More than a decade after Margot Robbie left Ramsay Street behind, two of her Neighbours storylines are getting another life. Fremantle and RoseBerry Media are digging into more than 40 years of the Australian soap to turn classic stories into short-form vertical series designed for phones, and Robbie’s Donna Freedman is among the first characters getting the treatment.
Key Takeaways
- Two classic Donna Freedman storylines featuring Margot Robbie will be reimagined for vertical television.
- RoseBerry and Fremantle are pulling from more than 9,300 Neighbours episodes to create standalone mobile-first series.
- The project uses AI-assisted technology to find story arcs and moments, but human editors reshape them for the new format.
Donna Is Heading Back to Ramsay Street, Sort Of
Before Robbie was Barbie, Harley Quinn, or an Oscar-nominated producer and actress, she was Donna Freedman on Neighbours. Now, two of her Donna stories will be among those given a decidedly 2026 makeover.
RoseBerry and Fremantle announced that classic Neighbours stories will become standalone vertical titles, with the first arriving on RoseBerry’s epis streaming service this fall. Instead of simply chopping old episodes into phone-sized pieces, the companies say stories will be reworked specifically for vertical viewing.
Exactly which Donna stories made the cut hasn’t been revealed yet. Considering Robbie appeared on the soap for several years, however, there’s plenty to choose from.
More Than 9,300 Neighbours Episodes Hold Some Familiar Soap Faces
Robbie is hardly the only Ramsay Street alum Soap Hub readers will recognize. Before Ashleigh Brewer became Ivy Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, she spent five years playing Kate Ramsay on Neighbours. Dean Geyer, who now plays Tristan Roberts on General Hospital, previously appeared as Ty Harper. And Chrishell Stause, known to daytime viewers as Amanda Dillon on All My Children and Jordan Ridgeway on Days of our Lives, went in the opposite direction, joining Neighbours as Yasmine Shields.
Then there’s Guy Pearce, who became a star playing Mike Young on Neighbours long before his Hollywood career took off. Pearce returned to the role for the revival and even found himself competing against some very familiar U.S. soap names when he earned a 2024 Daytime Emmy nomination for Guest Performance. His fellow nominees included Linden Ashby as Cameron Kirsten on The Young and the Restless, Ashley Jones as Bridget Forrester on B&B, Alley Mills as Heather Webber on GH, and Dick Van Dyke as Timothy Robicheaux on DAYS.
RoseBerry’s RedSnapper technology will scan the soap’s library to map character arcs, storylines, and standout moments before human editors reshape selected material for mobile audiences. With more than 9,300 episodes to choose from, Robbie’s Donna stories may only scratch the surface of the familiar faces and classic soap stories that could eventually get another life.
Could Old Soap Stories Find a Whole New Audience?
That may be the most interesting part of this experiment for soap fans. Daytime and continuing dramas have something many other television genres don’t: enormous libraries filled with complete romances, rivalries, mysteries, betrayals, and character arcs. Someone doesn’t necessarily need to watch thousands of episodes to become invested in one of those stories.
RoseBerry CEO Guy Hameiri called Neighbours exactly the kind of established television property that could thrive in vertical form, while Fremantle’s Jens Richter pointed to the opportunity to introduce familiar stories to new audiences.
If it works, Donna Freedman could be more than a nostalgic attraction for viewers who remember Robbie before Hollywood came calling. She could introduce an entirely new generation to Ramsay Street without asking them to start with Episode 1.
