18th January 2015
Ah yes, this is the story of the day I was a MASSIVE nerd. I'm very aware that no one will really care about this particular entry but I don't care. I found it very exciting. I finally got to go to the place I'd been watching on TV for over 15 years. OK there was a time at uni when I stopped watching but one day I downloaded three years of the show from Youtube to catch up! Yep, I'm that much of a geek. This is the day I went to Pin Oak Court, known briefly as Ramsbottom Street but famous for being called Ramsey Street!
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| Pin Oak court! |
I had caused a small reaction from the receptionist when I booked the tour after I gave her my name but unfortunately the slightly more famous Alan Fletcher would not be joining us. He was in Iceland apparently which was a shame. There were a few pictures of old cast members and I could name almost all of them except for the group photo of the 80s cast who I didn't know!
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| The Canning's formally The Scully's |
I must admit I did feel a little awkward in the shop waiting for pickup as most people were old and in a group and this is easily the saddest thing I've ever done. When we got on the bus, however, I realised I was amongst like minded people and as the driver told us some backstage secrets I felt much happier. He told some interesting stories. How Josh and Imogen who are siblings on the show are actually in a relationship in real life, awkward! The legendary Holly Valance's half sister is now on the show. He also mentioned a few of the old cast members that are returning for the shows 30th anniversary which, as I write this, was last week. Apparently Madge is back from the dead which I can only assume means the end of Harold but I haven't watched it yet so no spoilers!
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| Mark's place, formally The Bishop's |
We arrived at Pinot Court and started taking pictures of all the houses whilst our tour guide told us about the shows residents past and present (like I don't know!). I got the compulsory picture with the Ramsey Street sign in front of the Kennedy's house (obviously as my alter ego lives there!). The road looks a lot smaller in real life. They just film it in a way to make it look longer.
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| The scene of the slap! |
It was funny looking around. I kept having flashes of scenes in my head as I saw the places in real life. The legendary argument between Izzy and Susan being my favourite!
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| The Turners |
Our tour guide told us how they give money to the real life residents so that they could use the street. They had originally said it would probably only be for a few years or so but 30 years on its still going. There is a car park around the corner where the residents park there cars when there is filming on. The street has a security guide too and is closed off a night. Who'd have thought it would have such high protection.
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| Toadie's (House of Trouser!) |
Toadie's house was looking a bit worse for wear as nobody lives there. Neighbours just rents it out but as they were still in the Christmas break everything looked a bit overgrown. The house is for sale and I want to buy it!
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| The Willis's formally The Robinson's formally The Carpenter's |
We left the street and headed for the studios for a tour of the external sets. I really wanted to go inside the building and see all the internal sets but that's off limits. It was the weekend so they weren't filming and no famouses around (or semi-famouses).
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| The Suburbs |
The fictional suburb of Erinsborough is actually an anagram of Neighbours with a couple of extra letters thrown in.
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| The mechanics |
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| Cheeky look inside |
I wanted to get a picture of everything. There's so many little bits that had been used in various scenes that had doubled up as other parts of the city but were actually right here in the studios.
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| The bus stop |
I thought this bus stop was on an actual road but its all fake. Even the timetable that shows the nearby fictional suburbs of Eden Hills and West Waratah.
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| Where should I go |
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| Kyle's yard |
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| Grease Monkeys |
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| Random old house |
This house was used as Callum's grans house and also for someone off the 80s. The white car is Paul's that got smashed up in the recent tornado. Yes, tornado!
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| Community Centre |
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| Another cheeky look inside |
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| Sonja's Nursery |
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| Formally the allotment |
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| Yep another picture with another sign |
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| The History Wall |
The History Wall was quite interesting. They've made a whole back story for the area with a mention of the more recent on screen history. There's a small memorial of Kate, can you spot it!
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| Lots of History |
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| Lassisters |
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| Yes I took a picture of a lift! |
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| The Lassiters Complex |
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| The legendary Harold's Store |
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| Formally Karl's Surgery, remember Sarah?! |
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| The Waterhole, formally Charlie's, Scarlet Bar, Lou's Pub and originally The Waterhole! |
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| The Police Station |
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| Inside the police station with a random door into the hotel! |
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| The lake! |
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| So many scenes here |
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| The balcony Paul was pushed off |
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| Tribute to the late Stingray! |
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| The University |
I had so much fun wandering around these sets. So many scenes kept coming into my head. It was all very exciting. From here were walked to the newly built backyard sets. The backyards of the actually houses are much too small for a film crew so they built this new area. We couldn't actually go into these so were left to climb the fences as we pleased.
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| The Willis's |
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| The Canning's |
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| The Willis's |
That was it. We'd seen everything we were allowed to see including the cars used by the characters! Good old stolen Hermione (that's the name of the car!). I'm so glad I finally got to do this and I will be looking out for other bits of the set that are used. I noticed this week actually that the security post at the entrance to the studios has been used for Matt's new job as a security guard. Yep, I'm no longer just a geek, now I am also an expert!
