A Hollywood star with roots in the North East will be making one final appearance in the show which launched his career as it comes to an end on Friday.

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 bowing out after 37 years with a star-studded special episode.

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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 Ramsay Street to take up their roles of Charlene and Scott Robinson.

The Northern Echo: Guy Pearce, as his Neighbours character Mike Young Guy Pearce, as his Neighbours character Mike Young

He will be playing scenes alongside regular cast member ‘Plain Jane Superbrain’ (played by Annie Jones ), with whom he shared a romance with in the 1980s.

Pearce, who moved to Australia with his family at the age of eight, was born in Ely in Cambridgeshire and spent his early years in Teesside, where his school teacher mother Anne hailed from. 

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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.

The Northern Echo: Guy Pearce, who lived in Hartlepool until he was four, will be reprising his role of Mike Young for the finale of Neighbours Picture: PA/CHANNEL 5/FREMANTLE Guy Pearce, who lived in Hartlepool until he was four, will be reprising his role of Mike Young for the finale of Neighbours Picture: PA/CHANNEL 5/FREMANTLE

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.

Some of the other returning characters in recent weeks have included ‘jelly belly’ Harold Bishop, Shane Ramsay and the notorious Izzy Hoyland, who has one last attempt to wreak havoc on the Kennedy’s lives.

The show announced its cancellation in March following the loss of its main British broadcast partner, Channel 5.

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