Neighbours' stars talk show's return and what's ahead

With long-running soap Neighbours returning to screens just over a month ago, Audrey Donohue chats with executive producer Jason Herbison, and actors Tim Kano and Annie Jones, about what's to come in the newest iteration of the soap.

Soap fans around the world rejoiced when news broke in June that one of the genre's biggest success stories, Neighbours, was to make its return after being axed only months previously after failing to secure new funding.

The Australian soap, which charts the lives and loves of the residents of Ramsey Street in Erinsborough, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, had run for 37 years and 9,000 episodes prior to its cancellation.

It was a launching pad for A-listers like Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia, Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe.

And no one’s happier that the show’s back than the stars themselves. Tim Kano, who plays Leo Tanaka, revealed that the cast was "heartbroken when the show shut down" and admits he was "ecstatic" to learn of its return.

It’s a sentiment that series stalwart Annie Jones, who plays Jane Harris, echoes. The actress, who was formerly known as "Plain Jane Superbrain" in her early years on the show, prior to a famous makeover, says: "I was just going to have a bit of a break for a little while, just work in the garden and play with my dogs and just have a bit of a sleep in, a bit of a rest. I was so, so delighted that the show is back, and so grateful to the fans who I think are the reason it came back."

Exec producer Jason Herbison, who first wrote for the show after leaving high school, says he didn’t imagine that the show would be revived so quickly.

"I always hoped it would [brought back] one day, but I certainly didn't think it would be four months later - I think it was something like that between our last episode airing and us announcing the return of the show. So it did happen quicker than I ever could have anticipated."

He continues: "I've been the executive producer for just over a decade and as you know, we had a big finale and that of course was very wonderfully received - we had that incredible reaction from the audience and a groundswell of support.

"Then a few months later we were approached by Amazon FreeVee, and here we are again – you can't keep us down!"

The new iteration of the show is set two years after the "finale", with Herbison saying the period felt like the right amount of time to give the show a "reset" and a "refresh".

He says: "We didn’t want to age everyone by five years - that felt like a long time! No, just kidding."

"Two years felt like the right amount of time. We’ve used that as part of the story. And I think what viewers are seeing at the moment, there are still a few unanswered questions about what has happened in Ramsey Street over the last two years. So keep watching!"

Tim Kano, who plays Leo, was happy to speak of his Irish heritage when I asked him about his mother having Irish roots.

"Yes, it is indeed true… my mum is really into our family history and she's actually documented it and put it into a book.

"She's really, really into our family heritage and our family name is O'Connor – I’m part of the O'Connor clan. So I’d definitely love to get to Ireland."

From which part of Ireland do his ancestors hail? "It's Connaught. Does that sound right?" he laughs.

Both Herbison and Jones chime in with their love of Ireland, with EP Herbison enthusiastically saying: "My family are all Irish so I'm all over it. I've been over. The whole country is absolutely beautiful. I've lots of memories of Ireland."

Kano says that he's enjoying his character's storylines at present. The series wrapped not long after his girlfriend Britney (Montana Cox) tragically died in a storm disaster after the pair had reunited romantically. The incident left Leo as a single father to their baby daughter Abigail.

"I think it's been a real period of growth for Leo over the two-year jump and especially now he's got a toddler, he's really taking on his single fatherhood," he says.

"And also he's kind of working in the vineyard and he's still got the business in the whiskey distillery and things going on."

Kano says that single fathers often contact him to tell him how they appreciate being represented by his character on a mainstream show.

"The fans have responded really well to it. It's been really interesting to hear how much they've loved seeing the single father kind of plotline carry through – [a single dad] juggling work and having this beautiful daughter.

"I’m definitely feeling the love from fans for it... it's really nice thing to show."

Jane, played by Harris, is one of Ramsey Street's best-loved characters. After auditioning in the late 80s for the part of Charlene - the role Kyle Minogue went on to secure - 19-year-old Harris kept knocking on the producers' door until they gave her a role.

After three years on the soap, she left to explore other projects, before taking 15 years away from acting to care for her mother who had Alzheimer's. She returned as a series regular in 2020.

In the new series, all seems rosy in the garden for Jane, with actor Harris saying the character is enjoying happiness both personally and professionally.

"Well, a big change came with Susan retiring in the intervening two years, and Jane has been given the position of principal at the school, and so that is her great, great passion.

"She's got her son Byron back in the street and she's over the moon about it. She's just been very busy looking after the school and being an integral part of the community."

And of her reunion with Michael, played by Guy Pearce? "Ohhhh yes. Yes, yes! She and Michael have gotten engaged, so yes - life couldn't be better at the moment for Jane."

Another huge draw to the new series is a somewhat unlikely guest star – Mischa Barton – best known to many for starring as Marissa in The OC from 2003 to 2006.

She plays Reece Sinclair, an American new to Erinsborough, who’s not quite who she appears to be.

When I asked if The OC was as big Down Under as it was here, Herbison was enthusiastic. "I loved the first couple of seasons of The OC and I certainly remember Mischa from that, so when we had this role come up, we thought of her."

Herbison continues: "It was wonderful that she came out and she worked with us and she of course had a connection to Neighbours too, because Alan Dale was a very big character from Neighbours, who also went into The OC as well. He was Jim Robinson in our show-" before Kano interjects, "He was her stepdad - Julie Cooper's husband - the evil stepdad!"

So what can Irish fans of the show expect in the coming weeks and months? Herbison says: "One thing that’s coming up very soon is we are doing 'flashback week', which is a week that will help to fill out some of the gaps of what people have missed in the two year time jump. So that's coming up and is very exciting."

Neighbours airs Monday to Thursday on RTÉ One at 2pm and on RTÉ2 at 6pm
Catch-up available on RTÉ Player