Alan Fletcher: Neighbours was too good to let slip

Alan Fletcher thinks that 'Neighbours' was too good to "let slip."

The 65-year-old actor has played Dr Karl Kennedy on the Australian soap opera - which is set to be revived by Amazon just three months after it was cancelled over a lack of funding and aired a finale featuring ex-stars such as Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce - since 1994 but remembered fans of the show coming up to him on his recent UK tour to express their "grief" that the show had ended after 37 years on air.

Speaking on ITV's 'Good Morning Britain', he said: "I had nothing to do with it, I cannot claim any credit but more than five million people watched the last episode in the Uk and it was the highest-rated programme here in Australia so I think people just realised that and thought the show was too popular to let slip. I have to say that in the interim I toured the UK with my 'The Doctor Will See You Now' show right through September and there were so many people expressing their profound grief that 'Neighbours' had ended and I was very sad about it.

However, Alan went on to promise that the upcoming Farewell tour of the show - which will see the stars take to the stage in theatres across the UK until March - will be a "celebration" now that the show is being brought back.

He added: "Knowing that I was coming back again in March to do the 'Neighbours' farewell tour in March was quite shattering, but now its a celebration. We are back! And there are so many people who are pleased, I think we're gonna have a fantastic show. People are gonna love it."

Production on 'Neighbours' will begin in early 2023, and the soap will return in the second half of the year.