Melbourne lockdown: Neighbours will continue filming scenes

Neighbours will continue filming scenes in Melbourne with strict health and safety measures as stage three lockdown comes into effect in Victoria

Neighbours will continue filming scenes in Melbourne as the Victorian capital is set to go into stage three lockdown beginning midnight on Wednesday.

Fremantle Australia, the production company behind the long running soap, has confirmed that the actors and crew will be on set despite the escalating situation.

‘Neighbours will continue under its current production model adopted when Stage 3 restrictions were first introduced in Victoria,’ a Fremantle spokesperson said.

Kicking on: Neighbours will continue filming scenes in Melbourne as the Victorian capital is set to go into stage three lockdown beginning midnight on Wednesday

They added: ‘The strict health and safety measures we have adhered to for the past 11 weeks will be maintained, ensuring the well-being of our cast and crew remains intact.’

The soap is mostly filmed at a studio Forest Hill, while the scenes on Ramsay Street are filmed in Pin Oak Court in the nearby suburb of Vermont South. 

The Neighbours cast and crew had returned to the set in April with strict hygiene and social distancing measures in place following an earlier shutdown due to COVID-19. 

Health and safety: 'Neighbours will continue under its current production model adopted when Stage 3 restrictions were first introduced in Victoria,' the production company Fremantle Australia said in a statement to Huffington Post Australia on Wednesday

Health and safety: ‘Neighbours will continue under its current production model adopted when Stage 3 restrictions were first introduced in Victoria,’ the production company Fremantle Australia said in a statement to Huffington Post Australia on Wednesday

Still on set: 'The strict health and safety measures we have adhered to for the past 11 weeks will be maintained, ensuring the well-being of our cast and crew remains intact,' the statement continued

Still on set: ‘The strict health and safety measures we have adhered to for the past 11 weeks will be maintained, ensuring the well-being of our cast and crew remains intact,’ the statement continued 

Chris Oliver-Taylor, the chief executive of Fremantle Australia, told the ABC at the time: ‘There will be no more than 100 people a day in any area, we’ll implement the four-square-metre rule and the one-and-a-half-metre social distancing rule.

‘We’ve got a nurse on set, different catering for everyone, males will have no makeup, women’s [makeup] will not be touched up, there are no intimate scenes. 

As Neighbours continues filming, the fate of other Melbourne-based productions remains in limbo as a result of the Victorian lockdown.

In limbo: The fate of other Melbourne-based productions are in limbo as a result of the Victorian lockdown including The Masked Singer, which was due to begin filming in the coming weeks (Judges Dannii Minogue, Dave Hughes, Lindsay Lohan, host Osher Günsberg and Jackie 'O' Henderson pictured)

In limbo: The fate of other Melbourne-based productions are in limbo as a result of the Victorian lockdown including The Masked Singer, which was due to begin filming in the coming weeks (Judges Dannii Minogue, Dave Hughes, Lindsay Lohan, host Osher Günsberg and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson pictured)

Back on set: Prison drama Wentworth is currently in production  in Melbourne (cast pictured)

Back on set: Prison drama Wentworth is currently in production  in Melbourne (cast pictured)

The Masked Singer’s second season, which was due to begin filming in the coming weeks, may be impacted, according to TV Tonight. 

Other shows currently being filmed in the state include Foxtel prison drama Wentworth and Channel 10 comedy drama Five Bedrooms.

Neighbours airs weeknights at 6.30pm on 10 Peach 

In production: Comedy drama Five Bedrooms has also been filming scenes (cast pictured)

In production: Comedy drama Five Bedrooms has also been filming scenes (cast pictured)