Neighbours’ Alan Fletcher says Margot Robbie will watch reboot with ‘huge twist’

Neighbours legend Alan Fletcher has promised the soap’s resurrection will surpass expectations and the addition of US teen queen Mischa Barton will help them break America – encouraging former co-star Margot Robbie to tune in.

The ex-OC star joins the reboot, Neighbours: A New Chapter, which comes after show favourites Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce returned for the final Neighbours episode last summer after it was axed by Channel 5.

Gearing up for the first new episode on Amazon Freevee from Monday, Alan, who plays Dr Karl Kennedy, says: “These are some of the best scripts I’ve read in 28 years.

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“Mischa brings an international element to the show, and Amazon are going to show Neighbours in America and Canada as well. It was marvellous to have her on board.

“I only did one scene with her but she is in so many – they gave her a really big storyline and she was fantastic.”

Following the superstar send-off the new series will pick up with the Ramsey Street residents two years later and Guy, now a Hollywood hitmaker, has said he will leave the show “respectfully”.

Alan says: “We start off introducing new characters in the first episodes, and at the same time there’s a big wedding with a twist.

“And it’s that twist which will fuel the first few months of Neighbours and fascinate audiences.

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“I read the scripts and said: ‘This is incredible’.

“I never imagined Amazon would step in and save Neighbours but they saw the outpouring of grief, and the petitions, and the fact five and a half million Brits watched the last episode and they said, ‘This show clearly has a life’ and they stepped in after negotiating with Fremantle Media.”

Not only will fans get a new series but Alan, who is also a successful musician, has released a single dedicated to his screen wife Susan called I’ve Got A Crush On Susie K.

He says: “It’s a homage to the Queen of Ramsay Street. She’s loved by fans universally, and she’s kind of like the queen bee of Neighbours.

“Years ago I had this idea to write a dedication to her from a fan perspective, and I used to sing it all the time on tour.

“When I got to the Neighbours celebration tour earlier this year, I used that song as an introduction to Jackie (Woodburne) coming on stage, and everyone went berserk.

“Suddenly they’re on Facebook and emailing me saying, ‘You’ve got to release this song’ and so I’ve obliged.”

Since pop princess Kylie is gearing up for her Las Vegas residency she won’t be reprising her role again as Charlene Robinson but Alan has fond memories of working with her when he had a guest role in 1987 as a Neighbours mechanic.

He says: “Kylie being the apprentice Charlene, needed a supervising mechanic, and so that was me.

“It was quite delightful because I remember asking her what she was doing in life and she told me at the time she was very excited because she was about to release a song called The Loco-Motion.

“I remember saying to her, ‘I hope that goes OK for you’ and I think it might have!”

Barbie actress Margot Robbie made her acting debut on Neighbours in 2008 and now boasts the highest grossing movie of the year.

Alan, 66, says: “Margot is incredible. You’ve got to admire her enormously to see what she and her partner have done in terms of creating their production company and doing incredible movies – I, Tonya was a standout.

“We know Barbie is a billion-dollar movie, but creatively as well, the heights it’s achieved are just remarkable.

“She doesn’t play a stereotypical character – there’s a real humanity to Barbie in this movie, and Margot carries that off beautifully.

“She lives in LA primarily now, so when Neighbours comes out on Amazon, I’m sure she’ll be watching.”

*Neighbours airs on Amazon Freevee from September 18, Monday to Thursday. It’s hard to imagine him on the cobbles rather than in the Aussie sunshine but given the chance Alan would love a soap cameo in Coronation Street.

He says: “The UK is like a second home to me – I’m planning a music tour next year.

“I always try to have a look at Coronation Street when I visit, because I was lucky enough to have a visit to the set and meet a lot of the cast, which was a joy.

“Corrie is such a huge part of the history of television.

“They haven’t asked me yet, but I think Doctor Karl should go on holiday one day as himself and turn up on Coronation Street – that would be awesome.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk