Home and Away schedule changes in UK and Australia
Home and Away will not air on Channel 5 in the UK or Channel 7 in Australia on Monday 19th September due to the Queen’s funeral.
Australian viewers will see the postponed episode the following day, while UK viewers will only be able to watch it on My5.
Home and Away schedule changes in Australia
In Australia, Channel 7 will feature coverage of the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II from midday, continuing through to the morning of Tuesday 20th September.
The episode which was due to air on Monday will instead air on Tuesday, with the rest of the week’s episodes pushed back by one episode to compensate.
There will be single episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, with three episodes airing on Thursday 22nd September as originally planned.
To make up for the dropped episode, two episodes are currently scheduled to air the following Wednesday 28th September, at 7pm and 7:30pm. From this point onwards, the episodes will be airing as originally scheduled.
Home and Away schedule changes in the UK
In the UK, the episode scheduled to air on Channel 5 on Monday 19th September at 1:45pm will no longer be shown.
Channel 5 will instead air children’s programmes and films throughout the day, giving viewers an alternative to the coverage of the state funeral and royal documentaries which dominate the schedules of the UK’s other public service broadcasters.
The repeat airing of Home and Away, which usually airs on 5STAR at 6pm, has also been cancelled, with the channel instead airing Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
The episode will not be broadcast the following day. As such, if you didn’t see the first look episode on 5STAR on Friday evening, or as part of the omnibus on Saturday morning, then the only way to view it will be on My5.
The first look will air as usual on 5STAR at 6:30pm, giving viewers an early look at the episode which will air on Channel 5 on Tuesday.
The usual schedule will then resume from Tuesday, with episodes on Channel 5 at 1:45pm and 5STAR at 6pm.
Channel 5 has aired Home and Away in the UK since 2001, but in 2021 it decided to drop the 6pm screening on its main channel, instead moving it to 5STAR.
However, earlier this year, it reaffirmed its commitment to the show, after its decision to drop Neighbours from its schedules led to the soap being axed completely.
In a statement released to the press, a Channel 5 spokesperson confirmed that Home and Away is safe at this moment in time:
“Home and Away has broadcast on Channel 5 since 2000, and it has a longstanding and continuing home on the channel,” they said.
“It will continue to air on Channel 5 on weekdays at 1:15pm and on 5STAR at 6pm, with a first look on 5STAR every weekday at 6:30pm.”
Channel 5’s deal to air the show came in March 2000 when they outbid existing broadcaster ITV, in an agreement rumoured to be worth up to £40million over the first five years.
Although they reportedly hadn’t offered as much money as ITV, it was their commitment to air the show for its lifetime that swung the bid in their favour.