Axe falls on Neighbours after 40 years

Neighbours will finish filming in Melbourne on Friday, but the superstars of the iconic soap will not be returning to farewell the show, leaving fans curious about the series finale.

Hollywood star Margot Robbie’s career was launched on Neighbours. Picture: Channel 10

The top secret final episode of Australian super soap Neighbours will be a dignified farewell to the show after 40 years, but the superstars of Ramsay Street’s glory days are not returning to say goodbye for a second time.

When Neighbours was axed in 2022 former cast including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, Margot Robbie, Holly Valance and Natalie Imbruglia, returned to say an emotional thank you to viewers and fans.

Then the show was surprisingly reborn in 2023 after Amazon acquired it for its Freevee platform.

The axe has fallen on Neighbours and after 40 years the Ramsay Street sign has come down. Picture: Amazon

With the Amazon deal ending, the soap has been axed again and will cease production on Friday. The final episode will air on Channel 10 on December 11.

Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison said he never contemplated asking the show’s megawatt alumni to return for a second farewell.

“I have not called Kylie or Guy or Margot or any of those big names from the last finale,” Herbison said.

“We were so grateful they came back in 2022 and this time round it is more of a celebration of the more recent Amazon era.

“It did not occur to me to pick up the phone to them again because we have already done that and we would not have asked a second time.”

Guy Pearce, with Peter O'Brien, Stefan Dennis and Annie Jones, was part of the 2022 farewell to the show. Picture: Twitter/Guy Pearce

Herbison said the overriding feeling on set as the end nears was gratitude not grief.

“The last two and a half years has given us 460 more episodes that we thought we wouldn’t have, so we are feeling humbled and feeling grateful,” he said.

“But also, we’re not ending because the show’s not popular, we’re not ending because we don’t have a fan base, we’re ending because of circumstance and when you have a show that is still beloved and there is still a fan base, there is every chance that it could come back in the future in some form.

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan’s international careers were launched off the back of their roles on Neighbours. Picture: Channel 10

“The ending of the show, this time around, will certainly leave that door very open.”

Herbison promised the finale will have plenty of juicy storylines.

“It will be optimistic, but it will be different to the last finale,” he said.

“The one thing I definitely didn’t want was to have the show kind of crawl to the end.”

The curtain is certainly closing on the Neighbours era and after four decades Neighbours has vacated Pin Oak Court in Vermont South.

The soap has filmed in the quiet cul-de-sac since 1985, however the show shot at the location for the final time last Friday (July 4).

Alan Fletcher, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Annie Jones, Stefan Dennis and Lucinda Cowden on first day of filming in the ‘Amazon era’ of Neighbours. Picture: Supplied

The exteriors of the houses in Pin Oak Court were used by Neighbours as the facade of homes of Ramsay Street residents such as the Mitchells, the Robinsons and the Kennedys and the production paid the owners of the properties an annual fee for any inconvenience.

Filming used to take place about once a week and the court became like catnip for Neighbours fans keen on a Ramsay Street selfie.

Originally published as Axe falls on Neighbours after 40 years