The ever-popular Australian soap, Neighbours is now reimagined as a premium vertical series via a partnership between its production company Fremantle and the vertical TV platform Roseberry.

In fact, the soap is being cut into short-form vertical video by RoseBerry Media for its “Epis” platform and it will kick-off with episodes from one of its biggest alumni, motion picture star, Margot Robbie.

Robbie starred as Donna Freedman from 2008 to 2011 and there will be two storylines of Donna made into vertical episodes that will total 150 minutes of content which is standard vertical drama fare these days.

Photo: Neighbours

TRANSFORMING NEIGHBOURS WITH NOTABLE ALUMS

The project will transform storylines from the Neighbours archive through RoseBerry’s proprietary AI-assisted production workflow RedSnapper, which can scan decades of episodes to map character arcs, storylines and standout moments.

Neighbours premiered in 1985 and ended in 2025, and aired roughly 9,363 episodes. Other well known alum include:  Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Jesse Spencer.

As Neighbours fans know, it was back in 2022 that the Australian soap opera lost its production partner after UK’s Channel 5 failed to reach a new agreement with Freemantle. Next, after its fan favorite alumni returned for the series finale, Amazon came in and revived the show with the series’ 40th and final season airing on Prime Video in 2025.

Photo: Freemantle

NEIGHBOURS LIBRARY OF STORYLINES TO BE CONVERTED INTO MICRODRAMAS

Guy Hameiri, co-founder and CEO of RoseBerry Media, said in a statement: ’Neighbours’ is an iconic piece of television history and exactly the kind of premium entertainment IP we believe can thrive in the vertical format, This is the first time we’ve had the opportunity to apply RedSnapper to a long-running soap with such a rich library of characters, storylines and cultural moments, and Fremantle has been a fantastic partner in helping bring that vision to life.”

Jens Richter, Fremantle commercial and international CEO, shared on the new partnership and new way to utilize the series archive: “Working with RoseBerry allows us to explore an incredible archive in an entirely new way, bringing much-loved IP to new audiences while demonstrating how established television libraries can continue to evolve, find new relevance and, importantly, create new commercial opportunities. It’s an exciting example of how technology and creative thinking can unlock new value from our diverse catalogue and content library.”

SHOULD U.S. SOAPS UTILIZE THEIR CLASSIC STORYLINES AND MAKE THEM  VERTICALS?

As microdramas continue to roll out, the vertical drama industry has been tasked with some companies using AI-generated characters instead of actors, taking jobs away from many in Hollywood, while others continue to build new vertical stars, loved by their passionate fan bases.

With the potential of Neighbours becoming scrolling-sized for your phone, might this become a way for the U.S. broadcast soaps to also repurpose their previous popular storylines through the years instead of just leaving them on the shelves, when soap fans crave seeing some of the classic storylines of the past? Food for thought.

So, what do you think of Neighbours’ storylines from their 4 decades being made into microdrama-sized vertical episodes, the first featuring Margot Robbie? Would you like to see shows like DAYS, Y&R, B&B and GH, with such deep history, utilize a microdrama app to serve up past storylines and archival footage, so fans could see them again in a new format? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

On the Monday, September 28 episode of General Hospital, Charlotte Cassadine was sent away from Port Charles to boarding school in Maine, thus ending the run, for now, of Bluesy Burke.

Burke’s tenure with the ABC soap and the future of Charlotte were left up in the air and a hot topic for many GH fans over this past weekend when her parents, Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Lulu (Alexa Havins) agreed their daughter should get far away from Port Charles. Now we can confirm, while the character is being written of the canvas, that doesn’t mean we have seen the last of Bluesy.

In real-life, the young actress is going off to college and also out of state. General Hospital’s executive producer, Frank Valentini explained via a statement to Soap Opera Digest, “Bluesy is still a part of the General Hospital family, and we worked it out so that she will come back on her holidays and school breaks. We are incredibly proud of her as she begins this exciting new chapter and starts her college journey.”

Photo: ABC

BLUESY GOT THE STAMP OF APPROVAL FROM GH EP

GH fans first saw Bluesy take over the role of Charlotte Cassadine back in September of 2025. Prior to Burke, the role was played by Scarlett Fernandez from 2014-2025.

Bluesy shared with SOD, that she was able to work things out with Valentini and General Hospital so she could make returns while in college. “I love my job and I didn’t want to leave it,” expressed the actress. “But I spoke to Frank and just kind of laid it all out there and let him know what my situation was and he was in full support of me going to college. When I told him I was thinking of taking a gap year, he was like, ‘No, you have to go to college, that’s so important and we will be here for you.’”

COLLEGE VS. THE SOAP A DIFFICULT CHOICE

In the difficult choice of going off to college or continuing in her professional career acting on GH, Burke acknowledged that when she heard the door would be left open for her return, that it, “meant the world to me, and really made me feel better about making the decision.”

Burke also shared that on her final tape date before heading off to school, that Valentini was already asking her when her next availability, and window would be to come back to tape all-new episodes as Charlotte.

So, happy to know Bluesy is able to go off to college and return when she is able to during her school year and the holidays? Are you upset that Valentin and Lulu decided, in story, to send Charlotte away from Port Charles in the first place? What will become of Danny? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Fans of The Young and the Restless have always loved Thad Luckinbill in his role as J.T. Hellstrom. Thad begun playing the part in 1999 and has returned to the CBS daytime drama series for multiple runs over the last few decades and a one-off appearance in 2023.

Since being away from the soap, Luckinbill has been extremely busy as a producer for his production company Black Label Media, and acting in other projects, as well.

Now comes word that Thad will be part of the featured cast of the new motion picture thriller Copperhead which is also under his Black Label Media Banner.

Log lines for the film share via Deadline, “Copperhead is catapulted forward when an undercover drug deal explodes into violence; a veteran detective is forced to team with a young federal agent to unravel the conspiracy within their elite task force.”

Photo: Paramount+

COPPERHEAD CAST

Taking to his Instagram, on his casting, Thad shared, “Very excited for this one! Incredible cast and crew!” Production on the film started back on September 14 in Oklahoma City. It’s been kept under wraps thus far, as to just who Luckinbill plays in the thriller.

The cast includes: Miles Teller, Leila George, Jason Momoa, Tenoch Huerta, Adria Arjona and Kiefer Sutherland. The latest additions to the ensemble cast along with Luckinbill are,Shea Whigham, Jamie Chung , Bobby Soto, Alejandro Speitzer, and Michael Raymond-James.

THAD ALSO APPEARS IN LIONESS

Luckinbill can currently be seen in the third season role of the Paramount+ thriller, Lioness, where he portrays CIA paramilitary/operations officer Kyle McManus, working closely with Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of the team. It’s a part he has played since 2023.  The series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, revolves around the leader of a CIA team who enlists female operatives known as Lionesses to go undercover to fight the war on terror.

Photo: JPI

SHARES TWO CHILDREN WITH AMELIA HEINLE

In real-life Thad shares two children with Y&R’s Amelia Heinle (Victoria Newman): Thaddeus Rowe Luckinbill Jr. (born November 2, 2007): 18 years old and
Georgia March Luckinbill (born December 17, 2009): 16 years old.

So, excited to see Thad in his upcoming role in Copperhead? Do you hope he makes a return or limited run someday as J.T. Hellstrom on The Young and the Restless? Let us know via the comment section below.

 

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