Neighbours final episode: Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan return to Ramsay Street

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan have finally made their epic return to Neighbours, joining a host of stars including Margot Robbie and Holly Valance arriving back on Ramsay Street for the soap’s final ever episode.

The Channel 5 soap first aired in 1985 and has been on screens for 37 years, but in March it was announced the Australian series was being axed after 8,903 episodes with the finale airing in Australia on Thursday and on Friday evening in the UK.

The finale was jam-packed with appearances from long-gone characters as fans were given a nostalgic glimpse through Neighbours’ history, with characters tearfully flipping through photo albums, a lingering melancholic piano score and the odd in-joke.

The finale centered around Toadie’s (Ryan Moloney) wedding to Melanie (Lucinda Cowden) as many familiar faces reunited for the picturesque lakeside ceremony and street party afterwards, while other pals sent their well wishes in sweet video messages to mark the big day.

And appearing on screens once again, Kylie and Jason’s beloved characters Charlene and Scott Robinson made their much-anticipated entrance as they pulled up on Ramsay Street in their recognisable green Mini.

The couple returned to Erinsborough for the first time since they bid farewell to the suburb and moved to Brisbane after tying the knot in a romantic wedding ceremony more than 30 years ago.

As well as Kylie and Jason making a final appearance on the show, there were also epic returns made by Margot Robbie (Donna Freedman), Holly Valance (Flick Scully), Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan), Guy Pearce (Mike Young) and Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) as they reprised their roles on the soap opera.

They were joined by Daniel MacPherson, (Joel Samuels), Peter O’Brien (Shane Ramsay), Natalie Bassingthwaighte, (Izzy Hoyland), Mark Little (Joe Mangel) and Paul Keane, who memorably played Des Clarke.

They were also joined by Annie Jones (Jane Harris), Anne Charleston, who portrayed matriarch Madge Bishop, Jacinta Stapleton (Amy Greenwood), and Delta Goodrem (Nina Tucker).

And stars from more recent years on the soap joined the episode, including Olympia Valance (Paige Smith), Jodi Gordon (Elly Conway), Zoe Cramond (Amy Williams) and Kate Kendall (Lauren Turner).

 With Ben Hall (Ned Willis), Olivia Junkeer (Yashvi Rebecchi) and Zima Anderson (Roxy Willis) completing the line-up of Neighbours alumni returning.

In Charlene and Scott’s emotional scenes, the couple looked as smitten as ever as they leant against their Mini, took in the surroundings and reminisced on their time together in the town.

Charlene sported a navy denim jumpsuit as she stayed true to her famous overall fashion trend and brought back her iconic blonde curls.

Meanwhile, Scott cut a casual figure in jeans and a plaid shirt as he wrapped his arm around his partner as they looked as loved up as during their wedding day.

As the characters returned to the show, Kylie and Jason’s famous duet Especially For You could be heard playing in the background in an unexpected crossover moment.

Kylie and Jason, who dated in real life, recorded the love ballad together in 1989 – one year after they left Neighbours and soon before they ended their three-year romance.

‘Wow wow wow,’ Scott said as they stepped out of the car, ‘This is crazy. We made it eh?’

Charlene then declared: ‘Home sweet home,’ before reuniting with their pals Mike Young (Guy Pearce) and Jane Harris (Annie Jones) for the episode’s closing moments.

In the final monologue, lead character Susan Kennedy, played by Jackie Woodburne, waxed lyrical about the street and the show’s global community of fans.

‘Everyone deserves a place in the history of Ramsay Street, even those who watched us from afar, we have been a perfect blend,’ she said.

Elsewhere in the much-anticipated final episode, long-standing Ramsay Street favourite, played by Ryan Moloney, finally got his happy ending as he tied the knot with Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), surrounded by familiar faces.

After two decades of storylines which saw his wife Dee go missing on their honeymoon, his second wife Sonya tragically die from cancer, and Dee coming back from the dead, Toadie’s marriage was the perfect end point for the soap after 37 years on air.

And the romantic wedding also saw celebrity appearances made by Margot Robbie and Delta Goodrem as the happy couple were played a montage of video messages from Toadie’s pals to mark their big day.

Toadie and Melanie got hitched in a ceremony officiated by the lake by his old friend Susan Kennedy, before a party on Ramsay Street to celebrate.

The bride recited emotional vows to Toadie as their friends looked on, telling him:

‘Before I met you, I thought I was done. Finito! Send in the clowns! She’s never going to meet anyone ever again!

‘But then, I met you. And what started with tiger print… ..ended up being the happiest, of my entire life. most loving relationship Nell, Hugo, Cal, you’ve given me the family that I’ve always wanted.’

‘And I’d like to remember your very special mummy today too.’

Later, it was down to Karl Kennedy to spring a surprise on the newlyweds, telling Toadie: ‘You’re like a son to us. Well, that’s ridiculous, isn’t it?’

‘Toad, you ARE a son to us. Toadie, Melanie, the kids, you’re part of our family, and you always will be.’

‘Of course, today has special significance because you’re leaving Ramsay Street. The street is not going to be the same without you, and we’re not the only ones who think that.’

‘Some of our old neighbours who couldn’t be here have sent you some messages.’

Karl played a video with messages from Toadie’s old pals, featuring a huge selection of cameos from the likes of Margot Robbie to Delta Goodrem, much to the delight of fans.

As the video messages ended Toadie decided to listen to his friends, telling Karl and Susan: ‘Right. Well, uh, I… guess we’re not going anywhere, are we?’

After their lakeside wedding ceremony, the couple also celebrated their marriage with a street party back at home, where they were reunited with a host of familiar faces.

Ahead of the emotional finale, executive producer Jason Herbison said it was meant as ‘a celebration of the past and the present’.

He refused to rule out ‘Neighbours’ continuing in some form if a new broadcaster can be found. The last episode ends ‘with the door very much left open for the future’, he said.

As well as returning cast members, Neighbours also featured a very notable musical moment as Kylie and Jason’s real-life love song Especially For You was used to mark their reunion.

Singer Kylie had previously teased that their track might be used on Neighbours as she took to Instagram to caption on-set snaps, ‘now we’re back together’, referencing the hit song.

Viewers were quick to take to Twitter to share their delight at Kylie and Jason’s song making an appearance on the soap opera, describing it as the perfect entrance for Scott and Charlene. 

One person wrote: ‘I dreamt of an ‘Especially For You’ singalong last night… what an entrance!’

Another penned: ‘Oh wow… they’re playing *Especially For You*… as Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan enter Ramsay Street in their cute car.’

A third gushed: ‘I think tomorrow I may have to listen to Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue’s Especially For You on repeat in honour of the last episode of Neighbours.’

And a fourth added: ‘Amazing entrance.’

But other viewers also shared their disappointment that Charlene and Scott’s return to screen didn’t last longer, with many taking to Twitter to joke about their fleeting appearance.

One person joked: ‘So was Charlene contractually not allowed to speak more than 5 words?’

While another quipped: ‘How did you remember all those lines?’

A third said: ‘They really had Kylie Minogue appear and she didn’t even say a single word.’

Elsewhere, other fans gushed that they were left ‘crying’ and feeling ’emotional’ after finally seeing Scott and Charlene back on their screens in the ‘nostalgic’ scenes.

One viewer penned: ‘Goosebumps. So good.’

Another gushed: ‘I am surprised by how moved I was by the Neighbours finale. Mike Pearce & Annie Jones were the stars of the show. The nostalgia has my heart bursting & my love for @kylieminogue is stronger than ever.’

A third wrote: ‘Nope it all hurts too much.’

And a fourth insisted: ‘Nope, I am not crying. That was perfection.’

In the 80s, Neighbours was unstoppable with Kylie and Jason’s onscreen wedding as Scott and Charlene was watched by two million Australians on July 1, 1987.

Their union was an even bigger attraction when it aired in the UK a year later, drawing 19.6 million viewers, making it Britain’s third most-watched show of 1988. 

Kylie and Jason, who at the time were household names in both countries, and would each go on to launch music careers in the UK.

Their on-screen relationship began after Scott mistook Charlene for an intruder at his neighbour Madge Ramsay’s house, before eventually learning she was Madge’s daughter.

After getting married, the pair left Erinsborough and moved to Brisbane, before finally returning for Neighbours’ final episode.

In what was a gripping and emotional finale, fan favourites from the past returned to Ramsay Street to celebrate with Erinsborough locals.

A number of other Neighbours legends also returned to screens for the epic finale including Joel Samuels (Daniel McPherson) and Mike Young (Guy Pearce).

The spectacular send-off had something for everyone, spanning all generations and decades from the opening scene in 1985, to the final episode in 2022.

The beleaguered soap opera faced an uncertain future following its cancellation by original network Channel 5, where it has spent the last 14 of its 37-years on British TV.

And Fremantle Media, the production company responsible for its development confirmed it would be taken off-air indefinitely over the summer after an ‘extensive search for alternative funding’ ended in failure.

Their final scenes on Neighbours come after Kylie took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes snaps of herself and Jason after they reunited on the set of the soap opera.

The superstar brought back her iconic curls to reprise her role as Charlene Robinson to star alongside Jason, who plays her husband Scott, for the iconic soap’s final episode.

Kylie captioned images of the pair together on her Instagram account, ‘Now we’re back together’, referencing their hit song, Especially For You.

The pint-sized pop star donned her character’s famous mechanic’s overalls for what would be her final appearance on the series, which has been cancelled after 37 years.

Kylie quit Neighbours in June 1988, having become the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and the youngest ever recipient of a Gold Logie.

She went on to launch a phenomenally successful music career, selling more than 80 million albums worldwide.

After leaving Neighbours in 1989, Jason, like Kylie, pursued a pop career and while he may not have been as successful as his on-screen bride, he had a string of hits including Too Many Broken Hearts and Sealed With A Kiss.

Off screen, the couple dated from 1986 to 1989 – famously sharing a night of passion in a Travelodge.

They were so popular at this time, they even recorded the Christmas Number 1 single Especially For You.

Jason told the Mirror in 2016: ‘It was an extremely painful parting of the ways and, without a doubt, I took a long time to recover from it. Years, definitely.’

Kylie then dated the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. She is now in a romance with British GQ’s Creative Director Paul Solomons and Jason is married to Angela Malloch

Meanwhile, actor Alan Fletcher, 65, who’s played Dr Karl Kennedy in the show for 28 years, appeared on This Morning on Monday.

He said: ‘We can be sad that this journey is over. The last episode was amazing. It was such a family atmosphere on the last day it was great. They asked me to come back and I readily accepted.

‘The affair with Izzy was my best storyline. It was great and we just laughed.

‘We were prepared to leave it, we know that it could end anytime. I was there for 28 years. I has mixed emotions when I found out it was ending. We can be sad the journey is ending but we have to be happy that the journey happened at all!’

‘I am doing country music now so I will be back in the UK doing this soon.’

While Kylie and Jason filmed their roles away from the set, due to the pop princess’s schedule – Memento actor Guy (Mike Young) returned to Melbourne.

‘One of my favourites was Guy Pearce. There wasn’t a single person who was asked to do something for the end, who was available, who said no,’ Alan revealed.

Fans in the UK can watch the iconic Australian soap come to a close at 9pm on Friday 29th July with a double episode special.

Featuring in it’s usual TX slots at 1:45pm and 6pm it will be followed by the history-making finale which will air later the same evening.

Channel 5 teased that further announcements will be made in the coming weeks about additional surprises to send off the iconic soap in style.

The Australian soap was axed in March this year following the loss of its main UK broadcast partner, Channel 5.

News of the finale air date comes after it was reported that the stars of Neighbours will reportedly embark on a ‘farewell tour’ of the UK after the finale episode.

Key cast members will visit eight cities across England, Scotland and Wales – London, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff – in March 2023, according to Digital Spy.

The soap had previously planned an ‘in conversation series’ in 2020, coinciding with its 35th anniversary, but had to cancel due to Covid.

These plans have now apparently been rebooted as a ‘farewell tour’ but the ‘key stars’ taking part in the rumoured tour have not been revealed. 

Executive producer Jason Herbison recently told The Herald Sun of Kylie’s return: ‘Seeing Kylie back as Charlene was quite a moment. Very special and I think for them too it was a real full circle for them.’