The wedding of Toadie and Melanie was the main focus of the Neighbours finale, which was shown in Australia on Thursday.
Ryan Moloney, who has played the beloved Ramsay Street character for a long time, finally had his happily ever after when he married Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), in front of friends and family.
Toadie’s marriage was the ideal conclusion for the soap after 37 years on television, after two decades of plotlines that saw his wife Dee go missing on their honeymoon, his second wife Sonya tragically die from illness, and Dee return from the grave.
Before a party on Ramsay Street to celebrate, Toadie and Melanie were wed in a ceremony supervised by his old friend Susan Kennedy beside the lake.
As their friends watched, the bride read her heartfelt vows to Toadie, telling him:
“Before I met you, I believed I had finished. Finito! Bring the clowns in! She won’t ever run into anyone again!
However, I later met you. And what began with tiger print turned out to be the happiest experience of my life. I now have the family I’ve always wanted thanks to Nell, Hugo, and Cal.
Additionally, I’d like to honour your very special mother today.
Later, Karl Kennedy had the duty of surprising the newlyweds by saying to Toadie, “You’re like a son to us.” That’s quite ludicrous, don’t you think?
Toad, you ARE our son. You are and always will be a part of our family, Toadie, Melanie, and the children.
It goes without saying that today is significant since you are leaving Ramsay Street. We are not the only ones who believe that the street won’t be the same without you.
“Some of our old neighbours who couldn’t be here have sent you some notes,” our former neighbours said.
To the amazement of the audience, Karl showed a video comprising messages from Toadie’s former friends and featured a broad variety of cameos from celebrities like Margot Robbie and Delta Goodrem.
As the video messages came to a conclusion, Toadie made the decision to take advice from his buddies, saying to Karl and Susan: “Right. I guess we’re not really going anywhere, then, are we?’
The long-running soap opera Neighbours announced in March that it would stop production for lack of funding.
The show announced its cancellation on Twitter, writing, “We are so sad to hear that after almost 37 years and approximately 9,000 episodes broadcast we have to declare that Neighbours will cease production in June.”
Despite a thorough search for alternative financing sources and the loss of our main broadcast partner in the UK (Channel 5), we are forced to put the show on hold.
We acknowledge that this is a great disappointment for our amazing, devoted supporters as well as for the entire crew. We appreciate all of your comments and encouragement, and we pledge to end the programme with a bang. We will now be honouring our neighbours.
In a statement to Australian media, Network 10 addressed the conclusion of the series and acknowledged that it had been a “tough decision.”
The soap’s production company, Fremantle, claimed it was unable to secure ‘alternative funding’ for the series.
In February, news broke that the continuation of Neighbours was in doubt as British broadcaster Channel 5 stated it would stop airing the programme.
Following the soap’s wildly popular stint on the BBC, Channel 5 acquired the UK airing rights to the show in 2008 in a 10-year, £300 million deal.
Cast and crew have been informed that they would be required to “rest” the soap come July, and unless a new agreement can be struck, it will be cancelled permanently due to a substantial funding shortfall from Channel 5.
The Sun adds that despite the show being filmed in Australia, UK broadcaster Channel 5 pays for the majority of the production costs and that the advertising revenue the show generates does not cover the costs.
