Producer Peter Dodds said the biggest challenge was getting the returning characters and the anniversary episodes to relate to what was going on in the show at the time, but he believed he had found a good way to combine both the past and the present.
Most critics bemoaned Annalise's new career as a film maker, while others were disappointed with the returning characters and thought the episode would only appeal to fans of the show.
At the General Store, Boyd Hoyland (Kyal Marsh) and Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh) discuss his new role as a father to Kayla Thomas's (Virginia Ryan) daughter.
Joe explains that he had to come to town when he heard about Annalise Hartman's (Kimberley Davies) Ramsay Street documentary and he asks Sky all about Boyd and Kayla.
Joe reminisces about his time on the street, while Max (Stephen Lovatt) and Stephanie Hoyland (Carla Bonner) learn that they are no longer allowed to adopt Kayla's daughter or any other child.
Producer Peter Dodds joked that the production team first started thinking about the 20th anniversary after Neighbours had been on air for ten years.
[1] He explained "With the celebration on camera, it was important to get past cast to come back, and we're very proud with how we've involved the actors from years ago.
"[1] The storyline saw Annalise Hartman (played by Kimberley Davies) return to Erinsborough to screen her BBC documentary about Ramsay Street and its former residents.
[3] Dodds told Michael Gadd from The Newcastle Herald that the anniversary week would be "a case of fans playing 'spot the cameo'" as popular actors returned to the show.
"[6] He said the episodes would celebrate the show's past, without dominating the present, and added that the scripts were "nicely crafted", believing viewers would like them.
[5] Walker thought Nicola Charles (Sarah Beaumont) was the hardest cast member to find as she had stopped working in the acting industry.
The actress admitted that she was surprised when she received the call asking her to return, but thought the idea of Annalise filming a documentary about Ramsay Street was clever.
[10] Days later Annie Jones (Jane Harris), Jesse Spencer (Billy Kennedy), Holly Valance (Felicity Scully) and original cast member David Clencie (Danny Ramsay) were confirmed to appear.
The list comprised; Rachel Blakely (Gaby Willis), Eliza Szonert (Danni Stark), Benjamin McNair (Malcolm Kennedy), Moya O'Sullivan (Marlene Kratz), Ian Rawlings (Philip Martin), Stephen Hunt (Matt Hancock), Jacinta Stapleton (Amy Greenwood), Richard Grieve (Sam Kratz), Rebecca Ritters (Hannah Martin), Marnie Reece-Wilmore (Debbie Martin), Fiona Corke (Gail Robinson), Bernard Curry (Luke Handley), Jansen Spencer (Paul McClain), Lesley Baker (Angie Rebecchi), Anne Scott-Pendlebury (Hilary Robinson), Shaunna O'Grady (Beverly Marshall), Ailsa Piper (Ruth Wilkinson), Brett Blewitt (Brett Stark), Todd MacDonald (Darren Stark), Lucinda Cowden (Melanie Pearson), Andrew Bibby (Lance Wilkinson) and Joy Chambers (Rosemary Daniels).
The episode was scripted in a way that allowed cameos to be shot over a number of months and account for any actors who accepted the invitation to appear at the last minute.
You think you're getting a contemporary episode starring Harold and Paul and a bunch of nine-year-olds – when suddenly a load of characters from yesteryear show up, thanks to an improbable storyline in which glamorous former resident Annalise, now a famous film-maker, returns to screen her documentary about Ramsay Street.
[21] He quipped "Neighbours celebrated its anniversary earlier this year by bringing back all the star names from its illustrious past.
"[21] The Daily Mirror's Jane Simon wrote that Joe's greeting to his daughter – "G'day, chook, how's yer bum for grubs?"
[23] The Guardian's Charlie Brooker thought the returning actors turned the episode into "a heartbreaking visual meditation on the ageing process."
"[20] Doug Anderson from The Sydney Morning Herald was not a fan of the nostalgic feel to the episode, saying "Kimberley Davies returns to the infamous cul de sac in the guise of a doco filmmaker to present a series of choice cuts from the past - the personification of white bread Australia, sliced thick.
The nostalgia is even thicker and ickier than the wall-to-wall effusion that propels Nine's series of opportunistic programs dredged from the Bert Newton vaults.