History made in the neighbourhood

Long-running Australian soap Neighbours to air a special all-female episode to mark International Women’s Day, writes Seanna Cronin

AFTER celebrating 8000 episodes and airing Australian TV’s first same-sex wedding last year, Neighbours is making history yet again.

For the first time in the soap’s history, it will air an all-female episode – directed and written by females – for International Women’s Day.

Former Neighbours actress and now director Kate Kendall helms the episode, which airs tomorrow.

“We were all aware that we were doing something a bit special,” Jackie Woodbourne, who plays Susan Kennedy, tells The Guide.

“I think Kate’s understanding of actors and actor’s processes obviously makes her a very, very good director. Kate is a wonderful actress, so she gets what you are trying to do and she gets your problems and she has shortcuts and a depth of understanding that helps you get through those problems. As a director, she has turned out to be as good as anyone you would ever hope to work with.”

In the special episode, some of the women will take time out to honour one of Sonya Rebecchi’s final wishes. The beloved character lost her battle with ovarian cancer in a heart-breaking episode earlier this week.

“The episode is mostly about trying to put together this video footage to honour Sonya so I think what’s nice about it is so often the show is so pacey and so plot-driven we rarely get to see people pause and just quietly reflect on things that don’t advance or inform the plot,” she says. “They just are little insights into the characters and I think this episode is really good at doing that. There are just small moments between people that I think really enrich the character.”

Woodbourne will mark 25 years on the show later this year.

“We have a great crew and a great cast, and it is an absolute pleasure,” she says.

“I love it as much as I did on day one.”