adam436

I've been re-watching some of the classic H&A episodes on 7Plus lately, which got me thinking: Joel Nash is a character that could have kept chugging in the "dependable cop" role for years (for those who have seen A Country Practice, think Frank Gilroy!). He also grew up in Summer Bay, which means Alf could have shared his role as the Alf to be an authority on local history, and as head of Summer Bay House and with his role as the local police officer, he was the perfect candidate to take in waifs and strays. He also seemed to have great interactions and rapport with many of the other locals, such as Alf and Irene. David Woodley played the part of Joel, a father and a police officer, with honesty and realism. I vaguely remember Gypsy getting herself in trouble with the law and Joel's loyalties being divided, whereas nowadays there isn't even the dilemma (the cop naturally covers for their loved ones!). His scenes as a father were very understated yet believable, even with all the trouble Gypsy and Tom gave him, whereas his successor at Summer Bay House, was often very over-the-top and over-dramatic when he would lose his cool. Joel would have, of course, had to leave Summer Bay before the local police became incompetent and corrupt, but that didn't really happen until the late 2000s/early 2010s His final six months were a bit bizarre though, and I assume that was because the writers got lazy because the decision was already made to write Joel out to make way for Sutherlands: his wife became pregnant to another man and then he had a romance with Judith. The affair/pregnancy didn't really seem necessary as Natalie could have simply let for a new job or something, then Joel join her a few months later. Even with the affair story to write Natalie out, the pregnancy was a bit much. I get the whole story was done for "added drama", but it felt so out of character. And then his romance with Judith was pretty much a "fill in" to give both characters something to do until their contracts ran out, as they were both a loose end following the exits of their families and had barely even shared a scene prior to the pairing. I also remember he and Gypsy moved with Vinnie (I think Joel or Travis actually owned Vinnie's house though?) and of course, his very rushed reunion with Natalie following the landslide. Does anyone remember... were Joel's injuries from the landslide permanent? I know he left with Natalie so she could take of him during his recovery, but that's all I really remember.

I was never a fan of Grant - I didn't like the way he undermined Don's authority all the time and he seemed quite arrogant at times. He also seemed like a pointless character - his relationship with Jane Holland (Josephine Mitchell) went nowhere and he seemed quite two-dimensional, which might tie in with the the bit about allowing him to focus on his musical career. I don't think it helped that we lost great characters like Lance, Martin and Andrew Foley to accommodate dull characters like Grant and Ben. Craig McLachlan was poached from Neighbours, wasn't he? Do we think he would have spent that extra year on Neighbours instead of H&A if that hadn't have happened? Nick Parrish? Does he count as a "hunk"? The next big iconic one was probably Shane

And not really needed too, given he was only around for a few weeks. If Don was returning full-time, then yes, they'd need to break up Don and June, but it just seemed a bit weird they brought him back just to tell fans that he still never really got his happily-ever-after ending.

I agree. We have very few strong platonic male/female friendships in the show and I think they could work well together.

If James Stewart is in it for the long haul, the long term plan is probably to build a family around Leah and Justin. They could introduce Ava as a regular and give them a stray or two. They tried building a family around Leah with Zac, Matt, Hunter, a recast VJ, Oscar and Evie, but it fell apart pretty quickly. It would give her more of a purpose, whereas she's pretty much been a spare part since mid 2017 onwards.

It's not hard to see why Floss and Neville were axed. They were basically underused from the start and it would have made so much more sense to have them as recurring characters, like Bob Barnett or Alison Patterson, who only popped up when the storyline required. They had one big storyline (with their son and grandson), but the rest of the time they were just used for filler scenes. It got really obvious towards the end of their stint that the writers had run out of ideas for them. I liked them both initially, but they got annoying towards the end of their stint, probably because many of their scenes/appearances felt forced. It made sense to ditch them in favour of characters like Mariyln and Morag, who brought a new lease of life into the show. Floss and Neville had a grandparent-like relationship with the Fletcher kids, which worked well, but even that was replaceable with Alf and Ailsa's uncle/aunt type relationship. I also found both Floss and Neville a bit too camp and OTT for my liking. Floss' guest stints in the 2000s were good though, as she'd been toned down by then

I agree - I too, loved her on All Saints, and feel her talents are wasted given what Roo has done since her return. I honestly thought Georgie would have got bored and left after a few years. The show hired a number of high profile and experienced actors around that time (Georgie, Sonia Todd, Robert Mammone, Jay Laga'aia, Marcus Graham) and they were all underused and left after a few years. I guess, as you say, she has the best of both worlds. She has a reliable income, but also the freedom to basically tread the boards whenever she wants. Me too. I like Georgie, but she's always felt like an odd choice for a Roo recast.

Most of the late 90s was like that wasn't it? We had the big stuff like Ailsa's accident and Robert Perez stalking the Nashes (there were so many more, but that's just a few!) and not much else in between.

Does anyone know why Greg Benson was added to the credits in 1988 and then left a few weeks later? Just seems a little odd to me, especially when you consider he wasn't as prominent as the other additions to the credits (Donald, Celia, Roo, Lance, Martin) In fact, I think in his 1988 credits appearance, he was off-screen for longer than he was on

When did Alf and Roo move into their house in beginning of the series? I was under the impression Alf and Roo moved out of the caravan park after Martha "died", but I just watched the episodes in which Alf and Ailsa got married and Roo was saying Ailsa would be living in the same house he shared with Martha. Alf still owned the caravan park in the pilot, so I guess he could have still owned it but it remained unoccupied for a few years, but I always assumed he and Roo had not long moved out? Is that just a continuity error in Alf and Ailsa's wedding episodes? Quite poor form for something like that so early in the series in the series

What happened to Floss and Neville's caravan? It can still be seen in the background long after they've gone, but was there ever an onscreen explanation when it did eventually disappear?

Donald Fisher is one of my favourite characters as he is incredibly complex and often struggled to show emotion. Norman played the part beautifully and made the character his own over the years. He did very little in his last 2-3 years though, that sadly his departure didn't really the huge hole in the show that it should have Was Donald always intended to remain a villain? It was only after a while, presumably when the series was extended beyond its initial run, that he started to become more three-dimensional. Or did he just start off "nasty" so he'd be a prime suspect for the Nutter storyline? He's also the most tragic character, as 3 of his 4 children passed away: Alan in 1988, Bobby in 1993 and baby Byron in 1999. Ironically, Belinda Emmett, the actress most-remembered for playing his surviving child, passed away in real life. I'm not surprised. I gave up watching regularly for a long time after episode 4000 (Chloe's pointless death was the final straw for me!), but I tuned in specifically to see his 2007 return, since he was one of my favourite characters. The way his character was treated in that stint was just awful.

What did everyone think of this character? A relatively short-lived early years character, who in my opinion, was the first regular female teen character to lack personality or uniqueness. During her "down time" she was just another run-of-the-mill teen, but when given her own storylines, she came across as selfish and ungrateful towards Don. For example, when Donald was charged with murder, she seemed more worried about what was going to happen to her, when the department found her foster family, she lashed out and crashed Alf's car, and then when Emma first arrived, she rebelled against Don. I was also not a fan of her and Steven. I think he had more chemistry with Emma and think they would have been a better match. A few other random anomalies with this character. She was given her own solo shot in the opening credits directly after Tom and Pippa and before she actually appeared onscreen, before being moved into a shot with Carly. Also, there were a few times early on where Don refers to her as "Vivian", despite her true identity being known at that point - presumably just continuity errors though.

Where did Ailsa Hogan come from? Her maiden name was O'Rourke and I can't find anything online anywhere to suggest she was married before Alf.

Which would mirror when Frank Lloyd passed away in real life I'd agree with that too - two of the shows mainstays departed (Sam and Ailsa), we lost two of the longest-standing sets (the Stewart house and the original diner) and Pippa sold Summer Bay House to a brand new family (it always felt less jarring for example, when it was transitioned from Travis and Rebecca and Joel and Natalie). There was also the alarming turnover in late 1999/2000, which made it feel like it was no longer the same show.

I don't think there would have been room for Floss, Colleen, Irene and Morag (she was a sporadic guest at that point).

Yes, obviously not as silly as Colleen, but I mean in terms of working in the diner for over a decade and also in terms of the few big storylines Colleen did: finding her daughter, the cancer, being conned by Norman etc. There is probably others from the period I wasn't watching too (post 2005). I also think Floss/Max and Floss/Leah would have been good combos, and she would have a stronger relationship with Sally than what Colleen did. They could have even introduced her grandson (Ben?) as a regular at some point too, whereas Colleen never had any regular family members.

I'm not sure how she would have worked as a single character during that era - I do wish she'd been a regular for the 2000s instead of Colleen though. I don't think there was anything Colleen did that Floss couldn't have done, other than Lance's returns of course.

I think that sums it up - I think they were supposed to be the unofficial "second parents" (or perhaps "grandparents") to the Fletcher children, but by 1989, I feel like Ailsa and Alf had filled that role. I also felt like they were somewhat caricature-ish at times, which wasn't helped by them living in a caravan. They were also the only regulars with no connections to other characters at that point (except for semi-regulars Stacey and Andrew), and the writers really had no idea what to do with them - they only had one major storyline in their time on the show, the reunion with the grandson, and otherwise they did nothing. I don't think living in a caravan helped their cause either. I've read rumours Frank Lloyd or Sheila Kennelly (or both?) read about their axings in a magazine before they were told about it, but I don't know how much truth there is in that. The show definietely wanted to move in a younger direction, with the comedy relief provided by Neville and Floss was essentially filled with Marilyn.

They don't announce cast exits these days though, but they may make a special exception for Ray Meagher though?

I was just thinking the same thing! There isn't much (other than Lance's appearances) that Colleen did storyline-wise that Floss couldn't have done! I guess they could have reappeared sporadically like Morag has in recent years and return for funerals, weddings etc.

I agree - 2000 is definitely the end of "early years" Home and Away: Two long-serving characters departed the show: Ailsa, an original character, and Sam, who had been around for 9 of the 12 years. A number of "classic" characters also departed in late 1999 and 2000 such as Mariyln, Rebecca, Travis and Chloe. The loss of two long-standing sets: the original Diner and the Stewart house. The arrival of the Sutherlands. While 2000 was sort of their "ease them in" period, 2001-2004 was basically "the Sutherland show", so at times, it felt like an entirely different show, especially when coupled with the other points I made. A number of other characters departed in 2000/early 2001 (the Nashes, Peta, Edward, Judith, Ken, Harry, Mitch) but I don't count their exits as "the end of the era" like I do with those mentioned above as they aren't iconic to most fans, nor were they long-serving. It will be interesting to see when/if the 7two repeats ever lose the "Early Years" tag, but for me, it would come in the final episode of 2000.

My mother felt that exact same way about Beth Hunter

I never liked Pippa #2. I just found her rather dull and insipid, whereas Vanessa made Pippa more lively and fun. I don't know what the age difference between Debra and Vanessa is (if any!), but Debra made it seem like Pippa had aged about 20 years with her new personality. It's nothing against Debra, as I really liked her in Blue Heelers, but it felt like a whole new character. Michael was just as dull, and I really can't imagine him and Pippa#1 as a convincing couple. I think it would have been good, instead of recasting Pippa, for her to ask Alf and Ailsa to take over the caravan park in the same way that Pippa#2 asked Travis and Rebecca to do it. At that point, Sally could have stayed on with Carly and Ben or Bobby, if they felt that Pippa wouldn't have left Sally with them.

Do you think that is why Norman Corbun has never returned since? Because of what they did to Don in 2007? He could always visit Alf and Roo, and bump into his ex-wife Marilyn. The position of Summer High Principal is now a joke. It is hard to believe that Donald Fisher held the same position as Bianca and Sophie.