Neighbours may be off our screens until the new year, but excitement is building for what’s ahead in 2022 when the Ramsay Street soap returns for a new season.
In recent weeks, show bosses have been providing plenty of hints for the future, including new casting announcements and the release of a spoilerific new trailer.
Here are nine of the biggest highlights that we can look out for in the New Year.
Harlow faces a backlash
The season finale of Neighbours ended on a big cliffhanger, with Terese perilously dangling from the Lassiters’ roof. While we’ll have to wait a little longer to learn more about Terese’s fate, it appears that Harlow will be faced with some difficult questions in the aftermath.
Paul accuses Harlow of abandoning a drunk Terese when she needed her the most in the new trailer for 2022. “Terese fell because you left her alone, and you’re worried about some file?” Paul replies, unimpressed by Harlow’s preoccupation with a private investigator’s report on Glen.
Harlow’s chilly demeanor has recently become a source of concern, but will this encounter serve as the wake-up call she requires, or will her behavior deteriorate even further?
Zara arrives
The arrival of Amy Greenwood’s daughter Zara Selwyn, who will be played by Freya Van Dyke, has been announced by Neighbours executives. Since Amy came to Erinsborough, Zara has been referenced a few times, but today we’ll finally get to see the mother-daughter duo in action.
Zara is shown in an Erinsborough High uniform in a photo Freya uploaded on Instagram, implying that she will be around for a while.
Meanwhile, Zara makes a spectacular debut in the Neighbours 2022 trailer, walking in on Amy when she’s in bed with lovers Levi and Ned. What will she think of her mother’s polyamorous affair?
Levi, Amy and Ned face difficult decisions
Amy has never hidden the fact that she hasn’t always been Zara’s best mother. Following Zara’s arrival in Erinsborough, Amy decides to put her daughter first for a bit in the latest trailer.
This may spell doom for Levi and Ned. Levi even suggests to Amy that they break up in a voice-over from one scene, but it’s unclear whether this is related to Zara’s visit or not.
Kyle and Roxy’s wedding
Kyle and Roxy’s wedding is scheduled for the first few weeks of the year. After the recent struggles they’ve encountered following Kyle’s cancer diagnosis, the pair will be determined to enjoy their big day.
Mick also plays a part in the romance storyline when he becomes the couple’s wedding planner.
A shock storm
A catastrophic storm will hit Erinsborough on a critical day for some of the local inhabitants in Neighbours’ first big stunt of the year.
In a scene from Neighbours’ new trailer, “gale force winds” are mentioned, and a telegraph pole is seen tumbling down in a particularly dramatic scene.
Is it possible that the bad weather would bring disaster to the residents of Ramsay Street?
A mystery death
The actors and crew of Neighbours went on location to film a funeral a few weeks ago, but the identity of the deceased character is still unknown.
Neighbours offered viewers their first official glimpse of the narrative in the show’s new trailer, which doesn’t give us too many clues as to who lives, who dies, or how this mystery character will be written out, despite weeks of speculations and speculation on social media.
Freya arrives
Phoebe Roberts has joined the cast of Neighbours as Freya Wozniak, the first new regular since Nicolette Stone joined the show in 2020.
Freya is billed as “the ultimate mystery girl” in a recent press release from Neighbours, who holds her cards close to her chest when she arrives in Erinsborough in the new year. She isn’t afraid to break the rules, as viewers will shortly discover.
Freya is already at the centre of a serious narrative in the 2022 trailer for Neighbours. “I believed someone was attacking me,” she says in new footage, gripping a knife and visibly distressed. So, what’s her backstory?
Neighbours in London
In October, the cast of Neighbours returned to London to film a special storyline for Harlow Robinson.
Harlow’s aunt Harriet, who is the sister of the late Prue Wallace, is played by Amanda Holden, a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.
Harlow and Harriet will reconvene in order to solve a Prue-related mystery. Some fans are already guessing that this has something to do with The Order, Prue’s nefarious cult.
In the London sequences, Sophie Ellis-Bextor makes a special cameo appearance, which will premiere in March.
More on-location filming
Over the last few years, scenes on Neighbours have been limited to Ramsay Street and the show’s other famous studio and backlot locales, but that will change in the New Year.
Over the last few months, the show’s filming crews have been working out on location on a regular basis, which means we’ll see our favourite characters visiting recognizable Melbourne locations more frequently. Let’s hope business at The Waterhole and Harold’s doesn’t suffer as a result of everyone’s hectic schedules.