Matt Batten

Millionaire Hot Seat is back – and we’d love you to join us in the studio audience! Come along and be part of the excitement as Rebecca Gibney hosts Millionaire Hot Seat – and experience all the fun and excitement of the show from inside the studio! Audience tickets are FREE, and we’ve just released our first batch of filming sessions in Melbourne, with more dates to be added in the coming weeks. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the show, love a good trivia challenge, or just fancy experiencing the fun of a television recording from inside the studio, we’d love to have you join us! Link to tickets in the comment section

JUST WRAPPED ANOTHER GREAT TV CITY INTERVIEW! I’ve just finished chatting with Mark Little, who Neighbours fans will know and love as the unforgettable Joe Mangel! We had a brilliant chat about Mark’s life and career, before Neighbours, his incredible time on the show, and everything that came afterwards. Plenty of great stories, memories and lots of laughs along the way. I absolutely loved this one! Mark Little on TV City — COMING SOON! Who remembers Joe Mangel on Neighbours?

MILLIONAIRE HOT SEAT NOW SHOOTING AT NUNAWADING STUDIOS Nunawading Studios is delighted to welcome Millionaire Hot Seat, with the iconic Australian game show now shooting from the Melbourne studio complex. The arrival of Millionaire Hot Seat continues an exciting period of production activity at Nunawading, with the studios once again busy with television, film and screen productions. Matt Batten from Nunawading Studios said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Millionaire Hot Seat at Nunawading Studios. “With so many game shows having been produced from these studios over the years, it’s fantastic to have another major Australian game show shooting here. “There is a real energy around the studios at the moment. Productions are coming through the doors, sets are being built, crews are working and the cameras are rolling. “Our focus has always been on getting these studios busy again and creating a facility where major productions want to come and work. “Having Millionaire Hot Seat shooting at Nunawading is another fantastic step forward, and we’re absolutely thrilled to have the production here.” Nunawading Studios continues to attract new productions, with its large studio spaces, production offices, construction and storage areas and extensive onsite facilities providing productions with the ability to operate from one location. Nunawading Studios is open for business — and the cameras are rolling.

EPISODE 83 IS NOW LIVE! My latest TV City interview has just dropped on the TV City YouTube channel — and this one is for anyone who loves Australian television history! I sit down with Barrie Barkla for a fantastic conversation about his life and career, including some incredible behind-the-scenes stories from the iconic Australian television series The Box. We talk about how Barrie got into acting, what Australian television was really like during that era, the making of The Box, the people he worked alongside, and what he’s been up to since. If you love Australian TV and The Box, I think you’re going to absolutely love this interview.

THIS WAS THE MOMENT GOODBYE LASSITERS BECAME REAL… Check out this little video of over 750 Neighbours fans walking through the gates of the iconic Nunawading Studios for our Goodbye Lassiters event. After months and months of planning, seeing everyone finally coming through those gates was an incredible feeling. Fans travelled from across Australia and around the world to walk onto the Lassiters set, meet some of their favourite cast members and say goodbye to a location that had been part of Neighbours history for decades. Standing there watching hundreds of people stream through the gates, I remember thinking, “Wow… we actually did it.” Thank you again to every single person who came and made Goodbye Lassiters such a special day. These are memories I’ll never forget. ❤️ Were you one of the 750+ fans walking through those gates? See if you can spot yourself in the video! Credit: TV City/Matt Batten

NEXT MONDAY ON TV CITY PODCAST My interview with Barrie Barkla drops next Monday — and what a chat. Absolute legend of Australian TV. We spoke for so long about one of my all-time favourite shows — THE BOX. If you loved Crawfords, Channel 12, Mrs Hopkins and all the behind-the-scenes chaos of UCV-12… you are going to LOVE this one. Barrie has so many stories — and he tells them brilliantly. 🎧 Drops Monday — on TV City Podcast wherever you get your podcasts + full video on YouTube / Facebook. Who else loved The Box?

THE CALM BEFORE GOODBYE LASSITERS… The night before Goodbye Lassiters, I took this photo outside the iconic Nunawading Studios. It was around 11pm, we’d been working incredibly hard getting everything ready for the following day, and Melbourne was just about to unleash the rain on us. What I love about this photo is that it hasn’t been edited, enhanced or created using AI — this is exactly how the studios looked through my camera that night. There’s something almost cinematic about it. The dark sky, the lights of the studios and knowing that in only a few hours, hundreds of Neighbours fans would be arriving for a day we had spent months putting together. Looking at it now, just over two weeks later, Goodbye Lassiters still feels like a dream. Sometimes you take a photo without thinking too much about it, and later realise you captured a moment.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE GOODBYE LASSITERS?! ❤️ It honestly still feels like a dream. After months of planning, seeing the Lassiters set filled with Neighbours fans, cast, friends and the TV City team was something I’ll never forget. The atmosphere, the stories, the reunions, the laughs and seeing just how much Neighbours continues to mean to people made every bit of work behind the scenes worthwhile. And if you thought Goodbye Lassiters was the end… 👀 We’re already planning our next TV City event. We’ve got some exciting ideas in the works, and I cannot wait to show you what comes next. Who came to Goodbye Lassiters — and who’s ready for another TV City event?

70 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION LEGENDS OF NUNAWADING One iconic television studio. Generations of Australian television legends. Incredible stories. Incredible memories. And the people who made Australian television history. Featuring Patti Newton • Tony Barber • Mal Walden • Eddie McGuire • Nancy Cato • Karen Knowles • David Johnston • Stephen Quartermain • Annette Allison • John Foreman • Rob Mascara • Rebekah Elmaloglou • Geoff Paine • Jordy Lucas • Candice Leask • Amelia Frid • Marty the Monster COMING SOON TV CITY Production Written and Produced by Matt Batten

An absolute highlight from our 70th Anniversary of Australian Television celebration… One of the most special moments for me was having the privilege of walking Nancy Cato back into Studio A at the Nunawading Studios. Nancy was part of This Is It — the very first program broadcast from Studio A on the opening night of ATV-0, 1 August 1964. It was an incredible honour to have Nancy join us and to hear her memories of those pioneering days of Australian television. To actually walk back into the studio where it all began with someone who was there on opening night was a moment I’ll never forget. And there’s a great little piece of history behind the date too — 1 August was chosen for the launch because “1” was Sir Reginald Ansett’s lucky number. These are the stories and the people that make Australian television history so special.

Happy Monday everyone! Exciting day at the Nunawading Studios today as our next production begins moving in! It’s fantastic seeing the studios busy again — crews arriving, equipment coming in and another production getting ready to roll.

This was the night before Goodbye Lassiters… We basically pulled an all-nighter getting everything ready for the following morning — stages, signage, merchandise and all the final little things that go into putting on an event like this. And then came the massive Melbourne downpour! 😂 You can actually hear how heavy the rain was in this video. After months of planning, watching that rain come down the night before was definitely a moment… but there was no way it was going to stop us. A few hours later, the gates opened and hundreds of Neighbours fans walked into Lassiters for a day we’ll never forget. ❤️ What a weekend!

Another big thank you to Angel D’Paul, a very special part of the TV City family! Angel is the face of many of our TV City marketing videos and was also a huge help behind the scenes at Goodbye Lassiters, including having the job of introducing me on stage before I somehow had to speak in front of hundreds of Neighbours fans! 😂 But there’s also something else exciting happening… Angel and I are currently putting the finishing touches on a new show pilot, which we’ll be announcing very soon. 🎬👀 I’m incredibly proud of Angel and everything she brings to TV City. You’re going to be seeing a LOT more of this superstar. ❤️ Thanks for everything, Angel

THE NEIGHBOURS FANS ARE AMAZING! This was the moment the gates opened at Goodbye Lassiters and fans started walking into the iconic Lassiters set. After all the months of planning and the massive amount of work that went into creating this event, this was the moment that made it all worth it. Watching everyone come through those gates — excited, smiling and finally getting to experience a place they’ve watched on television for decades — was pretty special. We had fans travel from across Australia and around the world to be there, all because of their love for Neighbours. The Neighbours fans really are something special. ❤️ Thank you to every single person who came to Goodbye Lassiters and made the day what it was. I’ll never forget this moment.

SAVED FROM THE DUMPSTER — THE ERINSBOROUGH SIGN LIVES ON! When Neighbours finished production at the Nunawading Studios last year, sadly many things from the production were thrown out. One of those items was the iconic Erinsborough sign. For reasons I still don’t know, it had been put into a dumpster and was destined to disappear forever. Fortunately, I found out before the rubbish truck arrived and managed to save it. It was a little banged up after its adventure in the dumpster 😂, but importantly, it survived. And today we’ve given it the place it deserves. I’ve put the original Erinsborough sign on display at Lassiters for Goodbye Lassiters tomorrow, so all of you attending will have the opportunity to see it up close and have your photo taken with a genuine piece of Neighbours history. ❤️ Seeing it back at Lassiters rather than disappearing in the back of a rubbish truck makes me incredibly happy. Sometimes television history survives simply because someone gets there before the garbage truck! 😂 Make sure you get your photo with it tomorrow! Who remembers seeing the Erinsborough sign on Neighbours?

GOODBYE LASSITERS MERCHANDISE IS COMING! Lots of you have been messaging us asking when merchandise from Goodbye Lassiters will be available. We’ve been incredibly busy following the event, but we’ll have everything listed on the TV City website by this weekend! We only have a LIMITED RUN remaining, and once it’s gone, it’s gone — so make sure you don’t miss out. ❤️ 🌏 Worldwide shipping 💳 Afterpay & PayPal Pay in 4 💳 All major credit cards 💵 Cash for local purchases Whether you joined us at Lassiters or couldn’t make it to Melbourne, this is your chance to own a piece of Goodbye Lassiters history.

Preparing for the next production at the Nunawading Studios! The production team is setting up as we speak, and it’s fantastic to see another part of this iconic television site coming back to life. Even better, the iconic audience entrance will once again be in use, with audiences walking through these doors to watch television being made inside the studios. So much television history has passed through this entrance — and now a new chapter begins. The studios are alive and busy again!

We had the BEST DJ at Goodbye Lassiters! The amazing DJ Eliza kept the atmosphere going throughout the day, playing all those iconic songs we remember hearing on Neighbours over the years. ❤️🎶 This video was taken earlier in the morning when things were still getting started — by lunchtime we had more than 650 Neighbours fans walking around Lassiters! Seeing Lassiters absolutely buzzing with fans, music playing and everyone enjoying themselves was pretty incredible. A massive thank you to DJ Eliza for helping create such an amazing atmosphere for Goodbye Lassiters. What an unforgettable day!

I’ve been so busy this weekend and forgot to update my X account IT’S ALL SYSTEMS GO AT LASSITERS! 🚨 We have been absolutely flat out today setting everything up for Goodbye Lassiters tomorrow! ❤️🏨 After months and months of planning, it’s pretty surreal seeing everything finally coming together. Stages, panels, production, signage, entertainment — there’s a massive amount happening behind the scenes today getting Lassiters ready for all of you. Tomorrow, fans from across Australia and around the world will walk through these gates for one incredible final celebration of Neighbours and this iconic set. The countdown is almost over… GOODBYE LASSITERS IS ALMOST HERE! ❤️ Who’s excited for tomorrow