On Thursday, Australia’s cherished soap opera will cease after 37 seasons. What’s been going on on Ramsay Street, and what can we expect from the conclusion?
This article includes spoilers for the penultimate episode of Neighbours, which has not yet aired in the UK.
When did you most recently watch Neighbours?
Whether you are only familiar with the Des and Daphne era or have been a devoted follower from the beginning, you are likely aware that the entire affair is coming to an end. last week.
After all these years, what has been occurring on Ramsay Street? Before we sob choke head into Thursday night’s extremely long final episode of Australia’s longest-running TV drama, here is everything you need to know.
Who is returning?
This week’s episodes have all been movie-length as they build up to the 90-minute finale. I enjoy Neighbours because I have a rather short attention span, but I forgive them since, after all, this is the return of event television. People are bemoaning the show’s death by wistfully tweeting #Neighbours. Perhaps Neighbours should have been a full-length film the entire time!
However, if you’ve been gone from the programme for a while, you’ll likely recognise Paul, Toadie, Karl, Susan, and Harold. The remainder can be divided between those who are blonde and those who are not, and some but not all are wearing shirts.
A who’s who of Neighbours is on the list of returning actors. Real Ramsay Street legends including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, Jesse Spencer, Delta Goodrem, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia, and Bassingthwaighte will make guest appearances. In addition to Harold Bishop and other more recent departees, there are many other characters from the distant past, including Joe Mangel, Des Clarke, Clive Gibbons, Shane Ramsay, and Plain Jane Superbrain, who you may recall was ugly until she took off her glasses. Nostalgia is pervasive in this show. If you’re like me, you’ll be swooning over Joel Samuels, Amy Greenwood, Steph Scully, and Elle Robinson. There are also some ghostly visits, keeping with the theme of the programme.
Even Margot Robbie’s comeback is confirmed, but one wonders if it won’t be in person given how busy she is with her Barbie Dream Home.
My best guess is that Toadie explodes and that everything else explodes in pieces. Or, more likely, bouncer returns and discovers it was all a dream. The good/bad news is that we won’t have to wait long to find out and that there are plenty of cliffhangers as the story draws to a close.
What stage are the plots in?
The current protagonists Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou, who you may recognise from Home & Away) and Paul (Stefan Dennis) are engaged in a struggle between their hearts and the perverse science of economics. Terese, who previously ejected Paul from her home because he checks notes acquired a child, is now forced to deal with the realities of life without him, and she dislikes it. Can they make it function? Personally, I’m hoping that this nefarious conman and occasionally murderer learns to enjoy himself and quits destroying the lives of perfectly good women; that would be a twist for the ages.
However, they are not the only older people attempting to negotiate love. Jane (Annie Jones), who has been giving Clive (Geoff Paine) a difficult time by pulling an amazing Nell Mangel impersonation, has broken things off with him. But just as Jane begins to change, Guy Pearce’s outrageously attractive character Mike Young (on a motorcycle) shows up. Playing violins. Everyone is blurred together. Years of longing for the one who escaped.
Will young love triumph now after all this time? Or will Jane decide on Clive, who was an adult when they first shared a screen in the 1980s?
Oh, and Nat Bass’s Izzy is back! Do you recall when, during the marriage of Karl and Susan, she gave birth to Karl’s child? What a yell. Her daughter’s half-brother, Mal (Benjie McNair), is the subject of recent claims that she is in love with him. But things were not as they looked, and Shane Ramsay (Peter O’Brien) was able to win her over with a midrange Mercedes-Benz. Izzy realised what she had really sought all along after breaking Mal’s heart: Susan’s approval (same, Izzy). Will she ever understand it?
Youth are currently engaged in various activities. Recently exiled from the streets, Kyle and Roxy have returned to make havoc and possibly deliver a child early for the drama (this author speculates wildly). The women are all somewhat lonely elsewhere: Kiri is a discarded girlfriend, Mackenzie is a sad widow, and Chloe yearns for a friend who was more than that. However, there is some good news: David, Aaron, and Nicolette, along with David’s twin, Leo, and Paul, are travelling to New York. Unless Terese’s situation changes, which seems to be the main goal at the moment.
Additionally, Toadfish Rebecchi’s (Ryan Moloney) wedding is imminent. When Toadie last got married, his wedding caused a commotion among some of his acquaintances before his wife passed away from ovarian cancer as a result of him cheating on her with Fake Dee (an impostor of a previous wife Toadie had driven into the sea). Thankfully, Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), a character who originally appeared on the show in 1987 when Toadie was just a rat tail, is his bride-to-be this time around.
It goes without saying that there has been drama leading up to this most recent wedding because Amy (Jacinta Stapleton) confessed her love for Toad before escaping to Far North Queensland. Will it proceed? Of course it will, and if there isn’t a peculiar death scene thereafter, we will swarm the deserted studio at dawn.
What are the prospects?
The penultimate episode on Wednesday night laid the stage for a dramatic night of crying in the conclusion. We had a sense of what Neighbours has always really been about as the credits rolled—broken hearts, second chances, and being there for one another.
There are still many open issues. Will Charlene and Scott return home? Will Toadie wed yet another woman who is unquestionably doomed? Will anyone follow the rules and take a cab to Queensland? Why is Guy Pearce still looking so good? Will Afro Harold show up unexpectedly? WHO WILL BURN? Most importantly, did this cast of adored characters—some of whom you’ve just met—ever achieve harmony?
The good doctor and Susan Kennedy are shown in a trailer for the finale being perplexed by the sudden listing of every home on the street. Life changes are inevitable; Aaron and David are leaving for New York, Toadie is letting go of the past, Terese has a new job chance, Chloe has a fresh start, and the recently arrived Rodwells have a change of heart. Will everyone actually sell out? When their friends pass away, will the Kennedys be able to continue residing on the famous street?
We permanently close the TV guide for our cherished programme tonight. I’ll be watching and perhaps crying as I prepare to suspend my disbelief.
