Neighbours legend confirms 'everyone is in peril' as Death in the Outback week kicks off

Neighbours star Lucinda Cowden has revealed that "everyone is in peril" as the show's beloved characters are pushed to their limits.

The Australian soap's 'Death in the Outback' week launches next week, plunging several residents into life-threatening jeopardy during an expedition to the unforgiving Australian outback, where they find themselves entangled in a deadly and unpredictable crisis.

Characters Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden), Mackenzie Hargreaves (Georgie Stone), Haz Devkar (Shiv Palekar), Holly Hayland (Lucinda Armstrong Hall), Tess Carmichael (Anica Calida) and Heath Royce (Ethan Panizza) are confirmed to venture into the bushlands, with ominous confirmation that not all will make it back to Erinsborough.

Speaking about one of the soap's most high-stakes periods, Lucinda, who plays Melanie, stated: "I think what's interesting about these episodes is that everyone is in peril and anyone could go or all of us could go. I think that was the idea to keep everyone hanging on their seats."

The synopsis for the dramatic week highlights that Holly remains blissfully unaware of the lurking perils in the Outback, amid both natural threats and her clandestine romantic interest in Heath. Concurrently, Toadie and Melanie's sudden vanishing from Erinsborough stirs alarm within the community.

When Haz and Mackenzie fail to get in touch with Holly, they decide to take the next flight to the Outback, convinced something is amiss as a gunshot rings out. Lucinda added: "The Death in the Outback week affects everything. So much happens and everyones changed in the process.", reports the Daily Star.

"I think the whole show moves a bit quicker and I feel like we used to have fallow time after. Huge week but it just keeps going. There isn't a lull anymore. We used to have a lull after a big storyline but someone else picks up the drama and runs with it.

"I think it's a faster moving programme which probably makes it more interesting to watch."

It's been nearly a year since Neighbours was revived by Amazon Freevee after Channel 5 dropped it in 2022 due to lack of funding. Lucinda believes that reducing the number of episodes has positively impacted the show.

She elaborated: "I think the whole show moves quicker. I think we used to have more fallow time after a huge storyline. Now, it just keeps going.

"There isn't like, a lull anymore. I think when we had big storylines there was kind of a bit of a lull afterwards but somebody else picks up the drama and runs away with it as well so I think it's a faster moving programme which probably makes it more interesting to watch."

New Neighbours episodes drop Monday to Thursday on Amazon Freevee from 7am