Scott (Jason Donovan) and Charlene (Kylie Minogue) made a comeback for the very last episode, while a host of now-household names were also back in Ramsay St for the farewell.
One person who wasn’t invited to the celebration was Craig McLachlan, who played Henry Ramsay. He watched from home as on-screen sister (Minogue) and Neighbours parents, Harold and Madge (who even got to make a cameo as a ghost), were all involved in the major television event.
Residents of Ramsay St in Rochester were among those turning into the show, among those David and Judy Murray.
They raised their three children from the home where they have lived since 1980, five years before the first episode of Neighbours aired on television.
The television version of Ramsay St had a backstory which revolved around the Ramsay family, in particular family patriarch Max, whose grandfather had the street named in his honour.
Rochester’s Ramsay St is not a cul-de-sac (like its television namesake), but has its own set of characters who spread from Elizabeth St in the north to Cromwell St in the south.
Pin Oak Court, in Vermont South, was the filming location used to represent the fictional Ramsay St in Neighbours.
The soap opera was created by the same man who brought us The Young Doctors, Prisoner and Sons and Daughters. It originally aired on the Seven Network before — only a year later — moving across to Network 10.
Kylie Minogue, her on-screen brother Craig McLachlan, Hollywood A-lister Margot Robbie, Deltra Goodrem, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce and Alan Dale have all gone on to become international stars.
The episode featuring Scott and Charlene’s wedding achieved the highest-ever ratings for Neighbours and it became one of the highest-rating soap episodes ever in Australia.
The same episode attracted 19.6 million viewers when it was aired in the United Kingdom.
Minogue appeared on the show as wild child, and mechanic, Charlene in April 1986 (for three years) and Donovan from 1986-89.
Oscar-nominated Robbie was on the show from 2008-11, as Donna Freedman, cast initially as a part timer before being promoted to a TV regular. She had a marriage, an affair and a same-sex kiss during her time on Neighbours.
Pearce played Mike Young from January 1986, spending four years on the series as one of the street’s many heart throbs from its four-decade lifespan.
Goodrem played shy school girl and aspiring singer Nina Tucker in 2002, while New Zealand-born Dale was Donovan’s on-screen father, Jim.
Paul Robinson is the last remaining original character, but even he hasn’t been a constant. For a time in the late 1990s-early 2000s Neighbours had no original characters until “Paul’’ returned after an 11-year absence.
Jarrod Vincenzo Rebecchi , “Toadfish’’ or “Toadie”, had 27 years of on-screen time, his character evolving from a teenage “lay-about’’ to become a lawyer.
His heart-throb on screen cousin “Stingray” also attracted plenty of attention before being “killed off’’ by producers three years into his character’s life.
Neighbours also had its fare share of celebrity guests, ranging from the Spice Girls to Warwick Capper and even The Wiggles and Shane Warne made an appearance.
The first full-length spin-off, a five-part series entitled Neighbours: Erinsborough High, was distributed on video on demand and catch up TV services My5 and 10 Play in November 2019.
Home and Away, probably the only soapie to challenge for the number one ranking in Australia, started in 1988 and has a similarly star-studded list of actors who have gone on to bigger and better things.
