New Neighbours cast: who is starring in TV soap’s return on Amazon Freevee with Mischa Barton?

When Channel 5 announced that they were dropping Neighbours, the Australian soap that has proved just as popular in the UK as Down Under when it first aired in 1985, production company Fremantle hoped to find a new avenue to co-fund and broadcast the series.

The show launched to stardom former cast members including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce, whilst some actors made the soap a permanent home, featuring on the series for decades.

The ‘final' episode aired in Australia on 28 July 2022 to much fanfare, but just nine months later it was announced that the beloved soap had been saved and would return on Amazon Freevee in 2023. 

Freevee is Amazon’s ad-supported streaming service and will host the soap for international audiences. Production on the latest season is now underway and many of the show’s main cast are set to return to Ramsay Street. 

Who is in the cast of the new Neighbours series?

Stefan Dennis will return as Paul Robinson - he is the only original cast member to have featured on the soap since the very beginning. Other returning cast members include:

• Jackie Woodburne as Susan Kennedy
• Alan Fletcher as Dr Karl Kennedy
• Ryan Moloney as Toadie Rebecchi
• Rebekah Elmaloglou as Terese Willis
• Annie Jones as Jane Harris
• Tim Kano as Leo Tanaka
• Georgie Stone as Mackenzie Hargreaves
• Melissa Bell as Lucy Robinson
• April Rose Pengilly as Chloe Brennan
• Ian Smith as Harold Bishop
• Lucinda Cowden as Melanie Pearson
• Lloyd Will as Andrew Rodwell
• Emerald Chan as Sadie Rodwell
• Candice Leask as Wendy Rodwell

The new series will also see a new name making a guest appearance - Mischa Barton will play Reece, an American who is new to Erinsborough. It is not known how long Barton will stay on the series, but her character is expected to play a big part in the show’s return as it is revealed that Reece is not all that she appears to be.

Barton is known for playing Marissa Cooper in 2000s comedy drama series The O.C. and has also appeared in the films St. Trinian's, Death Valley, Ouija House, and Spree. 

When is Neighbours returning?

Filming for the newest season of Neighbours began on Monday 17 April. Production for the series, set in the fictional Ramsay Street on the fictional Erinsborough suburb of Melbourne, kicked off at Nunawading Studios in Melbourne.

The new series is set to air later this year, when it will air on Amazon Freevee in the UK. You can currently watch 50 iconic episodes of the soap on Freevee, including the pilot, Scott and Charlene’s wedding, and episodes featuring Margot Robbie and Russell Crowe. All 720 episodes which aired from 2012-2014 are also available on Freevee.

You do not need an Amazon Prime subscription to access Freevee but you will need to sign up for a free Amazon account to use the service, which also features hundreds of other TV shows and films.

In Australia, Network 10, home to Neighbours from 1986-2010, and again from 2022, will retain broadcast rights to the series as new episodes air.