Neighbours the Celebration Tour: Aussie legends delight fans at Brighton Centre show

I started watching the show when they started screening it on the BBC in the UK, back when I’d just started school. When I couldn’t watch it air live, my mum would record it for me to watch later, and when we went on holidays, my nan would record it on a video tape for me to watch in one glorious Neighbours-fest when I got home.

I never wanted to miss an episode, and that pretty much continued throughout my whole life. It was a teatime staple in my house until its final hurrah last year when Channel Five stopped its financial support for the legendary show.

Or so we thought…

The tour that came to the Brighton Centre on Saturday night was supposed to be a farewell to Erinsborough, but before the stars could even get to UK shores, a Neighbours revival was announced on Amazon Freevee.

It is due to restart this summer, and so now, the tour has been rethemed as Neighbours the Celebration Tour.

And what a celebration it was!

Starring six cast members, Saturday’s event at the Brighton Centre was an evening of reminiscence, celebration and looking to the future now the show is going to restart.

For lifelong fans like me, it was a moment of sheer delight when Dr Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher), Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and Toadie (Ryan Maloney) came out on stage.

They were joined by Jane Harris (Annie Jones) and Chloe Brennan (April Rose Pengilly), and the night took a kind of chat-show format, led by host Leah Boleto.

We hear about moments behind the scenes, how the cast members get on off-camera, tributes were paid to some of the stars who who passed away during the years, and we heard about what it was like when the cast learned the show had been axed – and then 112 days later picked up again!

There was talk of the many marriages, many deaths, disasters, triumphs, tragedies and everything in between.

But, perhaps, the best part of the night was Fletch (as he is known to his fans) singing a tribute to ‘Suzie K’ and then the night being rounded-off by all of the cast delivering the monologue given by Jackie Woodburne in what was thought to be the show’s final episode last year.

They then sang a medley of ‘Thank you for being a Friend’ which segued into the Neighbours theme tune.

It was everything. All Saturday nights should end that way.

It’s got me so excited for the show’s reboot and all the exciting storylines to come. And, hopefully, that can lead to another Neighbours Celebration Tour somewhere down the line. Because, I, for one, Will be there in a heartbeat.

For details of more events at the Brighton Centre, see the website.