Smith, who is set to reprise his role as Harold Bishop on-screen next week, has shared his thoughts on Neighbours\u2019 untimely end.<\/p>\n
Channel 5 dropped the soap earlier this year, and the production company were unable to find an alternative home for our favourite Ramsay Street residents. Fans have been very vocal about their disappointment in losing the beloved show, and it seems Smith agrees that Neighbours didn\u2019t have to end.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Daily Mail<\/a> reported that the star referenced the situation in an interview with the Courier Mail<\/a>. \u201cI think the Australian government should have bought it, put it on the ABC and used it as a living, working school for actors, writers and cameramen and put it to air as such,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Smith feels that Neighbours could have carried on as a training ground.<\/p>\n The concept of a drama providing a reliable place for up and coming actors to settle into the industry has previously been said of BBC\u2019s Holby City, which also came off the air for good<\/a> back in March.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s alter ego, the lovable Harold, first appeared on Neighbours in 1987. He heads home to Erinsborough in next week\u2019s episodes, where he greets a delighted Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy<\/a> (Jackie Woodburne).<\/p>\n And Harold is not the only former regular making a comeback, as the likes of Kylie Minogue<\/a>, Jason Donovan and many more are also on their way.<\/a>\u00a0Familiar faces include those from recent eras, as well as plenty from the early years.<\/p>\n The airdate for Neighbours\u2019 final ever episode has now been confirmed<\/a> as Friday 29th July, with Channel 5 airing a total of three instalments before concluding with a prime time slot of 9pm.<\/p>\n Neighbours\u2019 final episode premieres on Channel 5 on Friday 29th July. <\/strong>Check out more of our\u00a0Soaps<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Laura Denby Published: Friday, 01 July 2022 at 12:00 am Neighbours icon Ian Smith has said that the Australian government could have saved the axed soap opera, due to conclude at the end of July. Smith, who is set to reprise his role as Harold Bishop on-screen next week, has shared his thoughts on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17812,"template":"","categories":[2,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap.jpg",2147,1471,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-300x206.jpg",300,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-768x526.jpg",768,526,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-1024x702.jpg",800,548,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-1536x1052.jpg",1536,1052,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/neighbours-harold-bishop-star-on-what-he-thinks-could-have-saved-the-soap-2048x1403.jpg",2048,1403,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Laura Denby Published: Friday, 01 July 2022 at 12:00 am Neighbours icon Ian Smith has said that the Australian government could have saved the axed soap opera, due to conclude at the end of July. Smith, who is set to reprise his role as Harold Bishop on-screen next week, has shared his thoughts on…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/17811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/neighbours-b50ed62.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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