In Australia, the last episodes of the TV soap opera Neighbors have already been broadcast.
In Melbourne, where the program is filmed and produced, a sizable crowd gathered to watch on a giant screen.
The conclusion of Neighbors will air on Channel 5 on Friday night in the UK, where it was most successful.
Returning to bid farewell to Ramsay Street were former cast members Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, and Margot Robbie.
The soap opera has featured aircraft disasters, bushfires, drownings, and other heartbreaking bedside death moments over the course of over 37 years.
However, the show's creators made it clear that they wouldn't finish with scenes of carnage and destruction, therefore we won't be giving away any narrative details for the UK audience.
The goal, according to executive producer Jason Herbison, was to deliver a "collective hug" to those who had grown up watching the show.
Hardcore fans gathered in Melbourne's Federation Square to see the final episode of the fictional Melbourne neighborhood of Erinsborough's Ramsay Street Slice of Life (famously, nearly an anagram of Neighbours).
After approximately 9,000 episodes, the show was canceled due to declining viewership. On a Network Ten sister station in Australia, Neighbors has failed to get 100,000 daily viewers.
Even in the UK, where 20 million viewers—more than a third of the population—watched regularly in the late 1980s, viewership statistics are now closer to one million.
Channel 5 stated in March that it was ending the series, leaving a financing vacuum as the British network was a significant broadcast partner in the production.
Producers have confirmed that Neighbors will conclude this summer.
On the final day of a TV soap, the cast said farewell.
It will take some time to "say goodbye to Paul," according to Stefan Dennis, who has portrayed the character Paul Robinson since the show's inception in 1985.
He claimed, "He's not simply someone I come to work and play with for a couple of hours, then go home.
"You're bringing up a character with whom I've spent nearly 40 years growing up, maturing, and developing.
"I'm not sure how I'll say goodbye. Although I'd like to think I'll put the outfit away and go, I believe it will take some time to get over it."
When Minogue shared photos of herself and her on-screen spouse Jason Donovan out and about, the internet went wild. Donovan portrayed Charlene Robinson from 1986 to 1988.
The wedding episode from 1987 is still maybe the most well-known part of the soap opera.
The program also aided in the career launches of Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem, and Holly Valance as well as actors Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe.
This week it was announced that Margot Robbie, a former neighbor who is now a Hollywood celebrity, had come back for the send-off.
In response to concerns over how accurately it represented contemporary Australia, the program has recently featured more diverse characters and stories. It included the country's first same-sex union on television.
But it wasn't without controversy; only recently, some performers have come forward with claims of racism. A review was promised by the production company Fremantle Media.
However, on the latter days of production, the set was bustling with familiar faces that had been recognizable to viewers for years.
After a seven-year break, Ian Smith—who portrayed Harold Bishop—returned to the role. The "greatest, nicest, funniest reunion," he claimed, had been made possible by the return of previous castmates.
He gave a tour of Harold's Café to the BBC and expressed confidence that his cardigan-wearing "fuddy-duddy" persona will continue to be popular.
I've learned that he's still somewhat of power in this world during the past seven or eight years that I've been away, he added.
The popularity of the program in the UK, according to Smith—who also authored episodes but never those featuring his own character—was attributable in part to the depiction of a different way of life.
"The doctor who lived next door may be greeted. You may use his first name to address him. He would occasionally visit your pool, and you would occasionally go to his. All these occurrences that never took place in the UK, "added he.
"We constantly made an effort to appear as though we were lazing in the sun and tanning up. In actuality, we were often dressed in thin cotton shirts and froze to death."
British ex-pat Gemma Clement, who relocated from Manchester to Melbourne 12 years ago and claims that the serial inspired her decision, echoes his feelings.
"It's where I landed up because of Neighbors. The lifestyle is wonderful, and it always appeared to be sunny and pleasant. Although not exactly like on Neighbors, it's still fantastic "She spoke to the BBC.
A constant from childhood
Atkinson, Simon at the Neighbors set
I grew up watching Neighbors, often twice a day, like many other British children in the 1980s and 1990s.
I can vividly recall the elementary school assembly going wild when Mr. Debenham played the well-known theme song on his piano instead of the customary hymns.
And the only thing that actually kept a pen pal friendship with my Australian relative alive was finding out about Ramsay Street. The show was at least six months in advance of what we were watching on the BBC at the time.
My enthusiasm for the program diminished with time, and our communication did too. Amanda, I'm sorry.
I've had the good fortune to meet great individuals and travel to some intriguing locations while working as a journalist. But a recent visit to the Neighbors set was especially special since we got to speak with the actors who play Paul and Harold and see the Lassiter's gateway within the Waterhole.
Additionally, it was hard not to have pity for the actors and staff who remained devoted to the soap opera right up to the very end.
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