RTE WILL BROADCAST the last three episodes of Australian soap opera Neighbours next week, with the series finale airing on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old series announced in March that production would cease in June after the UK’s Channel 5 decided to cease airing the show.

To mark the end of Neighbours, over 50 classic episodes of the show are available to watch on the RTÉ Player – from big weddings and shocking deaths to disasters and heartwarming birthday and anniversary specials.

Channel 5 will air the last-ever episode this Friday.

The finale will see Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan reprise their roles as Charlene and Scott for one last goodbye to the soap. The final scenes will feature Toadie’s wedding to Melanie.

The loss of Channel 5 as a “key broadcast partner” prompted the cancellation of the show.

Announcing its end in March, Neighbours said: “We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June.

“Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show.”

Since 2008, production of the show was largely paid for by Channel as it was no longer commercially viable for the Australian Network Ten to fund it alone.

The show, set in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough in Melbourne, first aired in 1985.

Throughout its run, it received hundreds of award nominations and wins for on- and off-screen work, including Best Daytime Soap at the Digital Spy Reader Awards in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.