{"id":21067,"date":"2024-07-09T08:50:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T12:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T10:59:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T14:59:04","slug":"neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbours\u2019 Stefan Dennis, Annie Jones & Georgie Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over nearly four decades, the Australian soap Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0has launched the careers of countless stars while reflecting the complex and ever-changing culture of the country through its signature lighthearted lens. The series originally ran from 1985 to 2022, reaching broad success across territories, including the U.K. A few short months after its 2022 cancellation, Amazon Freevee snapped up the series for a reboot, with the new-but-familiar iteration beginning its run in late 2023. Heritage cast members Stefan Dennis and Annie Jones, along with newcomer Georgie Stone, give\u00a0TV Drama Weekly<\/em>\u00a0a peek behind the curtain, sharing what it\u2019s like to work on a series so entrenched in the culture and its own history and what has given\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0its broad appeal across generations.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0What is the creative difference between working on a long-running hit that\u2019s made a return versus other projects you\u2019ve done that are new or breakouts?
\nJONES:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s the history and the fact that we have such a wealth of [the show\u2019s] history to draw on. Almost every character has their own family that is connected to that history or to each other in some way. If you come on the show and play a character, you\u2019re bound to come back again at some stage.
\nDENNIS:<\/strong>\u00a0And going with that history, it\u2019s the fans. The difference between a new series or a film as opposed to [Neighbours<\/em>] is that we had an audience that wanted us to come back as opposed to an audience that you have to educate into believing in you as a show. We didn\u2019t need to educate the audience; they already knew about us. They were really eager. That makes it a lot easier for a company like Amazon to take it over and run with it, which they\u2019re doing brilliantly.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong>\u00a0Many key figures from the producing side have returned from previous decades. Tell us about what it\u2019s been like as cast members to work under producers who are also very familiar and entrenched in this brand.
\nSTONE:\u00a0<\/strong>A lot of the producers from Fremantle who were there before also grew up watching\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>, and they\u2019re fans of the show. It does feel like everyone in the building is really, really passionate about making the best stories and the best content possible. I know that Jason [Herbison], who\u2019s our executive producer, has been in and out of that building for decades as a writer and a fan of\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>. Now, he\u2019s the head honcho. He\u2019s calling all of the shots on the story and steering us into the future. It\u2019s really nice being around producers who are passionate about the show and the characters and about making the best stories possible. That\u2019s a blessing.
\nDENNIS:<\/strong>\u00a0It is tricky. I\u2019ve seen a lot of producers over the decades. But Jason has been associated with the show as a writer since the \u201980s. He\u2019s got such an encyclopedic knowledge of the show, as well as being a passionate fan. You couldn\u2019t get a better production team behind the show.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:\u00a0<\/strong>Georgie, how has it been to join such a long-running and iconic brand as\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>?
\nSTONE:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s been a real honor. Everyone in Australia knows about how wonderful and iconic this is. I felt a lot of pressure to do a good job. I didn\u2019t want to let anyone down. I\u2019m also really excited to be a part of the legacy of this incredible show. So many people I look up to have been through\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>. So, it was a real honor and privilege, and it still is really special that I get to be a part of this and to work with beautiful actors like Annie and Stefan.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:\u00a0<\/strong>What has made\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0withstand the test of time, and how has it evolved and been updated throughout the years?
\nDENNIS:\u00a0<\/strong>I can sum it up in one word: entertainment. The thing about\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>\u2014and I\u2019m not being condescending toward any of the other soaps\u2014particularly with the British soaps, they\u2019re very dramatic, very dark and a lot of the time quite somber in their storytelling.
\nJONES:\u00a0<\/strong>We have storylines like that. But we always have a balance.
\nDENNIS:\u00a0<\/strong>We intersperse the heavy drama with lightness. There is comedy as well. Have you ever had a chance to watch episode 7,000? Do it. It\u2019s absolute comedy gold. That\u2019s the thing; the audience gets to breathe. It\u2019s not like, Oh my, that\u2019s over, let me make a cup of tea. It\u2019s great.
\nSTONE:<\/strong>\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t afraid to grow and evolve. It isn\u2019t afraid to expand and tell stories it hasn\u2019t done before. I think something that\u2019s always been part of the mission statement of\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>\u00a0from the beginning was that it represents real, domestic Australian life and real people. It\u2019s a mirror of Australian culture and society at the time. As we as a society have developed, become more inclusive, grown and learned about how to better support people, so has\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>. That\u2019s something that keeps people coming back and keeps multiple generations invested. There are aspects of it that speak to young people and to the different demographics that the show has. It\u2019s always really honest. It isn\u2019t afraid to be brave. That\u2019s why it\u2019s still relevant and an important show to have today. Almost 40 years into its run, it\u2019s still relevant and has really important stories to tell. It\u2019s one-of-a-kind. I\u2019m really proud to be on it.
\nDENNIS:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s interesting. Going back in the \u201980s, when the show was quite young, even though it was very popular, you talked to some respected actors in Australia, and they\u2019d say, One day you\u2019ll get a nice job, a proper acting job. But now, those same actors would crawl over broken glass to get a gig on\u00a0Neighbours<\/em>. It\u2019s a bit like\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>.
\nSTONE:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s the bit that you should add: \u201cWe\u2019re like\u00a0The Simpsons<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neighbours cast members share what it\u2019s like to work on a series entrenched in Australian culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3087,"featured_media":21068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[4963,9335,9336,2146,5385],"class_list":["post-21067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-amazon-freevee","tag-annie-jones","tag-georgie-stone","tag-neighbours","tag-stefan-dennis","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nNeighbours\u2019 Stefan Dennis, Annie Jones & Georgie Stone - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neighbours\u2019 Stefan Dennis, Annie Jones & Georgie Stone - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Neighbours cast members share what it\u2019s like to work on a series entrenched in Australian culture.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-09T12:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-10T14:59:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/07\/Neighbours-Freevee-724.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/\",\"name\":\"Neighbours\u2019 Stefan Dennis, Annie Jones & Georgie Stone - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-09T12:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-10T14:59:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/neighbours-stefan-dennis-annie-jones-georgie-stone\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Neighbours\u2019 Stefan Dennis, Annie Jones & Georgie Stone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\",\"name\":\"Alexa Alfano\",\"description\":\"Alexa Alfano is associate editor at World Screen. 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