On our first anniversary show we also revealed that Alan and his co-star Jackie Woodburne had been voted "Soap's Best Ever Couple", as Karl and Susan, by our listeners!
Congratulations to you and Jackie Woodburne for being voted “Soap's Best Ever Couple”, as Karl and Susan, by our listeners!
Well, I'm very chuffed indeed, you can be sure of that, it's a great honour. There have been so many people saying they wanted Karl and Susan to get back together again and I was very thrilled that we were able to make that happen. Can I just say thank you to everyone who voted in the awards, it's a massive accolade to be voted as best couple and Jackie and I work very hard at creating our relationship in Neighbours and it is very gratifying that people respond to that.
What do you think it is about Karl and Susan as a couple that audiences respond to?
That's an interesting question. I think Jackie (Woodburne) and I share a great sense of humour, there is a lot of banter between us, which people tell me they enjoy immensely. We manage to amuse each other a lot while we're working, so perhaps that comes across on screen.
We've seen Karl and Susan marry again – is it going to be for keeps this time?
It had better be! I couldn't take another break up (laughs). I'm sure we're in very good shape and I'm sure we'll be together for a long, long time.
With all the talk of Neighbours moving from the BBC to five, is that something that people in Australia are aware of?
I think Australians are thrilled that Neighbours has been such an international success, and they are very aware of that, but in a sense it doesn't really mean anything to them - they just tune in and watch it once a day on Channel Ten. But, certainly the move to five triggered an enormous reaction in the UK. I was deluged with emails and message posts about that. I think at first people were worried about it, but the feedback I've been getting of late is that that has settled down and five is going to be bringing some elements to the screening of Neighbours that people are going to enjoy, so hopefully the fans will make the transition.
We've had a wonderful relationship with the BBC for so many years, there's no doubt about that. I've made some great friends there, and the BBC was wonderful for Neighbours, but the time has come for a change and I'm sure it will be a good thing.
I believe you'll be back in the UK in November to do a tour with Waiting Room?
Yes, the fifth tour starts in November and we'll be going back to some of our old haunts and some new ones. We'll be in Belfast on November the 27th, Liverpool is having us again, we're going to Manchester for the first time, we'll be doing a gig at the Quad, at the London School of Economics in December, so the gigs are starting to flow in. It's an exciting time for the band at the moment because we're releasing new music, ring tones and we'll be on iTunes shortly, so it's a great time of growth for the band.
And you say this is your fifth tour already?
Yes, it's quite extraordinary. It's only three years ago that we started playing at The Elephant and Wheelbarrow in Melbourne, where of course the famous Neighbours Night happens every Monday night. Now we've had four tours, an album out, and we've started to develop a big following in the UK which is very flattering.
So are all the tour dates and merchandise information on the Waiting Room website?
Yes, they're all the website. There's also a news page, which I update almost daily, and a great way to find out things is through my MySpace page and you can subscribe to my newsletter through the website as well, so there s a myriad of ways to stay in touch. Also in my newsletter, I like to send out a little Neighbours information as well, behind the scenes stuff that you might not hear about.
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