Homeandawayfan.

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.

Chloe could have just been "Rob Storey"ed rather than get a proper exit when she decided to leave the bay in 1999 after splitting with James. "Rob Storey"ed being where she could have just vanished from the narrative but said to still be living in the bay. I liked Rob and feel he did leave too soon, I think the actor Matthew Lilley got married or something and decided not to return, although I am not 100% sure. H&A mania seemed to grip the UK 1992-1997 and the actor still received fan mail some years after he left.

Yes for a show that is knocking on for 40 years old, over time the voting will change. If this poll was taken in 1994 everyone would probably vote for Don, Alf, Shane, Angel etc. 2024 it is more recent characters like Palmer, Brax, Tane, Justin etc. Sally did not become a major character until about 1994/1995 when she was older and able to handle more storylines, rather than pining for Milco all the time. Based on her secret twin brother.

Scary to think 1997/1998 is heading on for 30 years ago. 1997 was still part of the Golden era for H&A with the introduction of Vinnie and other great stories, it was the first full year without the Royal Couple - Shane and Angel. Much of 1998 was not so great, or 1999 until the revamp in 2000 which was a huge shot in the arm I think, the arrival of the Sutherland's. Even if we did see the exit of the Diner and Alf's house. I feel Ailsa had run her course by then so was not worried to see her go actually.

Quite random here, but read on, it involves a 1990s character. I guess due to the show being 37 years old next month, all of the 1990s can be The Early Years. I remember the storyline with Doctor Kelly Watson in the late 1990s when she thought she had HIV but was given the all clear. And during stress once she almost threw her pager at the wall as it kept bleeping. I get that today in 2024 when my mobile bleeps. I get my "Kelly Watson" rage where I almost throw it against the wall, or feel like doing it.

London is the nearest venue for me. Shall I go? Umming and arring. I did meet Nicola Quilter aka Donna Bishop from H&A in Camden once, hence my profile pic, I knew she had a fashion stall in Camden so went and visited her. I previously found she had given up acting to work in fashion mainly.

Frank Morgan probably liked playing Springsteen's music and dancing to it in his room, and if Summer Bay House had a power cut he would be Dancing in the Dark. I cannot think of any famous Americans who have been in H&A. The show has had the odd American character such as that showbiz man in 1988. As we know many famous Brits and Australians have been in H&A from Michael Palin to Lleyton Hewitt.

Stevo Matheson. But not have it that he is related to Dana and Harper, as Matheson is quite a common surname anyway.

I liked seeing John Farnham in H&A in 1988 briefly where he met Sally. It would have been ace if Bruce Springsteen had done a cameo in the show, seeing as Frank Morgan was a fan of his, and he was seen reading a Bruce Springsteen magazine in the opening credits, titled "The Boss".

1988-1989, 1994-1998, 2001-2004, 2015-2016.

Bobby Simpson/Marshall. From the immature tearaway teen with a troubled past to maturing just a couple of years later and acting like she was 40 when she was only in her 20s by the time she tragically died in 1993. Tug had good character development as well.

While he only did 2 episodes, he did seem an interesting character, Merv Baldivis I am talking about. The slightly scary face and slicked back hair, he did have a slight gangster look to him even though he was far from it, and was a local coucillor.

Angry Anderson "Suddenly" played in a 1991 episode, I think it may have been Nick Parrish with someone, and they both clunked their wine glasses together in that episode.

Councillor Mervin Baldivis, his name was, the one who appeared in the pilot and Episode 11 in the shop when Tom bumped into him and said it saved him a trip to the chambers. When Tom said that word "to the chambers" in the 7TWO repeats I thought he meant Marilyn's family. I think the writers have hinted that Mervin is said to be a cousin of some sorts to Jack Baldivis, or perhaps a brother, but not Martha's dad. Also Baldivis is a rare surname so I am sure Jack Baldivis (Martha's dad) and Mervin are related.

We know Angus Stewart founded, or settled in the Bay in 1852. Alf has often mentioned him and spoken of his Scottish blood. In my "head canon" I have Alf Stewart's great grandfather Angus marrying Sarah Rippingale in 1855 in Summer Bay (Duncan Stewart Snr's parents) and her family being from Essex in England and convicts. Rippingale being an old Essex name, and apt as Summer Bay has had some ripping gales over the years. My head canon is that Duncan was born 1862, and being 50 when Gordon Stewart was born in 1912. I do genealogy hence why the genealogy of the Stewart's is interesting. I think the Standish, Bertram, Baldivis and Patterson families lived in Summer Bay for generations prior to Jan 1988. And the Storey's and Bishops. There has probably been hundreds of residents of the Bay who have never appeared in the show, or who left the bay before the show began.

I doubt it but I did enjoy some of their episodes they have shown, such as they showed a 2001 episode which I found a great era for the show.

We need a "Summer Bay Life" style book or official blog sanctioned by Channel 7, similar to the "Weatherfield Life" book written by Daran Little in 1992 charting the lives of the residents of Coronation Street before 1960. This Summer Bay Life should chart the lives of Summer Bay from 1852 to early January 1988, and even features backstories of characters who were not originally from Summer Bay, or ones who came in after the show began, for instance the names of the grandparents of Donald Fisher for example, and focusing on Alf's mother's family the Townsend's as well as the Scottish Australian Stewart's. I think Walter Bertram's mother was a Standish by birth if she used to live in the old Standish House. While H&A did have some old fashioned sets in 1988, it was still a modern show for the time, as the school was modern inside and out, and the teens were very modern and young, they liked music and movies etc. And the location was bright and exotic. I think Summer Bay was meant to be a bit daggy when H&A began, to show that it needed a shakeup, and the arrival of boisterous foster kids saw to that.

Donna Bishop perhaps. One of my fave 1990s characters. She is a former Summer Bay resident, then again I guess she has little reason to return after 29 years away. A twist could be that after she left with Travis Nash in 1995, she got pregnant with his baby just before they split, and Travis never knew when he returned to Summer Bay a few months later. Donna has a son and some very young grandchildren.

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Today Summer Bay feels more like a city suburb than a small remote town on the coast.

And the breakup of his marriage to Marilyn. I feel by 2000 Don did become a more positive character and seemed to have this "what does not kill you makes you stronger" attitude.