No one, I suspect, was under the illusion that Amazon’s revival of the cult soap in 2023 would last forever. After all, all good things must come to an end eventually – it’s just a crying shame it happened so soon.
It’s been a stellar revival, with ambitious storylines and polished production. The so-called ‘new chapter’ was Neighbours with the volume turned up.
When whispers that the show was under threat reached me last year, I struggled to believe it. Viewers were still tuning in, social media was buzzing, and the energy felt anything but terminal. Ultimately, as has often been the soap’s Achilles’ heel, finances were proving to be too much of a hurdle.
This is a disease that has plagued Neighbours for over a decade.
There would be no Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbie dropping by, no glittering party in the suburban cul-de-sac, and certainly no fanfare-filled national celebration of the show’s legacy.
Despite the number of episodes left to air dwindling, over the last few months we’ve been introduced to a flurry of new characters alongside a sudden return of some faces from the near past. These included '90s favourite Gaby Willis’s son Zack, his boyfriend Colton, cleaning product thief Clint, and his daughter Addison.
I was stung by story arcs that were hard to digest – Zack’s abruptly buried sex tape scandal and Addison’s reunion with her drug dealing mother should not have played a part in the final months. We should have focussed on the community, those who we have already invested a great deal of our time in.
Clint being revealed as Addison’s father was clumsy way to shoe-horned him back into Jane's life so that they could rekindle their romance in the penultimate episode. Just three years ago, her spark was reignited with teenage love Mike Young. Would it be so wrong to have her remain single?
But so many threads were left unresolved. One of the strongest families in years, the Rodwells, were left in tatters in the wake of Andrew’s affair with Holly Hoyland.
And yet, as the theme tune kicked in, I yearned for that conversation to happen between the couple in a post-credits scene. Andrew’s infidelity with his messy neighbour and the subsequent fallout has been immense, and the implosion had legs for another six months of story. We’ll never see that.
Despite that, there was a lot to love in today’s instalment. I cried my little heart out watching the episode, and that was despite knowing every single beat of what was about to happen some months ago.
Karl and Paul’s near-verbatim reprise of Susan’s iconic monologue from the 2022 finale also made me smile. For a moment, I wondered why they hadn’t crafted something new – then I remembered, this is Karl and Paul, of course they haven’t. The words hit just as hard the second time around.
With only 24 minutes of material, I was pleasantly surprised to see that each and every returnee had some form of dialogue. They could have easily faded into the background given the limited timeframe, but managed to stand out and serve as a reminder of the folk who’ve woven the show’s rich tapestry.
Now, probably my most contentious view: I liked the final scene. I’m certain that by the time this article goes live, fans will be in uproar about the unresolved Erinsborough redevelopment plot, and that we’ll never truly know whether the locals chose to fight for their homes, move to Ramsay Hills or live in the Robinson Towers complex.
In the closing moments, Susan stood in the heart of Ramsay Street, contemplating her future. I had goosebumps as the voices of those we have loved and lost over the years rung out around her.
As she was joined by Paul and Karl for some last words, nobody could muster up a decision about what to do, and so the camera panned out over the signpost, seemingly for good.
Now more than ever, it feels like the right moment to honour a legacy that will only continue when the current generation of actors move onto their next project, and exclaim: “I started on Neighbours.”
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