Guy Pearce

Gracious, generous and energetically invested in his role, the Hollywood actor stole the last episodes – and invited us to reflect on the passage of time.

At the risk of overstating it, because this is afternoon soap opera and not a Guillermo del Toro flick, he invited the audience to reflect on their own passage of time. He wasn’t a pixelated face on a TV screen. The promised cameos turned out to each be a handful of seconds in a video montage – which, in fairness, is what we expected, and we still went “LANCE!!!” when he came on screen. Perhaps it’s obvious that an Emmy-award winning actor would put in a strong performance, but it seemed there was more to it than that. It was gracious and generous. In this sea of characters we once knew, one made a particular splash.

Many viewers flocked to social media to thank the 54-year-old actor for returning for a proper, satisfying storyline, instead of just making a brief cameo.

The nostalgia has my heart bursting and my love for is stronger than ever #NeighboursFinale #Neighbours,' one person wrote (Pictured in the late '80s) The nostalgia has my heart bursting and my love for is stronger than ever #NeighboursFinale #Neighbours,' a third agreed. Mike Pearce and Annie Jones were the stars of the show. Another said: 'Great #Neighbours Finale. Overjoyed that Mike and Jane are back together. Mike Pearce and Annie Jones were the stars of the show.

Guy Pearce, who lived in Hartlepool until he was four, will be reprising his role of Mike Young for the finale of Neighbours. The popular Australian soap is ...

Some of the show’s most popular characters from through the ages have been reprising their roles in the lead up to the grand finale, which will air in the UK on Friday night. He has gone on to play roles in films including LA Confidential, Memento, The Time Machine and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Pearce will be joining some of the soap’s other big names – including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, who will be returning to the fictional Ramsey Street to take up their roles of Charlene and Scott Robinson.

Guy Pearce makes his big Neighbours return as Mike Young for the finale of the Australian soap. What will Jane Harris say about this?

Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight. Getting a job in the coffee shop, Mike became a staple of the soap but was struggling in private as he and his mother Barbara (Rona McLeod, Diana Greentree) were victims of domestic abuse and the hands of his father, David (Stewart Faichney). "It’s where it all started for me professionally.

Before Neighbours, the Neighbours Finale, Memento and LA Confidential... there was Hartlepool. | ITV News Tyne Tees.

It was then written that he had left Erinsborough to be with his sick mother. Global pop star Minogue and singer Donovan are seen in character standing in front of a car, resting on its bonnet, with his arm around her before the words ‘Will they get their happy ever after?’ appear on screen. Pearce was born in Ely in Cambridgeshire, the son of an RAF test pilot Stuart Pearce and teacher Anne Cooking.