After 37 years, over 8,800 episodes, and more tumultuous romances, acrimonious break-ups, and tearful reunions than you can shake a stick at, the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours is being canceled. The soap premiered on Australian TV in 1985 and featured the goings-on of the families living on Ramsay Street, an ordinary road in a fictional borough of Melbourne. Ratings were initially unimpressive, but the series soon became wildly popular and proved an important export success, rapidly gaining a devoted following in the United Kingdom on its premiere in 1986.

Broadcast on BBC1 in an early evening slot, Neighbours famously appealed to schoolchildren and parents alike, and viewing figures surged. Audiences of over 20 million (a third of the population) were not uncommon. Such events as Harold Bishop's mysterious disappearance and Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell's will-they-won't-they wedding became water-cooler television moments. Now broadcast in over 60 countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and the United States (where Hulu briefly picked up the show), Neighbours is a firm favorite of soap opera aficionados the world over. Here's why we'll be sad to see it go.

One of the Longest-Running Soaps in the World

Australian television soap opera Neighbours
Fremantle

It's rare to find a soap opera with such remarkable staying power as Neighbours. The show has battled drop-offs in ratings, moves from channel to channel, and the sudden departure of established cast members through illness. In 2008, when the BBC axed the soap from their schedules, fellow British broadcaster Channel 5 not only picked up the show but took the unprecedented step of paying the show's Australian production company to keep it in production. The gamble paid off, and Channel 5's rating figures skyrocketed. It's no surprise that the show's impending disappearance is being most keenly felt in the U.K., where it continues to enjoy support among a loyal band of devoted fans.

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In an official statement released to Digital Spy, a Channel 5 spokesperson said:

"Neighbours will no longer air on Channel 5 beyond this summer. It's been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we'd like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series."

Neighbours Was the Big Break for Many Stars

Australian Neighbours
10 Peach

The list of Aussie starlets who got their first jobs in acting on Neighbours is too long to recount in full. Among the earliest successes was Kylie Minogue, who joined the soap in 1986 playing fresh-faced car mechanic Charlene. Her girl-next-door persona, combined with her on-screen chemistry with Jason Donovan (who would himself go on to huge West End success with stage shows Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and The Rocky Horror Show), made her an instant teenage heartthrob; supporting roles in Moulin Rouge! and San Andreas followed. Donovan's character Scott, meanwhile, was best friends with Mike Young, played by none other than a 19-year-old Guy Pearce, over a decade before he found fame in box office hits such as L. A. Confidential, Prometheus, and The King's Speech.

Many more big-name stars followed. Natalie Imbruglia, who played Beth Brennan in over 250 episodes in the early 1990s, became a multi-platinum-selling pop star with her albums Left Of The Middle and White Lilies Island and played the female lead opposite Rowan Atkinson in James Bond spoof Johnny English (2003). Margot Robbie also got her big break on the show, impressing producers so much with a one-off appearance that the character, Donna Freedman, was made part of the main cast. A lucrative Hollywood career and Academy Award nominations for I, Tonya (2017) and Bombshell (2019) followed. Australian actors will, of course, still find ways to rise to the top, but with Neighbours' passing also goes what was for many budding stars a rite of passage.

Neighbours Had Everything

Australian television soap opera Neighbours
Fremantle

Seriously. In a television genre where friends are ceaselessly falling out and making up, characters get exposed to extreme strife even by soap opera standards. An early example was the experience of Harold Bishop, who first appeared on the show in 1987. After a rekindled romance with his high-school sweetheart Madge, the two married, only for Harold to be swept out to sea during a seaside walk with his new wife during a 1991 episode. He returned to the show five years later, suffering from amnesia.

Plotlines involving drug addiction, sudden illnesses, moral dilemmas, gambling, and adultery have made regular appearances. And in 2014, Ramsay Street got hit by a tornado in a widely-hyped event that was praised for its high production values and taut ensemble acting.

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But perhaps all is not lost. Last month, a spokesperson for Fremantle Australia declared that, due to the impending withdrawal of funding by Channel 5, the production company had no choice but to "rest" the show. This gives fans hope that, maybe one day soon, cameras will return to the sunny, welcoming environs of Ramsay Street.