Fan events are not uncommon. Whether they are sci-fi, wrestling, books or even technology, they exist. Screen Star Events honed into a niche market of Aussie TV, holding numerous shows throughout the year, including their OZTV event.
I wasn’t planning to go to the OZTV event. I was planning on another, but it was postponed, so I bit the bullet and decided to go to this one instead. After all the line-up was all actors that have appeared in Neighbours.
The event is held in Birmingham, and as I was going on my own, I was a little anxious. However, there were a few people that I met from the Neighbours Celebration Tour, so I wasn’t going to be alone at the event.
Why me?
Before I get onto the actual breakdown of the OZTV event, it wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t some sort of drama!
I felt super organised. Train tickets were booked. The route from the station to the venue was planned out. I was confident that I would arrive on time.
Until I noticed that guests were to arrive 45 mins before the event started! So, technically, I would arrive late in Birmingham!
It’s no biggie, I worked out I would still get there with loads of time to spare. I will just have to up my GaySpeed™ to get there a little quicker.
And that’s what I did. I dashed from the train station to the venue. I took a corner, and in doing so stepped into what I thought was dry mud. It wasn’t!
I slipped. I nearly went arse over tit. Luckily, I regained balance, but was covered in mud!
Fuck!!!
I am about to have my photo taken with some actors, and here I am, caked in mud!
Thank gawd I made the last-minute decision to wear shorts, that is all I am going to say.
I arrived at the venue like I had just competed in a mud wrestling competition. I quickly dashed to the toilets to clean myself. Thankfully I was able to clean the majority of it off!
Drama averted, and now it is time to enjoy the day.
The event itself
The breakdown of the day would start with a quick intro session leading onto the group photos.
A Q&A session with all actors would take up the main early afternoon, before leading onto the individual photo sessions.
The final part would be the meet and greet part, where you would have some time with the actors and you could get something signed.
Introduction & Group photos
There was a small change to the schedule at the very last minute. Elaine Smith (aka Daphne Clarke) had to pull out due to work commitments.
However, to fill her spot, would be Bernard Curry, aka Luke Handley. Although better known recently for playing Jake Stewart in Wentworth.
Additionally, Alan Fletcher (aka Karl Kennedy), was in the UK doing his music tour, joined us for the group photos.
Introduction
While they had Alan Fletcher, they did a mini Q&A session with all 5 on stage concentrating on Alan.
It was lovely to see the father and daughter duo, Alan & Kym, on stage together.
Kym finding out some of the recent storylines that Alan has done, including Dr Pooper, was just fascinating to see her reaction.
You can see the love and admiration that they both hold for each other. The fact that Kym calls Alan “Dad” shows their relationship/bond.
Group photos
Don’t expect to have any in-depth conversations when you meet for the photos. There is no time. That’s for later!
It’s a conveyor belt. You queue up, get your picture taken and go. It has to be to get through everyone quickly so we can get to the Q&A session.
When it came to my turn, I was nervous. I said hello to Carla & Lucinda who were sat in the front row with me, and then. proceed to tell them about my mud slide! Like you do!
I didn’t get a chance to say hello to the other three before the pic was taken. The pic was taken, and I was off to let the next person get their shot.
It would have been nice if there was a brief interaction with all, especially with Alan as it was a flying visit.
Q&A Session
The Q&A session brought all the actors, minus Alan, for a good old natter.
That’s what it felt like. We were just there listening to some mates reminiscing stories from the past.
It was interesting to think that Lucinda Cowden (aka Mel Pearson) had worked on the show before and after the other actors, and she had a different insight from everyone else.
She experienced the show in the early days when production was a lot slower, and they even had rehearsal days.
That’s just wishful thinking nowadays!
The Good
The majority of the conversations were positive about the show.
It was clear that a lot of the younger cast looked up and respected the older cast.
We’d already witnessed the respect that Kym had for her onscreen dad, and how she spoke about Jackie Woodburn (aka Susan Kennedy).
Anne Charleston (Madge Bishop) was highly respect with Kym providing us with the advice that she still lives by: “If you arrive on time, you’re late!”
Anne Haddy was also a highly respected actor by all on stage. Her advice to the younger female cast was “A lady sits with her legs closed and gets up with her legs closed”.
This is sound advice when you have a camera on you all day.
Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) was also mentioned when discussing an actor who is nothing like their character. I don’t think that is a shock to us now, as a new actor on the Neighbours set, it probably was.
The cast shared some memories of Ian, that if written down wouldn’t be interpreted as they were given, so I won’t be sharing them here. At the end of the day, they all loved him.
The Bad
Obviously some of the stories the actors shared didn’t paint some of the co-stars in a positive light.
I won’t be naming the actors who they were talking about. If you want that type of gossip, then you need to get yourself to the actual event!
Some of the stories included:
A co-start that was so boring, they didn’t like working with them. While they felt there was no chemistry between them, the audience wholeheartedly disagreed.
A fellow actor was vocal and repulsed about having to kiss a pregnant woman!
An actor who joined the show thought they were better than everyone else. They’d throw diva tantrums, throw scripts and water across the set and was difficult to work with.
At the end of the day, the scriptwriters got their revenge by giving him some awful storylines.
The Ugly
Lucinda didn’t have a positive memory of Flashback Week, which also reintroduced Mel to Neighbours 3.0.
Her main, and I think only, complaint was the awful tracksuit that she had to wear for the week worth of episodes.
The one thing that was very clear from all the actors, was their love and admiration they have for the show.
It just oozed from the stage!
Individual Photos
After a small break, each actor did their individual photo shoots with the attendees.
This was an additional cost on top of the ticket, but I treated myself and got a photo with each actor.
Again, this felt very conveyor belt as they needed to get through them all. Taking into account that this is an extra it would have been nice to have spent a little extra time with them.
Maybe people did, Maybe my nerves and anxiety got the better of me.
Don’t get me wrong, the actors were friendly and fantastic, and this is no reflection on them.
Thankfully, the photos were good too!
Bonus – Behind the scenes
As the last individual photos were done, we were all piled back into the auditorium where Bernard Curry had some videos he wanted to share about what happens behind the scenes on Neighbours and Wentworth.
There were two videos provided by Carla from Neighbours, which show shelves upon shelves of old episodes of Neighbours. The other was herself and Ryan Maloney (Toadie Rebecchi) ignoring health and safety regulations by being in the lighting rig.
The other videos were related to Wentworth, showing the camaraderie that the cast and crew have with each other.
This includes how Robbie Magasiva (Will) would always drag up and perform for the crew when it was someone’s birthday. Let’s say, his performances could put some drag queens to shame.
One of the other videos was Tammy Macintosh (Kaz) showing everyone how they wipe their arse.
I shit you not! Pardon the pun!
This extra segment just showed how much Barnard loved his job, the skill and the industry.
Meet & Greets
This was the part which would take the longest, but it was organised so well that it didn’t feel like it was taking too long.
Each row in the auditorium would queue up and slowly you’d enter the room, have a chat with the actor, and get something signed (or multiple if you had purchased an add-on).
I bought a programme to be signed. There were also photos available if you wanted to purchase, and get them signed.
While queuing up, it was then I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to say. My anxiety started to kick in.
Lucinda Cowden
(aka Mel Pearson)
I froze. Couldn’t say anything. Handed over my programme, got it signed and then moved on!
The guy in front of me put me off slightly. I was just listening to him speak and ask loads of questions.
After 10 mins, I felt like he had said possibly everything that needed to be said, that I didn’t want to bother her anymore.
In hindsight, I would have been interested in her opinion of the recent love pentagon storyline, in which her character was involved. For the record…it has been the worst storyline from Neighbours 3.0!
Bernard Curry
(aka Luke Handley)
I’ll be honest, when I first heard that Bernard would be a guest at OZTV, I thought “I can’t remember his Neighbours’ character”!
Then, I vaguely started to remember his character’s cancer storyline. And more importantly…his jeans!
When I approached his table, he said “I remember you. You’re the jacked one!”
He then proceeded to tell the chaperone that when we were having our solo photos, he could feel my back muscles.
So, the fit Bernie (cause we’re mates now), thinks I’m jacked!
Day made!
During the Q&A session, he discussed a scene that he was so proud of but was cut due to the show’s parental guidance rating.
He mentioned that this was a scene where he shaved his hair after his character found out he had cancer.
I mentioned that this scene was shown in the UK. He confirmed he got the scene wrong.
It was nearly 30 years ago, we can all be forgiven for not remembering things from that far back.
He then confirmed it was a group scene where he got angry. He was gutted as it would never see the light of day either.
Bernie was a highlight of the day for me. His enthusiasm and character just oozed every time you saw him.
Kym Valentine
(aka Libby Kennedy)
Kym was the most open of the guests, with her stories and her emotions!
Kym was overwhelmed by the day, She clearly loved the show and was loving every moment of this event.
We spoke about Anne Haddy (an actor I admired from Neighbours’ hey-days), and how I wrote to Kym to get a quote for a ‘This is your life’-esque book I was collating before Anne left the show.
I can’t remember what I wrote, but the response from Kym said it was saucy!
We had a good laugh and a cuddle. I remember saying to her, that the Kennedys are amazing cuddlers and Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kennedy) taught her well. She agreed, she did!
Kym is definitely an actor I would love to return to the show. We definitely need more Kennedys.
If Libby were to return, we would need to see her remarried and a step-mum to a group of kids!
Carla Bonner
(aka Steph Scully)
Carla was the final guest that I met, and we ended up talking about my mud slide!
I even showed her the photo of how I looked as I arrived!
We just had a general chat about that, and the event itself.
I then got a hug from her too, and I thanked her for the nice words she said to me on the socials regarding my coming to the event and my anxiety.
No more drama…please!
Unfortunately, I had to make a mad dash as soon as I had completed my meet & greets.
In the early hours of the day, I received an email from the train operator confirming that the train I booked to get home had been cancelled. However, I would be okay, as I could get the later train.
Then, during the event I received another message to confirm they had cancelled that one too! They just cancelled their last train of the day to Manchester!
So I had to get to the train station to try and sort out how I was getting home. What I wasn’t expecting, was to go on a magical mystery tour of the northwest.
Magical mystery tour
I was told to get the Crewe train, get off at Stafford and there would be a bus replacement to Manchester.
When I arrived in Stafford, there was a bus replacement. It just wasn’t going to Manchester.
After some discussions, we were told to get on this bus, which was going to Stoke, as there was a replacement service there for us.
There wasn’t!
The member of staff at the train station was trying everything they could to suss out what was happening, and how they could get us to our destination.
Finally, it was agreed that we’d get on the next train to Crewe, and then the train to Manchester.
It took over 4 hours to get home!
While I have to provide kudos to how everyone involved was trying their best to get us home, and were super friendly with everyone stranded. I can’t fault them, even if I could have just stayed on the first train to Crewe!
CrossCountry though. Well, they can go suck eggs! No wonder they’re in deep shit and are close to losing their franchise!
If I decide to go to the next event, I will most likely stay over. I don’t need this level of stress at the end of the day!
Final Thoughts
Overall I had an enjoyable day.
It’s a long day, however it also goes really quickly. I remember looking at my watch and thinking “How did it get to that time already?”
Tips
I would also suggest bringing some snacks with you. While the venue has refreshments, the snacks are very limited.
If I didn’t know anyone there, I think my experience would have been would have been a lot different. But that isn’t an event issue, that is a me issue!
If you’re not an outgoing individual and want to go but have no one to go with, see if there is anyone in the Neighbours groups on Facebook and other socials and see if you can tag along with them. There are always people in these groups that are there.
The staff and organisers were all super friendly, and you can tell that they want to create a memorable day for everyone.
I did feel that the photo sessions were rushed. I understand why, as they had so many people to get through. But even a little extra time would have been nice, especially if you had paid extra for the solo shoots.
All the actors were amazing. Every single one of them! They made the event. Thankfully, because that was their actual job that day!
The meet & greets is your time to shine with the actors. Or shy away like I did. Come prepared with something to talk about (I didn’t), but be respectful too.
Cost
Now cost. On paper, it can look expensive, but I feel you get a lot for your buck.
Compared to the Neighbours Celebration Tour, the costs were similar (with the meet and greets), and there are pros and cons to both. As this is a smaller event, it felt more relaxed and personal.
Some add-ons can be purchased, which include: programmes, photos for signing, solo photo opportunities and additional items signed (you get one item signed as part of your ticket), but these aren’t needed and won’t affect your experience.
Upcoming events
If you’re a Neighbours fan, you may want to think about next year’s OZTV event. The confirmed guests are Kym Valentine, Elaine Smith (Daphne Clarke), Melissa Bell (Lucy Robinson) and Jacinta Stapleton (Amy Greenwood).
Coat-tailing this, next year Neighbours is 40, so there is the official 40th Anniversary Tour that you may want to get tickets to as well. The current confirmed guests are Rebekah Elmaloglou (Terese Willis), Majella Davis (Krista Sinclair) and Tim Kano (Leo Tanaka) with more announcements to follow later.