This year’s festivities just won’t be the same, as Neighbours have confirmed the show will take a Christmas break.
The Amazon Freevee soap aired episodes regularly throughout the holiday period between 2018 and 2020, resuming the tradition in 2023 following a revival on the streaming service.
Traditionally, the show took an extended, 4-6 week break that allowed an epic season finale to play out in early December, before resuming in January.
Dramatic cliffhangers over the years have seen Sonya Rebecchi (Eve Morey) going into labour with baby Nell, Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) dangling from the side of the Lassiters rooftop and Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) throttling Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis).
In 1989, the cast even released their very own Christmas album.
With the drama ramping up, the much-loved Aussie show is lining up another intense episode that will leave us desperate to catch-up with the residents of Ramsay Street.
Metro can confirm that this episode will air on Thursday, 19th December.
A Neighbours spokesperson told us: ‘This year, everyone’s favourite Neighbours will also be having a break for the holidays.’
‘The last episode of the daily drama in 2024 will air on Thursday, 19th December 2024 and the series will return to screens on Monday, 6th January 2025.’
It is assumed that Australian broadcaster Channel 10 will follow suit with the break, meaning that there will be no confusion for viewers across the globe. In the 80s, there was an 18 month gap in transmission for us Brits.
Imagine having to wait that long to find out what our favourite Erinsborough friends are up to?
The news comes just days after it was revealed that Freevee will close.
With the service set to shut down, Neighbours will transfer permanently to a new home on Amazon Prime Video.
The episodes have already been hosted there since September 2023, though some may have believed there was a fee due to its integration alongside subscription-required content.
Moving forward, there will be no fee to watch all new episodes of the beloved soap, but you will have to watch on Prime Video instead as the Freevee platform is wound down.
Next week, show legend Lucinda Cowden bows out of her Melanie Pearson role after 37 years, whilst later in the month we see Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) make a grand return.
It’s set to be a busy few months Down Under!
