Popular Australian soap Neighbours helped to launch the careers of a number of stars but not all of them were able to appear in its finale.
The last episode aired on Channel 5 on Friday, with more than 30 big-name cast members returning - including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. Hollywood actress Margot Robbie, who played Donna Freedman, appeared in the show with a 14-second pre-recorded video message.
But some former cast members were unable to make an appearance, including one star who claims he was rejected by the show's producers. Here, the Mirror takes a look at some of the actors and actresses who starred in Neighbours but did not appear in the grand finale.
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Liam, Chris and Luke Hemsworth
The Hemsworth brothers all made an appearance on the Australian soap opera in the early days of their careers. Youngest brother Liam, 32, was in the show from 2007 to 2008, playing Josh Taylor, who was left paralysed following a surfing accident.
Liam’s breakthrough role came with The Last Song and his role as Gale Hawthorne in the Hunger Games film series. Chris, 38, featured in just one episode of Neighbours as Jamie Kane in 2002. When it comes to Aussie soaps, the actor is better remembered for his time in Home and Away with his role as Kim Hyde in 2004.
After starting out in the soap world, he went on to pick up the huge role of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now one of the highest-paid actors in the world. Meanwhile, eldest sibling Luke, 41, was the first to have a stint on Ramsay Street starring as Nathan Tyson from 2001 to 2002. He is best known for playing Ashley Stubbs in the HBO sci-fi series Westworld.
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe, 58, who has lived in Australia most of his life, starred in Neighbours back in the early days as Kenny Larkin. The Gladiator actor played the former cellmate of Henry Ramsay.
He later gained recognition for his roles in the crime film LA Confidential and his name became synonymous with lead roles in action films like Robin Hood and Noah.
Alan Dale
Ramsay Street patriarch Alan Dale, 75, who played Jim Robinson, was one of the original 12 cast members. He first joined in 1985 and was killed off in 1993 - and reportedly left on 'bad terms', claiming the production company 'didn't put any value on any of the people appearing in the show'.
However he did return briefly for a special Christmas episode for a dream sequence in 2018. Alan went on to star in the hit shows The OC, The West Wing, and Lost.
Eliza Taylor
Aussie actress Eliza Taylor, 32, arrived in Erinsborough as Janae Timmins in 2005. She remained on the show for three years with a string of dramatic storylines to her name. Teen Choice award nominee Eliza went on to play Clarke Griffin in the dystopian science fiction series The 100.
Craig McLachlan
Craig McLachlan, 56, who played heartthrob Henry Ramsay between 1987 and 1989, had an integral part in one of the most-viewed weddings in soap history in walking his sister Charlene Mitchell - played by Kylie Minogue - down the aisle. McLachlan says he was not invited to partake or have any mention of his character in the programme's final scenes due to "cancel culture" following sexual assault charges against him in 2020.
The father-of-one was cleared of the seven charges of assault and indecent assault on four women when he was in an Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show in 2014. A spokeswoman for McLachlan said: "Henry’s dead mother is being reincarnated for the final episode — but cancel culture won’t allow her son Henry to appear or even be acknowledged.
"What Craig and his partner have endured over the past four-and-a-half years — only to come out the other side and be confronted by, among other things, the attempted permanent erasing of his part in Neighbours history — is devastating. Craig was not invited to take part in the closing episode or indeed to contribute in any way to the end of Neighbours."
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn, 53, played Warren Murphy on Neighbours for a total of 19 episodes in 1986 when he was a fresh-faced 17-year-old. Despite going on to Hollywood roles in Star Wars, The Dark Knight Rises, hit TV series Animal Kingdom and Netflix series Bloodline, Ben told Yahoo Be back in 2016 that Neighbours was still his 'most widely known' role.
He added: "I look at some things I've done over the past several years and I think 'Oh geez, how did I get through?' But I don’t look back shame-faced at any of it really."
Brett Tucker
TV star Brett Tucker, 50, first appeared in Neighbours as Daniel Fitzgerald in 1999 to 2000 before becoming a regular member of the cast in 2007 on his return to the soap. Three years later he exited the show but made a one-off appearance a year later.
The 50-year-old actor is best known for his roles in The Saddle Club, McLeod's Daughters, and Mistresses, as well as Dynasty.
Dichen Lachman
The 40-year-old Aussie actress starred in Neighbours for two years from 2005 as the fiesty character of Katya Kinski. After departing from the soap in 2007, she has since been in films Aquamarine and Jurassic World: Dominion along the TV shows Dollhouse and The 100, alongside Neighbours co-star Eliza Taylor.
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