James Martin

Pretty sure he may have been written out to do panto in the UK. Ray was regularly in panto over here in the early 90s, I saw him in 1994/95 at the Birmingham Hippodrome... The casts were star-studded back then, this particular one featured one of the Gladiators, Malandra Burrows (Kathy Tate/Glover/Brookman, Emmerdale) and I think Brian Conley.

You can always catch up on Demand Five when you get back. :-) Hopefully the Christmas break won't be an eternity again. It only needs 2 weeks maximum with a month off in August.

That would explain the forced early hiatus. Surprised about the lunchtime thing, all signs seem to suggest that Home And Away is dying.

I'm out. That just says to me it's clearly all about the Braxtons now and sod everyone else. Channel 5, Lucy and Louise are killing a show I that a decade ago I loved, it's like watching an animal be gradually starved of food and water and we have to watch what happens to it unable to save it. Louise bulls about Light and Shade, but in reality there's the Braxtons and the odd lightweight storyline about someone else. Alan Bateman must be turning in his grave.

I've been heavily concerned at the show's performance against Neighbours for some time. Like you say, there's a ready-made audience going into 6pm, but they're switching off during that junction. One option would be to have an accelerated flow at 6pm and take a simlar approach to the Aussies: have generic credits for Neighbours running on a strap underneath the promo for the next episode. Quick 5s ident and straight into Home & Away. Even if that meant parking two breaks in both shows (like on 5*) I think this would help drag the Neighbours audience over to Home & Away. Channel 5 have the rights to the show until it ends, but I'm not sure if they're contractually obliged to broadcast it. I think there's a few factors at play. Some people are watching at Australian pace online. A lot of people are watching on Demand 5. A lot of people are watching First Look on 5* But it's indisputable that the show's looking seriously past its' sell-by date. Ten years ago I never missed an episode, now I barely watch it, although I'll be tuned in for the London episodes. Unfortunately, I'm of the school of thought that agrees Lucy & Louise are killing the show with constant reliance on the Braxtons and Underbelly type storylines. I said a while back that the show isn't sustainable long-term in its' current format and I feel I'm beginning to be proven right. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the show quietly shuffles off to 5* in the next 2-3 years.

Whilst it's sad - we've had Aussie soaps on twice a day for nearly 30 years - it makes sense in the brave new era of on demand. Also, there's at least one mid afternoon repeat on 5* I believe. I don't expect Neighbours to follow just yet thanks to its big student following. I have to say though, it's performing so badly compared to Neighbours that I wonder how long until it's shunted off to 5* altogether?

It's a daft move when viewership will be lower during August. To be honest, they could have gotten away with just a Christmas break this year. I hope we will get some classic episodes for the hiatus but I'm not holding my breath!

True. Dan mentioned a few of the VHS caps of various 90s sets were going to get updated soon, I just assumed that was something made possible by From Day One.

The 5* reruns coming in handy then Dan! ;)

I've always seen the show as roughly divided up thus: 1988 - 1992: The Early Years 1993 - 1996: The Golden Years 1997 - 1999: The Wilderness Years 2000 - 2004: The Sutherland Years 2005 - 2007: The OTT Years 2008: The 20th Birthday Year 2009 - Pres: The "We've Lost The Plot, Mate" Years

Yeah - but remember that we aren't waiting six weeks for the next episode. It's on tomorrow night (Monday for analogue viewers!) There's no real point in making everyone believe that Sally is dead. That said, this promo is the best one I've seen 'em do for a while. I understand why the cuts were made - by Seven I believe (it looks like exactly the same material went from the NZ edition). I don't blame Five, but that was just sloppy editing. At least when Five chopped up the bulbs storyline the only thing I noticed before coming on here was the fact that the recap music jumped. It just all undermined it a bit.

That was terrible editing! Sally and Brad just appear to be copping off with no build-up. A bit crap that they've finally moved on from Flynn/Emily after all the bloody will-they/won't-they hype. The "added" scene at the start was originally there, but got chopped. The cuts in full: 1. The first scene is chopped in half, cutting to SBH. 2. Possibly some of the Pageant 3. Build-up to Sally and Brad's kiss. 4. A verse of Silent Night (the first verse goes "All is calm, all is bright...") in which Dan and Leah go to Amanda's and Drew walks in on Belle and Lucas kissing. 5. No Evermore tribute video, although I assume this was a Seven thing. I believe however that this may be an International version done by Seven, as New Zeland also had idential edits: http://backtothebay.com/forum/index.php?sh...l=season+finale Nonetheless, there were better parts to cut, such as the first scene at Amanda's (easily could have gone) as well as the spiel about how great Ash is. The full version is on Merc's server as well as on Youtube.

Season Finale tonight! Woohoo.

Is a 2004 summary coming up soon? If not then I'd like to volunteer to do one