''Neighbours: Erinsborough High'' is an Australian television series produced for
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
and
catch up TV
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
services
My5
5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5 and My5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, operator of TV channel 5, in the United Kingdom. The service is ad-supported and provided over- ...
and
10 Play. It was released on 11 November 2019. The series is a spin-off of soap opera ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
''. Featuring new and regular characters from the main show, the series follows a group of students at
Erinsborough High School
Erinsborough is a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Australia, where the soap opera ''Neighbours'' is set, focusing on the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work there. ''Neighbours'' primarily centers on the residents of ...
as they prepare for their final exams, and focuses on the various issues they are facing, as well as the disappearance of one of the students.
Premise
''Neighbours: Erinsborough High'' takes place during the
Year 12
Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth or thirteenth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-comp ...
exam period, and explores issues that affect teenagers at school, including bullying, sexuality, parental and peer pressure, and teacher-student relationships.
The episodes also focus on the revelations caused by the disappearance of a popular student.
Cast and characters
*
Olivia Junkeer
Olivia Junkeer (born 11 January 1999) is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Yashvi Rebecchi in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. She also portrayed the character in the spin-off ''Erinsborough High''. She portrayed Mia i ...
as
Yashvi Rebecchi
*
Benny Turland
Benjamin Turland (born 13 July 1998) is an Australian actor and dancer. Turland won the grand final of the revived ''Young Talent Time'' series with his dance group Lil' Banditz Krew, before going onto the semi-final of ''Australia's Got Talent' ...
as
Hendrix Greyson
Hendrix Greyson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Ben Turland. Turland's manager did not tell him that he was not what the producers were looking for when he submitted a self-tape. However ...
*
Jemma Donovan as
Harlow Robinson
Harlow Loomis Robinson (born September 20, 1950) is a Matthews Distinguished University Professor of History at Northeastern University who specializes in Soviet and Russian cultural history, with writings on Soviet film and performing arts.
...
*
Georgie Stone
Georgie Robertson Stone (born 2000) is an Australian actress, writer and transgender rights advocate. At the age of 10, Stone was the youngest person to receive hormone blockers in Australia, which set a precedent that eventually changed the ...
as
Mackenzie Hargreaves
Mackenzie Hargreaves is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Georgie Stone. She made her first appearance on 30 August 2019. Mackenzie is the soap's first transgender character, added to the series after S ...
*
Rob Mills
Robert Mills (born 21 June 1982) is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show '' The Mint'' with his child ...
as
Finn Kelly
Finn Kelly is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Rob Mills. The actor relocated to Melbourne, where the show's studios are located, for the role of progressive high school teacher Finn. Mill ...
* Sharon Johal as
Dipi Rebecchi
* Lachlan Millar as
Richie Amblin
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 and airs on digital channel 10 Peach. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the show in 2019, by order of first appearance. All charac ...
* Darius Amarfio-Jefferson as Jeremiah Annan
* Mahalia Brown as
Cherie Reyner
* Nikolai Egel as
Marty Muggleton
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 and airs on digital channel 10 Peach. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the show in 2019, by order of first appearance. All charac ...
* Grace O'Sullivan as
Olivia Lane
* Ellmir Asipi as
Ollie Sudekis
*
Amanda Harrison
Amanda Harrison is an Australian actress and singer, known for her roles in ''Wicked'' (Elphaba), ''We Will Rock You'' ("Meat" understudy in the UK, and “Oz" understudy in Australia), and for originating the role of Paula Pokrifki in the worl ...
as
Angela Lane
Episodes
Production
Conception and development
The show was developed by ''Neighbours'' executive producer
Jason Herbison
Jason Herbison (born 1972) is an Australian television producer, screenwriter and novelist, most recently serving as the executive producer of the soap opera ''Neighbours''. He has written scripts for numerous television serials, and has publis ...
, who had wanted to create a ''Neighbours'' spin-off for a number of years.
Herbison told Andrew Mercado of ''
Mediaweek
''Mediaweek'' is an online trade website serving the Australian media industry. It provides news regarding the Australian List of newspapers in Australia, newspaper, Television in Australia, television, List of Australian radio stations, radio, ...
'' that a "there has always been talk" about creating a spin-off centred around the hospital, police station, or high school environments, but as it had been 20 years since the end of ''
Heartbreak High
''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television programme created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with som ...
'', the high school was "an obvious choice".
Herbison commented, "It's great for teen-based and intergenerational stories with students, teachers and cranky parents."
The serial's UK broadcaster
Channel 5 liked the idea of focusing on the high school and commissioned the spin-off with the support of
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...
.
They had also wanted an exclusive programme for their VOD platform My5, after ''Neighbours ratings increased in July 2019, which Herbison said "was unusual because volume usually dips during a UK summer".
''Neighbours: Erinsborough High'' is the first spin-off series of ''Neighbours''.
Producers use the series to explore issues that affect a younger audience. Herbison described it as "an exciting opportunity to shine a light on one of our most iconic playing areas – the local high school. It's long been an ambition to delve deeper into some of our workplaces and the characters who populate them. Who knows what we might do next?" Herbison also confirmed that the cast would be familiar to viewers, as they were introduced during the main show a few months beforehand.
Mercado reported that the series has a dark tone and the storylines focus on "social issues, inappropriate behaviour and the sweetest moment for ground-breaking Mackenzie (Georgie Stone)."
Cast member Olivia Junkeer said the series is noticeably different from ''Neighbours'', as the storylines are "grittier, darker and more sinister".
The series also uses different cameras and lighting, and the scripts contain swear words.
Junkeer also confirmed that it would follow the same storylines as the main show, so her character "has the exact same mindset" and what happens to her in ''Neighbours'' is also mentioned in the spin-off.
She thought the series would relate to teenagers in 2019, as it highlights the "ups and downs of high school" and "dives into social media, relationships between girls and boys, girls and girls, boys and boys. It shows every side to being a teenager and it's excellent."
During the episodes, each character makes a video diary, which allows the audience to hear and see their innermost thoughts.
Actor
Benny Turland
Benjamin Turland (born 13 July 1998) is an Australian actor and dancer. Turland won the grand final of the revived ''Young Talent Time'' series with his dance group Lil' Banditz Krew, before going onto the semi-final of ''Australia's Got Talent' ...
said this format helps to show how his character
Hendrix Greyson
Hendrix Greyson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Ben Turland. Turland's manager did not tell him that he was not what the producers were looking for when he submitted a self-tape. However ...
is really feeling beyond the "cool guy act" he puts on. He explained, "as he talks to the camera, you can see how things get to him. It makes it a lot more personal, and I think those video diaries are one of the things that make ''Erinsborough High'' special."
Casting and filming
Several cast members from ''Neighbours'' cross over to ''Neighbours: Erinsborough High''. ''Neighbours'' regulars Olivia Junkeer (
Yashvi Rebecchi) and
Benny Turland
Benjamin Turland (born 13 July 1998) is an Australian actor and dancer. Turland won the grand final of the revived ''Young Talent Time'' series with his dance group Lil' Banditz Krew, before going onto the semi-final of ''Australia's Got Talent' ...
(Hendrix Greyson), and recurring stars
Georgie Stone
Georgie Robertson Stone (born 2000) is an Australian actress, writer and transgender rights advocate. At the age of 10, Stone was the youngest person to receive hormone blockers in Australia, which set a precedent that eventually changed the ...
(
Mackenzie Hargreaves
Mackenzie Hargreaves is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Georgie Stone. She made her first appearance on 30 August 2019. Mackenzie is the soap's first transgender character, added to the series after S ...
) and Lachlan Miller (
Richie Amblin
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 and airs on digital channel 10 Peach. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the show in 2019, by order of first appearance. All charac ...
), play major roles in the spin-off,
along with Grace O'Sullivan and Darius Amarfio-Jefferson as
Olivia Lane and Jeremiah Annan respectively. Stone reprised her role following her initial ''Neighbours'' storyline, prior to returning as a regular cast member in 2020. O'Sullivan appeared in ''Neighbours'' prior to her role in ''Erinsborough High'', leading in to the spin-off's storyline. Nikolai Egel and Mahalia Brown appear as teachers
Marty Muggleton
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 and airs on digital channel 10 Peach. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the show in 2019, by order of first appearance. All charac ...
and
Cherie Reyner respectively, characters who have both appeared intermittently in ''Neighbours'' since September 2019. Ellmir Asipi also reprises his ''Neighbours'' guest role of
Ollie Sudekis. Regular ''Neighbours'' cast members Jemma Donovan (
Harlow Robinson
Harlow Loomis Robinson (born September 20, 1950) is a Matthews Distinguished University Professor of History at Northeastern University who specializes in Soviet and Russian cultural history, with writings on Soviet film and performing arts.
...
),
Rob Mills
Robert Mills (born 21 June 1982) is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show '' The Mint'' with his child ...
(
Finn Kelly
Finn Kelly is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Rob Mills. The actor relocated to Melbourne, where the show's studios are located, for the role of progressive high school teacher Finn. Mill ...
) and Sharon Johal (
Dipi Rebecchi) also appear, along with
Amanda Harrison
Amanda Harrison is an Australian actress and singer, known for her roles in ''Wicked'' (Elphaba), ''We Will Rock You'' ("Meat" understudy in the UK, and “Oz" understudy in Australia), and for originating the role of Paula Pokrifki in the worl ...
(
Angela Lane).
''Neighbours: Erinsborough High'' is produced and distributed by
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
. The series was filmed at Fremantle's Global Television studios in
Forest Hill, Victoria
Forest Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Whitehorse local government area. Forest Hill recorded a population of 10,780 at the 2021 census.
...
, where the main show is also filmed.
The episodes are directed by
Jonathon Dutton
Jonathon Dutton (born 13 August 1981) is an Australian actor and director. From 1998 to 2002, Dutton played Tad Reeves in ''Neighbours''. He later returned to the show as a director. Dutton has also appeared in '' MDA'', '' Two Pints of Lager a ...
, produced by Natalie Lynch,
and executively produced by Herbison.
Post-production
Adoption of Final Cut Pro X
When ''Neighbours'' producers Natalie Lynch & Natalie Mandel were in the planning stages for ''Erinsborough High'' in May 2019, they reached out to LateNite Films to get a quote for the visual effects and colour grading for the series. The original plan was for the in-house ''Neighbours'' post team to handle data wrangling and offline editing using
Media Composer
Media Composer is a non-linear editing (NLE) software application developed by Avid Technology. First introduced in the late 1980s and widely adopted in the 1990s, it has become a prominent tool in the professional editing landscape, particular ...
at their studios in Nunawading, and LateNite team will tackle grade, sound, online and delivery. However, by July it was agreed that LateNite Films would handle the full post-production workflow using
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...
.
LateNite Films Producer and Editor Chris Hocking told Ronny Courtens of ''fcp.co'' that "The producers gave us a huge amount of freedom and trust to use whatever tools we wanted, and allowed us to design our own workflow." He said that he is used to an
Avid workflow and love certain aspects about it, but feels way more creative when using
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...
.
Editing and finishing
The post-production process began in one of the spare production offices, with the LateNite Films Post Production crew Chris Hocking and Kevin Luk assembling the show starting from the first day of the shoot. The main show has a traditional paper-based workflow, and a maximum of two card dumps a day, while Hocking adopted a paperless workflow and ingested cards up to six times a day.
The footage was synchronized through an automated process with third-party software, and Luk organised the files into ScriptSync-style keywords which he had prepared based on the script before the shoot. The process enabled Luk to assemble all five episodes in a couple of hours after wrapping the whole shoot.
Chris Hocking continued the director cut in the LateNite office. He completed the rest of the editing process within
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...
, and some audio clean up which was done in iZotope RX7. Both Hocking and Luk did a few VFX cleanups in
After Effects
Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc.; it is used for animation and in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among oth ...
& Mocha Pro, and Luk completed the grade within
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...
. Hocking recalled the audio mixing process within
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...
was more time consuming compared to using a DAW such as
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
or Logic Pro X. Still, he recognized the benefits for budget reasons and creative flexibility. "if I couldn't fix something easily in the sound design stage, we didn't have time to do
ADR for example, I could simply adjust the edit there and then."
Broadcast
The series spans five 22-minute episodes, which run parallel to the main show.
They were available to watch as a
box set
A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists ...
from 11 November 2019 on
My5
5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5 and My5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, operator of TV channel 5, in the United Kingdom. The service is ad-supported and provided over- ...
and 12 November on
10 Play.
The series was also available on
RTÉ Player
RTÉ Player is an on demand video service provided by Irish public media broadcaster RTÉ.
The service provides live and recorded RTÉ television programs, and content exclusive to the player as well as content from other international broadca ...
in Ireland from 11 November the same day as My5's release.
Reception
Johnathon Hughes of the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' said the series was "edgier and looser than ''Neighbours'' proper, with impressive production values and stylistic touches that establish an identity outside of the parent programme".
He named Junkeer, Turland and Amarfio-Jefferson as "standouts" and praised ''Neighbours'' for the diversity amongst the cast.
Hughes felt that unlike some "gimmicky" spin-offs, there was "a sense of point and purpose to this", and while the series was released into the competitive teen high-school drama market "the pacy, involving first episode sets up as an impressive attempt at bringing soap sensibilities to the streaming drama landscape."
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
's Daniel Kilkelly thought the series "set itself apart from the main show with a unique "grungy" filming style – a far cry from the sun-kissed scenes we're used to on ''Neighbours'' itself."
He noted the strong performances by the central teenage cast and the focus on Mackenzie's romance with Richie, which paved "the way for some important and groundbreaking scenes in episodes four and five, exploring Mackenzie's transgender story in much more detail than the main show, with some open and thought-provoking conversations."
Jessica Lynch from
10 daily dubbed the spin-off "''Riverdale'' meets ''Pretty Little Liars''".
She wrote that the first episode has "an air of that ''Neighbours''-style drama we know and love", before giving viewers "major ''PLL'' vibes".
References
External links
*
''Neighbours: Erinsborough High''on
My5
5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5 and My5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, operator of TV channel 5, in the United Kingdom. The service is ad-supported and provided over- ...
''Neighbours: Erinsborough High''on
10 Play
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neighbours
Neighbours
Australian television spinoffs
2019 Australian television series debuts
2019 Australian television series endings
2010s high school television series
Australian high school television series
Australian television series about teenagers
Television series about educators
Australian television soap operas
2010s teen drama television series
Australian teen drama television series