It really is the end of an era – the Nunawading Studios, home of Neighbours since 1986, are set to be redeveloped.
This now quashes hopes of a revival for the cult Australian soap opera, which will come to an end in December.
Metro understands that Amazon Prime Video effectively dealt a lifeline by extending its original slate of commissioned episodes to producers Fremantle Media, so that the show could properly conclude.
Very sadly, it will not continue beyond this point, being axed for the third time in 40 years.
The show wrapped filming in July, and a number of cast members have already moved on to new projects.
As a result, this means there’s no reason for Fremantle to retain the show’s dedicated production hub in Nunawading, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne.
Neighbours studios’ future revealed
After cameras stopped rolling on the soap, some members of the production team were retained for filming of a new Channel 5 drama, Imposter.
The series, which will debut later in the year, has been created and produced by Jason Herbsion, who was executive producer of Neighbours for 9 years.
Imposter follows a wealthy hotel owner, portrayed by an unrecognisable Jackie Woodburne, whose kids are desperate for her to sell their estate so they can cash in on her fortune.
Events are upended when her estranged daughter, who she placed up for adoption many moons ago, arrives on her doorstep. But is she who she says she is?
Starring alongside Jackie is Coronation Street royalty Kym Marsh, her first new role since leaving Waterloo Road. Singer, television personality and actress Dannii Minogue will also appear.
Filming on Imposter has also wrapped, meaning that a demolition crew are expected to take hold of the site once it has been vacated.
Lassiters Complex to be razed to the ground
According to TV Tonight, rent on the sprawling studio site is understood to be around $100,000 per month.
The publication also notes that over the last few weeks, teams have been removing ‘sets, props, technical and administrative equipment.’
This is evident by Neighbours giving fans a chance to win bundles of props on Instagram, in a competition that is expected to continue throughout the week.
Soaps Reporter Michael Adams says…
I’m ridiculously sentimental, and although the studios are just bricks and mortar, I can’t help but be saddened when reflecting on the hours of must-watch television that has been produced from the Nunawading site over the last 61 years.
It’s also hard not to consider the hundreds of people out of work as a result of Neighbours’ axing, and the loss of a training centre for industry newbies.
In February, just one week on from the news that the show wouldn’t be renewed, I was invited along to spend some time on set. I felt riddled with guilt, not wanting to impose on their grief.
However, from the moment I stepped through the doors I was welcomed with open arms (very Ramsay Street, I know), given a unique opportunity to watch filming, dip into the background of a scene (blink and you’ll miss me!) and speak with so many passionate folk who clearly adored working there.
I know it’s clichéd to say they were family – which is something I feel you hear far too often – but they really were. I was fit to burst with admiration their strength and determination, continuing the Neighbours machine at such an unsettling time.
Having worked on soap sets here in the UK, I’ve truly never seen anything quite like what I witnessed at Nunawading. There was something special there, but luckily, over 40 years of memories will always only be a footstep away for the cast and crew.
Owners, the property redevelopers Bazem are set to convert the grounds into a residential area known as Forest Ridge, with a number of one, two and three bed apartments and townhouses constructed.
Part of the development has already began on neighbouring land.
The main building – which is where all interior scenes and the exteriors of Erinsborough High, the hospital and Eirini Rising retirement complex were shot – is to be retained.
For many years it also doubled as the exterior of Wentworth Prison in Prisoner: Cell Block H, and a 2016 heritage overlay means it cannot be demolished.
While the façade is set to stay, the inside of the building will be gutted in preparation for it becoming a distribution centre.
The Lassiters Complex backlot and Power Road will cease to exist, with the land repurposed.
Television history erased
The Nunawading Studios were opened in 1964 and built on apple orchards, long before Neighbours existed.
Aside from it’s soapy connections, it has also been used to Channel 10’s Eyewitness News, The Chase Australia and The Price is Right.
The first ever colour broadcast on Australian television took place here in 1967.
An underground tunnel was used as an audience entrance to one of the studios, was later repurposed as dressing rooms for Prisoner and latterly as the main entrance corridor of Erinsborough High.
Neighbours moved in from 2nd January 1986, and a tropical resort set used in the Holiday Island production was repurposed as Lassiters. Over the years, almost every corner of the site was used within the show.
A further $1m was invested in new backyard sets in 2013, which are also not expected to survive redevelopment.
This is the closing of a chapter not only for the Australian television industry, but also for Neighbours fans who are so desperately clinging onto the hope of a comeback in the future.
What will happen to Ramsay Street?
Luckily, Ramsay Street isn’t going anywhere.
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Pin Oak Court in Vermont South doubles for the cul-de-sac, which is occupied by real residents who allowed their houses to be used for exterior shots.
The site has become somewhat of a tourist destination over the last four decades, with fans from around the world making the pilgrimage.
Those who live in the court are bound by a contract that means they’re not allowed to do any cosmetic work to their properties without permission from producers.
Now that cameras have stopped rolling, that could soon change.
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