Script: Going back to their neighbourly roots

Executive producer Susan Bower has led the renovations at Ramsay St. She told Genevieve Tait how to bring some life back into a show that has seen better days.

Neighbours is getting a makeover. The show first aired in 1985 and is Australia’s longest running serial drama. However in 2007 the ratings were suffering and the creative team was accused of concocting sensationalised plots foreign to the relationship and community based drama that Neighbours was known for. This sensationalising of storylines was added to by Network TEN’s excessively dramatic advertising that often left viewers expecting a mountain but only finding a molehill.

In February 2008 Susan Bower joined the crew as Executive Producer. Whilst change was in motion before her appointment, she has led the larger technical and creative renovations. Bower describes the task of rejuvenating Neighbours as “turning around the QE2”, but with methodical progression, she believes the show has clawed its way back to its roots and audience.