Woke Neighbors screenwriter says Ramsay Street was ‘too white’

The former Neighbors screenwriter said the long-running Australian soap took too long to catch up with Australia’s changing demographics.

Marike Hardy, who wrote for the Channel 10 series between 1996 and 2003, said Sydney Morning Herald the show was “too white” for most of its 37-year run.

“Neighbors has been a very white, heteronormative world for too long,” Hardy said, adding that subsequent seasons have really rectified that problem.

“But I appreciate that, like much of the Australian public, it has listened and learned,” she added.

Hardy, 46, a screenwriter whose credits include Packed to the Rafters, said Neighbors taught her to “have heart” when it came to crafting storylines.

“You have to really care about the series and its characters — to invest in the stories and stakes,” she explained.

After making her acting debut at the age of 19 in 1995, playing a villain on the ‘wrong side’, Hardy went on to write Neighbours.

“In the process of making history, you had to share the worst parts of yourself.”

After making her TV acting debut at the age of 19 in 1995, playing a “wrong side” villain, Hardy went on to write Neighbours.

She said the soap had given her the opportunity to learn and grow, adding that she was sad to see Neighbors end but was “glad it happened”.

In 2018, more than 30 years after its debut, the drama series aired Australia’s first same-sex wedding scene as gay couple David and Aaron tied the knot (pictured)

Over the past few years, Hardy notes, Neighbors has become more inclusive.

In 2018, more than 30 years after its debut, the drama series featured Australia’s first same-sex wedding scene, when gay couple David and Aaron, played by actors Takaya Honda and Matt Wilson, tied the knot.

A year later, the first transgender character appeared in the series.

A year later, the first trans character appeared in the series, played by Georgie Stone (pictured).

Georgie Stone, then 19 years old, made her acting debut as a trans student, Mackenzie.

These storylines were popular with viewers, but earlier attempts to depict modern Australia were controversial.

Melbourne-born Indian-origin actor Sachin Joab joined the show in 2011 as a tryout for the producers to combat the perception, the show was too white.

The final series of Neighbors will air on Thursday, July 28 in a 90-minute special. (Pictured: The Neighbors cast in the late 90s)

Joao was joined by Menik Guneratne and Coco-Jacinta Cherian, who together made up the Kapoor family.

The casting caused an uproar online, with some viewers saying it was “un-Australian”.

The final series of Neighbors will air on Thursday, July 28 in a 90-minute special.