It’s the moment millions of Neighbours fans across the world have waited 34 years for: Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan stepping back onto Ramsay Street as iconic couple Scott and Charlene.
The stars have reprised their roles to celebrate the end of the enduring Australian soap in its final ever episode later this month.
Despite not appearing on the show in more than three decades, Scott and Charlene hold a special place in the hearts of long-term Neighbours fans, with their on-screen wedding oft-remembered as one of Soapland’s finest.
Their nuptials were watched by an astonishing 20 million viewers in the UK when they aired on BBC One back in 1988, and while Neighbours’ viewing figures are much more modest these days, millions are still expected to tune in to see the characters one last time during the show’s swan song episode.
Here’s everything we can tell you about the return of Scott and Charlene – starting with a quick history lesson…
How did Charlene and Scott leave Neighbours?
We last saw Kylie and Jason on screen together 34 years ago, after Charlene and Scott decided to leave Ramsay Street and move to Brisbane having been bought a house by her grandfather Dan Ramsay.
However, Scott was unable to go with Charlene straight away and agreed to join her as soon as he could get a job there.
Charlene then bid an emotional farewell to her husband and other family members and drove away in her green Mini.
Jason did not make his on-screen exit as Scott until some 10 months after Kylie departed the show.
In the intervening years, fans have seen the couple’s two children find their way to Ramsay Street, with son Daniel (Tim Phillips) appearing between 2014 and 2016, and daughter Madison (Sarah Ellen) enjoying a six-month stint in 2016.
What do we know about their return?
Few details about what brings Charlene and Scott back to Ramsay Street are yet known.
Pop culture newsletter Popbitch previously claimed to have seen a leaked script from the finale, revealing the last scene of the show would see Charlene and Scott pulling up onto Ramsay Street, before uttering the last line of the show: “We’re home.”
However, executive producer Jason Herbison insisted this is not the case, telling The Herald Sun: “What I’ve read is not what happens which is great. It hasn’t come out yet.”
A selection of pictures previewing their return were later released, one of which saw them standing on the balcony of 24 Ramsay Street. They famously first met there back in 1986 when Scott mistook Charlene for an intruder as she broke into her mum Madge’s house.
In another snap, a sales board can be seen in the background as Charlene and Scott perch on a green Mini (a nod to her previous exit), but closer inspection reveals the sign is actually advertising number 32 (currently home to David Tanaka, Aaron Brennan, Nicolette Stone and Jane Harris).
That does not rule out the possibility of Charlene and Scott moving back into her former home though, as spoilers released from the penultimate week of episodes reveal that No.24’s current owner Chloe Brennan also decides to put her house on the market.
Digital Spy reported there’s “no shortage of people wanting to buy it – and the race to own it could be between some former residents of Ramsay Street”.
Other pictures from Kylie and Jason’s time on location see them with fellow cast members Ian Smith (Harold Bishop), Annie Jones (Jane Harris) and Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), who play Charlene’s stepfather, Charlene’s best friend and Scott’s brother respectively, suggesting they will have an on-screen reunion.
What behind-the-scenes gossip is there from filming?
Kylie and Jason filmed their scenes for the finale some two months before filming on the rest of the show wrapped on 10 June, meaning they will be edited into the episode.
Reports have suggested Neighbours crew only had half a day to film with the pair due to their schedules, indicating that they are unlikely to feature too heavily as the show reaches its end.
However, bosses confirmed reports they made use of body doubles to get extra shots of the characters that Kylie and Jason were unable to film.
These doubles were seemingly seen in a TikTok video a fan posted of ‘Scott and Charlene’ on Ramsay Street back on 25 May, when Kylie was actually in Europe.
From the scripts, we know that their scenes also take place on location on Ramsay Street, which also meant not all of the cast got to meet Kylie and Jason as they were down the road at the show’s Melbourne studios filming other interior scenes.
What have Kylie and Jason said about returning to Neighbours?
Kylie recently revealed that reprising the role of Charlene stirred up lots of emotions.
“For so long I was like ‘well maybe, hmm, I don’t know if that makes any sense,’” Kylie said in an interview with Australian show Today.
“But I’m still in touch with Jason [Donovan] and Guy [Pearce] and Jason said ‘this could be a nice opportunity to buckle the buckle’ as an ex-boyfriend of mine used to say, or to circle the circle and say thank you.”
She continued: “It was lovely and emotional. Driving into Ramsay Street was quite something.
“Firstly where has all that time gone? Secondly everything looks exactly the same. Thirdly, Scott, Charlene, Jane, Harold, it all just came flooding back.
“There was a lot of talking about memories and going back in time.”
Jason has tried to manage rumours around his and Kylie’s return however, saying during a recent appearance on The One Show: “What I do hope is that the expectations are not too big that it doesn’t [live up to it].”
Who else is returning for Neighbours’ finale?
Ian Smith and Peter O’Brien have already made their returns as Harold Bishop and Shane Ramsay and they’re set to be joined by many other familiar faces from the past as the show enters its last stretch.
From the 80s era, we will see Hollywood’s Guy Pearce back as Mike Young, Mark Little as Joe Mangle and Paul Keane as Des Clarke.
From the 90s, Daniel MacPherson returns as Joel Samuels alongside Benjamin McNair as Mal Kennedy, Melissa Bell as Lucy Robinson and Lesley Baker as Angie Rebecchi.
From the 00s, fans will see a comeback from Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Izzy Hoyland, Pippa Black as Elle Robinson, Morgan Baker as Callum Rebecchi, Jordan Patrick Smith as Andrew Robinson and James Mason as Chris Pappas.
And from the most recent era, Olympia Valance returns as Paige Smith, Jodi Gordon as Elly Conway, Zoe Cramond as Amy Williams, Kate Kendall as Lauren Turner and Olivia Junkeer as Yashvi Rebecchi.
Recent departees Chris Milligan, Zima Anderson and Ben Hall will also be back as Kyle Canning, Roxy Willis and Ned Willis respectively.
The show has also teased that there could be some further surprise appearances from other cast members who have not yet been announced.
Could they include Hollywood star Margot Robbie (Donna Freedman) or pop legend Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan)?
How will Neighbours wrap up?
Neighbours is set to end on a more celebratory note, rather than an explosive one as it ends its 37-year run later this month.
While specific spoilers remain under wraps, exec producer Jason Herbison, who wrote the final episode, said he would “never, ever” blow the street up.
“The ending will be a celebration of the past and the present, with the door very much left open for a future,” he told TV Tonight. “Ramsay Street is eternal and I like to think it will live on in the hearts and minds of the viewers, long after the final scene.”
Jackie Woodburne, who plays Susan Kennedy, has confirmed reports she will speak the final lines of the show.
She told ITV’s Lorraine: “I was thrilled to be given that opportunity to kind of narrate that last scene.”
The actor also revealed it is a joyful swan song for the soap, adding of filming it: “I cannot tell you how emotional it was. The challenge for all of us filming that very last episode was that the scene is actually a very joyful, happy scene, but we were all feeling so emotional.
“We were like a second away from tears the whole time. So it was a huge acting challenge to not bring our own sadness and emotional context into the scene because as I say, it was a happy thing.”
When is the final episode of Neighbours on TV?
Neighbours will draw to a close in its homeland of Australia 24 hours before the UK, airing a 90-minute special on Thursday 28 July.
Things will play out slightly differently here in the UK, with the third-to-last episode airing in its usual time slots of 1.45pm and 6pm on Friday 29 July, followed by an hour-long double episode airing at 9pm on Channel 5.
The network has also commissioned two additional programmes to air on the night of the finale; Neighbours: What Happened Next? will delve into the archives to pay tribute to the residents of Ramsay Street and the stars it shot to fame; Neighbours: The Stars’ Greatest Hits will be a celebration of the music the stars of Ramsay Street have brought us over the years, including Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Jason Donovan and Holly Valance.
Neighbours: What Happened Next? airs 10:05pm on 29 July on Channel 5, with Neighbours: The Stars’ Greatest Hits following at 11.30pm.