Hi, we're Michelle and Nikki, and even though we grew up on opposite sides of the world, Neighbours was a big part of our childhood.
Michelle: I watched Neighbours (almost religiously) when I was in school. My friends and I would rush home to make sure we wouldn’t miss the 6.30pm start time because we were so into what mess Donna had gotten herself into this time. As I got older and busier, my Neighbours viewing habits died down and, tbh, I don’t really have a clue what’s happening on Ramsay Street anymore.
Nikki: Neighbours was the backbone of my university years. I can remember skipping lectures (sorry Mum!) to watch the drama unfold on Ramsay Street and I’d dream of all that Aussie sunshine from dull and grey London. It’s been a good few years since I watched it, so I thought what better way to refresh my memory than to take a trip to the actual set while in Melbourne.
It's fair to say that we both haven't watched in a good while, but we happened to find a place in Melbourne that actually takes you down to Ramsay Street!
So of course we hopped on the tour bus to find out what's going on in Erinsborough these days. Here's what we learned:
1. The fake town of Erinsborough uses a bunch of props to make it look as real as possible, including phone booths, post boxes, and extremely detailed bus timetables.
2. And one of the only sets that is real and used for internal shots is Fitzgerald Motors.
All the other sets are just shallow rooms with plastic walls where exterior shots are filmed. The interior shots are filmed in-studio.
3. The behind-the-scenes workers get paid to drive their cars around to make the set look like a real street during filming.
4. And sometimes when actors can't film certain scenes, they sub them out for behind-the-scenes staff.
Like that iconic wedding scene when Harold married Madge, it wasn’t actually his hand putting the ring on her finger. Ian Smith had psoriasis on his hands while filming, so the director stepped in as a Harold Hand Model™.
5. Or with a stunt dummy in dangerous scenes, which can sometimes... not go as a planned.
In the scene where Toadie and Dee drive off into the sunset, and ermmm, off a cliff, the dummy's head used for Dee falls off and can almost be seen hurling out the window.
6. Neighbours is actually the most popular TV show, per capita, in Iceland of all places.
7. Most scenes are filmed in just two places: Out the front of the "Ramsay Street" houses on Pin Oak Court, and in the Nunawading Studios.
Turns out off-set filming is actually pretty expensive, so they use the entire set grounds for a multitude of scenes.
8. So even though it looks like a whole bunch of random locations, a different building corner and a cheeky sign change can turn a "school" into a "prison" real quick.
The exterior shots of the Erinsborough Hospital, for example, are actually the automatic doors to the entrance of the offices where all the behind-the-scenes staff work in.
9. The reason Pin Oak Court was chosen over all other streets is because it's a cul-de-sac with a good location.
It being a cul-de-sac means that when exterior filming takes place, they can easily block off the start of the street. The park allows for big equipment and trucks to be parked on the grounds without creating too much traffic, and being close to the set means the actors aren't spending all day travelling between filming locations.
10. And they've only actually ever filmed inside one of the Pin Oak Court houses once.
Everything else has been filmed on set as they're all real houses that actual people live in.
11. Every house on Pin Oak Court gets paid for the privilege of literally just having camera crews on their doorstep from time to time.
Not too bad a job there, if you ask me.
12. And when filming happens on the street, the real life residents have to shut their doors, close their blinds, and park their cars around the corner
13. While the homeowners are allowed to change up their gardens and look of their houses, they have to let the directors know.
Anything from cutting down a tree to painting a front door gets written into the show's script for consistency and continuity.
14. When filming outdoors in winter, directors get the actors to suck on ice cubes before reading their lines so that the condensation from their breath doesn’t show on camera.
Swirling ice cubes around their mouths works to make their breath the same temperature as the early morning air.
15. To make Ramsay Street seem sunny and bright all the time, special lighting tricks are used even when it's raining to make Erinsborough constantly sun-soaked.
Sure Melbourne's weather is ever-changing but you'll never see that on an episode of Neighbours.
16. Since being used on Neighbours, some houses on Ramsay Street have sold for more than 20% of their market value.
17. And even though Stingray might've died in a lawn chair back in 2007, the actor who played him, Ben Nicholas, still works on the show in writing and producing.
Sooooooo, I guess we're moving to Erinsborough now?!
Travel was provided by Tourism Australia. BuzzFeed writers do not guarantee coverage.
