Neighbours fever arguably peaked in November 1988, when the wedding of Scott and Charlene was broadcast to around 20 million people in the UK, almost 18 months after it was broadcast in Australia.
Now, with the end in sight for Australia’s longest-running soapie, Ramsay Street’s most beloved couple is once again whipping fans into a frenzy of excitement.
Scott (Jason Donovan) and Charlene (Kylie Minogue) will return to Ramsay Street in the Neighbours finale.Credit:Kylie Minogue
Details of the 90-minute finale, which will air on 10 on July 28, are being closely guarded, but one “secret” was too good to keep: Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue will return to the street, 34 years after they said goodbye.
On Monday, the pair released images from their recent return to the Nunawading studio where the show has been filmed since 1986 (following its move to 10 after a year on Seven).
“So good to be back with this absolute legend,” wrote Donovan on Twitter. “Scott and Charlene final scenes.”
“Now we’re back together,” Minogue posted on Instagram.
Moments later, 10 released a few more images of the pair, wrapped in a loving embrace, the one-time mechanic Charlene dressed in dungarees, just like back in the day, a house in the background with a real estate agent’s sign on the front. Has it been sold to Australia’s sweethearts?
Donovan posted an image of the cover of the pair’s script pages.Credit:Jason Donovan/Twitter
It’s worth noting that only one house in Pin Oak Court, the real location of Ramsay Street, is currently advertised for sale – and it is not the house seen in the background of these shots.
“Love that in Charlene’s first scene for Neighbours she was wearing head to toe denim and her last is the same, albeit a slightly more sophisticated look,” noted one fan on Twitter.
Though hotly anticipated, the pair’s involvement in the finale was kept under wraps even from the cast and crew. According to one source close to the production, news of their visit broke only hours before they turned up to film a handful of scenes. Within a couple of hours, they were gone. Was it all just a dream?
The suburban dream: Are Scott and Charlene back to stay?Credit:Network 10
Guy Pearce is also understood to have filmed an appearance for the finale. Other famous alumni include Margot Robbie, Craig McLachlan, Brooke Satchwell and Delta Goodrem, but it is not known if any of them will make an appearance.
The show’s executive producer Jason Herbison admits he has felt the weight of responsibility that comes with crafting an ending worthy of such an important part of the Australian television landscape.
“Firstly, it’s about wrapping up the storylines and the characters in a satisfying way,” he said when this masthead visited the set for the filming of the finale. “And second, it’s what else we might do to make it feel like a worthy ending for a show that’s been going for 37 years.”
Herbison promises the ending he and his team have come up with will be “very warm, very celebratory”. But that doesn’t mean it won’t also pay homage to some of the show’s wackier moments, which have featured dreams, doppelgangers, explosions – and, of course, weddings.
“I’m just going to say it’s very Neighbours, the end,” says Herbison. “We are a show that has at times gotten away with things that maybe other shows haven’t.
“I did think, ‘What little thing could we do at the end that that might be memorable and in keeping with some of the slightly silly things we’ve done over the years’. That’s the way to put it.”
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