Neighbours, the iconic Australian series that ran for three decades, is coming back to life, despite its cancellation earlier this year.
The brand new season, which will begin filming in Australia in 2023, will premiere exclusively, for free, on Amazon’s Freevee streaming service in the UK and US.
Freevee is a free (with adverts) streaming service that doesn’t require an Amazon Prime subscription, and is available on most streaming devices and Smart TVs (either as a standalone app or via Amazon’s Prime Video app – see more on how to watch Freevee below).
The continuation of the long-running daily drama series, follows the finale earlier this year, which was watched by millions of fans.
Stefan Dennis, Alan Fletcher, Ryan Moloney, and Jackie Woodburne will return to reprise their leading roles.
Neighbours ran for more than three decades and had nearly 9,000 episodes, launching the careers of many household names. It follows the lives, loves, and challenges of the residents of Ramsay Street in Erinsborough, Australia – a fictional suburb of Melbourne.
The Australian show has screened in multiple countries during its reign, including the UK, airing on both BBC One and, most recently, Channel 5, since its launch in 1985.
In February 2022, Channel 5 announced that it would no longer air the show. And, since it was funded primarily by the channel (as the show was quite popular in the UK for many years), Channel 5’s announcement meant the show’s demise.
The final episode of Neighbours aired in July 2022, and featured guest star appearances from Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan, and Margot Robbie, all of whom were series cast members earlier in their careers.
Despite a big campaign to save the series, it seemed like there was no hope for Neighbours to return – until now.
Neighbours Coming To Freevee
The revitalized series will premiere exclusively for free on Amazon’s Freevee in the UK and US. and will include streaming rights to thousands of episodes from the previous seasons, available prior to the new series’ premiere.
In Australia, New Zealand, and Canada the show will air on Amazon’s subscription-based Prime Video service.
Production is set to commence in early 2023 with a world premiere slated for the second half of the year.
“Neighbours has captivated its audience for nearly 40 years, building a dedicated and loyal following for the lives and stories of the characters on Ramsay Street,” said Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD original content and programming, Amazon Studios.
“With the power of streaming, we’re able to offer a catalogue of thousands of Neighbours episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and current fans to relive their favourite moments.
🚨 Breaking News from Erinsborough! 🚨
Neighbours will return for a brand-new series next year exclusively on @AmazonFreevee, alongside thousands of episodes from previous seasons to stream as you please. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/1Qq2fIPgog
— Neighbours (@neighbours) November 17, 2022
How To Watch Freevee In The UK
Freevee was originally known as IMDbTV, when it turned into Freevee last April. It started its life as a US-only streaming service, back in 2019, under the umbrella of the big film database, IMDb – which is owned by Amazon.
Freevee features TV shows and films from a variety of studios and production companies, as well as original productions. Everything is free to watch – but with advert breaks.
Unlike many other free streaming services, Amazon’s Freevee also features premium originals, including the recently launched crime drama Bosch: Legacy, which is a spinoff series to Prime Video’s Bosch.
Freevee is available to watch in one of several ways:
On the Prime Video app: As a free Prime Video channel.
Prime Video channels are accessible either directly on a computer browser, or with all versions of the Prime Video app, which are available on almost every streaming device – Fire TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, most Smart TVs and Sky’s devices.
However, unlike most other Prime Video channels, Freevee doesn’t require an Amazon Prime subscription – though you do need to have a (free) Amazon account.
The Fire TV App: The app is available on Amazon’s Fire TV devices, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, as well as on Amazon’s tablets, such as the Fire HD 10. You can install it directly on your device, or via this link.
The Google TV / Android TV App: The Amazon Freevee app is available across Google TV and other Android TV OS devices including Sony, Panasonic, Hisense, Phillips, Sharp, Vestel, Nvidia, Xiaomi, TCL and more.
The Android Mobile App: Available for Android phones and tablets, on the Google Play store.
The iOS App: Available for iPhones, iPads and Apple TV 4K / Apple TV HD on Apple’s App Store.
In the US, the app is also available on Roku devices, as well as on many Smart TVs – but those versions aren’t available in the UK yet.
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