A Chronological History of Australian Soap

[Carrie Fairchild]

Incidentally, the GP is possibly the first Russian character I've seen in an Aussie soap. I say possibly because it seems impossible there wasn't at least one in the thousands of hours of Aussie soap I've watched. I'm probably overlooking someone really obvious.

I’d need to look back at my posts or the Super Aussie Soap book but there was a Russian woman in the late 70’s / early 80’s who became a media celebrity in Australia after jumping off a ship into Sydney Harbour, in order to defect. I think she popped up in a couple of soaps around that time (possibly Holiday Island or Arcade). As she wasn’t a trained actor, I don’t know if these were regular roles or just cameos.

OK, so the Russian defector that I mentioned above, did appear in Arcade but that was in a cameo as herself.

But, there was a Russian character named Mishka in Neighbours in the mid-00’s, who was romantically involved with Lou Carpenter, after he found her on a Russian bride website.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

there was a Russian woman in the late 70’s / early 80’s who became a media celebrity in Australia after jumping off a ship into Sydney Harbour, in order to defect.

Wow. I had no idea.

OK, so the Russian defector that I mentioned above, did appear in Arcade but that was in a cameo as herself.

Oh, that's fun. It evidently packed a lot into its short lifespan.

But, there was a Russian character named Mishka in Neighbours in the mid-00’s, who was romantically involved with Lou Carpenter, after he found her on a Russian bride website.

Interesting. I wouldn't have seen her, but I just looked it up and see she was played by Deborah Kennedy, best known to me as gossipy Doris Collins in A Place To Call Home (she was also the vet who euthanised the Fletcher's baited dog in an early H&A episode).

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

39 seasons on, Home & Away just pulled off a most impressive feat. | TV Tonight

Seven soap was not just the top entertainment show for all of last week, but every night it screened.

tvtonight.com.au

A small victory in the grand scheme of things but still good to see that the last standing Aussie soap has life left in it yet.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Every now and then I go back to "our" viavision to see if there are any Aussie soap updates e.g. a new volume of The Young Doctors or Number 96.
Kinda sad to see that Sons & Daughters no longer features in the Aussie Favourites menu - the box sets are available on backorder (I guess that means they need sufficient backorders to repress the DVDs).
Nevertheless, it was an exciting time. Sometimes too exciting, with Covid sabotaging flights and whatnot.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Every now and then I go back to "our" viavision to see if there are any Aussie soap updates e.g. a new volume of The Young Doctors or Number 96.

I still get regular newsletter emails from VV (the latest landed in my inbox just a couple of hours ago). Seeing these used to give me a little surge of excitement that some long-forgotten Aussie soap treasure will be announced, but I've pretty much given up on that.

Kinda sad to see that Sons & Daughters no longer features in the Aussie Favourites menu - the box sets are available on backorder (I guess that means they need sufficient backorders to repress the DVDs).
Nevertheless, it was an exciting time. Sometimes too exciting, with Covid sabotaging flights and whatnot.

Yes. It was very exciting to see the series elevated in profile for a while and to guess at who would be signing the next edition (spoiler: it was always Rowena Wallace. But I still give myself an occasional kick for not snapping up the Tom Richards-signed Season Two while stocks lasted).

There were those controversial moments as well. Who can forget the shock over the logo orientation on Collection Three's spine? Or the non-yellow logo variant on Collection Four?

Seeing most (if not all) of the series seems to be out of print now does make me feel good about completing my S&D collection when I did. Dare I say they've increased in value (even though they were already priceless to begin with).

Perhaps I ought to actually open and watch them one of these days.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

UKTV Brings the Early Years of Neighbours to U in 420‑Episode Back Catalogue Deal

UKTV has secured the exclusive rights to the early back catalogue of iconic Australian drama series Neighbours, following a landmark content deal with Frem

corporate.uktv.co.uk

The first two years of Neighbours are getting a rerun in Ireland and the UK, on digital channel U&Drama and its online streaming service. The first 115 episodes will be added to the streaming service in one go in July, with 5 episodes a week being added thereafter. It’ll also air as part of U&Drama’s linear schedule.

If I remember correctly, the show hasn’t been repeated on linear TV here since the early to mid 00’s, when UK Gold used to air classic episodes.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The first two years of Neighbours are getting a rerun in Ireland and the UK, on digital channel U&Drama and its online streaming service.

That's nice to see.

Since Neighbours ended a few years ago (before the brief Amazon revival) I've had it at the back of my mind to dig out my official DVDs which cover the first 300-ish episodes. It's good to know that in the unlikely event this happens any time soon, I may be able to continue where they leave off.