H&A's failure to reach Neighbours heights in the UK.

[CAEF]

H&A is more popular in Australia but that is as far as it goes. I think outside Australia, Neighbours is the more popular soap in the countries around the world it is shown in.

In the UK, Neighbours is hugely popular. In 1988-1990 it was getting 18-21 million viewers and even beat Corrie and EastEnders a few times. I think what made Neighbours so popular was the Australian cul de sac setting in the suburbs, and the rich blend of families. I think Jason and Kylie also contributed to the success of the show. London even used to seemingly grind to a halt at 1:30pm when Neighbours was on, and Aussies in London were asked the same questions time and time again about what is happening in Neighbours in Oz, due to UK episodes being a year behind.

Yet H&A never reached such heights. Its highest figures was 14 million once, and it usually got 12-13 million. ITV wanted H&A to rival Neighbours but it never did. I think it was a white elephant so to speak.

Some say it was timing, but I think the main reason why is H&A's setting. The UK audience related more to an Aussie suburban cul de sac than a seaside town in the bush. Also, Neighbours was about families whereas H&A was full of waifs and strays, so it never grabbed the UK public like Neighbours did. They related more to families in an Aussie suburban cul de sac than waifs and strays in a small beach town.

[Deleted]

I agree 100% CAEF.
What also sets H&A apart from Neighbours is that Neighbours seems to go that extra mile in regards to extra content. Now and again they have extra webisodes with some of the Neighbors cast, and they never take themselves seriously. Some of the wedisodes had me laughing out loud - especially the 'back to the future' type show where they even had Stingray featured in them.
Once or twice H&A did extra content, but it was very dark, and featured the Riverboys. Nowhere near as good as the Neighbours webisodes IMO.
I also loved how they wished EastEnders a Happy Birthday with some special scenes. I still laugh at Paul Robinson dressed up as Phil Mitchell.

[Holey]

Originally when the idea of Neighbours came up, it was going to be a co production with the BBC, Reg Grundy knew Neighbours was going to be a hit in the UK and it would appeal to a wide range of viewers. It was only natural that the BBC would pick the show up for their new daytime service in 1986.

Interesting that Reg Grundy's wife Joy Chambers aka Rosemary Daniels said if Reg had still been in charge of Neighbours he would never have let it leave the BBC and go to the highest bidder.

[CAEF]

I think H&A's setting was a good reason why it never made the impact the way Corrie, EE and Neighbours did. The UK audience identified more with the city soaps and suburban soaps as opposed to an isolated beach town in the middle of nowhere.

Also H&A was full of random people.