Farewell to Neighbors: "With 28 years of working together, it's like a wedding." | TV Tonight

In the last interview Farewell to Neighbors,
Ramsay Street matriarch Jackie Woodburne shares his thoughts on a lasting partnership
with actor Alan Fletcher,
and reveal favorite storylines.

Over 28 years Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher grew to embody the heart and soul of Ramsay Street.

Susan and Karl Kennedy are soulmates, faithful parents, wrong partners, wise guardians and mentors.

Woodburne and Fletcher are also drama virtuosos. Scenes between the couple are often described as ‘one takes the magic’ because the chemistry between the two, so obvious to viewers, means each can read the other in the moment.

“There is trust. The dynamics were perfect from day one,” said Jackie Woodburne Television Tonight.

“We got each other, and with 28 years working together, it’s like a wedding.

“We see each other on our best days and on our worst days, and we love each other through it all, so work never suffers.

“Work has always been our happy place”

“And work has always been our happy place. We’ll arrive, we’ll come to the Kennedy set and everything else goes. It’s just about doing the work, and having fun doing it.

“I mean, ‘Fletch’ to me is the biggest part of the recipe. That’s the thing I miss the most, spending time working with him. He is one of a kind. I love her.”

The Kennedy family arrives on the road in 1994 with children Malcolm (Benjamin McNair), Libby (Kym Valentine) and Billy (Jesse Spencer).

Susan and Karl’s storyline is endless, as is the show itself, covering infidelity, amnesia, multiple sclerosis, divorce, surrogacy, cyber-bullying, and more. The powerhouse scene sees Susan in anger slapping Karl, or tearing strips from him in the street. Not surprisingly Woodburne was nominated for the prestigious Swiss Rose D’Or Award.

“Look at the stories we tell today”

For decades, he says the 10 soaps also adapt to the world around them.

“If you go back to the beginning Neighbor, the story is an argument about ‘Who throws their trash in my trash?’ Many simple stories are very successful,” he continued.

“But if you look at the story we’re telling today: the first same-sex marriage on Australian television, introducing a lot of diversity, actors with hearing impairments, actors with physical impairments. (Producer) Jason Herbison is responsible for breaking the ceiling on this show, really taking risks and telling important stories that are relevant and I think audiences are responding.”

But at the core of the show has always been a sense of community and empathy across generations.

“It’s always implied that someone has your back. Young people go out and do young people things, make mistakes, have experience, get scared, are in danger. But we knew as viewers, because of the characters, that someone was going to support them, so they could go out and make mistakes and have that life experience,” he explained.

“Mum or dad or whoever plays the role of a parent will be there for them.”

Despite his screen fusion with Alan Fletcher, Woodburne nominated the 2020 storyline as one of his favorites, where he and Rob Mills did an entire episode together.

“Soap operas have a need to keep moving”

“I really enjoyed Finn Kelly’s storyline. Jason wrote a two-handed episode where only Rob Mills played Finn and myself. One episode, just the two of us. The style is different. Soap operas have a need to keep moving, keep the plot open, keep the story moving. You don’t often get time for characters to just sit in their situation and let it happen around them. But in Finn Kelly’s story, there are some scenes with gaps and silence, a lot of things happen without dialogue. It’s so different, I like it.”

But when the world leaves Ramsay Street, where will the audience see Woodburne perform next? He wasn’t sure yet.

“After today, I will have time to sit down with him and reflect and think about what will happen next,” he said.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m so overwhelmed with everything Neighbor right now, these amazing people and places I love to go.

“It’s going to take some time to get away from it, I guess.”

Neighbor Final Week:
Thursday 28 July 19:30 – 21:00 on 10 and 10 Peach

Attention British fans: TV Tonight will submit the final story after the Australian broadcast.

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