From a Tornado to a Dog’s Dream, These Are 9 of ‘Neighbours’ Wildest Moments

If there’s one thing Neighbours has been good at over the course of its 37-year run on Australian television, it’s bringing chaos and drama to our screens every night. Just when you’d think the families of Ramsay Street had done it all, experienced every possible twist of fate that could occur, the writers would come up with a new plot twist even wilder than the last.

Did they always make sense? Not necessarily — tornadoes aren’t an especially likely occurrence in suburban Victoria. Still, that didn’t stop the Neighbours’ writers from adding one in! The real question, friends, is did it matter that the plots had a tenuous-at-best grasp on reality? The answer to that, obviously, is no. We love chaos!

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, you’re probably aware that Neighbours is ending tonight, after the UK’s Channel 5 decided not to renew its contract with the Aussie soap. For many years, Neighbours had been airing on Channel 5, and was receiving a significant chunk of its funding from the source. Without Channel 5’s support, the show was unable to continue shooting.

“Despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show,” Neighbours execs said in a press statement at the time.

“To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours.”

To celebrate Neighbours‘ most iconic moments, let’s reflect on nine of the wildest and wackiest moments the soap served us over the years.

The Toadie Wedding Trifecta of Doom

We don’t make the rules, but you’re actually not an Aussie millennial if you don’t remember the moment Toadie got his happily ever after with Dee Bliss, only to drive her off a cliff. It was truly the yeet of a lifetime.

Anyhoo, Toadie didn’t get much luckier in love from there. Next, he left Steph Scully at the alter in a dramatic runaway groom moment, and then finally, when Toadie found his soulmate in Sonya, there was an explosion at their wedding that left Priya and Rhys dead. Classic!

The Return of Dee Bliss

Oh y’all wanted a twist? That’s right. Years after being driven off a literal cliff, Dee popped back up in Erinsborough claiming amnesia, which would have been enough of a plot twist in itself, but the Neighbours writers were just getting started.

You see, it wasn’t Dee, but rather, a Dee-doppelgänger named Andrea Somers, who was trying to scam Toadie for every last cent he had.

Long after Toadie had succumbed to his feelings for Dee and cheated on his wife Sonya with her in London — while Sonya happened to be watching on Skype, no less — the real Dee resurfaced for a showdown with Andrea, aka, her evil twin.

Turns out, Dee HAD survived going over the cliff, but after witnessing a gang murder, she’d been living under the radar and going by the name Karen. Dee and Andrea, of course, were twin sisters who’d been separated at birth by a nun.

An Actual Tornado Hits Ramsay Street

Just when you thought “wow, this street has really endured quite a lot of misfortune”, a literal tornado came to ravage the neighbourhood, which is, you know, supposedly located near Melbourne. Realism, who needs it?!

Perhaps even more wild is the fact that in the midst of all of this chaos, a beam fell on Lou, who was just trying to enjoy a nice sanga. He was set to choke to death, but thankfully, Susan was there to save the day with an emergency tracheotomy, which is apparently something that can be taught over the phone (Dr Karl talked her through it). The more you know!

That Time We All Watched a Dog’s Dream

So legendary that it was one of the few Neighbours moments that was honoured at this year’s Logie Awards, Bouncer’s dream is one of those moments that pops up in your mind right before you go to sleep and makes you think ‘was that real?’

The dream sequence saw us take a trip into the mind of Bouncer, the beloved Ramsay Street Labrador who’d survived multiple car crashes, eaten poisonous mushrooms, and even saved a life during his time on the show. His dream takes us into his mind, in which he dreamed about marrying Rosie the Border-Collie, and building a life with her.

After the episode, Anne Charleston, who played Madge Bishop, was quoted as saying that, “the whole cast was mortified” by the dream sequence, adding that “it reduced it to a three-year-old’s programme”.

“It was very strange”, she added.

The Plane Crash

The plane crash plot arc was to celebrate the show’s 20-year anniversary, so you know they were going to amp up the drama for it.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lassiters, Paul Robinson chartered a flight to Tasmania and invited all his nearest and dearest neighbours along for the festivities. The party was short-lived, however, because soon enough, boom. A bomb went off, sending the plane crashing into the Bass Strait and leaving three members of Harold’s family: son David, daughter-in-law Liljana and granddaughter Serena.

Struck with grief, Harold came to blame Paul for the disaster, and sought his revenge when he tried to strangle him to death. Of course, this wasn’t the only time someone had tried to kill Paul in an act of revenge. In fact, the bomb on the plane was planted by Paul’s evil son Robert, who was trying to get back at Paul for abandoning him as a child.

The Time Libby Changed Her Head

In 2008, actress Kym Valentine, who played Libby Kennedy on Neighbours, collapsed on a flight home from New York City. Suffering from pneumonia and a collapsed lung, Valentine required an extended period of time off work to recover, and with multiple plot arcs going for her character, Neighbours made the decision to temporarily re-cast Libby.

McLeod’s Daughters actress Michaela Banas stepped in while Valentine recouperated, and in her final episode before Neighbours went on its Christmas break, Libby was seen going under the water. When she popped back up in the new year, Valentine had returned. Neighbours later poked fun at the recasting with the above skit.

Related: “Ready for Fun?!” Hear the First Snippet of Margot Robbie’s Barbie Voice

Related: Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue and More! All the Stars Returning to Ramsay Street

Susan Kennedy’s Amnesia

Susan Kennedy is an icon, and her amnesia plot is one for the record books. When Susan awoke from a head injury caused by slipping in a puddle of spilled milk, she believed it was 1972 and that she was a teenager. Although her daughter Libby was like “let’s get you to the hospital, mum”, Susan was like “nah I’m all good” and did a runner.

After escaping the hospital, she happened across some teens headed to the conveniently-themed 1970s party at the school, and was like “my people!” but they were like “my principal???”

Anyway, in the end, she fell back in love with Dr Karl, which brought back all her memories, and she eventually recited her original wedding vows to Karl as they celebrated their second wedding.

Surprise! Sonya is Callum’s Mum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY7ZWp-e8u8

Here’s how this one played out: Callum was a kid being looked after by his grandmother, who’d had custody of him since he was six. Then, when Callum was 10, she decided she couldn’t look after him anymore, so Toadie stepped in and adopted him.

Then, Toadie and Callum adopted a Labrador, which is how Toadie met the love of his life, dog trainer Sonya Mitchell. After a few classic soap opera shenanigans, Toadie and Sonya were enjoying their happily ever after when, ding dong! Sonya’s sister Jade appeared out of thin air, armed with secrets.

In an emotional scene at the diner (isn’t that where you reveal your darkest, most harrowing secrets?), Sonya revealed the truth: That Callum was actually her son, whom she’d abandoned when he was a child while she was struggling with a drug and alcohol problem.

When Harold Came Back From the Dead

You know those times that you get swept out to sea, and then five years later you’re suddenly found going by a new name as you live out your dreams of being a tuba player in the Salvos band?

Okay, perhaps it’s not that relatable, but it’s what happened to Harold Bishop. After being reunited with Madge, Harold eventually regained his memory and went back to his normal life, putting his days as Ted to rest.

Neighbours’ final episode will air tonight, Thursday, July 28 at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Peach in a 90-minute finale.

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