Homeandawayfan.

I quite like the Macklin era for the show mid 1988 to late 1989, where they were huge supporting characters, and Gordon was the JR Ewing of the pack. Of course their legacy has remained as Martha McKenzie is Brett Macklin's daughter, and I think Marilyn mentioned the Macklin Group a few years back.

I never knew Ross Higgins auditioned for the role of Alf. If Ray had landed the role of Tom Fletcher over Alf Stewart then Tom Fletcher would likely be a character who is still in the show today, like Alf is.

Alf was like the Max Ramsay of Summer Bay. If Max had stayed on in Neighbours, I think he would have become more iconic but Max only lasted for just over a year. Actor Francis Bell was getting tired of the demanding role and took sick leave and never returned so max never got a proper farewell scene. The Ramsay's and Stewart's pretty much founded Erinsborough and Summer Bay, hence why Alf and Max like/liked to always point that out and amusingly use that as leverage, and claim they had fingers in pies due to that.

In no order: Don, Alf, Pippa, Bobby, Sally, Irene, Morag, Leah, Roo and Ailsa. Just 2 men on my list and 8 women.

Neighbours will probably end at Christmas 2025. Thus, H&A will surpass the overall duration of Neighbours in October 2028.

It has always been a decades old debate. Which do you prefer, H&A or Neighbours? I can remember when the 2 soaps were big in the UK in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s. Even the teachers at school used to say "Did you watch Neighbours and H&A last night" to certain pupils inbetween lessons, ones they knew watched the shows.

H&A did become the longest running Australian soap still in production when Neighbours ended in July 2022 but Neighbours regained the title of longest overall soap in September 2023 when it was revived. Seems H&A will regain the title again in early 2026. However by May 2025, H&A is probably to become the longest running continuing Australian soap, as it has never been officially off air since 17 Jan 1988, not including Xmas breaks and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, as Neighbours also took Xmas breaks. Neighbours was axed in 2022 and off air for over ayear until it was revived. Neighbours ran for 37 years and 4 months in its original stint, and H&A will surpass that in May 2025.

Shame that it is ending again but had a feeling.

Floss was kind of like the Eileen Clarke of Summer Bay, or even a nicer version of Mrs Mangel.

Frank Lloyd died many years ago but he would be about 100 now, hence why Neville was said to have died by 2000 when Floss returned. Even the original H&A younger characters would be pushing 60 now. Lance and Martin would be about 58 or 59 now as they were said to be 21 or 22 in 1988. Floss would be about 95 now, I think the character was older than the actress. Don Fisher would be about 80 now with Norman Coburn being 88 next month. I feel soaps do need to keep past characters in the past more often. EastEnders and Neighbours are always bringing back characters from decades ago.

Floss McPhee is one of my fave older characters of all time. Shame she left after only a year and a bit but did return briefly in 2000 and 2008 I think. Floss' age was never fully stated AFAIK but she and Neville had their 39th wedding anniversary in a May 1988 episode. So I would say in 1949, Floss was about at least 18, so I estimate she was born about 1930. And Nev was a few years older.

H&A was huuuuge in c1991-1997 here in the UK. Late 1992 saw up to 17 million viewers, and it was a time when the luck of Neighbours was starting to run out a bit.

H&A has had to become more high octane to survive, but sometimes has gone a bit OTT in the regard, and the shift in the show is probably not totally intentional. There are still thousands of episodes from the golden days of 1988-2008 to enjoy. I think H&A has never been big on anniversaries anyway, the 10th in Jan 1998 was barely noticed. I am not sure if it is the producers not wanting to age the show, or just not being big on anniversaries. Anyway H&A is just under 3 years from another milestone birthday.

Not sure why I should change my everyday ways just to give someone else peace of mind though.

Women like Pippa who nag can be unbearable, my ex was like that. It is torture, even though I told her to put a sock in it. Usually nagging is a sign of insecurity and co dependency.

The Tug, Damo, Sarah, Shane and Angel teen group was brilliant. I guess they would be a hard act to follow with their successors such as Tiegen, Liam, Aaron and Joey. Curtis, Jack, Shannon and Selina were the nearest we had to Tug, Damo, Shane, Angel and Sarah. Jack Wilson was kind of like the rebel, the outsider as I remember he fought with Tug and Shane numerous times. I did like Jade, Kirsty Nick and Seb in the early Noughties.

1997 was an underrated year. It did feel fresh though as it was the first full year without Shane and Angel, and 1997 was a new era for the show. To think 1997 is almost 30 years ago now so that was deffo vintage H&A, yet seems like only yesterday the eps were originally broadcast. We also saw the Toadie of H&A bought in - Vinnie Patterson, and it was later established he was a cousin of Alison Patterson who of course was long long gone by 1997. Not 100% sure if the cousin revelation was revealed in 1997 or 2000.

Same with Corrie and Crossroads, Corrie came first then Xroads 4 years later, so Corrie had the head start, like Neighbours vs H&A. While Neighbours was immensely popular 1987-c1996 in the UK, I doubt it was ever in the same league as Coronation Street itself. Corrie is as said, the Daddy of all soaps ever shown in the UK whether American and Australian imports as well as the British soaps. Dallas is the Daddy of US soaps. In Australia alone TBF you could say H&A is the Daddy.

Yes I guess even though EastEnders is a big soap, it is not in the same league as Corrie.

I wonder if it was timing on the TV schedules which was a big reason which stopped H&A becoming more of a success in the UK, as it was not fully networked across all regions. Although 1992-1994 H&A occasionally got 16 million in the UK according to viewing figures.

Yes it is a given that Neighbours always was the more loved and iconic of the 2 shows, and got more viewers even if H&A did get about 13 million on average. Neighbours got 20-21 million viewers on average, something H&A could never achieve. H&A always lived in Neighbours shadow in the UK. H&A does better than Neighbours in Australia though, but worldwide on a whole, in the countries outside the UK that it is shown I say Neighbours is still the more popular. There are likely other reasons as well. The Neighbours UK tour was a success due to the cancellation then the revival. Emmerdale is also another underdog soap like Home And Away, it has never achieved the success of Corrie and EastEnders.

I just Googled it and no news of it being cancelled yet.

Yes for someone who only appeared for about 8 months, Donna Bishop was quite a prominent character, and the domestic abuse storyline was good. Also Rob crossing swords with Andrew Warren over the abuse. Donna also had grown up in The Bay so likely knew Alison Patterson, Judith Staples, Bobby, Carley etc and went to school with them. Nicola Quilter left H&A to concentrate on a singing career I think.

Happy 37th birthday today H&A. 17 January 2025. Only 3 years until your 40th. The Early Years began with the pilot episode in Australia 37 years ago today.

The character of Alf is 80 in July 2025, if you go by his 60th birthday in July 2005. So a year younger than the actor. Alf's age has occasionally jumped around. In April 1988 he said he was 45 and in 1993 his police file said born 16 January 1943, which ties in neatly with the 1988 ref. Yet in 1995 he was said to be 47, and in July 2005 he had his 60th.