His story provided the finale with further nostalgia, as writers reunited Mike with his 1980s love interest Jane Harris (Annie Jones), who had returned to the regular cast in 2020.

The report cited the recent decrease to four episodes a week in Australia, British broadcaster Channel 5's desire to establish an hour of news programming over the show's afternoon timeslot, and the accusations of prejudice made by guest star Shareena Clayton.

[2] After the finale was broadcast, he confirmed that his initial vision included "the joyous street party, Susan's voiceover, the characters no longer with us, the balloon, the original theme song and the message to audience".

[15] Upon completion of the finale's development, Herbison hoped to "wrap everything up in a satisfying way" with "ultimately joyous" scenes that follow months of "triumph, tragedy, laughter and tears.

"[18] In February 2022, Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap reported that Ian Smith would be reprising his role of Harold Bishop to play a part in the show's prospective finale, and that he had already started filming.

Herbison confirmed the casting news via his Twitter account and stated it would not have been right to end the show without "the ultimate Neighbours couple", adding that they "play a very special part in our series finale.

"[23] Herbison told Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap that it took "very little persuading" to get Donovan and Minogue to return as they both had an appreciation for the show and the part it played in their respective careers.

[29] On 24 May, Bonnie Anderson was confirmed to be returning as Bea Nilsson for the final episode, where she was reunited with her on-screen sister Elly Conway, played by Jodi Gordon.

Other characters reintroduced during the episode included Callum Rebecchi (Morgan Baker), Lucas Fitzgerald (Scott Major) and Ned Willis (Ben Hall).

[41] Alan Fletcher told Adam Beresford from TV Mag that producers managed to secure so many returnees because they were all grateful for the many professional opportunities the show gave them.

"[42] He told Tom Spilsbury from Total TV Guide that people could think the numerous returns were "a bit gratuitous" but noted that Jason Herbison had a long history of bring back former characters.

These were the returns of Sharon Davies (Jessica Muschamp), Lance Wilkinson (Andrew Bibby), Tad Reeves (Jonathon Dutton), Stuart Parker (Blair McDonough), Naomi Canning (Morgana O'Reilly), Philip Martin (Ian Rawlings), Sonya Rebecchi (Eve Morey), Hendrix Greyson (Ben Turland) and Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh), the latter who only appears in the Australian broadcast of the finale.

Herbison ensured that Lou was included in flashback sequences during the final week, in the photograph montage that accompanied the end credits, and also featured a letter addressed to "T Oliver".

The scene originally featured Clive explaining he is going to visit Sheila Canning (Colette Mann), following a phone call he received from her earlier in the week.

[67] A Neighbours publicist told Johnathon Hughes from Inside Soap that "one by one, and for all sorts of different reasons, the owners of each house have decided to leave to make fresh starts elsewhere.

While Herbison felt that each character "had a natural reason to be moving on", some compromises were made to the storyline: "admittedly it happened very quickly and it's the perfect example of trying to balance story ambition with time.

Cowden believed that writers were correct to prominently feature Melanie and Toadie in the final story, with both having strong links to returning characters from their respective tenures.

[100] Of the reports that the finale's closing moments had leaked, Chantelle Schmidt from Pedestrian said that ending with Scott and Charlene's arrival "does feel like a cute and almost predictable way to finish" the show.

[101] Bella Fowler of news.com.au expressed disappointment that Scott and Charlene would not gain a return storyline, though she believed it would give "millions of diehard Neighbours fans closure".

[103] On-set photographs released via Minogue featured a property sale sign in the background and fans began speculating that the show would end with Scott and Charlene returning to Ramsay Street to buy the house.

[104] During the week prior to the finale's broadcast, Jared Evitts from Wales Online reported that producers remained secretive but "speculation has gone wild for how the show might draw to a close".

Brown described it as "less an hour of TV drama and more a mere parade of old familiar faces, there's just enough here to elicit squeals of delight from anyone who's spent time obsessing over Erinsborough.

"[130] Kilkelly stated that Pearce "slotted back in effortlessly" as Mike and Scott and Charlene's return issued a "heartwarming moment which provided plenty of nostalgia."

[134] A writer from STV News stated "Neighbours closed out its final moments with emotional reunions, a joyful wedding and a nostalgic tribute to past and present stars.

[136] Steven Murphy from the Daily Express Saturday Magazine opined that the "action" in the episode mainly focuses on Toadie and Melanie's wedding and "contains several surprises".

She summarised the finale as a "tear-jerking, star-packed nostalgia fest", "grand homecoming of the soap's illustrious Hollywood and pop alumni" and "an unapologetically soppy, self-referential affair studded with flashbacks to iconic Neighbours moments.

"[115] Hilton concluded that the numerous cameos gave the episode "an almost meta quality" and returning viewers would "undoubtedly find the production so cheap and flimsy that it's hardly a surprise it's fallen apart.

He lambasted "Neighbours brought us less an hour of television drama, and more a mere parade of old familiar faces who'd been booked to tickle the belly of fans both current and lapsed.

[153] Coronation Street also posted a farewell video to social media featuring two of their actors Sally Ann Matthews and Rob Mallard saying goodbye to the show.

[162] Home and Away actress Emily Symons stated that she and her co-stars were not happy to be the only Australian soap opera still airing and that they felt sad for the Neighbours cast and crew.