The Project hosts break out into song as Neighbours theme tune tops charts

Just a few days after a petition was launched to try and save Neighbours from cancellation following the news that it had been dropped from Channel 5's lineup in the UK, fans have managed to make the show’s theme song reach number one on the charts.

The iconic 1985 tune by Barry Crocker knocked Ed Sheeran’s latest single The Joker and The Queen from the top spot on both the iTunes and Amazon Music charts this week.

The campaign was first established by one diehard fan on Twitter who had used the hashtag ‘saveneighbours’ to rally support from fellow viewers.

“What if we would all download the original Neighbours theme from Barry Crocker on iTunes and Spotify and try to get it in the charts to show how much we love it!” they tweeted.

“Maybe that could help to raise more attention to how much we love and need Neighbours in our lives.”

Social media users were clearly big fans of the idea, with many people calling the creator a “genius” and thanking them for the “brilliant” suggestion.

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The popular campaign ended up becoming a topic of discussion on The Project on Thursday night, with hosts Lisa Wilkinson, Waleed Aly and Kate Langbroek breaking out into song.

“That's when good neighbours become good friends,” the trio sang cheerfully in unison,

“The best version of the theme song,” Kate remarked afterwards, with Lisa adding, “The OG, definitely the best”.

‘We recognise that there will be disappointment about this decision’

Channel 5 in the UK announced earlier this week that they had axed Neighbours from their TV schedule and were therefore withdrawing funding for the show.

In an official statement, a spokesperson from the network said: “Neighbours will no longer air on Channel 5 beyond this summer. It's been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we'd like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series.

“We’d also of course like to thank the fans for their loyal support of Neighbours across the years. We recognise that there will be disappointment about this decision, however our current focus is on increasing our investment in original UK drama, which has strong appeal for our viewers.”

Filming on the Aussie soap is said to come to an end in June unless Channel 10 and Fremantle Media can work out how to move forward.

A Network 10 spokesperson said: “As outlined in the email to Neighbours cast and crew, it is our intention to continue our association with Neighbours if another broadcast partner comes forward. Network 10 has an ongoing commitment to the show, the cast and crew and is hopeful that Fremantle will find a new production partner. We will provide further updates as they become available.”

Several former stars of the long-running series have since spoken out following the news, including Rob Mills who called on the Australian government to save the soap.

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