Neighbours actor Alan Fletcher 'Dr Karl' is releasing his first album as soap opera draws to an end

Fletcher has spent the last 27 years portraying Dr Karl Kennedy, which could leave casting agents with a "Dr Karl hangover".

Now that the lights on Ramsay Street are being turned off - Fletcher plans to "mix it up".

In 2020, he joined forces with alt country music group Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, and musician and record producer Damien Cafarella.

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It was at their Melbourne studio that Fletcher realised his passion for Americana and folk music and yielded his first album.

Dispatches was previewed at a special live show during the Tamworth Country Music Festival at The Press on Tuesday, and the album is slated for release in late 2022.

"I think that's the great thing about country music now - it's become really broad in terms of what it actually is, there's national country and there's all sorts of old country and Americana," he said.

"My songs - I don't know if you can necessarily define them as being anything, they are just what people make of them."

The album is not Fletcher's first dip into music.

He became the front man of a rock band with a residency in Melbourne and ten UK tours in 2004.

Neighbours has a huge audience in the UK.

It's the fans of the show that Fletcher is disappointed for.

"It's overwhelming grief for a lot of people that see Neighbours as not just a TV show."

"We're going to make sure the ending is sensational, we're gonna give them an experience they'll never forget."