Australian soap opera Neighbours to end after 37 years

Thirty-seven years and over 8,800 episodes later, the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours is being cancelled.

Known for its tumultuous romances, acrimonious break-ups, and tearful reunions, the soap which has remained a favorite among Kenyan soap lovers premiered on Australian TV in 1985.

Its storyline features drug addiction, illnesses, moral dilemmas, gambling, and adultery and was first broadcast on BBC1.

The soap was so popular then that it would command audiences of over 20 million, a third of the country’s population.

BBC later dropped the show in 2008, after which British TV network Channel 5 picked it up, additionally offering to pay the show’s Australian production company Fremantle Australia to keep it in production.

Neighbours is now broadcast in over 60 countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and the United States.

However, Fremantle Australia, last month announced that due to the impending withdrawal of funding by Channel 5, it had no choice but to “rest” the show.

Announcement of the show’s cancellation has rocked fans worldwide, but mostly in the U.K. where it continues to command a huge viewership almost four decades later.