The character's exit saw Mike being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which commenced in late 2005 and continued on in 2006 until Mike was eventually killed-off in the story's climax; Mike, in his last moments, collapsed and then died in the arms of Ken. A couple of years later, Mike would posthumously reappear in a 2012 short special episode shown as part of Text Santa - with the character appearing as a ghost sent from Hell to give Ken's next-door neighbor, Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden), a warning to change his ways.