Things just haven't been the same since the character decided to start a new life with Vic Stone (Craig Hall) in Gippsland last year and, although we did see her during the 40th anniversary celebrations in March, there's been a Melanie-shaped hole in Erinsborough ever since.
With the cameras primed to shoot the last scenes in July, Cowden began to fear that she hadn't made the shortlist of familiar faces jetting in to view the new Ramsay Hills and Robinson Towers developments.
"Maybe not quite so threatening, maybe a little pleading. I was starting to think that surely they must want Mel back.
"I tried to sort of give it a humorous tinge, rather than try to sound quite so desperate. He emailed me back, saying: 'Give me a day, I just need to work it out as I've got so many things in my head.' I got a call for my agent on the Monday."
"The tour had been such an incredible success, we received so much love from the fans and they just filled up our cup. The day after it finished, I was still in Manchester and the cast that were still in the show had left really early that morning to get on a plane," she explains.
"I got a number of text messages and was totally floored. This show is still so incredibly loved, and yet here they are tossing it in the bin again."
"It seems all is well in the world of Gippsland pubs and for Mel and Vic, apparently. That's a good thing, because I think it's nice for people to know that Mel's happy and loved, because I think she had such a terrible time, didn't she?
She even reckons there's room for a Melanie-centred spin-off, and honestly, we're totally here for it.
"That's what I'm really hoping that might happen with the show – they do little vignettes on what's happened to different families, where they are and what they're doing now. I think there's a market for that."
Cowden continues: "It was an absolute joy to be involved in that very important episode. But I don't think it's ever going to come back in the same way again. If it does, I think it will only be in little, short bursts.
In fact, the threat of artificial intelligence has been the inspiration for a new project that has been crafted with one of the soap's most beloved names.
"It's an old idea called Soapboxed that I had that I spoke to Neighbours script editor Megan Herbert about. We've collaborated together, and we're going be doing a premiere of it at the Flinders Fringe Festival in February in February," she reveals.
"It's a play about television and soap and of course there will be cheeky references to Mel and Toadie. We would love to maybe give it a tour around the UK one day, because you don't get any more human than theatre."
But, for now, fans have one last slice of Aussie action before the infamous theme tune kicks in, and for Lucinda, it was a "strange feeling" leaving the Neighbours production base in Nunawading, Victoria, for the final time.
"I spent a long time trying not to be 'Melanie from Neighbours'. I think the important thing that it taught me is that it's enough to be Melanie from Neighbours, and that's a privilege to have been involved with such an incredible show for such a long time."
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The Neighbours finale streams from 7:30am tomorrow on Prime Video.
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