Watching the opening credits on the final episode of Neighbours (Channel 5), with almost four decades of variations of the famous golden typography edited into one, it would not be hyperbole to suggest that it feels like watching your life flash before your eyes. Ramsay Street may be in a fictional suburb on the other side of the world from the UK, but from the start of this nostalgia-filled finale, it’s clear that producers – and viewers – are well aware that this is more than simply the end of a television show. More an era.
We begin as we close, with Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) looking tearful as she surveys the street. For sale signs loom over every corner of the cul de sac, with many of the residents planning to leave. Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) is set to sell his beloved Lassiters hotel complex and move to New York. Even Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) is selling up after 25 years. It is Toadfish’s wedding to Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden) that is the crux of the final episode, ushering in a celebratory mood and most importantly, an excuse for old faces to return.
