When Neighbours was axed by the Seven Network in July 1985, after only four months on-air, it was at a time when the television industry was going through a lot of belt-tightening.

Not only was Neighbours axed, but the Nine Network had chopped variety shows New Faces and The Ernie Sigley Show and was about to add The Mike Walsh Show to the scrap heap. The Ten Network had also just cancelled midday variety show After Noon after only a few months on-air.

The weakening of the Australian dollar against the American dollar was bumping up imported program costs by millions. Networks were also faced with increasing costs in news services, often the flagship of each network, and for the high cost of access to Australia’s new domestic communications satellite, Aussat, about to launch. An overall decline in the advertising market and the increase in the home video market was adding to the competitive landscape. With slimming margins, cuts to network budgets had to come from somewhere. The old adage that TV was a licence to print money was still ringing true, but not to the same extent. “Instead of $50 bills it’s now $10 bills,” according to one industry insider at the time.

When it was put by TV Week to a Seven Network publicist that Neighbours was axed while enjoying increasing ratings , the response reflected the financial realities: “The reason can only be put down to the economic situation being experienced by the entire industry. We had committed $8 million for the first year of Neighbours, which is obviously a great deal of money.”

Neighbours had also become a victim of network politics and state-based variations in programming. The show was slotted in at 6.00pm in Melbourne and Adelaide, to solid ratings. In Brisbane it was given the prime timeslot of 7.00pm and was a ratings hit. But in Sydney, where Seven had a one-hour news bulletin at 6.00pm and a current affairs program at 7.00pm, it had little option but to put Neighbours on at 5.30pm — up against Ten’s top-rating dating game show Perfect Match. Neighbours didn’t stand a chance in Sydney, and the management of Sydney’s ATN7 lobbied the other network stations to put their support behind Seven’s two other dramas — Sons And Daughters and A Country Practice — which both happened to be Sydney-based, insisting that there wasn’t money to go around to a third drama series that wasn’t rating in the premier capital city market.

Despite the axe falling in July, Seven announced that production of the series would continue until September, with the remaining episodes to run through to the end of the year. It was a slight comfort not usually offered to other ill-fated short-lived dramas.

Just days after the cast had been told the news of the show’s axing they were back in front of the cameras, trying to keep up the smiles for outdoor scenes around the wedding reception of Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and Terri Inglis (Maxine Klibingaitis), but the mood was far from festive — not helped by a typical day of a damp and gloomy Melbourne winter.

When the cast were approached for comment after the axe had fallen, reaction was mixed. A disappointed Peter O’Brien told TV Week: “Being axed was something we had all thought about, and it was only in the last few weeks that we had relaxed knowing that the ratings were improving throughout Australia. We all signed our contracts only last month for another half-year. Everyone of us is now scouting around for work.”

Co-star David Clencie (pictured with co-star Vikki Blanche and a young fan) was somewhat anxious but hopeful: “At first when we heard the news I did panic. You can’t help but feel disillusioned, empty and lonely. We all knew this would end sometime — but not this soon. I can pack my bags and move to Sydney, but I feel for some of the older cast members.”

Former The Young Doctors star Alan Dale, who had relocated his two sons from Sydney to Melbourne for Neighbours, said: “This is the third series I have been in that’s gone, but I still wonder what it’s all about. I haven’t thought about what we will do yet.”

While there was obvious disappointment and uncertainty among cast and crew of the show, a silver lining was about to emerge. Unbeknownst to them, Grundy Television was pitching the series to Network Ten — at the time suffering a lack of ongoing drama projects. Ten had not long farewelled the 1920s-themed Carson’s Law and its Melbourne-based drama Prisoner was past its peak.

By September, Ten had announced that it was going to resume production of Neighbours, to commence airing from early 1986 and likely in the 7.00pm timeslot across its four capital city markets. Seven, unaware of the massive own goal it has just scored, could only offer a “no comment” to Ten’s announcement, and watch on as Neighbours became a global hit.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 21 July 1985. The Age, 12 September 1985. Sun-Herald, 15 September 1985. TV Week, 10 August 1985.