After 37 years, Australia’s longest-running soap opera Neighbours came to an end last week.
And on Monday, Alan Fletcher, who portrayed Dr. Karl Kennedy on the programme for almost three decades, said he was thinking about becoming a doctor like his character.
The actor remarked, “Now that I’ve done Neighbours, I’m thinking about genuinely going into medicine,” during a segment of Magic Radio’s Breakfast Show.
The 65-year-old Alan admitted to hosts Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott that, up until this point, he had made every effort to keep his on-screen image and his personal life apart.
He made light of the situation by saying, “While I’ve been on Neighbours, I rigorously don’t give medical advice because I’m genuinely frightened about the government tracking me.”
He said: “Well, all I can say to you is that we’ve already had a celebration of a show that people have enjoyed for 37 years.” The show’s finale was seen by over 3M viewers in the UK.
We want to see people crying in living rooms across the UK. That is the aim we have. As we express our gratitude to the audience for travelling with us. It’s a wonderful way to end, and I think it was expertly done. I’m hoping that folks will like it.
He remarked of Margot Robbie, a fellow cast member who played Donna Freedman on the show before becoming well-known in Hollywood, “The treat” is the epitome of what Neighbours can accomplish in terms of educating and mentoring people.
Mind you, Jackie Woodburne, who plays Susan, literally turned and said, “Okay, she’s the bees knees,” when she walked into the studio very early on.
She has everything, he gushed. She is capable of both comedy and great high drama. Margot has a natural ability and was always going to be successful. She is simply amazing, truly amazing.
Alan continued by saying that all of his fellow cast members who joined the show again felt compelled to give something back because it had significantly improved their lives.
“My favourite experience over the past several weeks was walking into the canteen and seeing Guy Pearce sitting there (he played Mike Young), which is a huge deal in Hollywood these days,” the actor said. About 20 years ago, I coworked with him.
“And to just walk up and say good day, man, how you doing?” It feels like yesterday. He merely stated, “I wanted to return and do this because I know how much Neighbours has given me and it’s time to repay it.” And from what I can tell, everyone adopted that mindset. Let’s simply pay tribute to the programme that gave us our start.
Alan said, “I created the Dr. Karl Kennedy in conversation presentation three years ago. I will soon be travelling the UK in a one-man show. After being postponed year after year, I am finally performing the performance in September and touring the entire UK.
And then again in March, we’re performing the Neighbours farewell tour,’ she continued. This is enormous and will be held at the largest venues in all major cities.
It’s going to be big, and I believe we have three shows at The London Palladium. So, yes, I still have a tonne of Dr. Karl-related activities.
Australian Alan stunned EastEnders viewers hours before the show’s conclusion by switching Ramsay Street for Albert Square in a special farewell video shared on social media.
Stars offered sweet comments to the cast and crew of the Australian production in addition to their innovative involvement, which included Alan portraying himself in a scene with some of the BBC soap opera cast members.
In the brief clip, actress Kellie Bright, who plays Linda Carter, sits and laments the end of Neighbours.
Linda is shocked when actor Alan, who recently disclosed he has been diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune illness that causes hair loss, shows up at Bridge Street Cafe without notice searching for a taxi to make a “quick getaway.”
After ascertaining that it is indeed “Dr. Karl Kennedy,” she springs to her feet and begs Shona McGarty’s Whitney Dean to take a photo of them together.
