Thanks for the MEMORIES...

JACKIE WOODBURNE and ALAN FLETCHER on saying farewell to Ramsay Street as the Oz soap

- SIMON TIMBLICK, SARAH SELWOOD

NEIGHBOURS

FRIDAY, 9PM, CHANNEL 5 SOAP

After 37 years, it’s the end of an era as Australian daytime soap Neighbours bows out with a prime-time double-length episode celebrating its history. Following news of the show’s cancellation earlier this year, bosses promised viewers the series would finish on an ‘incredible high’ – and they haven’t disappointed!

As well as meaty storylines for the current characters, the past few weeks have seen many memorable former residents from across the decades return to Erinsborough, including Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) and Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaighte).

This week, as family and friends gather for the wedding of Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney) and Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden), there’s more magic in the air as 80s favourites Charlene and Scott Robinson, along with Mike Young, head back to Ramsay Street, as stars Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce reprise their roles respectively in the programme that launched their global careers.

Here, Jackie Woodburne, 66, and Alan Fletcher, 65, who have played Susan and Karl Kennedy since 1994, tell us what to expect from the finale and why working together has proved the perfect blend…

Can you give us any teasers about the finale?

ALAN Karl's past will come back to haunt him again! I think, for all of us, it was just important that we go out with a bang and give the show the ending it deserves.

How did it feel when you first heard the show was coming to an end?