I've decided to dust off my old blogging platform years after I returned from Australia (although I'm still not over that) because as you probably already know by now, our beloved Neighbours is under threat from being wiped from the face of this planet!
This is due to Channel 5 deciding to pull the plug on their deal to keep showing it on British television and if another British broadcaster doesn't take over, Neighbours could disappear forever. I don't just mean from British television screens (which wouldn't be so bad because we could just stream it from DailyMotion) but without the financial backing of the British fanbase it's very likely that the whole production could stop.
The issue is that Fremantle Media, the production company that makes Neighbours in Australia, rely on a huge chunk of money from Channel 5 (and the BBC before them) to top up the production budget.
So what can we do to help?
There has already been a huge outpouring of love for Neighbours since the news became official on Sunday, both in the UK and in Australia. All the major newspapers and news programmes have been talking about it and it's getting a huge amount of traction on social media. What's more, there are already little whispers that other channels are in talks with Fremantle to save the day so it's looking like there might be a shred of hope somewhere on the horizon.
But unless you happen to own your own production company or have millions of pounds to invest like Mr Udagawa, there are still several practical ways you can help show your support for the show that brought us 37 years of beautiful, heart warming content and our daily dose of vitamin D.
Sign the petition
This petition started when no-one was sure what was going on with Channel 5. We now know that they are are not going to change their minds, however the more signatures that are collected in one place and the more press coverage it gets, will hopefully make other broadcasters aware of how much people still love Neighbours.https://www.change.org/p/channel-5-channel-5-don-t-axe-neighbours
Use #saveneighbours on social media
The more people talk about the issue, the better!Download the original Barry Crocker theme tune
Dust off that plinky plonky piano and help get the Neighbours theme tune to number 1 in the charts this weekend!iTunes: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/neighbours-theme/581349137?i=581349139
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neighbours-Barry-Crocker/dp/B07WCFKCD8?fbclid=IwAR34VQsQQm9-rBKwwaYRumEmwVJmXZ1PSVCqejA3VovQQWHMsQFa8y9mqjQ
Get the Facebook Profile Picture Frame
The way I've got around this issue is by layering the image below onto my original profile photo via the magic of Photoshop. nb. other image manipulating software and websites are available.
To download your copy, click on the image in order to open the full sized image, then right click on that image to save it.