Everything we know about the Days of Our Lives time jump

There has never been a better time for Aussie viewers to start (or re-start) watching Days of Our Lives. That's because in episodes soon to air on 9Gem and stream on 9Now, the show will undergo a major reset by jumping ahead one year.

So you don't need to know what's going on because a lot will change, even for regular viewers. But if you are a Days fan, don't worry, you will have lots of fun seeing where your favourites have ended up, and finding out why.

What was the inspiration for the time jump plot?

The idea to move forward in time comes from the soap's head writer Ron Carlivati. He told Soap Opera Digest he had been thinking about the concept years before he worked on Days. He pitched the idea for both One Life to Live and General Hospital and was knocked back over concerns it was too "high-concept" and the audience would "feel like they missed something". But if you are concerned that it might be confusing, don't worry because Carlivati said, "My intention was always to fill in the time."

Why is Days jumping a year ahead?

In the US the time jump episodes coincided with Days' 54th anniversary. However, the huge plot shift wasn't just to celebrate the occasion but a way of resetting the show and shaking things up.

"It's this idea of almost a reboot thing where you can suddenly just take stories to a new place," Carlivati told TVInsider. "It allows you to jettison some stuff, start new stuff. And the exciting thing for me, and for the rest of the writers was just the creativity of it all — just having to look at the whole canvas and think, 'OK, if a year went by, what could have changed? What's changed since Salem? Who's together? Who's apart, who's alive, who's dead?'."

What will happen?

The time jump will be introduced with Jennifer waking up from a year-long coma, so at least one character is catching up on the events that have passed along with the viewers. Jennifer's daughter Abigail and her husband Chad have returned to Salem, and Jack remains in love with Jennifer.

Steve 'Patch' Johnson also comes back to Salem but he's not exactly himself. Evil scientist Dr Rolf has implanted a chip with Stefano's memories and personality into Steve's brain. So Stefano — aka the Phoenix — has returned from the dead once more, sort of.

While Marlena has been away in Germany, Princess Gina has been posing as Hope and moved into John and Marlena's place with the goal of winning John's love.

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Kristen has killed Haley, whose untimely death has led to JJ becoming addicted to drugs. Meanwhile, in probably the most bizarre plot twist Kristen — of the villainous DiMera family — and Lani are studying together to become nuns. Lani's ex Eli is now Gabi's head of security as well as her boyfriend, and Gabi owns the DiMera mansion.

Sarah has given birth to a baby girl but Xander is claiming he is the child's father, not Eric. At the same time, Kristen and Brady are grieving the loss of their baby.

Former Necktie Killer Ben is in jail for the murder of his sister Jordan, though he insists he is innocent. Ironically, he is sharing a cell with Will, who was one of his Necktie Killer victims. Will is in jail for causing the car crash that killed Adrienne. Eve is also wrongly imprisoned for pushing Jennifer off a balcony.

In addition to those major plot points, Kayla and Justin are now a couple and Rafe has hired a nanny named Evan to help care for Jordan's son David.

Stream the latest episodes of Days of Our Lives for free on 9Now.