The week began pleasantly enough, as the locals celebrated Christmas. The Bishop family were in high spirits, having given each other water pistols. David then spent most of the day racing around Erinsborough, squirting anyone and everyone. Meanwhile, Stingray and Lana were getting up to some mischief of their own when they sprayed the word ‘peace’ all over Ramsay Street. Relationship problems were causing heartache for several other residents. Sindi and Stu continued to avoid telling Toadie about their secret, and things only got worse when Toadie was taken off a big legal case by Tim Collins, leaving him in a terrible mood. Meanwhile, Serena decided that she couldn’t keep Sky and Boyd apart any longer and arranged for them to meet in the street and get back together as their Christmas present.

Christmas continued as Jack made plans to leave for LA. Before he went, he accidentally dropped a clanger when he mentioned, in front of the whole family, that Izzy might not even turn up for her wedding. Pressed by Lyn, he revealed Izzy’s confession – that she didn’t really love Karl. Lyn couldn’t resist going over to number 28 and “accidentally” revealing this piece of gossip to Susan, who was left in the awful position of whether or not to tell Karl. This was briefly forgotten – as the Scully family had more important things to deal with. Charlie’s health was fading, so they arranged for his boat to be brought up to Erinsborough. He was thrilled and spent a few hours sitting on it, telling Steph and Jack some stories from his sea-faring days. Then the time came for Lyn to drive Jack to the airport, and he said goodbye to all of his loved ones. Meanwhile, Susan bumped into Karl in the Coffee Shop and was forced to decide whether to tell him the truth about Izzy.

She decided not to, instead offering Karl her support for the wedding. The wedding that was already looking like being on shaky ground, as the venue had flooded and they were forced to move it to Lassiter’s – the scene of Karl and Susan’s vow renewal two years previously. Elsewhere, there was someone watching as the bride panicked – Gus was back in town. As Izzy prepared to marry Karl, Gus suddenly appeared in her dressing room and tried to convince her that she belonged with him, as she wasn’t good enough for Karl. She managed to get rid of him by calling for security, but was left shaken by the whole thing, wondering if Gus was right. As the guests gathered at Lassiter’s, Max prepared to walk his sister down the aisle, but she asked if she could go outside and make a big entrance from the front. When she failed to materialise, everyone was convinced that Gus had something to do with it. However, it seemed that Izzy simply wasn’t prepared to go through with it and was driving away when she almost got into an accident with Susan. When Susan realised what Izzy was doing, she became angry and told her to keep on driving and never come back.

However, Izzy did come back and she begged Karl for his forgiveness. The whole wedding party were astounded when the couple walked into the pub together and apologised for all the fuss they’d caused. Meanwhile, Gus turned up in Ramsay Street, where Boyd told him to get lost. Gus then panicked and ran off when he saw Stuart approaching him. Back at the pub, Lil received a phonecall to say that Luka had gone missing. The list of suspects was already piling up when a mysterious intruder went into the back of the pub and set fire to the stockroom. As the fire alarm sounded, everyone filed out of the pub and over to the other side of the complex. Harold was shocked to find that the Coffee Shop kitchen was also on fire, but was forced to retreat when there was an explosion, only managing to grab Madge’s recipe book. Stu then realised that Sindi was missing and he rushed back into the pub to find her passed out in the toilets. Harold then realised that he’d dropped the recipe book and when Max went to get it, another massive explosion sent him flying, leaving him injured. Just as Sindi and Stu managed to reach the bar area of the pub, the whole building gave way and onlookers were astonished as Lou’s pub collapsed in front of them. At that very moment, another face joined the crowd – Paul Robinson…

Elsewhere, Charlie’s health was getting worse, and Steph rushed home at the beginning of Karl and Izzy’s wedding to look after him. As Lyn went to collect Charlie’s son Michael from the airport and Doreen went to post a letter from Charlie to Valda, Steph sat with him. He told her that he was ready to move on now and that Valda would understand. Steph wept on his shoulder as he finally passed away. As she stood up to arranged the pillows behind his head, Lyn and Michael walked in to see her leaning over him with a pillow and Michael, upon hearing that Charlie had died, immediately accused Steph of killing him. Karl arrived soon after, but admitted that the body would need to go for a post mortem, as he couldn’t comfortably sign the death certificate. A police investigation then began, with a furious Michael accusing Steph of murder in front of Detective Skinner. Even Lyn began to have her doubts, as she suffered constant flashbacks to what she’d seen as she walked in the door…

Back at Lassiter’s, a rescue mission continued overnight, with no sign of Sindi or Stuart. Toadie waited anxiously for news and things didn’t look good when a body was found and there was still no further news by the next morning. Meanwhile, Paul revealed his return to Lou and Harold, who were busy surveying the damage in the Coffee Shop. They were astounded to see him, and further shocks came when he offered to fund a temporary pub and Coffee Shop for the area. Back outside, the rescue was winding down, as the structure became increasingly unsafe. Toadie was beside himself, until his phone suddenly rang – with Sindi on the other end of the line. She revealed that she and Stuart were trapped in the cellar, just managing to relay the information as her phone went dead. And it looked like the phone wasn’t the only thing, as Sindi’s desperate calling to Stu got no response…

Words can’t really describe the amazing week of drama witnessed in Ramsay Street. The action never let up, as Karl and Izzy’s wedding-that-wasn’t led into the huge fire that destroyed the area of Lassiter’s that’s been a major part of the show since 1986. The acting, scripting and stunts were spot on and the effort that had gone into the entire production shone through. And as if all of that wasn’t enough – Paul Robinson was back, straight into one of the biggest storylines Neighbours has seen…

Notes: Full summaries of Monday to Thursday's episodes (Christmas 2004, Jack's Departure, Karl and Izzy's Wedding, The 2004 Season Finale) can be read, here. Friday's episode (The 2005 Season Premiere) can be read here.