By MARTA JARY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Published: 08:00 EDT, 10 March 2025 | Updated: 08:05 EDT, 10 March 2025
Neighbours may have been axed but the soap is going out with a bang.
The show's special 40th anniversary special is coming up - and a fan favourite will be back.
Anne Charleston, who played Madge Bishop, will show up in Erinsborough - but there is a big twist, TV Week reported this week.
Fans will remember that Madge was killed off from the show in 2001 after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer.
Now the beloved character has returned - or has she?
A mysterious character, who is called Agnes, shows up at an art exhibition held by Nell (played by Ayisha Salem-Towner) in the episode - and she looks exactly like Madge.
Neighbours may have been axed but the soap is going out with a bang. The show's special 40th anniversary special is coming up - and a fan favourite will be back. Anne Charleston, who played Madge Bishop, will show up in Erinsborough - but there is a big twist. Pictured in 2022
Fans will remember that Madge was killed off from the show in 2001 after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer. Now the beloved character has returned - or has she? Pictured with on-screen husband Harold Bishop (Ian Smith)
Agnes stares longingly at a portrait of Madge hanging on the wall, arousing Nell's suspicions.
Confused and curious, Nell covertly takes a photo of the woman, hoping to learn her true identity.
Anne has returned to the show before, but only in dream sequences.
She appeared via a hallucination experienced by on-screen husband Harold Bishop in 2015 and again in 2022 in a scene that showed Susan Kennedy imagining what Madge may look like today if she had lived.
It comes after Neighbours crew broke their silence on the show's fate after news emerged the Aussie soap has been axed for the second time.
Posts were shared on the show's Facebook and Instagram confirming that the beloved Australian soap opera would be leaving screens from December 2025.
The crew assured fans that new episodes from the 40th anniversary season would continue to be broadcast on Prime Video and Ten, with 'all the big soapie twists and turns that our viewers love.'
The show's Executive Producer Jason Herbison went on to celebrate the many years of Neighbours and the success it had experienced since its inception.
A mysterious character, who is called Agnes, shows up at an art exhibition held by Nell (played by Ayisha Salem-Towner) in the episode - and she looks exactly like Madge
'Audiences all around the world have loved and embraced Neighbours for four decades and we are very proud of the huge success over the last two years including often appearing as one of the Top 10 titles in the UK and the show's first ever Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Daytime Series in 2024,' he said.
'As this chapter closes, we appreciate and thank Amazon MGM Studios for all that they have done for Neighbours – bringing this iconic and much-loved series to new audiences globally.'
He ended off the post, saying: 'We value how much the fans love Neighbours and we believe there are more stories of the residents of Ramsay Street to tell in the future.'
It was announced last month that Neighbours would be axed for a second time, less than two years after it was first revived.
The Australian soap opera will reportedly end production this summer after production company Fremantle failed to agree on a new deal with Amazon.
The final ever episode will air at the end of 2025 with fans forced to say goodbye to Ramsay Street for a second time.
A source told The Sun: 'Amazon gave Fremantle two years to see if it worked but sadly they just didn't get the viewers.
'It's a really sad day especially for the cast and crew who work on the show in Melbourne.
Anne has returned to the show before, but only in dream sequences. She appeared via a hallucination experienced by on-screen husband Harold Bishop in 2015 and again in 2022 in a scene that showed Susan Kennedy imagining what Madge may look like today if she had lived
'This really is the end of Neighbours just as it's celebrated it's 40th birthday.'
Longtime fans of the soap opera were quick to take to X to share their devastation over the show's second axing.
They wrote: 'Just heard that #Neighbours is being axed again. I am beyond gutted'.
'Not sure I can go through this again,' another said while one added: 'Neighbours axed again?! Wow.'
'I’ll never get how Home and Away is still vibing along when they’ve axed Neighbours twice. It’s always been the superior Australian soap,' one commented.
'After a hellish personal 14 months I refuse point blank to accept that they will try to take from me AGAIN!!! It’s sometimes the only 20 minutes in the day I can escape. Absolutely blooming well not!!' another said.
Other fans also shared their concern that they won't be able to get the 'perfect' ending which the show was given last time.
One said: 'We got the most perfect ending 2 the show last time they won't be able 2 top it this time I'm very happy we got the extra 2 years with so many old faces back though.'
She remains one of the soap's most iconic characters
Daily Mail has contacted Amazon and Fremantle for comment.
Neighbours nearly ended forever two years ago when Channel 5, who part-funded the soap for UK viewers, pulled out of their deal.
The final episode aired on July 29, 2022, and saw very famous faces return including Margot Robbie, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce.
There were also epic cameos made by Holly Valance (Flick Scully), Natalie Imbruglia (Beth Brennan), and Ian Smith (Harold Bishop) as they reprised their roles.
It is not known whether the second final episode will attract the same star talent after viewers were overjoyed when many Neighbours icons returned for the first finale.
And mere months after its success, it was confirmed that Amazon Freevee had given the show another lease of life and brought it back under revamped production.
The newly rebooted Neighbours premiered on Amazon in September 2023, but just less than two years on, it will be leaving screens for good.