I've often thought that each decades viewers have looked back on the previous decade of Neighbours with disdain.
People who watched in the 1980s look back to those early years with characters such as Helen Daniels, Scott and Charlene, Henry Ramsey and Jim Robinson and are mostly remembering it through nostalgic eyes. Forgetting some of the hammy acting and storylines (Bouncers dream wedding anyone? Yes I know, that wasn't quite the 80s but near enough!).
Roll on to people who watched it in the 1990s with legendary characters including Cody Willis, Karl and Susan Kennedy, Toadie, Cheryl Stark, Tad and his double act with Paul McClain.
Those viewers from the 80's and 90's went into the 2000s complaining that the current cast (Scullys, Timmins) were nothing compared to the earlier bunch.
Get into the 2010s and people complain that that cast are inferior to the 2000s cast and so on it goes until we reach 2022. In 2032 people will look back on characters such as Levi Canning, Hendrix Grayson, Freya, Mackenzie with the same fondness.
It has transcended the decades. Each decade defining a generation and each as good, sometimes better than the last. It would seem that most of the naysayers have never watched the show, watched a few episodes or haven't watched it since their particular era.
As someone who has watched Neighbours for 35 years it has gone through a lot of cast changes and weird and wonderful storylines. But, for the most part, it has stayed oddly familiar. It did have a bit of a quality dip between 2011-2015 but most soaps and long runners do, it's inevitable. A four year blip out of 37 isn't bad going at all.
The current cast are a mix of returnees and newer faces. The cast turnover isn't high and the older characters don't feel like they've been shoehorned in for no reason, they all have a purpose.
Characters such as Mackenzie, played by the excellent Georgie Stone and Hendrix (Ben Turland) have given us some of the most thought provoking subjects in years. What did Helen Daniels ever do that was so progressive? (I'm not hating on Helen Daniels, she was the OG matriarch).
It's sad that it is coming to an end in 2022 as in the last six months it really had started to find itself again, featuring more location shooting around Melbourne compared to the previous ten years when it seemed to focus on set based filming which gave it a bit of an insular feel. Getting out and about has breathed some new life into it, a little too late unfortunately.
Personally I can't remember Neighbours never being there through my life. It is one of, if not the last link to my early years. It has been the one constant, reliable, familiar thing that I have taken through everything. It hasn't always been perfect, nothing ever is. But all in all it managed to create the perfect blend between light and dark.
People who watched in the 1980s look back to those early years with characters such as Helen Daniels, Scott and Charlene, Henry Ramsey and Jim Robinson and are mostly remembering it through nostalgic eyes. Forgetting some of the hammy acting and storylines (Bouncers dream wedding anyone? Yes I know, that wasn't quite the 80s but near enough!).
Roll on to people who watched it in the 1990s with legendary characters including Cody Willis, Karl and Susan Kennedy, Toadie, Cheryl Stark, Tad and his double act with Paul McClain.
Those viewers from the 80's and 90's went into the 2000s complaining that the current cast (Scullys, Timmins) were nothing compared to the earlier bunch.
Get into the 2010s and people complain that that cast are inferior to the 2000s cast and so on it goes until we reach 2022. In 2032 people will look back on characters such as Levi Canning, Hendrix Grayson, Freya, Mackenzie with the same fondness.
It has transcended the decades. Each decade defining a generation and each as good, sometimes better than the last. It would seem that most of the naysayers have never watched the show, watched a few episodes or haven't watched it since their particular era.
As someone who has watched Neighbours for 35 years it has gone through a lot of cast changes and weird and wonderful storylines. But, for the most part, it has stayed oddly familiar. It did have a bit of a quality dip between 2011-2015 but most soaps and long runners do, it's inevitable. A four year blip out of 37 isn't bad going at all.
The current cast are a mix of returnees and newer faces. The cast turnover isn't high and the older characters don't feel like they've been shoehorned in for no reason, they all have a purpose.
Characters such as Mackenzie, played by the excellent Georgie Stone and Hendrix (Ben Turland) have given us some of the most thought provoking subjects in years. What did Helen Daniels ever do that was so progressive? (I'm not hating on Helen Daniels, she was the OG matriarch).
It's sad that it is coming to an end in 2022 as in the last six months it really had started to find itself again, featuring more location shooting around Melbourne compared to the previous ten years when it seemed to focus on set based filming which gave it a bit of an insular feel. Getting out and about has breathed some new life into it, a little too late unfortunately.
Personally I can't remember Neighbours never being there through my life. It is one of, if not the last link to my early years. It has been the one constant, reliable, familiar thing that I have taken through everything. It hasn't always been perfect, nothing ever is. But all in all it managed to create the perfect blend between light and dark.