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New Aussie soap for BBC

01/12/2007

A replacement for long-running soap Neighbours has been commissioned by the BBC.

Earlier this year the Beeb refused to pay up for its next deal with Neighbours, which has aired for over 20 years, leaving it without a regular ratings-puller in the daytime market.

Now it has commissioned Out of the Blue, a soap set in the Sydney suburb of Manly which follows the adventures of a group of 30-something friends. Production is scheduled to get underway in early 2008.

Television executives are excited about the project. BBC fiction controller Jane Tranter said the new project was expected to "break new ground" while production company Southern Star's chief executive Hugh Mars said it would be "full of life, contemporary and very broad in its appeal".

New soaps are notoriously difficult to get off the ground and BBC producers still shudder when flopped effort Eldorado is mentioned in the corporation's halls.

They will be hoping Out of the Blue comes up with the goods by building a loyal audience similar to the regular five million enjoying its twice-a-weekday slot on BBC1.