Neighbours: The 7 most bonkers moments on the show

From Bouncer’s dream to Russell Brand’s cameo, here are the weirdest storylines on the soap

Ellie Harrison
Friday 29 July 2022 09:22 BST
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Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan reunite on Neighbours' set

The sun is setting for the last time on Neighbours this week, as the final ever episode airs on Channel 5.

To celebrate the show ending, here’s a throwback to some of the most bonkers moments – from characters returning from the dead to disastrous weddings…

Bouncer’s dream

Golden labrador Bouncer was a fan-favourite on Neighbours from 1987 to 1993.

His finest moment has to be when he nodded off on the carpet after watching Joe and Kerry’s wedding video and dreamt that he was getting married to Rosie, the border collie who lived next door.

In the trippy dream sequence, Bouncer could be seen patting Rosie’s head and the pair were shown surrounded by plastic flowers and sitting in a kennel with a sign reading: “Home sweet home.” Normal.

Bouncer’s dream

Harold Bishop coming back to life

In a 1991 episode, Harold was swept out to sea and presumed to have drowned. All that was left of him, we thought, were his glasses sitting behind on a rock on the shore.

But five years later, Harold rocked up in Erinsborough with no memory of who he used to be. It turned out he’d been rescued by trawlermen and started a new life under the name Ted. But one night, when he ate jelly for dessert, Harold’s memory was miraculously restored.

The pudding – of course! – had reminded him that Lou used to call him “Jelly Belly” at school. After that, all his memories came flooding back.

All the celebrity cameos

A long list of celebrities have turned up on Ramsay Street to play themselves, from Emma Bunton to Lily Allen. The strangest cameo has to be that of Russell Brand, though.

Why was he there? “Touring the world, spreading the message, light, love, limitless,” he tells Toady. “I’m a writer, I enjoy festivity, synchronicity.” OK then.

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Russell Brand shows up

Frazer’s miraculous healing

Frazer became paralysed from the waist down after being trampled by a horse – with doctors telling him his inability to walk was psychological.

Miraculously, he later regained the use of his legs after saving a kid, Mickey, from drowning in a swimming pool. Anything is possible in the world of Neighbours.

Toady driving off a cliff

Toady and weddings do not go together. At one wedding, he jilted his bride, Steph. At another, a gas explosion led to the collapse of a marquee, killing several guests. But at the worst one (which came before those two) he literally drove his new bride, Dee, off a cliff. He had been kissing Dee when he lost control of the car. He survived the crash and she seemingly died – before doing a Harold and “coming back to life” years later.

Toady and Dee’s car after it’s driven off a cliff

The plane crash

In a 2005 episode, Paul chartered a plane to Tasmania in honour of the Lassiters Hotel’s 20th birthday, with many Ramsay Street residents on board. A bomb went off in the middle of the flight, causing the plane to crash into the Bass Strait, killing all three members of Harold’s family: son David, daughter in-law Liljana and granddaughter Serena.

A grieving Harold attempted to strangle Paul as revenge – but it later emerged that Paul’s evil son Robert had actually planted the explosive to get back at his father for abandoning him as a child. Only in soapland.

Susan going back in time

It turns out that, sometimes, it is worth crying over spilt milk – at least in Susan’s case. After she slipped on spilt milk and got a minor head injury, she woke up with “retrograde amnesia”.

What does this mean? Well, she forgot the past 30 years of her life, and was essentially transported back to being a 15-year-old in 1972. She was shocked when she came across a mirror, and saw a middle-aged woman looking back at her.

The last ever episode of Neighbours airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on Friday 29 July.

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