Out of the Blue is an Australian serial drama commissioned by the BBC, and produced by Australia's Southern Star Entertainment.
[1] The programme attracted lower than desired ratings figures, prompting the broadcaster to shift it to its second channel BBC Two from 19 May 2008.
[5] Set in Sydney beach suburb of Manly, New South Wales, Out of the Blue is a drama shown five days a week about a group of thirty-year-old friends returning home for a high school reunion, which is brought to an end when someone is murdered.
The BBC announced the commissioning of Out of the Blue on 30 November 2007 as a replacement for Neighbours, another Australian soap opera they had lost to Channel 5.
[6] Produced by John Edwards and Julie McGauran of production company Southern Star Entertainment,[7] filming began in early 2008, with the BBC initially ordering 130 episodes.
From January 2009, due to lower ratings compared to TEN Late News, it was moved to a weekly Sunday slot.
Prior to the launch of the series in the UK, an article in The Times described Out of the Blue as "compulsive, classy, fast and slick" and made comparisons to BBC One's long-running soap EastEnders, though the author also expressed concerns over the "logic" and "financial" sense of commissioning a British soap to be set in Australia.
Forget Neighbours, this is more like a warmer Big Chill, Desperate Housewives Down Under or a better-acted Echo Beach, with all kinds of dark secrets buried in the sand waiting to be washed up by the tide.
"[14] In September 2008, as the long-running murder mystery plot was about to reach its climax, an article on British soap website The Soap Show described the programme as "much underrated", noting that it had built up a "loyal cult audience" in spite of "being moved between channels, subject to frequent schedule changes and often pre-empted for summer sport".
A review in The Australian criticised the programme for having "clunky dialogue" and "over the top" villains, also suggesting that its 10.30pm slot would prove to be a disadvantage.
"[17] However, The Daily Telegraph was more positive, predicting that the show would "prove popular for Aussie soap fans who prefer their fare more grown-up than Neighbours".
[34] In October 2008, Five acquired the repeat rights to all 130 episodes from Southern Star Entertainment, with the intent to show them on Fiver from 2009.
[37] "Out of the Blue" (composer: Todd Hunter) The theme is actually two separate musical pieces; the instrumental piece which plays over the intro is "Clocks" by Coldplay, which then merges into the vocals from Todd Hunter's composition, which is only 30 secs long for the actual opening credits and logo.