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Brief history

Whose idea? Neighbours follows the day-to-day lives of residents in a Melbourne cul-de-sac and was created by former Crossroads producer, Red Watson. It switched networks after six months and was given a revamp. Screened in England in 1986, every day at 10am and 1.30pm on BBC1, the morning slot was changed to 5.35pm following the advice of the channel controller's daughter. The soap soon gained a huge following.

Where's it set? Ramsey Street, in Erinsborough, a fictitious suburb in Melbourne, Australia.

The very start: At the beginning, Neighbours focused mostly on two families - the Ramseys and the Robinsons - and in particular, the romance between Scott Robinson and Madge Ramsey's daughter, Charlene (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).

Controversy! Apart from always having Christmas in the heat of summer and out of sync with 'real time' in the UK, storylines have included blackmail, murder, adultery, teen pregnancy, post-natal depression, cancer, euthanasia, a family who discovered their daughter was accidentally swapped at birth. There's even been a bomb on a plane which wiped out an entire family.

26 January 2007