Neighbours axed just two years after Amazon revived the beloved but embattled Australian soap

IT seems like we’ve come to the end of Ramsay Street once again.

Two years after Neighbours was spared from the chopping block by Amazon, the beloved Aussie soap’s future hangs in the balance after its production company Fremantle reportedly failed to reach a new deal with the streaming giant.

Amazon bought the show back to life in a multi-year deal announced at the end of 2022. It came after Neighbours was sensationally axed by Channel 5 after almost four years of production.

But, according to The Sun, the sentimental favourite — which is watched around the world — is on its last leg. Production will stop in summer and the final ever episode will air at the end of the year.

While it may not be high-brow television, Neighbours has been a melodramatic favourite for generations of soapy fans and it has been the springboard for a number of Aussie talents including Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, and Delta Goodrem — a number of whom returned for an emotional Ramsay Street farewell in 2022.

With Amazon on board, the rebooted Neighours started production in 2023 and was shown on Amazon Freevee worldwide. Amazon folded that service in 2024 and folded Neighbours into its Prime Video streaming offering.

According to The Sun, Amazon told Fremantle the funding would be pulled after their venture into soaps had not gained the level of success it had hoped.

“Amazon gave Fremantle two years to see if it worked but sadly they just didn’t get the viewers,” a source told the newspaper.

“It’s a really sad day especially for the cast and crew who work on the show in Melbourne.

“This really is the end of Neighbours just as it’s celebrated it’s 40th birthday.”

The axe is set to swing despite it being nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 2024 — it was in the mix with the likes of The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, and four-time winner General Hospital.

Guy Pearce was also nominated for the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performer in A Drama Series — he was beaten by Dick Van Dyke for his guest appearance on Days of Our Lives.

The nominations were a first for the show, which had won a number of Australian TV awards through its four-decades of production.

Neighbours was first shown in Australian in 1985 and debuted on BBC1 in a year later.

The wedding of Scott and Charlene (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, respectively) two years into the program’s run was a global sensation, drawing nearly 20 million UK viewers.