Home and Away Tour

[Zig]

Hi Everyone

 

So not that I'm a fan of Neighbours but I love how over the past few years they have been doing tours where fans can go to hear cast past/present talk about the show and them getting to meet them as well.

 

I love how they have done this in both Australia and the UK and I wish Home and Away would do one in Australia, UK and maybe Ireland.

 

Would this be something anyone else would want to see? If so who would be your dream cast member to attend and how do we go about maybe reaching out to channel 7 to see if they would do it.

 

Ps I know there celebtime meet the actor in aus but talking about different type of tour.

Edited August 6 by Zig

[Shannon 12]

Yes I would want to see . My Dream cast member to attend would be Ray Meagher .

[atrus]

Would love to see this, but the tone of the Neighbours events is very much nostalgic and celebrating the show's history, and that's not necessarily what Seven seems to want to push for Home and Away; they seem very preoccupied with it existing in the present and only the present. So I'm not sure what they'd talk about other than current experiences of being on the show. Still, that's something and I'd probably go and see it if it happened.

If they did do one, I'd obviously be keen on the veterans being involved (Lynne McGranger would probably be top of that list for me, followed by Ray and Ada Nicodemou) and maybe at least one newer cast member - of the current crop I'm enjoying Dana and Mali more than anyone else, although it's slim pickings. But most of all what I'd like to hear from Home and Away as regards the current show is perspectives from the production team, to be honest, as that seems to have been very lacking in recent memory. Someone said in another thread that Lucy Addario isn't really so much on the creative direction side but more in charge of logistics, so I don't know who the figure would be currently who essentially steers the ship story- and character-wise? But that's who I'd most like to hear from (and would do my best to avoid heckling!)

ETA: I think Louise Bowes is who I'm talking about, judging by the crew listings on the main site?

Edited August 6 by atrus

[Homeandawayfan.]

Also Neighbours is much more iconic, watched and talked about in the UK than H&A ever was. H&A may have nipped at the heels of Neighbours but never went further than that.

Neighbours was the only Aussie soap that could give CS, EE and Emmerdale a run for their money, so I guess the UK tour is reflecting that popularity.

Edited August 6 by Homeandawayfan.

[atrus]

Certainly that was always the case when both shows were on linear TV, but my suspicion is Home and Away actually has more viewers than Neighbours now, since the latter has gone streaming-only - although we'll never know for sure because Amazon doesn't release that info.

But still, Neighbours has that perceived weight of being more of a cultural behemoth, I'd say. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

22 hours ago, atrus said:

Certainly that was always the case when both shows were on linear TV, but my suspicion is Home and Away actually has more viewers than Neighbours now, since the latter has gone streaming-only - although we'll never know for sure because Amazon doesn't release that info.

But still, Neighbours has that perceived weight of being more of a cultural behemoth, I'd say. 

Although in Australia it is the flip side, H&A is the more iconic, award winning and loved soap. I cannot say which one is more iconic worldwide as a whole.

[Zig]

13 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Although in Australia it is the flip side, H&A is the more iconic, award winning and loved soap. I cannot say which one is more iconic worldwide as a whole.

I wish we could write to channel 7 and request for this tour to happen

[nenehcherry2]

On 06/08/2024 at 15:30, Homeandawayfan. said:

Also Neighbours is much more iconic, watched and talked about in the UK than H&A ever was. H&A may have nipped at the heels of Neighbours but never went further than that.

Neighbours was the only Aussie soap that could give CS, EE and Emmerdale a run for their money, so I guess the UK tour is reflecting that popularity.

So true but, even by the early/mid 90s, Neighbours' bigger popularity in the UK was more based on the "brand" of what it had been in the late 80s (UK pace) "golden years" (perhaps still reinforced with the continued presence of Helen, Jim, Paul and Madge) and less based on what it actually currently was by X point in time (if that makes sense) This was really felt in the 95 low point... many people were watching Neighbours out of habit or custom without expecting to be entertained by whatever the current storylines were (infamously lacking in 1995); its iconism was ultimately based on events from 5-8ish years before. It had become a "brand". Just as Coronation Street had been for MANY years by the late 90s. Even non-viewers of the two shows knew most of their respective brand hallmarks (long-standing major characters, Kylie, Jason, theme tunes etc). 

Having said that, I think that 96/7 changed that a BIT.. Madge and Harold's returns were VERY talked about and then EVERYONE was talking about Karl/Sarah and whatever the latest Billy/Anne saga was that week. Whilst its popularity was still firmly rooted in the past, there was more appreciation for the NEWER elements of the show from that period onwards.

Whereas H&A has never really had a strong brand identity in the UK. Even in the 90s. From anecdotal memory, people were watching it more for whatever was happening right now. So the viewing figures were never quite as consistent or solid as Neighbours' numbers. What little brand identity H&A had (fostering, beaches, recycled teenagers, Pippa, Alf, Sally,Don, Bobby, theme tune) wasn't quite enough to make it as iconic to the overall general British public's imagination as Neighbours. Which I personally preferred, as watching H&A felt more of a PERSONAL viewing experience as opposed to Neighbours (more collective).

Edited August 9 by nenehcherry2

[Homeandawayfan.]

Also in 1992/1993 H&A was getting up to 17 million viewers, and one time in November 1992 in the UK it beat Neighbours. I guess it was also timing as well, as ITV showed it at different times in different regions, if they networked H&A to she shown nationwide at the same time it could have beaten Neighbours even more. I feel by 1992 H&A was becoming a very talked about and loved soap for what was happening now, whereas Neighbours was still living off its brand as you say, which may also explain more viewing figures, but H&A mainly was only about a million behind or two. I guess H&A's ITV timing (not being networked) and the Neighbours "brand" stopped H&A getting higher figures.

Edited August 10 by Homeandawayfan.

[nenehcherry2]

8 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Also in 1992/1993 H&A was getting up to 17 million viewers, and one time in November 1992 in the UK it beat Neighbours. I guess it was also timing as well, as ITV showed it at different times in different regions, if they networked H&A to she shown nationwide at the same time it could have beaten Neighbours even more. I feel by 1992 H&A was becoming a very talked about and loved soap for what was happening now, whereas Neighbours was still living off its brand as you say, which may also explain more viewing figures, but H&A mainly was only about a million behind or two. I guess H&A's ITV timing (not being networked) and the Neighbours "brand" stopped H&A getting higher figures.

Brand or not, the H&A storylines captured mid - late 90s kids (with little to no memory of Scott and Charlene) and teens in the playground far more than Neighbours' contemporary plots did! I recall FAR more talk of Bobby in the fridge or Selina doing anything than Marlene's gnomes. It's just that more parents would tolerate the "safer", more familiar (for them) latter playing on their kitchen telly set over "tea" time than H&A. And THAT explains the ratings difference. 

All popular terrestrial TV shows in the UK saw proportionate BARB ratings declines from approx 94/5 onwards and we can put that solely down to the acceleration of multi-channel TV (Sky's Multichannel launch of 93 and the simultaneous huge expansion of Cable outside of the key cities from the same period), as well as the increase of the number of TV sets per household.