37 most iconic moments from Neighbours’ storied history

To celebrate Australia’s most beloved soap lighting up our screens for 37 years, here are the moment that made it truly iconic.

To mark 37 years of Neighbours, we have trawled through the archives to find 37 memorable and iconic moments from Australia’s longest running soap.

1. 1987 Scott and Charlene’s Wedding – The real ‘Royal Wedding’

2. 1988 Daphne’s death – Played by Elaine Smith, killed in a car accident on the way to her father’s funeral. The first character to have an on-screen death on the show

3. 1991 Harold swept out to sea

4. 1996 Harold Bishop returns – disappeared in 1991 after he was presumed lost at sea. Returning 5 years later, revealing he’d suffered amnesia and working for the Salvation Army

5. 1997 The death of Helen Daniels – Mother of Neighbours, an original and loved by all

6. 1998 Karl’s affair with Sarah (Nicola Charles) – scandalous affair that rocked the Kennedy marriage, Susan’s unforgettable slap, very iconic

7. 1999 The end of Toadie’s mullet

Scott and Charlene was an unforgettable moment in Aussie TV history.

8. 2001 Madge dies with Harold by her side – diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and contracted septicaemia shortly afterwards. Although came back to Ramsay St as a ghost to guide Harold through tough times

9. 2001 Drew and Libby tie the knot

10. 2002 Drew’s accident – suffered injuries after falling from a horse. Wife Libby sang ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ at his funeral, the same song Drew sung to her at the earlier wedding reception

11. 2003 Toadie and Dee make it to the alter and then she dies – the union ends in tragedy when Toadie accidentally drove the car off a cliff and into the sea on the way to the reception

12. 2004 Karl and Izzy’s affair. The doctor was back at it with “homewrecker” Izzy, played by Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

13. 2004 Lassiter goes up in flames – Paul Robinson’s doing

14. 2005 The plane crash – To mark the show’s 20th anniversary, plane crashed over the Bass Strait. Plane was damaged when a bomb exploded in the air and the subsequent crash into the sea killed main character regulars David (Keven Harrington), Liljana (Marcella Russo) and Serena Bishop (Lara Sacher)

Toadie’s mullet stole every scene it was in.

15. 2008 The Erinsborough Bushfires – The fire claimed the life of Marco Silvani who returned as a ghost at his own funeral

16. 2010 Ringo and Donna marry – Donna (Margot Robbie) arrived in style for the wedding in the back of a police car

17. 2010 Who Pushed Paul Robinson? – Pushed from Lassiter’s balcony, six suspects

18. 2014 The Erinsborough Tornado

19. 2018 The first same-sex marriage on Aussie TV after the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia – David and Aaron tie the knot, featuring Magda Szubanski as the celebrant. Minogue and Donovan’s duet ‘Especially for You’ played during the wedding scene

20. 2018 Dee’s Return – Still alive and changed her name, leading a secret life for 17 years

21. 2019 The First Trans Character – Georgie Stone, a transgender actress and activist, appears as Mackenzie Hargreaves

22. 2020 The 35th Anniversary blockbuster week (5 weddings and 3 deaths) The special week consisted of five regular weekday eps and five extra eps as part of a series titled Neighbours: Endgame. 5 weddings, 3 deaths, luggage bombs, tropical islands, etc

23. 1992. Todd dying and returning as a ghost. Todd Landers died of cardiac arrest after surgery, right in front of his pregnant girlfriend Phoebe. He came back in ghost form in the next episode.

Series villain (who eventually turned good) went through many tumultuous times on the show.

24. 1998. Joel’s near-drowning in the river. He was rescued just in the nick of time!

25. 2000. Libby and Steph’s heart-stopping motorbike accident.

26. 2006. Paul Robinson and Lyn Scully’s extremely short-lived marriage. These two split immediately after the wedding.

27. 2007. Stingray’s tragic death. After being a donor for his niece Kerry Mangel Jr, Stingray died of a brain aneurysm.

28. 2009. Bridget’s tragic death. Bridget Parker was found wandering in the bush with her baby after a car accident, then died.

29. 2012. Sonya and Toadie had baby Nell. This was a year after Sonya was revealed as Callum’s biological mother.

30. 2014. Paige Smith is discovered to be Lauren’s “stillborn” daughter she gave birth to 21 years earlier

31. 2018. Dee’s Return. Some 15 years after it was presumed she’d died on her wedding day.

32. 1997. The death of Helen Daniels. One of the original Ramsay Street characters, she died in her sleep on her sofa watching the wedding of her grandson Scott to Charlene.

Karl’s scandalous affair with Sarah, that rocked the Kennedy marriage.

33. 2020. Finn Kelly (Rob Mills) drowns after accidentally falling into a shallow grave he had intended for Susan Kennedy.

34. 2015. Bouncer the wonder dog saves Madge from a house fire.

35. 2002. Susan Kennedy slips on an upturned cereal bowl and sustained head injury from the fall, which led to her losing 30 years of memories.

36. 1990. Bouncer the wonder dog had a dream he was getting married to Rosie, the Border Collie living next door. Bouncer eventually left Erinsborough to move to the countryside and even became a father.

37. 1994. Wedding of chef Mark Gottlieb (Bruce Samazan) and manipulative Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies) didn’t exactly go to plan because Mark found God. He decided there and then that his calling was to become a priest, so he couldn’t possibly get married.