Les voisins

People say this show is not as good as it was. They are wrong. The standard of drama has never slipped from abysmal from day one. A sort of hybrid between 'Crossroads' and 'The Beano'.

It has always entertained me. What I like about it best, is that I get home and am not provided with any challenge to my brain whatsoever. Good. Who ever got anywhere by being forced to think?

The only regression is the theme song. Bring back the cheesy pub piano and the even cheesier line 'Next door is only a footstep away'. That's poetry that is.

I started putting this show on as "background tv" just to pacify my anxious cat ; tv would lull her to sleep. ODDLY ENOUGH , I found myself , over time, catching a glance at the people on the show and despite the cheesey soap story-line, these actors were actually RATHER INTERESTING to watch. It's not just good looks, no. These actors are actually likable people and/or good actors. So now, as the cat sleeps away, I have my guilty pleasure. Go ahead.....give in. Okay ..... editor says I need to keep talking for another 73 characters before I can say goodbye . I just don't know what else to say except that I love you all. Please sleep with me.

Unlike many British soaps, which are all doom and gloom, Neighbors adds some much needed comedy to weekday afternoons. It is impossible for Neighbors to produce a serious event as arguments, fights, and, yes, even deaths and funerals are presented in such a way that you just have to laugh. A factor which I can conclude is largely influenced by the hilarious sound track underlying almost every event, scene opening and scene closing. It is true that much of the acting is also pretty laughable- but this is just one of the traits which makes this such a relaxed and familiar soap. Many of the story lines can, again, be pretty weak, but with so much comedy- who cares if they are a little off the wall? This is a fab soap which is highly addictive. I would, and am, seriously recommend it to absolutely anyone and everyone!

When I was about seven years old, I switched the TV on, and there were the opening credits of Neighbours, complete with the broken window and the cricket ball. Since then, over ten years ago, I've been completely addicted to the show. I don't exactly know why. Jason Donovan may have had something to do with it, and admittedly, the show has never been quite the same since Scott & Charlene left. Although there have been awful moments, some bad acting and chipboard sets, it's still pretty good. After Helen died, it was the end of an era, and maybe the show has never recovered, but I'm still addicted.

Despite the many negative comments here, Neighbours is still an amazing programme. It always manages to get 10 million viewers a day so that must be saying something. Anyway, I admit that the show has depleted in quality since the arrival of the Scully family, but if you want a taste of when it was amazing, try UK Gold at either 12:30 in the afternoon or 4:30 in the early evening. The episodes showing currently are from late 1994, featuring classic characters such as Philip, Julie, Lou, Cheryl, Annalise etc. Neighbours is still an extremely enjoyable show, and although the storylines are corny and it seems there is lack of continuity, this is only because the BBC cut the programme so much. Storylines we have missed out on are excellent ones such as Lucy and Glenn's incest, Libby's rape, part of Cheryl being held hostage, Cheryl's death (we actually missed seeing her role over the car), Julie's attempt to seduce her husband Philip etc. These are all amazing storylines, but we missed out on them. So, you cannot possibly say Neighbours is bad when it hasn't been given a fair chance. If anything, it must be amazing for the BBC to cut inappropriate storylines. Think about it.