 1985 much of the action featured the characters working or socialising away from Ramsay St.
In 1985 guest characters were heavily relied on.
In 1985 Neighbours was more like EastEnders in terms of grittiness.

The 1986 season started with a radical change to the show such as:-

More younger characters bought in. Clive, Mike, Zoe, Nikki and a recast Scott played by a pin up.
More Ramsay St houses featured. No 22 and then Mrs Mangel's house.
Less location scenes and more scenes at Ramsay St and Lassiters nearby.
Less reliance on guest characters.
A lighter format, the gritty nature had reduced.

1985 seems to be a year that is overlooked by fans as 1986 was when the show really gripped the world.

[kitkat1971]

Not overlooked by me! I adore the first season.

It actually always pisses me off when people talk about watching Neighbours from the start, the 'golden age' of Scott and Charlene when Donovan and Minogue didn't even start till well after a year in - if you recall Scott was missing the first few weeks of the 86 season.

Also, people that don'( understand why Paul is the way he is "he's always been horrible" - no he hasn't, he started out as a nice boy and we saw what made him bitter and hard - his marriage to Terri. I've always thought he and Ian Beale are very similar in that regard. Easily written off as a nasty peice of work with no redeeming features except for those of us who saw them from the start and how life (specifically ffirst wife) kicked them in the nuts (and shot/had them shot) and that is what made them bastards.

But yes, Iu agree. They are ver different in tone. They didn't shy off people having sex before marriage in the original show. Or subjects like teenage runaways ending up on the street, being forced into prostitution, giving up their babies, domestic abuse, alcoholism, road safety awareness, even dogs being abandoned. Although, some of it did come across as a public service information broadcast some of the time, more worthy than proper dramatic storytelling.

The relationships were more interesting as well, especially the Ramsays.

I also think the houses looked much nicer and homely back then, even if they were quite dark.

There were a lot more short term story arcs involving guest characters - Max almost had his own spin off within the show when he moved out but he was a strong enough character to stand it.

That 'Smugglers cove' where they went to drink and dine always looked cozy but perhaps claustrophobic?

[Holey]

I know what you mean KK. That gets my goat as well with fans. I loved the first few months we had of the original series on 7. With Max and Maria, all the tensions with Danny/Max and Shanes diving.

Then we had the Robinsons with the very annoying but funny Julie, who worked with Des at the bank, little Lucy, Scott and his first proper relationship with a girl and then Paul who was a trolly dolly and a really nice clean cut guy. I remember fondly the first couple of episodes when Des had his stag do and Paul got drunk and Max brought him home to Jim and Helen in a babies nappy, so funny. And then there was the
blossoming romance between Des and Daphne.

Aussie soaps in the past were highly enjoyable but pretty ropey and naff and along came Neighbours, which had good scripts, great characters and good acting and it was almost normal. 7 axing Neighbours will go down in history as one of their biggest mistakes. If 7 hadn't have axed the show, would we have had 10's softer, fluffier version?

[kitkat1971]

Well, much as I loved Neighbours, I always preferred Sons and Daughters and apparently 7 made the decision they didn't want 3 soaps and 1 had to go so I'm glad it wasn't SAD which was still very good in 1985.

That said, SAD started trying to copy Neighbours when it became very successful after the change to Channel 10 with them introducing some rubbish comedy and making all the characters lose their money so they'd be more 'oridinary'. SAD then basically lost its USP and although they realised their mistake and did introduce the money and big business and scheming elements back in after about 6 months, it never really recovered - hence being axed in 87.

[roverman]

I think the issue is that soaps are expensive with huge numbers of personnel on the payroll, compared to a documentary where they might be 1 person in vision or on voice over, and a small team of crew.

ITV certainly couldn't sustain all the soaps its regional partners made hence why shows like Crossroads and High Road bit the dust.

I am naturally intrigued by 'early' Neighbours as it sounds so very different to the show I grew up watching in the early 1990s.

It is a pity in some ways we don't see more UK shows 'switching sides' as it would be interesting to see how a different team would create episodes of Corrie, Easties, ED etc.

When C4 dropped Brookie there were certainly rumours of it going to another channel, Five was allegedly interested (but then again they are always interested if newspaper stories are anything to go by!)

The Top Gear/ Grand Tour debacle has been somewhat insightful as we've seen the BBC show retain the name (but little else) and its crashed (pardon the pun), the Clarkson/Hammond/May show whilst it has the talent and some of the old crew, it'll very enlightening to see if they can recreate the magic of 'old' Top Gear from the glory years, or if it will just be the sensationalist trash we were seeing towards the end.

[CAEF]

Yes, the 1985 and 1986 seasons of Neighbours do feel significantly different outside the visual aspects of Ramsay St and some characters. They even rebuilt the interior sets. The Robinson interior was much different in 1986 to 1986. Same shape but different decor.

Channel 7 was annoyed that 10 picked up the show. So in 1986, an already existing year old in house project called "Home And Away" was chosen as the new teen soap to replace Neighbours. H&A was first concocted in early 1985.