The first August schedules from Channel 5 have been revealed, giving viewers a preview of how the cancellation of Neighbours will effect the lineup.
Today (July 20), the final schedules for the first week of August, the first after Neighbours, were made public.
Home and Away will move to the later timeslot of 1.45pm, which was previously occupied by Neighbours, in a small alteration to the daytime lineup. But Channel 5 has decided not to bring back the 6 o’clock rebroadcast of the Summer Bay soap opera.
Instead, Neighbours will be replaced at 6 o’clock with the auction programme Cash in the Attic.
Between 2002 and 2012, BBC One showed Cash in the Attic in its original form.
Channel 5 has now brought back the formula for a first run of 40 episodes, with previous host Jules Hudson and new presenter Chris Kamara at the helm.
In a teaser, Channel 5 hinted: “The Attic Cash game is returning! finding the buried treasure that can be sold at auction to fulfil a desire through assisting people.
“In their quest to find hidden treasures in the auction room, our presenter and expert appraiser look everywhere. Even if some items are unexpected, unwelcome, or difficult to part with, the expert appraiser’s evaluations assist customers decide whether or not to sell.
The auction is where they will try to raise the funds needed to realise their ambition.
In February of last year, Channel 5 made the decision to remove Neighbours from its daytime lineup.
It was then announced that Neighbours would stop after 37 years because the show’s production company, Fremantle Australia, was unable to find a new UK broadcast partner for the programme.
Neighbours’ hour-long series finale will run at 9 p.m. on Channel 5 on Friday, July 29.
Ben Frow, the controller of Channel 5, defended his choice to discontinue Neighbours last week. The Australian soap opera is still one of the most popular programmes on the network, but since it has so many episodes, it is expensive to commission.
Frow stated to Radio Times: “I made the decision to use the money on other things since I could. I could invest the Neighbours funds better on UK programming.”
