Neighbours has aired its very last episode for a second time in just a handful of years, and it seems the door has once again been left open.
The long-running soap, which launched back in 1995, became a breakout success and launched the careers of stars including Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Holly Valance and Guy Pearce.
The storyline leading into the last episodes saw Ramsay Street under threat from developers and a freeway proposal that would decimate the beloved suburb.
The finale started with a very meta intro, as iconic character Susan pondered in her kitchen:
“Is it really over? All the history, all the memories? Feels like deja vu…”
“We have to plan for our future,” her husband Karl insisted, before giving viewers the first tease of a potential spin-off series.
“And you think that’s at Ramsay Hills?”
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Elsewhere in the episode, Byron (Xavier Molyneux), Aaron (Matt Wilson) and Rhett (Liam Maguire) all returned to No. 24 for a Harris/Stone/Brennan reunion, with Aaron finally reunited with his daughter.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie (Georgie Stone) and Haz (Shiv Palekar), Lucas Fitzgerald (Scott Major), Levi Canning (Richie Morris), Ned Willis (Ben Hall), Kiri Durant and Roxy Willis (Zima Anderson) were all back to check out the competing proposals for a new Ramsay Street.
In the end, not one but two potential spin-offs were teased during the emotional finale.
Shane Ramsay and son Max (Ben Jackson) invited numerous residents to join them in Ramsay Hills, his new proposed suburb.
Meanwhile, Paul and grandson Jimmy (Darcy Tadich) took other residents to a plot of land where Paul plans to build Robinson Towers, his new apartment and hotel complex.
But what about the beloved Susan?
In the end, she couldn’t face the thought of leaving the iconic street, and revealed that she planned on trying to save her home when Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies) revealed that there was increasing resistance to the plans for the new freeway.
Fans raced to social media to share their thoughts on the finale, with many expressing their sadness.
“And there we have it, the final goodbye! 40 years of entertainment, 40 years of joy, 40 years of a daily escapism filled with love, laughter and tears. What a sad day. Again. #GoodbyeNeighbours #Neighbours,” tweeted one.
“Well that was wonderful and I sobbed like a baby,” agreed another.
Others weren’t quite so convinced by the ending, with many believing something else is in the works despite no announcement.
“It wasn’t ‘nostalgic’ enough on the ep. Especially when lots of us have watched since childhood #SaveNeighbours,” said one.
“That jump into SVU without running any credits though was a bit ordinary. It’s already a loss to the industry and not crediting those that worked on the show is a kick in the face,” remarked a second.
“There is a great opportunity for at least two new shows to emerge from the ashes of Neighbours – Ramsay Hills and Robinson Towers!” said executive producer Jason Herbison in an interview with Radio Times.
“We talked about what those alternate stories might look like in the final episode. Ramsay Hills is brand new suburb – such a show would be quite similar to the Neighbours viewers already know.”
Despite no official word yet and nothing being in the pipeline, Herbison said he deliberately made the final episode a “set up” for a new series.
“I saw an opportunity to set the show up for a new kind of comeback, perhaps as a spin-off or limited series,” he added. “The finale is designed to give viewers a taste of what those alternate Neighbours universes could look like.”
Jackie Woodburne, who has played Australian icon Susan Kennedy since 1994, spoke with the BBC about her emotions surrounding the soap finally coming to an end.
“Oh, gosh. Honestly, I’m going to get emotional thinking about that,” she said.
“She was the heart, you know? She was the mother – and then the grandmother,” Jackie says of Susan. “She was inherently good. But at the same time she… made dreadful decisions.”
In what was then deemed the finale back in 2022, a wedding party was attended by a multitude of former Ramsay Street residents, including the iconic Scott and Charlene Robinson (Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).
Network 10, Freemantle and Amazon confirmed earlier this year that the soap would be coming to an end for the second time, leaving fans devastated.
“Unfortunately, after nearly four decades of events on Ramsay Street, production of Neighbours will cease this year,” a statement said at the time.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this remarkable Australian story over the years, and we’re pleased to continue bringing you new episodes of Neighbours on Network 10 right through until December.”
