Neighbours: Alan Fletcher says Amazon's revival was 'the biggest shock I’ve ever had'

Soap stars Alan Fletcher and Georgie Stone say they were in shock when news broke that beloved Australian soap Neighbours was being revived.

The show debuted a brand new era this week on Amazon Freevee. Fletcher — who has played Doctor Karl Kennedy for almost 30 years — says his reaction to Neighbours’ second chance was unexpected.

Neighbours airs every Monday to Thursday at 7am on Amazon Freevee.

Video transcript

- How does it feel to be to be back on "Neighbours?" And what was your reaction when you found out "Neighbours" was coming back?

ALAN FLETCHER: Well, it was the biggest shock I've ever had in my life, Laura. There was not a planet I could have conceived that a show like "Neighbours," as big as "Neighbours," as, you know, like, gargantuan as "Neighbours," could be-- could be saved. This is a show with casts in excess of 25 people. This is a show that employs 200 people. It's shot in two studios. It's a feature film all week. It's massive.

And when it was-- when it ended, I thought, there's no way you can-- you could possibly bring this show back. But, you know, Amazon, they saw the-- they saw how many people watched that last episode. They saw the petitions. They saw all that. And they said, no, this show clearly has a massive audience, and it needs to be saved.

GEORGIE STONE: I was equally shocked. But I was so happy because I remember thinking when it ended how sad it was that there wouldn't be an opportunity for younger actors and younger generations to have that experience on the show. It was so impactful and important for me as a young actor to have my start on "Neighbours." So I was really sad that no one else would get that experience.

So one of my first thoughts when it was announced to be coming back was, yes, now there's a new generation who'll get that learning experience and that wonderful foundation. So, you know, regardless of whether I was going to come back or not, I was really glad that that was there, and not just for actors, but for crew members as well. So-- and then, yeah, I was really happy when they asked me back because also I love it.

[LAUGHS]