EastEnders fans spot soap’s secret Neighbours tribute

EastEnders fans have spotted a special, secret tribute to fellow soap Neighbours as part of April Fool’s Day.

The BBC took part in the annual tradition by posting a video via their social media channels, with the brief clip being jokingly unveiled as the new title sequence for the soap.

“We can exclusively reveal our brand-new EastEnders opening titles!” the caption read. “The new titles feature some of Walford’s much-loved characters, as well as a revival of the widely adored 1993-1994 theme tune.”

Rather than the traditional panning shot of London and the River Thames, the clip included several clips of the soap’s cast as they cheerfully smiled to the light-hearted version of the iconic theme tune.

Whilst some fans were duped by the prank, there were some eagle-eyed soap fans who noted that the video was a tribute to Australian soap Neighbours, with the clip serving as a homage to the show’s title sequence from 2005.

walford east station, eastenders generic

Jack Barnes//BBC

“Welcome back to the BBC, Neighbours,” one soap fan quipped on Facebook, with another asking: “Did anyone watch that with the Neighbours tune in their head? nice try, but so glad it’s April fool’s day.”

“Great April Fools,” one fan said as they made a bold suggestion following the Australian soap’s recent axing. “But seriously seeing you’re such big fans of the Neighbours style of intro, how about bring Neighbours back home to the BBC, pretty pretty pretty please, #SaveNeighbours”

“Fabulous April Fools and a brilliant homage to Neighbours opening titles from 20 years ago too!” one amused fan added, with another echoing these sentiments as they wrote: “I actually like this. Very reminiscent of the Neighbours titles. Shame it’s an April fool lol.”

“It’s just like Neighbours. Very cheesy. And EastEnders is definitely not all smiles and hugs like this!! Very funny April Fools BBC!” another fan wrote, whilst one remarked that the saxophone “went hard” in the tune.

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

Neighbours releases new episodes from Mondays to Thursdays for free on Amazon Freevee and Prime Video in the UK and US. In Australia, the show airs from Mondays to Thursdays at 4pm on Channel 10, with a 6.30pm repeat screening on 10 Peach Comedy.