Well, here we are, the last step before we reach the top 50 and in amongst the usual new entries and old characters with relatively small followings, we have a case of how the mighty have fallen. Kirsty Sutherland took great pride in showing everyone that would listen her bronze medal in 2004, nowadays she'll just have to be satisifed with the fact that she's now as well remembered as one of her boyfriends, Nick Smith.
50=. Annie Campbell - 15 pointsNEW ENTRY
Sister to Geoff Campbell, little Annie is one of the latest teens to arrive the Bay. Some like Annie for her sweet and caring nature, and others find her annoying. That aside, she has a fairly big following and I can see that continuing for many years...
50=. Michael Abrahams - 15 points
NEW ENTRY
Michael Abrahams is a difficult character to comment on. Undoubtedly, his popularity is something quite different to Jonah's, because Jonah was a brainwashed cult leader who kidnapped a girl named Rebecca, locked her and Martha up, drugged and raped Tasha, and sat idly by as his mother tried to kill Robbie for the greater good. Michael on the other hand has apparently done none of those things, so it's okay for Martha to like him. Don't get me wrong, I love a redeemed wrong-doer as much as the next person, and in this particular case, I always thought that Jonah was as much a victim of Mama Rose's self-serving evil as everyone else... but the fact remains, or should remain, that he DID do those things. And if you like him for the sweet, gentle person he has always been, then it's only fair to like him in spite of what he's done, not because it never happened. But then, I guess we are talking about two different characters. While I do like Michael, I wish that Jonah had have made the cut.
52=. Kirsty Phillips - 14 pointsDOWN 45
Kirsty Phillips is possibly even more controversial than her husband. She's the girl who fell in love with her sister's attacker (after falling for someone who might have been her brother), then lied about being pregnant so that her family would accept him. She then evolved the lie to include a miscarriage so that no one would get hip to the scam. Regardless of all this, she did marry Kane and lived with him at Irene's house until they were forced to flee a bogus armed robbery charge that would have seen Kane put behind bars, where he would miss out on raising their one and only non-imaginary child. With Kirsty being on the run from the law, one wonders whether her estranged, identical twin sister is copping any heat.
52=. Nick Smith - 14 points
DOWN 6
Nick was the youngest Smith child to be taken in by Irene. Nicknamed 'Shorty,' Nick was the one who found it hardest to get used to not being with his real parents and was still in touch with his mother when he first arrived in The Bay. He showed his loyalty to Irene though, when his mother Eve attempted to kill her. Nick dated Kirsty Sutherland when she first arrived but eventually transferred his attentions to her sister Jade who he remained with for most of his time in the bay. Nick's biggest storyline came when he got on the wrong side of Angie Russell and she framed him for rape whilst making his life a misery. Nick entered a reality TV show and was made into a national laughing stock but producers in America decided he was worth a shot and, like Chris Egan who played him, he left Summer Bay for a career in Hollywood.
54=. Ailsa Stewart - 13 points
DOWN 14
Ailsa still remains one of the longest serving characters in Home and Away. As Alf's wife and owner of first The General Store and then The Diner, she played a central role in the heart of Summer Bay. She took in numerous children over the years including Bobby, Blake, Karen, Sarah, Curtis and Mitch and was a mother figure to Alf's daughter Roo. She only had one child of her own in Duncan and he caused her more than her fair share of grief. She battled depression on several occasions, at one point seeing Bobby in the fridge door way. She was badly injured in an accident and had her life support machine turned off, only for her to recover and berate Alf for giving up on her. In the early years we had found out that Ailsa had spent time in prison for murdering her abusive father but in her last few years in Summer Bay we found out more of her past as an old cell mate came to visit. It was revealed that Ailsa was raped in Prison and gave birth to a daughter who was adopted out. The daughter turned out to be Shauna and the two built a tentative relationship. Shauna was diagnosed with a hereditary heart complaint and Ailsa was advidsed to go for tests but before she could have the tests she collapsed and died after lifting boxes that she had asked Alf to move. Her death was to many a great disappointment and just not good enough for such a strong, well loved character.
54=. Chloe Richards - 13 points
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Chloe was the only daughter of racist Max Richards and was first seen when he objected to her going out with Jack Wilson. She later moved in with Irene and became an almost sister figure to Selina. She dated Curtis and then Selina's boyfriend Jesse and then Curtis again. Her biggest story came when she was raped whilst walking home from a party. The storyline came about because actress Kristy Wright wanted a haircut but remains one of the most popular storylines in home and away history. Her attacker turned out to be her psychologist, and he terrorised her by planting traps in her home. She eventually found love with Lachlan Fraser and had his daughter Olivia, only for his interfering mother Diana to take him out of her reach. She married Lachie's brother James but left him and the Bay after realising it was still Lachie she loved.
She returned to The Bay in the run up to the episode 4000 celebrations on the run from an abusive boyfriend who followed her to the bay. She struck up a close friendship with ex boyfriend Jesse but knocked him back when he told her he still cared for her. She was the driver in the car that crashed on the way home from Alf's party, and though at first she seemed alright, she died of an aneurism. Her death was dramatic but for many of her long term fans it was a huge disappointment. Her death would only have been recent to our last MPC poll which perhaps explains why she is down so many places in this year's poll.
54=. Paris Burnett - 13 points
DOWN 8
Paris drove into Summer Bay in a little red sports car, which very conveniently broke down when he was driving home the school secretary from the school dance, and promptly set a few local hearts a flutter. He was drop dead gorgeous and was quite a change from the usual brand of serious and strict disciplinarian, old fashioned school principles. He had two stints on Home And Away in 2001 and 2002, during which time he helped save the school, had several run ins with the department, and also with the infamous Angie Russell, had all sorts of troubles with Nick Smith and enjoyed a passionate yet turbulent relationship with Irene which was cut short when he returned to the city to care for his orphaned niece and nephew and Irene declined to go with him.
57. Kim Hyde - 12 points
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Ryan: I can't say I was ever a fan of Kim. If there was a shining light amongst everything, it was that Chris' acting had improved since 2004, but it was still painfully limited. Even if there were great moments, such as some great scenes through 2005 when he discovered his parents' secrets, the rest of it went round in circles. If he wasn't involved in fathering a baby that wasn't his, he was breaking limbs in car crashes, falling out the sky (twice!) and breaking up. In my opinion, he also was one half of Home and Away's most ill-matched wedded couple, who despite entertaining us with tonnes of storylines, just weren't really for one another.
Also he was great with Robbie and Tash.
58=. Marilyn Chambers - 11 points
DOWN 24
Marilyn was first introduced as the ditsy but gorgeous girlfriend of Lance Smart. She left the Bay many times and returned but her longest stint came when she fell in love with and married Donald Fisher. She started her beauty salon in the back of Ailsa's Diner and provided most of the comedic moments in the early years of Home and Away. She finally left Donald after struggling to cope with the death of her son Byron from cancer. She was last seen in London where she attended the publishing of Donald's book, a tribute to Byron, and they had a heart to heart. During Donald's last appearance in the Bay he mentioned that Marilyn had cancer.
58=. Beth Hunter - 11 pointsDOWN 10
In her heyday, Beth had a central role in Home and Away. She was the central mum in the show and had storylines. But all of that changed in 2005. Tony Holden arrived in the Bay and he and Beth got together, but that was about it. 2006 brought a fairly decent storyline for Beth - The Hunter v Vale war. Amanda Vale married Beth's father and was determined to get all of his money. This didn't go down well with Beth. Graham died, after Robbie turned off his life support machine, and that was the end of that. From then on, everything revolved around Beth's children. There was a glimmer of hope for a good storyline in 2007 when Beth revealed that she wanted to travel and 'find herself'. She revealed to Tony that she wanted to go away for a month to visit Scott and Robbie. Before we knew it, she was packing her bags and was off. Around 60 episodes later, she was killed in a car accident. That was the end of such a great character. One that had been severely neglected in the storyline department. She reached 11th place in 2004, 48th place in 2006 and this year she's in 58th place. That pretty much says it all...