Culture

Everything We Know About ‘Neighbours’ Star-Studded Finale

Apparently Madge is coming back as a ghost.

by Reena Gupta  28 July 2022

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You may have heard that Neighbours, the Australian soap that first hit Australian screens in 1985, is airing its final episode tonight.

The long-running show, which launched the careers of Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, and Margot Robbie, announced they were finishing up earlier this year after losing an important broadcasting partner in the UK.

Freemantle Media say they’ve received an outpouring of support in response to the news. “Everyone at Neighbours has been overwhelmed by the love and support from the audience since the news came out,” they said. “The show has brought a sunny slice of Australia into the homes of millions of viewers around the world, launching the careers of dozens of household names along way.”

However, Neighbours didn’t dole out those sunny slices to everyone: the soap was exclusively made up of white families for 26 years, until a South Asian family entered the fray in 2011. At the time, Channel 10 were reportedly “extremely nervous” about the development. (Yikes! Melanin!)

More recently several non-white actors — Meyne Wyatt, Shareena Clanton, Sachin Joab, and Sharon Johal — alleged that racism was rampant on the set of the show.

But look, let’s not get too bogged down in those bad vibes, shall we? Here’s a rundown of everything we know about the show’s series finale.

A Bunch Of Famous Faces Will Return

Perhaps Neighbours’ most well-known alumnus Kylie Minogue will make an appearance in the show’s final episode, as will Jason Donovan. The two played the couple Charlene and Scott in in Neighbours‘ early days and left the soap in the late ’80s, and Kylie Minogue launched a famously alright career since.

From the looks of this teaser trailer below, it looks like Charlene and Scott are still going strong!

Guy Pearce can also be sighted in the teaser, as can Neighbours stalwarts like Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne), Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher), Jared ‘Toadie’ Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney), and Harold Bishop (Ian Smith.)

“Seeing him again, it’s like no time had passed at all,” Jane Harris (Annie Jones) character says of her old flame Mike (Guy Pearce) who left Neighbours in 1989. Time has passed, though, Annie. It’s been decades.

Margot Robbie Is Also Slated To Appear

The writing staff definitely had their work cut out of them for the finale, with now Hollywood actor Margot Robbie to also return to humble soap from whence she came, as will Delta Goodrem, Jesse Spencer, Kym Valentine, and Carla Bonner.

How Will These Returning Characters Be Weaved Into The Script?

A wedding, of course! New Idea reckons that Toadie’s wedding to Melanie (Lucinda Cowen) is what will draw returning cast back to the show. We’d prefer if everyone got together to rob a bank — a heist finale — you know, something unexpected. But each to their own.

“An old friend returns to wish Toadie luck for the wedding,” New Idea also revealed. Wait. Madge?

We kid, but in fact, rumours abound that Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) who was killed off on the show in 2001 will in fact be making an appearance in the season finale as a ghost. Good for you, Madge!

When Is The Last Episode Of Neighbours Airing?

The series ends tonight with a 90-minute special to be aired on Channels 10 and 10 Peach from 7:30pm tonight.

In the UK, it will air on Channel 5 on Friday July 29 at 9pm.

So long to the show that’s been with most of us since the day we were born. But we won’t let sentimentality wash away that by all accounts, Neighbours appears to have fostered a workplace that was only safe for white actors.

And as the curtain closes on the soap after almost four decades, the industry must learn from its failures.