HOW NEIGHBOURS CHANGED THE FACE OF TELEVISION
The end credits are finally set to roll on Neighbours. One of the all-time great soap operas will broadcast no more, with the final episodes of the Australian series airing on July 29 on Channel 5. Big names from its 36-year history are returning to Ramsay Street to give Neighbours the stellar send-off it deserves.
Veterans from episode one, Peter O’Brien (Shane Ramsay) and Paul Keane (Des Clarke), have reprised their roles. Daniel MacPherson (Joel Samuels), Benjamin McNair (Malcolm Kennedy), Melissa Bell (Lucy Robinson), and Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Izzy Hoyland) are also back to bid farewell.
But the biggest news is global pop icon Kylie Minogue returning to Ramsay Street for the final episode. Seeing Kylie in a denim jumpsuit not unlike Charlene Mitchell’s 1980s overalls, alongside fellow antipodean music sensation Jason Donovan – reprising his role as Scott Robinson, will provoke a Proustian rush in any former fan or long-term follower of the show.
With acting superstar Guy Pearce also back as Mike Young, we are witnessing a communal display of unity and respect for a show that launched a thousand careers. But did not just give us the future and , and the, and hitmakers – it also offered Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, brothers Liam, Luke and Chris ‘Thor’ Hemsworth, Ben Mendelsohn and Natalie Imbruglia key early roles.
