Neighbours spoilers — don't read until you have watched the episode airing Thursday, February 1.
Neighbours has aired one of its most heartbreaking episodes to date as the aftermath of David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) and Eden Shaw's (Costa D’Angelo) tumble over a cliff edge is revealed.
Yesterday's episode (Wednesday, January 31) saw Eden, freshly out of jail, track his ex, Krista Sinclair (Majella Davis) down while she was on a minibreak with her new boyfriend, Leo Tanaka (Tim Kano) and their friends.
But when things got rough between Leo and Eden, and Eden went to attack Leo with a rock, David raced to his brother's rescue and launched himself at the criminal, saving Leo but sending himself and Eden falling over a cliff edge.
Sadly, today's episode sees David lose his life after sacrificing himself to save Eden. The devastating twist comes as Leo and Aaron (Matt Wilson) race down the cliff to find David and Eden in a bad way at the bottom, however, David, who is desperate not to have history repeat itself, persuades his reluctant brother and husband that Eden's need for medical help is greater than his own.
Long-time fans of the show will know that David has been haunted by past events that saw him lose his job as a doctor after he let Gareth Bateman (Jack Pearson), the dangerous ex of Freya Wozniak (Phoebe Roberts), die after he'd attacked Aaron and left him for dead.
It was only when Leo and Aaron returned to rescue David after taking Eden to safety that they realised his injuries were far worse than he'd let on and he'd sadly passed away, leaving them devastated.
Still in complete shock, Aaron and Leo then carried David's lifeless body back to the holiday house, before driving him to the hospital. But as news spread that David's heroic act had led to his death, his dad, Paul, was in bed with Veronica with his phone switched off.
With no one able to contact him, it was up to his ex-wife, Terese, to find Paul at the hotel and break the tragic news that his son had died.
As David's friends and family gathered at the hospital, still all struggling to comprehend what had happened, Paul, Leo and Aaron went in to sit with David before his body was taken away.
But if the day's events hadn't been devastating enough, the end of the episode saw Aaron get David's belongings back, only to switch on his phone and find a voice note that his husband had left him moments before his death.
In the note, David tells Aaron why he sacrificed his life the way he did, how much he loves his family, and how happy their marriage has made him. But as the reality of what has happened hits Ramsay Street, actor Takaya, who has played David since 2016, told TV Tonight that he had been planning his departure from Neighbours for a while and his return after the show's reboot was the perfect way to give the character closure...
“They said to me, ‘We know you don’t want to come back long term, but would you be interested in coming back just to help finish off the character of David?' I was very keen for that because whilst I loved the ending of that first chapter of the show I’d always wanted and felt like David had deserved his own ending. I guess, it gives me a bit of closure too on the character so I was very keen to come back.
“Once I heard what the storyline was, I thought they’d done an amazing job of finishing off what is David’s arc as a character, from when he started to where he ends. From being the conservative, somewhat withdrawn, closeted man who lacked self-confidence, to then dying a hero for his brother and atoning himself for what happened with Gareth.
“I thought it was so well tied in with what David’s been through, but who he is as a person that it felt like a true ending for the character.”
New episodes of Neighbours are released daily from Monday to Thursday, at 7am BST on Amazon Freevee.
