RAMSAY STREET WON’T BE THE SAME AGAIN: Beloved Long-Running TV Soap Neighbours Will Begin Social Distancing Filming Next Week

Australia's most popular TV soap opera, NEIGHBOURS, will resume filming next week, while including social distancing rules.  This will signal the first English-speaking drama to utilise these guidelines to continue production.

To ensure the safety of the cast and crew, the set will be divided into four parts with three used as production teams.  Only three actors will present at one time in each section.  Crew members will be used as extras and stand-ins to limit the need for more people.  There will be no hand-holding or kissing, but camera trick will be used to make the actors appear closer as they observe a social distance of one and a half metre. 

As for behind-the-scenes, a nurse will be present each day to monitor temperatures.  Different catering will be organised for each quadrant.  The aim is to have no more than 100 people on the set per day.

Production has been halted since 27 March.  The hope is that Hollywood and others will follow suit. In the UK, popular soaps like EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street have also stopped production with no resume date.

New episodes of Neighbours are still airing as Channel 5, the broadcaster in the UK, is only showing three episodes per week instead of five.  The soap opera debuted in March 1985 and continues to receive a large viewership.

NEIGHBOURS CURRENTLY AIRS AT 1.45PM AND 530PM ON MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY

Written by Charysse Tia Harper of Xplore The World