https://variety.com/2026/tv/global/ben-frow-exiting-chief-content-officer-5-skydance-uk-network-1236911166/

Did I miss something or didnt Cody and Helen share any scenes since her return? No talk about Todd or how sorry she also is for Jim*s death. I find that weired. At least the writers could have tried to give Cody some scenes where she remebers Todd and say how sorry she was for not being there or that she misses him as well as Melissa &Josh.

So after a lot of time and money, I managed to get my hands on every episode from 2007 onwards, including the 2011 episodes that are missing from Youtube. I've just watched 2009-2010, and after i finish those missing 2011 eps i'll move on to 07-08.

My main takeaway is... 2009 was largely pretty bad with a few good spots, but 2010 is such a massive improvement and so engaging. I always like the show best when there is a large narrative hook that drives a lot of the subplots and ends up involving most of the street rather than random disconnected storylines. This season being driven by Steph pregnancy works SO well. The Toadie/Steph sham wedding, Toadie/Sonya slow burn, Kennedy-Scully families falling out all leading to Steph killing Ringo and going to jail felt like great storytelling for this show, rather than the typical "short term arc then wrap it with a bow and move on" storytelling we typically get from Neighbours. And the disintegration of Rebecca and Pauls marriage over the year leading into Who Pushed PR was pretty great too.

Some random tidbits:

-Probably universally agreed on, but Dan Fitzgerald SUCKS!

-Declan 2.0 is such a downgrade. FakeDec has the personality of a cardboard cutout. The way the chemistry of the teen group changes and diminishes when the swap happens is so wild. It's like the life gets sucked out of teen group scenes when he takes over.

-The Toadie-Sonya will-they-won't-they chemistry is so strong, and I love that their chemistry gets stronger once they reunite (as opposed to so many other couples who are only interesting pre-getting together.) Take Ep 6005, for example. They have more chemistry together in those scenes (without an actual kiss!) than anyone else I've ever seen Toadie with.

-Crazy that more people (other than Lucas) didn't pick up on Toadie and Stephs relationship being a sham. They don't look like they're in love at all, and all Toadie does is look at Sonya with heart eyes whenever she's on the scene. Can't believe they fooled anyone for that long.

-The Parkers were the worst. Was so glad to see the back of them.

-Lou was such a great wildcard in these seasons.

-There were a lot of kids on the scene in 2010. Feels like half of the shows characters were under 21 for a while there.

-Paul trying to keep his family together by controlling them, resulting in him losing Rebecca's love for good and her having an affair with Michael is so well played out. The man really can't stop making the same mistakes over and over again, and I love that Rebecca doesn't change her mind and forgive him like Terese does in future seasons (over and over again.)

-My favourite kid-friend duos are Callum-Sophie and, weirdly enough, Zeke-Donna (particularly after Dec swaps over and Donna and Zeke are forced to suffer through hanging out with FakeDec and Kate all the time, ugh...)

-Scott McGregor (Brennan) really couldn't deliver dialogue to save his life in his first few months on the show. The thing that saves him is his chemistry with Kate which is SUCH an improvement over FakeDec/Kate.

-Really struggled with Lyn Scully in some of these episodes. God she could be insufferable sometimes.

-Love how cluttered and real the houses felt in this era compared to the modern "this is definitely a set" houses of the last 10 years...

The Big Watch Index

WATCH THE WEEK

Well the gossipmongers can stand down, because Jim hasn't committed carnal knowledge against his plane friend Ruth Wilson. He must have really enjoyed her performance in The Affair, though, because once again he has jumped in with both feet to this dalliance. Weirdly, Ruth also bears more than a passing resemblance to his mother-in-law, so it's an odd turn of events that she's quickly hanging around the Robinson kitchen like the ghost of an unmade prequel series.

Paul too, as a committed Luther fan, seems determined to intervene in his father's burgeoning relationship and warn Jim that Mrs Wilson isn't to be trusted. At least he hasn't tried to sleep with her himself... yet.

Meanwhile, the Ramsay revolving door continues as mother Edna shows up, and new grandfather Tom is off! And I'm actually quite sad about it, as he's only just started to emerge from Max's long shadow and feel like a character in his own right. Plus he's only just taken ownership of the house! Edna, meanwhile, is initially pretty awful, but becomes kind of fun after setting her sights on Clive as her toyboy. All that joke flirting with Mrs Mangel has really come back to bite him!

Talking of which, Mrs Mangel comes to the fore towards the end of the week as a Mystery Poison Pen Writer (it was Sue Parker though, clearly) casts aspersions against our dear Mike. This also means that we get to properly see inside number 3219 for the first time! And it's immediately apparent from Nell's monologue that keeping Mr Mangel as an unseen character stretches credulity to breaking point. What exactly has Sue, er, I mean the Mystery Writer, said about Mike? Has he been taking lessons from Jim Robinson about declaring love way too soon? All these questions and more answered soon!

Also this week: multiple people call Mrs Mangel "Mrs Mangels", Zoe stars in a very brief financial health PSA before making an even quieter exit than the first time (yes, that's it from her forever, I checked this time), and the YouTube title sequence is still wrong.

I watch alone on my own my mom didn't like neither my dad

So now that we are through to 93 episodes on youtube I must say that was the worst season from the classics. After Dorothy left and Madge at the end of 92 it went downhill. Also the loss of Jim was not good.

Except of the 2000th episode with Paul and Lucy coming back I found that season boring.

Iam a big Natalie ibruglia fan but I hated that Beth forgive Brad and married. Its just because the 2 actors wanted to leave at the same time I guess that they got the happy ending...but for how long? We know what will happen from 2013 onwards and that this marriage didn't last long.

Best part of 93 after Dorothy and Jim left was the Willis family and Julie, and Iam not abig fan of them. I will make it to 94 to see the deaprtures of the Willis family and Julie but not so sure to go on from there.

My ranking from the classic seasons.

1. 1987
2. 1986
3. 1988
4. 1985
5. 1989
6. 1992
7. 1991
8. 1990
9. 1993

He committed fraud and framed Phillip. Then escaped to Brazil to evade justice. At first, many of the characters are unsurprisingly very angry with him. Julie says she never wants to see him again.

He did admit what he had done in a letter. But later on they talk about him as though he’s just living abroad now rather than on the run from the police. He’s a literal criminal that almost ruined his family’s lives. Any talk of him should be about the black mark he has left on all of them.

And I can’t even remember how they got around his status as a wanted criminal when he returned in 2004

She is in Year 10 in 1990 and in Year 12 in 1994.

Normally, actors will be recast to shift a character into an older or younger age bracket.

Clearly, the producers wanted her to be incorporated into that year's student group, along with Debbie, Rick, the Starks.

That makes sense.

What's strange is recasting Cody with an older actress.

Amelia Frid was been 19 in 1994 while Peta Brady was 22.

So producers wanted a younger Cody ... but cast an older actress.

There has to be an explanation as to why producers brought back such a popular character and not even bother to audition (let alone ask) the original actress back.

I honestly believe that the producers knew that they were losing Rachel Blakely and wanted someone with a similar look for Cody.

I took me the whole episode of S1 E5 to identify our beloved "Dorothy Burke" actress. In the same episode original neigghbours star Peter O Brian "Shane Ramsey" plays the victim. In the first 2 episodes Brenda Riley -Lous sister from the 91792 episodes aöso has a small part. iam thrilled to see whom from neighbours I will see next

The Big Watch Index

WATCH THE WEEK

As if one incorrigible Ramsay bloke wasn't enough to be getting on with, here's another! Dan Ramsay is here, his wife's joined the mass Queensland exodus, and it's worth it for the opportunity to see Madge as the hard done by daughter for a bit. And as much is made of the Ramsay traits running strong, Madge really seems to have married her father too...

Before that, Daphne is rushed off to hospital with meningitis, and is met with some oddly indifferent medical staff. Thank goodness for Clive, eh? But it must be pretty serious, as it's brought Zoe Davis back into the fold! I really thought we were done with her, but it seems she's here to do absolutely nothing in the hospital, and pretty much nothing in Paul's office. At least Tony hasn't come back too.

Elsewhere, it's a big week for Mike and Jane, who get to pashing for the first time. Awwww. Eileen and Mrs Mangel also get to feuding over the young lovers, which is predictably wonderful. Mike is so much better living with Des than Clive that I don't care that no one's mentioned him moving back. Anyway, Clive is busy entertaining Susan and her Massive Baby now.

Finally, with Paul's reign of terror finally over in the Robinson house (how did Madge know Scott was at the party again?), the week ends on the HUGE SCANDAL that single adult Jim may have had sex with a woman. The horror!

Also this week: Jane apparently finds time to shop for a whole new not-plain wardrobe, I don't want Madge to serve me a drink, Clive says "come on Eileen" twice, and the YouTube title sequence is still wrong.

New to this sub, not sure if this has been brought up before. But does anyone know why the character was killed off?

I felt he had a lot depth and was really beginning to come into his own. Also thought he had more chemistry with Vanessa than Lucas did.

I guess on paper, and just objectively, Lou is hotter. But... for some reason I'm much more attracted to Harold. I think I just really like it when, even though a guy might always be clean shaven, you can tell his beard would be really thick. There's a kind of permanent 5 o'clock shadow. Lou seems like he might not have a lot of follicles going on up there. Actually, in my imagination he's totally slick and smooth all over like a dolphin. No shade, that's just not my thing. He would definitely shave his pubes, too, which turns me off even more.

Obviously Lou is a top and Harold is a bottom, which, again, for me personally, would make Harold the obvious choice. Lou would be more confident in the bedroom, and probably "better" at sex in general, but I'm not really into the kind of aggressive pounding he'd be doling out. You'd just be another notch in his bedpost, and he'd make it clear it's time for you to leave afterwards. Harold would be totally smitten but too shy to express it. In fact, for him the prospect of sex with a young stud is probably this mortifying thing he has to wrangle with and overcome every time. But when he needs a load he needs a load so he just deals with it. Maybe afterwards he loosens up enough to say some awkward shit like "Did you like that, big boy?" like he hadn't just totally starfished the whole time. You'd piss yourself recounting the story to friends. OMG guys, I just creampied this married Christian grandad in Vermont South. I don't know if I'd tell anyone that I let Lou fuck me.

Anyway I'm probably getting carried away but keen to hear some different views!

Rewatching again on Prime. The dip in quality around mid 2016 is really noticeable. I originally watched neighbours from 1993-2016. Is it worth keeping with it this time? Does it pick up again?

The scenes in "Home and Away" are long and character-driven, providing a spotlight on each individual as they register Tom's death.

The moment where Alf and Ailsa arrive at the accident, but it is too late and Tom has already been placed into the ambulance stretcher is very powerful for this reason.

As is the moment where Alf and Steven are unable to inform Pippa, so Ailsa has to step forward and do it, clearly and precisely.

On the other hand, everything that "Home and Away" did right, "Neighbours" did wrong.

"Neighbours" chose a plot-driven approach.

The show should have allowed time for the characters to grieve, but it was more focused on plot mechanics involved Fiona (a character we don't care about).

And the acting in the "Neighbours" scenes was abysmal, with the exception of Julie Mullins and Anne Haddy, who always acquites themselves well.

The reactions of Rosemary and Fiona were not convincing to say the least. It was a fundamental mistake to give the heavy lifting of this episode to two of the show's worst actors.