Sir, – Donald Clarke reminds readers that until Neighbours went to Channel 5 in 2008, episodes were broadcast in the UK months after their first showing in Australia ("Without Neighbours, Hollywood would have a staffing crisis", Culture, February 12th).
Back in the late 1980s in the UK, I taught a group of undergraduates who, although they were very lively and bright, were inclined to be rather lax when it came to preparation for seminars.
When I found out that they all gathered to watch Neighbours every weekday afternoon, I devised a half-serious plan to free up more of their time for academic study.
A friend in Australia sent me a copy of the Neighbours Annual and briefed me on the storylines that my students hadn’t yet been able to watch.
At the start of one lecture, I spent a few minutes bringing the group up to date with the goings on in Erinsborough.
“You’ve ruining it for us”, they complained. They took it in good humour, and I didn’t reveal too much about what was to come.
I’m not sure preparation time increased after my “cruel to be kind” intervention. And one of the group asked if they could have the annual! – Yours, etc,
THEO SCHULTE,
Cambridge, UK.