Neighbours TV Soap Opera introduces its first ever gay throuple …..

The Australian TV soap opera NEIGHBOURS may be celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year by being cancelled.  Again. In its roller-coaster existence, it was always a firm favorite with British audiences, and at one time, a British TV channel bankrolled its production costs.   Plus, at its height, it was sold to over 60 countries around the globe. It also kick-started several actors’ careers, such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pierce, Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Chris and Luke Hemsworth Natalie Imbruglia, and recent Queerguru interviewee Murray Bartlett

Neighbours is set in a cul-de-sac with identical houses in an unnamed  Australian suburb, and when storylines for certain characters became tired, the scriptwriters simply moved one family out and replace them with a new one……  

The storylines frequently focused on family problems, intergenerational clashes, school problems, romances and domestic issues. Neighbours does, however, deserve credit for the fact that despite the restrictive 6:30 pm time slot, they also covered many serious problems years before any other mainstream TV programs would, particularly in the US. It tackled teenage pregnancy, marital breakdown, imprisonment, career problems, financial problems, pregnancy, abortion, terminal illness, eating disorders, alcoholism, adultery, drug use and drug trafficking, robbery, stalking, kidnapping, accidental death, hit-and-runs, murder, shootings, stabbings, and even incest.  In the 2000s and 2010s, the show dealt with issues such as gambling, prostitution, surrogacy, and exotic dancing. Health issues were also focused on, including multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder, amnesia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and Alzheimer’s disease.  

They were also too the forefront in TV land in featuring several prominent gay and lesbian characters throughout its history. The show’s first ongoing gay character was Chris Pappas, introduced in 2010, followed by the first lesbian character, Lana Crawford, in 2004. In 2012, the show featured its first male gay kiss between Chris and his boyfriend Aidan Foster. More recently, David Tanaka and Aaron Brennan became the first gay couple to be married on Australian television after the country legalized same-sex marriage. 

The TV Sbiw has just appeated in our radar again as they are about to introduce an LGBTQ+ polyamorous relationship for the first time. (they did a straight couple back in 2021)  In what has started out as a love triangle this week, Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) has started dating again after the death of his husband, and reconnected with two of his former partners, Rhett Norman (Liam Maguire), and Colton Key (Jakob Ambrose).  We cant wait to see how its going to turn out, meanwhile  check out this cute  behind the scene video