Before entering the writing room at Neighbours, had you been involved in other productions?
I'd only worked/interned on one other show before I joined Neighbours in 2010 – a short-lived Australian children's drama named Trapped (not to be confused with the British children's game show of the same name).
What inspired you to pursue writing, especially that of scriptwriting?
I don't actually remember the moment I decided to pursue writing as I think it happened quite young. Our house was always full of books and my parents never discouraged me from bringing a book with me when we left the house – even if it meant I'd be reading at my brother's rugby game – and they never really minded that I spent my evenings on the family computer writing stories instead of doing my homework. I think it was always a given that it was just something my life was going to be built around.
I do, however, remember when scriptwriting entered the equation. My brother had a collection of Paul Jennings' books, which I raided regularly, and one of them was a Round The Twist tie-in to coincide with the release of the first season. I don't remember what most of it was about, but it included pages of the episode scripts, which was the first time I'd ever seen a TV script, or even stopped to consider that TV shows and films had to be written by someone. And that was it. I never wanted to be anything else.
I'd only worked/interned on one other show before I joined Neighbours in 2010 – a short-lived Australian children's drama named Trapped (not to be confused with the British children's game show of the same name).
What inspired you to pursue writing, especially that of scriptwriting?
I don't actually remember the moment I decided to pursue writing as I think it happened quite young. Our house was always full of books and my parents never discouraged me from bringing a book with me when we left the house – even if it meant I'd be reading at my brother's rugby game – and they never really minded that I spent my evenings on the family computer writing stories instead of doing my homework. I think it was always a given that it was just something my life was going to be built around.
I do, however, remember when scriptwriting entered the equation. My brother had a collection of Paul Jennings' books, which I raided regularly, and one of them was a Round The Twist tie-in to coincide with the release of the first season. I don't remember what most of it was about, but it included pages of the episode scripts, which was the first time I'd ever seen a TV script, or even stopped to consider that TV shows and films had to be written by someone. And that was it. I never wanted to be anything else.
How did you come to work on show?
The short answer is that I won a competition! Which probably undersells me a bit, but I always like saying it.
The longer answer is that, when I was about to finish up at the Western Australian Screen Academy, our head of school (John Rapsey, creator Ship to Shore, which is another iconic Australian show) let us know about a paid internship the Australian Writers Guild was running in partnership with Fremantle Media for six weeks in the Neighbours story room. To enter, you had to pitch a three-episode story arc featuring characters currently on the show. I pitched Declan developing feelings for Kate and feeling like he was betraying the memory of Didge – which it turned out was a story the team had already written, but hadn't gone to air yet, which scored me a terrifying phone interview with the entire story team, the script producer and the EP.
Long story short, I scored one of the internships, and on the last day of my six-week placement, Lara Radulovich handed the mantle of script producer over to Emma Gordon, which led to a bunch of shuffling in the department, and allowed a spot on the team to open up. Emma hired me full-time about four days later.
How does a typical writing assignment on Neighbours work for you?
On a typical script assignment, I'd be sent the scene breakdown on the Friday (which is the document the storyliners write – logistics and scheduling is hugely important to any show, but especially so on one as consistently in production as Neighbours, so as well as plotting every episode they have to allocate which cast members, sets, locations and art department requests are used per scene), have a phone/zoom meeting with the script producer on the Monday to discuss any questions or suggestions, and then I'd spend two weeks writing my first draft. All further drafts of any episode were taken care of in-house by the script editors.
My job as a scriptwriter was to make that draft was so good that the only changes the editors had to make were for continuity or scheduling conflicts.
You’ve held a number of different script department roles during your time with the show – Script Writer, Storyliner and Script Editor – can you talk us through what each of these roles entails?
A common misconception when it comes to a show like Neighbours is that the 'writers' have any actual say on what happens in an episode. If I had a dollar for every person who tried to suggest that I introduce a random major event into one of my episodes I could afford a shiny new laptop.
What actually happened was this:
A team of storyliners, led by the story editor, spent three days a week in the story room plotting out the 'block' (a block on Neighbours equalled six episodes – that's how many episodes we filmed, and therefore plotted, per week. Filming six allowed production to take a few breaks per year while keeping the show on air every weekday). And when I say plot, I mean they figured out, in detail, what happened in every single scene of every episode. A storyliner would be assigned one or two episodes each, and they would be responsible for writing that episode's scene breakdown, which is the document the writer works from. This document is hugely important as it's the only thing the writer of the episode has to work with. Once that was written, it went to the story editor, the script producer and the executive producer for notes. Another draft was written based on the notes, and then it went to the script producer for a final pass, and then sent to the writers.
The writer, as I said in my last answer, got that document and turned it into a complete first draft. That meant not only taking a lot of emotional subtext and story mechanics and turning them into killer dialogue, but making sure it was consistent to the characters and voices of our 30+ strong core and recurring cast.
After that the scripts got handed to the script editors, who were responsible for getting the scripts ready for production. This involved meetings with the supervising script editor, the script producer, the EP, and the director of a given block to smooth out the story and character consistency, adjust for style, ensure the script timings were correct to go to production, punch up any emotional scenes or jokes, and then make any last minute rewrites in the event of bad weather, cast illnesses or emergencies, scheduling conflicts, and so on and on.
They were all big jobs, and most Neighbours story/writing staff have done time across all three – usually at the same time – and all were vitally important to the success of a Neighbours episode.
Who have been your favourite characters to write for?
That's a very long list, and I'll do my best not to just list all the characters who've appeared on Neighbours during my on staff!
The easiest and most obvious answer is the big four: Toadie, Paul, Susan & Karl. I still have to occasionally pinch myself when I think about what a pleasure – and an honour – it's been to write for such iconic characters and actors.
As for characters who haven't been on our screens for 20+ years, I always fist-pumped when I saw Kyle, Chloe, Aaron, David, Hendrix, Mackenzie or Harlow on the character list of my episodes. And going back a decade, I always loved writing for Tash, Andrew and Chris.
The short answer is that I won a competition! Which probably undersells me a bit, but I always like saying it.
The longer answer is that, when I was about to finish up at the Western Australian Screen Academy, our head of school (John Rapsey, creator Ship to Shore, which is another iconic Australian show) let us know about a paid internship the Australian Writers Guild was running in partnership with Fremantle Media for six weeks in the Neighbours story room. To enter, you had to pitch a three-episode story arc featuring characters currently on the show. I pitched Declan developing feelings for Kate and feeling like he was betraying the memory of Didge – which it turned out was a story the team had already written, but hadn't gone to air yet, which scored me a terrifying phone interview with the entire story team, the script producer and the EP.
Long story short, I scored one of the internships, and on the last day of my six-week placement, Lara Radulovich handed the mantle of script producer over to Emma Gordon, which led to a bunch of shuffling in the department, and allowed a spot on the team to open up. Emma hired me full-time about four days later.
How does a typical writing assignment on Neighbours work for you?
On a typical script assignment, I'd be sent the scene breakdown on the Friday (which is the document the storyliners write – logistics and scheduling is hugely important to any show, but especially so on one as consistently in production as Neighbours, so as well as plotting every episode they have to allocate which cast members, sets, locations and art department requests are used per scene), have a phone/zoom meeting with the script producer on the Monday to discuss any questions or suggestions, and then I'd spend two weeks writing my first draft. All further drafts of any episode were taken care of in-house by the script editors.
My job as a scriptwriter was to make that draft was so good that the only changes the editors had to make were for continuity or scheduling conflicts.
You’ve held a number of different script department roles during your time with the show – Script Writer, Storyliner and Script Editor – can you talk us through what each of these roles entails?
A common misconception when it comes to a show like Neighbours is that the 'writers' have any actual say on what happens in an episode. If I had a dollar for every person who tried to suggest that I introduce a random major event into one of my episodes I could afford a shiny new laptop.
What actually happened was this:
A team of storyliners, led by the story editor, spent three days a week in the story room plotting out the 'block' (a block on Neighbours equalled six episodes – that's how many episodes we filmed, and therefore plotted, per week. Filming six allowed production to take a few breaks per year while keeping the show on air every weekday). And when I say plot, I mean they figured out, in detail, what happened in every single scene of every episode. A storyliner would be assigned one or two episodes each, and they would be responsible for writing that episode's scene breakdown, which is the document the writer works from. This document is hugely important as it's the only thing the writer of the episode has to work with. Once that was written, it went to the story editor, the script producer and the executive producer for notes. Another draft was written based on the notes, and then it went to the script producer for a final pass, and then sent to the writers.
The writer, as I said in my last answer, got that document and turned it into a complete first draft. That meant not only taking a lot of emotional subtext and story mechanics and turning them into killer dialogue, but making sure it was consistent to the characters and voices of our 30+ strong core and recurring cast.
After that the scripts got handed to the script editors, who were responsible for getting the scripts ready for production. This involved meetings with the supervising script editor, the script producer, the EP, and the director of a given block to smooth out the story and character consistency, adjust for style, ensure the script timings were correct to go to production, punch up any emotional scenes or jokes, and then make any last minute rewrites in the event of bad weather, cast illnesses or emergencies, scheduling conflicts, and so on and on.
They were all big jobs, and most Neighbours story/writing staff have done time across all three – usually at the same time – and all were vitally important to the success of a Neighbours episode.
Who have been your favourite characters to write for?
That's a very long list, and I'll do my best not to just list all the characters who've appeared on Neighbours during my on staff!
The easiest and most obvious answer is the big four: Toadie, Paul, Susan & Karl. I still have to occasionally pinch myself when I think about what a pleasure – and an honour – it's been to write for such iconic characters and actors.
As for characters who haven't been on our screens for 20+ years, I always fist-pumped when I saw Kyle, Chloe, Aaron, David, Hendrix, Mackenzie or Harlow on the character list of my episodes. And going back a decade, I always loved writing for Tash, Andrew and Chris.
Do you prefer writing Neighbours drama or comedy?
One of the things I love most about Neighbours is that it was rarely one or the other. It's always been about humour and heart. The moment I think best captures this (not written by me, but etched in my soul) is the scene where Toadie and Callum interrupt some classic Karl and Susan banter to break the news about Sonya. It goes from comedy to heartbreak without missing a beat, and it works so beautifully.
Buuut if I have to choose, I'm a sucker for writing sad scenes.
What are some scenes, episodes or storylines that you are particularly proud of?
The episode I'm most proud of writing is the international women's day episode from (I think) 2019, in which I got to write the first episode of Neighbours to exclusively star, be directed by, and written by women.
That would have been a real moment of pride in itself, but the story of the episode was so beautiful – the women of Ramsay street coming together to honour Sonya, Piper collecting stories of their heroes, and, the crowning glory, Elly hooking up with Chloe after getting dumped by Mark in a text. I love that entire episode to pieces.
There are a few other scenes I'm particularly proud of. One is when Susan and Dipi visited Nanny Alice/Heather in prison and Susan gives her the hard truth about her role in delaying Sonya's cancer diagnosis. Another is Toadie telling Shane about Nell's first mother's day activity at school without Sonya (I'm sensing a theme!), which wasn't in the original scene breakdown but I'd suggested it to the script producer and we agreed it was an important moment to acknowledge. It was a small moment in the script, but of course Ryan and Nicholas played it so beautifully that I bawled my eyes out watching it. And finally, Chloe trying to give David a pep-talk by using the truck in Jurassic Park 2 as a doomed relationship metaphor.
Are there any storylines or ideas that were nearly scripted but didn’t make the cut?
That's not really how things worked at Neighbours. Either a pitch was greenlit and went into plotting, or it wasn't. Details of storylines often changed over time due to a thousand factors, but I can't think of any that were ripped out.
You’ve been with Neighbours since 2010. How has the show changed in that time, particularly when it comes to writing new and interesting stories?
That's hard to put into a neat answer. The show changes pretty much every time a new EP, script producer, story editor, director, producer or network heard of drama steps into the role – sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly. Everyone has different ideas and ways of telling stories.
I will say that the show is always at its strongest when people who have a lot of love for the show and don't consider 'soap' to be a dirty word are at the helm. Which is one of the reasons I think Neighbours has been hitting it out of the park these past few years.
Is there a character you wish you could have written for, or a storyline you would have loved to have been a part of?
I missed out on contributing to the Who Pushed Paul Robinson storyline by about two weeks, which would have been so much fun. And I would have loved to write dialogue for Donna, but she exited the show while I was storylining.
One of the things I love most about Neighbours is that it was rarely one or the other. It's always been about humour and heart. The moment I think best captures this (not written by me, but etched in my soul) is the scene where Toadie and Callum interrupt some classic Karl and Susan banter to break the news about Sonya. It goes from comedy to heartbreak without missing a beat, and it works so beautifully.
Buuut if I have to choose, I'm a sucker for writing sad scenes.
What are some scenes, episodes or storylines that you are particularly proud of?
The episode I'm most proud of writing is the international women's day episode from (I think) 2019, in which I got to write the first episode of Neighbours to exclusively star, be directed by, and written by women.
That would have been a real moment of pride in itself, but the story of the episode was so beautiful – the women of Ramsay street coming together to honour Sonya, Piper collecting stories of their heroes, and, the crowning glory, Elly hooking up with Chloe after getting dumped by Mark in a text. I love that entire episode to pieces.
There are a few other scenes I'm particularly proud of. One is when Susan and Dipi visited Nanny Alice/Heather in prison and Susan gives her the hard truth about her role in delaying Sonya's cancer diagnosis. Another is Toadie telling Shane about Nell's first mother's day activity at school without Sonya (I'm sensing a theme!), which wasn't in the original scene breakdown but I'd suggested it to the script producer and we agreed it was an important moment to acknowledge. It was a small moment in the script, but of course Ryan and Nicholas played it so beautifully that I bawled my eyes out watching it. And finally, Chloe trying to give David a pep-talk by using the truck in Jurassic Park 2 as a doomed relationship metaphor.
Are there any storylines or ideas that were nearly scripted but didn’t make the cut?
That's not really how things worked at Neighbours. Either a pitch was greenlit and went into plotting, or it wasn't. Details of storylines often changed over time due to a thousand factors, but I can't think of any that were ripped out.
You’ve been with Neighbours since 2010. How has the show changed in that time, particularly when it comes to writing new and interesting stories?
That's hard to put into a neat answer. The show changes pretty much every time a new EP, script producer, story editor, director, producer or network heard of drama steps into the role – sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly. Everyone has different ideas and ways of telling stories.
I will say that the show is always at its strongest when people who have a lot of love for the show and don't consider 'soap' to be a dirty word are at the helm. Which is one of the reasons I think Neighbours has been hitting it out of the park these past few years.
Is there a character you wish you could have written for, or a storyline you would have loved to have been a part of?
I missed out on contributing to the Who Pushed Paul Robinson storyline by about two weeks, which would have been so much fun. And I would have loved to write dialogue for Donna, but she exited the show while I was storylining.
What are some memorable moments from your time with the show?
I can't even begin to come up with a list, so I'm just going to say the first one that comes to mind: Donna riding to her wedding in the back of a ute in that insane pink wedding dress.
What was is like working on your final episodes?
We actually only got the news the show was ending on the day before I was due to start the last script of my contract period, so it really didn't sink in until I finished the last pass on a scene featuring Toadie, and I realised I'd never get to write for him again. And then there was a lot of crying.
Outside of Erinsborough, you’re also an author and a game writer. Can you tell us a little more about this?
Sure! I work on visual novels for a game called Choices: Stories You Play. If you're not familiar with the concept of a visual novel, it's basically an animated interactive story where you can control elements of the narrative. They're a lot of fun – kind of a cool intersection between playing a game, watching a TV show and reading a book – and you can experience them in little 10-15 minute chunks on your phone.
And I do indeed write novels in whatever downtime I can find. I've published two so far – The Edge of the Woods, which is a young adult dark fantasy, and The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist, which is a historical fantasy. I'm also currently working on a new series of young adult supernatural books, and am developing The Edge of the Woods as a television series.
Were you a fan of the show before coming on as a writer?
I hadn't watched it in a while before I applied for my original internship, but I watched it as a kid. The Neighbours and Home & Away hour was an unmissable ritual.
Do you watch the episodes you write? Do you ever see things you wish you had written differently?
I don't watch all of them, and I don't specifically sit down to see my episodes. It's more that I'll save up and binge Neighbours for a day every month or so and then I spot my episodes in there.
But no – there's so many months between me writing an episode and seeing the final product that a) I barely remember what I did write, and b) either it's the line from my draft, which means I wrote it well, or it's a line by the editor, which means they wrote it better.
For a show that nearly didn’t make its first anniversary, it’s amazing to see it almost hit 9000 episodes. What do you think has been the secret to the 37 year success of Neighbours?
A sense of heart, a love of the genre, and several hundred people who were very good at their jobs.
Finally, with the show airing its final episode, what message do you have for the fans who have stuck by the show all these years?
I'm sorry you all thought Kate chopped too many lemons/limes when she worked at the waterhole, but when you work at a suburban daytime pub/restaurant cutting limes is like 80% of the job.
And thanks for loving these characters as much as we did. x
I can't even begin to come up with a list, so I'm just going to say the first one that comes to mind: Donna riding to her wedding in the back of a ute in that insane pink wedding dress.
What was is like working on your final episodes?
We actually only got the news the show was ending on the day before I was due to start the last script of my contract period, so it really didn't sink in until I finished the last pass on a scene featuring Toadie, and I realised I'd never get to write for him again. And then there was a lot of crying.
Outside of Erinsborough, you’re also an author and a game writer. Can you tell us a little more about this?
Sure! I work on visual novels for a game called Choices: Stories You Play. If you're not familiar with the concept of a visual novel, it's basically an animated interactive story where you can control elements of the narrative. They're a lot of fun – kind of a cool intersection between playing a game, watching a TV show and reading a book – and you can experience them in little 10-15 minute chunks on your phone.
And I do indeed write novels in whatever downtime I can find. I've published two so far – The Edge of the Woods, which is a young adult dark fantasy, and The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist, which is a historical fantasy. I'm also currently working on a new series of young adult supernatural books, and am developing The Edge of the Woods as a television series.
Were you a fan of the show before coming on as a writer?
I hadn't watched it in a while before I applied for my original internship, but I watched it as a kid. The Neighbours and Home & Away hour was an unmissable ritual.
Do you watch the episodes you write? Do you ever see things you wish you had written differently?
I don't watch all of them, and I don't specifically sit down to see my episodes. It's more that I'll save up and binge Neighbours for a day every month or so and then I spot my episodes in there.
But no – there's so many months between me writing an episode and seeing the final product that a) I barely remember what I did write, and b) either it's the line from my draft, which means I wrote it well, or it's a line by the editor, which means they wrote it better.
For a show that nearly didn’t make its first anniversary, it’s amazing to see it almost hit 9000 episodes. What do you think has been the secret to the 37 year success of Neighbours?
A sense of heart, a love of the genre, and several hundred people who were very good at their jobs.
Finally, with the show airing its final episode, what message do you have for the fans who have stuck by the show all these years?
I'm sorry you all thought Kate chopped too many lemons/limes when she worked at the waterhole, but when you work at a suburban daytime pub/restaurant cutting limes is like 80% of the job.
And thanks for loving these characters as much as we did. x
Interviewed March 2022