Without their fix of Summer Bay action on Channel 5 for the next few weeks, Home and Away fans in the UK will have to cope.
The famous daytime soap has disappeared from the timetables as of today (November 23) in order to take its annual festive break.
Home and Away goes off the air on Channel 5 in the run-up to Christmas each year in order to establish a difference with the Australian broadcasts.
The year’s final UK episode aired last Thursday (November 19) on 5STAR and on Friday (November 20) on Channel 5.
This ended in a cliffhanger, as Dean Thompson (Patrick O’Connor) made the impulsive decision to steal his young son Jai Simmons after thinking he would lose access to the youngster.
The show is not scheduled to return until January, but the final date for the show will not be confirmed until closer to that date.
Since Home and Away does not air in Australia all year round either, Channel 5 is forced to take an annual break.
It usually airs enough episodes for 46 weeks of the year to remain on Channel 5, but far fewer episodes were screened in 2020 than normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The show will also take an immediate break in Australia as well, with a final season episode of 90 minutes planned for Monday, November 30 on Channel 7.
Fellow Aussie soap Neighbours is still on air, as usual, but now the lunch episode has switched to the previous 1pm time slot.
In the afternoon, in the run-up to Christmas, Channel 5 will broadcast festive films, while repeats of Friends have taken over the 6 pm slot for Home and Away.
