When last we visited Erinsborough, it was 2022, Toadie and Melanie were getting married, and Nell only spoke once or twice a year. Two years have now passed, but Neighbours has somehow stepped outside of the time-space continuum and it’s still only 2023. Toadie is now married to Terese, and Nell has spent a couple of years perfecting the art of scowling, but also has a lot more to say for herself, particularly where her new stepmother is concerned. Pairing up Toadie and Terese was a move that could have backfired spectacularly, but, for this viewer at least, it’s working out very well. Ryan Moloney and Rebekah Elmaloglou are clearly enjoying working together and have some great chemistry, and moving the Rebecchis out of no. 30 might finally allow Toadie to move on from Sonya and have another meaningful relationship. It’s also been nice to see Terese in the new role of stepmother to some younger children, freshening things up for her after years of living with random relatives of her ex-husband, and falling back into Paul’s arms after he treated her like crap. And, no longer part of Lassiters, she's looking to create a 'retirement experience' called 'Eirene Rising'. No, I'm not sure what she's talking about either, but it handily brings us on to our next household...

Next door at no. 24, it seems that Mike and Jane’s relationship has been going better than Toadie and Melanie’s. The former lovebirds stole everyone’s hearts when they got back together in 2022, and now they’re holidaying at a nice country hotel somewhere near London. We keep seeing shots of Tower Bridge to make sure we don’t forget where they are. Guy Pearce and Annie Jones have lost none of their chemistry, so it’s a shame that he won’t be sticking around, though the fact that Guy even came back to film anything at all is lovely. As Jane returns to Australia, Mike has been dispatched on a (possibly never-ending) motorbike ride around Scotland. As she waits for her fiance to come back, Jane has other things to keep her occupied, and not just her lovely new mauve kitchen, but the news that Erinsborough High is being threatened with closure. With barely enough time to recover from her jetlag, Jane learnt that Terese was looking at the site of the school to build 'Eirene Rising' (still no idea) and their friendship was under threat...

Which brings us to the Varga-Murphys. Consisting of mums, Remi and Cara, and their two sons, JJ and Dex, they’ve already settled in nicely. The four actors have great, believable chemistry, and each character has a distinct personality, with Cara, and her lack of filter, my early favourite. Having briefly stayed at no. 24 in some kind of Air B’n’B type arrangement, they decided that they loved the street so much, they wanted to stay. Which is understandable. Nothing exploded during their three-week stay, so they probably think it’s quite safe, but give it time. Unfortunately, just as they bought no. 30 from Toadie, all-out war has broken out with the Rodwell family.

The Rodwells - parents Andrew and Wendy and their daughter, Sadie - had only lived on the street for a few months when Neighbours had its ‘grand finale’ last year, but now they’ve well and truly settled in, with Wendy seemingly popping in and out of everyone else’s houses whenever their bins need emptying. Unfortunately, when JJ Varga-Murphy was caught in the Rodwell house, claiming that he was hoping to borrow some milk, then Wendy’s watch went missing, it kicked off a new feud. The watch was soon found, but the damage was done, with only Dex aware of the real reason for JJ’s interest in the Rodwells - he thinks that Andrew is his father, an anonymous sperm donor that Cara used to get pregnant. Which makes for a nice, modern twist on the long-lost child turning up on someone's doorstep. It looks like this is going to remain a secret for a while, presumably only coming out at the most inconvenient moment possible in the months to come…