Revealed

I think Big Alf is a legend myself. Every village has a grumpy old man who demands respect because they've lived there all their life. They also tend to be judgmental about anyone who's not from the village. That's exactly who Big Alf is.

I watched what was supposed to be the last ever episode of Neighbours having not watched it for over 20 years and bringing back the old characters was a factor in me deciding to watch it. I had no problem identifying Guy Pearce or Kylie and Jason because they've remained in the public eye since, but I had real trouble identifying many of the other characters. Jane for example looked nothing like her younger self. I could see this being a problem if Home and Away was to bring back older characters. That said I do think that a character has to be gone for a certain length of time for their comeback to mean anything.

OK I vaguely remember that Sophie, real life girlfriend of Brax I recall. There's been so many principals in a short space of time it's impossible to remember who exactly they were. It's so long since I left school (1990s) that it's hard to say how realistic a school principal is these days. You'd never have any teachers with extreme haircuts, piercings and tattoos when I was at school but as an adult I've met teachers who are all of the above. As for Maggie, she dressed as a principal so I guess convincing on that basis but personally I thought it was a waste not seeing more of her body.

I don't remember Sophie being principal, when did that happen? You're probably right about Brad, he's one of the least memorable characters. I remember Pippa mark 1 in a swimsuit the episode before Tom died. I can live without seeing Pippa mark 2 in a bikini but did come across some recent pictures of her in one. Marilyn hasn't been in a bikini since she came back in 2010. When Roo started wearing short shorts it gave me hope a bikini scene was round the corner but she seems to have stopped wearing the short shorts now and gone back to how she used to dress i.e. covering herself up too much. There was a year or 2 I wasn't watching the show in Leah's early days but from what I have seen it took quite a few years until we first saw Leah in a bikini. Not sure exactly when that was but she was walking out the sea and Rachel (who we never saw in a bikini) was waiting for her on the beach. It was a moment I'd been waiting a long time for. I remember we once saw Ailsa in a swimsuit in her later years on the show. I don't remember seeing Irene in a swimsuit on the show but she did appear in a swimsuit in the closing credits in the mid-90s. She was hot back then but is too old now.

My school heads were more like Fisher but I did know someone who was a school head by the time she was 30. The only unconvincing principals I can think of top of my head are Sally and Bianca. I don't know about Australia, but in the UK police officers retire really young so on that basis senior police officers can be young. Definitely agree about doctors though, given the number of years training they have to go through the Home & Away doctors are barely old enough to be let loose on patients let alone be in charge. I had Rhys and Shelly down as being in their 30s and starting young. Shelly did seem a bit older than Natalie though, I don't think we ever saw Shelly in a swimsuit but we saw Natalie in one pretty much straight away. These days I do find 50 something Marilyn and Roo hot and wished we'd see them in bikinis. I know we saw Marilyn in one in the early days and Roo mark 1 is a different person so doesn't count.

The first family I can think of to arrive on the show was the Nash family. I'm similar in age to Tom and Gypsy, maybe slightly older but I remember think both Natalie Nash mark 1 and 2 were too young and attractive to play the mother. I think they were in their mid-30s at the time so was old enough but started young. When they had a 20 something Amanda (well the actress anyway) turn out to be the mother of a teenage Belle that was ridiculous. Likewise seeing one of the old episodes with Drew and his mother there clearly isn't enough of an age gap there, I looked up their DOBs and there's 8 years difference. I get it though, you're more likely to attract views with an actress who looks good in a bikini than one who plays a convincing mother. Though I do question why we never saw Maggie in a bikini or at least wear more revealing clothing.

I sort of get the lack of high school kids. Since the early days the majority of the cast has been under 40. To keep it this way when they introduce teenager characters with their parents, the parents would have had them very young. Additionally the actors who play the teenagers are older and the ones who play the parents are presumably younger. A recent example was Mia and Chloe, completely unconvincing as a mother and daughter. With 20 something characters you no longer need the parents so can keep the cast young. Given some of the teenage characters we've have previously such as VJ I think some of the younger cast could have just as easily played teenagers. I don't know whether it's just because I'm old but most under 30s look like teenagers to me these days. What I will say though is the band idea is a rubbish one least of all because their music is so terrible. They remind me a bit of the Zack Attack on Saved by the Bell.

I don't think I've watched Home & Away at 6pm on Channel 5 since 5 Star or whatever it was called back then was launched. These days I don't finish work until 6pm. I do however think they're shooting themselves in the foot by not showing it at Australian pace. I've not watched it on 5 Star for maybe 10 years now because there's ways to watch it at Australian pace on the internet and I'm sure plenty of others do the same. I would much rather watch it on TV than on the internet and if 5 Star showed it at Australian pace then I'd watch it on 5 Star. If they're never going to do that them I'm just going to continue watching it on the internet.