Beginning in January 2022, episodes of Neighbours will be broadcast in the United Kingdom before being broadcast in Australia.
Earlier this year, the Ramsay Street soap on Channel 5 was four weeks behind 10 Peach’s schedule, but it eventually caught up when 10 Peach reduced the number of weekly episodes to four.
Both networks will air the identical final episode of the year one day apart next month, synchronizing episodes in the UK and Australia. However, Channel 5 confirmed to Digital Spy that 10 Peach will maintain its four-episode weekly schedule from the start of 2022, putting Australia behind schedule.
In both the UK and Australia, the show returns from its Christmas hiatus on January 3 with the same episode.
This implies that starting on Friday, January 7, Channel 5 will be ahead.
Channel 5 declined to comment other than to confirm the new year’s schedule. There has been no response from 10 Peach.
In 2016, the United Kingdom overtook Australia for a single day. On a Monday night, Channel 5 aired a dramatic hour-long 10 pm special about Josh Willis’ death, with Australia catching up on Tuesday.
In the spring of 2020, Channel 5 fell behind when it decided to reduce the number of weekly episodes from four to two due to concerns about how COVID-19 would affect filming. After having a week off during the holidays, the UK channel has fallen behind by another week.
In July 2021, 10 Peach aired repeats of Friends instead of its customary Friday edition. For the time being, Australian audiences can expect to see the soap on Mondays through Thursdays.