Sally Keating

I disagree that she played it exactly the same in 2009. Lynne played Irene as much more of a sad, simpering alcoholic with a temper, wheras Jacqy's Irene was an out-and-out angry alcoholic.

I actually prefer her. I'm not saying I dislike Lynne's Irene - I don't. But I think Jacqy was better.

Roo did it to spite her father. Having unprotected, unmarried sex was the ultimate "bad girl" thing for a teenage girl to do. Alf had sent her away to boarding school because of her increasingly bad behaviour, and this was her revenge. Obviously, she didn't think it through and think about the consequences. She was too busy just being a brat. I believe that's why she didn't think about taking precautions.

I definitely agree that she was only brought back so that Alf had a family member to talk to - that's it. No interest in actually having "Roo" in the show.

Nope, totally separate. 1997-2000 was an excellent period of the show, just often overlooked and often mis-perpetuated as a "dip", perhaps because it's rarely been repeated so memories are fuzzy. It's certainly way better than 2001 onwards.

No I don't think they'd have done the story at all; they'd have come up with something else for the end of season cliffhanger. I totally agree about Beth. Her exit/death storyline was awful.

So that's why they then immediately all carried on as if everything was the same? Sorry but a 3 minute, semi-decent funeral scene with no surrounding storyline on either side, really isn't appropriate for an original, much loved, 12-year character.

It's a continuity error. Martha never lived in the house that Alf and Roo live in at the start of the series.

I remember there was an occasion when Pippa and Michael drove it away to sell it to someone but he didn't want it so it ended up back in the park again. Can't remember how it eventually did disappear. Although this contradicts something Floss and Neville say in 1989 about not being able to move the van as the attached motor is defunct. I guess it could have been repaired.

Yes that was a really accurate comment of Morag's.

Bad terms. An episode or two beforehand Celia disowned Morag permanently. (Which is why it never made sense to me that Celia follows Morag around like a lapdog when they finally reunite for episode 4000). But I guess it was 15 years later and I can't see Celia holding a grudge for that long. It's also possible their paths crossed in the intervening years.

Yes that's right, to hide her identity and stop people finding out about her past. Why she chose the name Hogan we don't know.

I just put my fingers on my keyboard and typed the letters in that order. It was easy really.

I feel like it's only ambiguous if there's other possible alternatives. But I get what you're saying. And you're right, there was no need for the show to then over-explain it.

Once they get to the hospital 2 episodes later, she tells Kelly all about the mysterious biker who helped them get to safety. Kelly asks "Who was he?" and she replies "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She doesn't outright say it was Shane, but the implication is clear. It's not like it's ambiguous who she meant, like she could have been talking about the ghost of Rory Heywood or something. She also says this right after joining the dots of events. Kelly confirms that baby Shane wouldn't have survived if Angel had had to give birth while they were trapped in the bush. Angel says "She's got to pull through. Otherwise what was the point of everything, of getting pregnant to Shane and Shane dying and... the motorcyclist?" It's like she has found meaning and peace in Shane's previously seemingly random death, he died so he could come back and ensure baby Shane's survival.

Regardless of the circumstances, Morag would not approve (even secretly) of someone like Bobby breaking into her brother's home and vandalizing her niece's property. I can't for the life of me imagine her thinking "Oh Bobby was in the right to do that" just because it transpired that Roo was using Frank (something Bobby didn't even know). Morag outright refuses to see the good things Bobby does even when they are presented to her on a plate, all through 1989. So I highly doubt she'd approve of this bad behaviour. Just my opinion.

Yeah you make a good point however I deliberately left that out, as the question was referring to their mother/daughter bond and besides, their interaction in that scene could barely be described as fleeting let alone anything more. Furthermore Morag has shown on many occasions that despite her personal feelings of someone she is civil to her clients when acting in her professional capacity as a solicitor. In this case her client was Alan to whom she held no ill-will, so in her duty to him as executor of his estate she spoke to Bobby appropriately (despite knowing that this is the girl who had trashed Roo's wedding dress) and therefore her treatment of her here was purely professional and not personal and can't really be taken into account when answering the above question (in my humble opinion).

From memory they never had one single moment of getting along. Bobby did try to make an effort with Morag on one occasion - she went to visit her to offer the hand of friendship. She found Morag unconscious on the floor, having fainted, and called an ambulance. When she regained consciousness, a disorientated Morag couldn't understand what Bobby was doing there and screamed at her to get out. Once bitten, twice shy, Bobby didn't make an effort again. At the end of Morag's tenure in 1989 she hosted a dinner party for Donald, Bobby and Danny (it was all just a ploy to get revenge on Danny), and she and Bobby made forced but polite conversation but it didn't last long as Morag's nasty side came out before the night was over, ending with Bobby yelling "God, I hate you!" at Morag. And there was one humorous scene where Bobby forced Morag to be nice because Bobby had Morag's personal files and wouldn't return them unless Morag was polite to her. But it wasn't genuine niceness.

Do you know episode numbers for any of the above?

Actually I'm not sure because BraintumorAilsa always wore the same outfit and she's wearing something different in that.

I'm sure that was BraintumorAilsa. She was taunting him because he wouldn't have the operation to remove the tumor.

PsychoAilsa!

I mentioned this in the thread about Martha's return "storyline". Did she really, knowingly, abandon Bobby with no means for Morag to get money to her? Highly farcical... even if she was depressed and not thinking straight, Alf would have mentioned this during their reunion.

No I don't remember that at all, but they did do a few kind of stand-alone eps in the late 90s. I remember one with Shannon writing on her computer about all the other characters. I think the episode ended with her deleting it all.

Yes there was a lot of on-off with Maz and Don initially. I think partially because obviously they write and film the episodes so far in advance of airing them, they weren't sure whether the pairing would be a hit with viewers or not, so they tested the waters a lot. Once it became obvious that viewers were rooting for Maz and Don to get together, the writers went for it and the on-off thing stopped.