“There are some Easter eggs for the fans”

Neighbours cast cheering on the street with champagne in hand in the 2022 series finale.

The Neighbours send off in 2022 included lots of familiar faces!

Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison admits he was torn about how to end the show for the second time in three years – but one thing he knew for sure was that this finale couldn’t be final-final. Not after everything the show, and its fans, have been through.

“Firstly, I couldn’t end it the same way as I did last time,” Jason tells TV WEEK.

“Secondly, I knew we were losing the Nunawading studios and backlot imminently, which was different to the last time. With so much love for the show I felt I should craft an ending that would give the show a chance to come back in different ways that didn’t rely on the studios. This is what the finale sets out to do.”
Headshot of Jason Herbison - executive producer of Neighbours.Jason Herbison used to write to the Neighbours producers in high school to give them his ideas on what they were doing wrong. (Image: Supplied)
And what an ending it promises to be.

A proposed freeway threatens to slice straight through Ramsay Street, forcing every neighbour to consider whether to stay and fight for the home they’ve loved for 40 years, or accept a future elsewhere – either at Shane Ramsay’s (Peter O’Brien) ambitious new development, Ramsay Hills, or at Paul Robinson’s (Stefan Dennis) sleek new Robinson Towers.

“Paul has begun to see his future in the city – at Robinson Towers, a new hotel and residential development. Meanwhile Shane wants to build a new suburb – Ramsay Hills,” Jason explains. “Neither anticipated the freeway project or the residents of Ramsay Street having to move, but since that appears to be the case, it becomes a battle to entice them to their respective new precincts.”

Of course, fans will remember how the previous finale unfolded – the emotional 2022 farewell that brought Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce and Delta Goodrem back to Erinsborough when Channel 5 pulled its funding and the show ended for what everyone believed was the last time.

The finale was a celebration more than a goodbye, a glittering reunion that tied up decades of stories in a nostalgic bow… before Amazon Freevee revived the beloved soap the following year.
Just one big family of friends… and neighbours! (Credit: FREMANTLE)
So can Neighbours top its own history-making finale?

This time around, Jason hints audiences might be just as lucky, with a few familiar faces popping in for the show’s bittersweet ending.

“There are some returning faces, and most of them are from the Amazon era, or characters we intended to bring back but ran out of time for,” he reveals.

“There are also a few Easter eggs for the fans. Annalise almost breaks the fourth wall at one point – see if you can guess what she’s talking about! It was also worth mentioning that we asked Ryan Maloney to return as Toadie. He was unavailable sadly, but he does of course get a mention.”

With emotions high, the street under threat, old faces returning and a finale crafted to honour 40 years of storytelling… the question remains: Will this farewell be even bigger than the last – and will this goodbye finally be forever?