Quick Questions

[adam436]

From what I remember of 1996/1997, he came to stay at Summer Bay House when Pippa was in a coma and developed a relationship with Donald's mother Isobel.

I've not seen the episodes since they aired and I was about 8 years old, so my memory is a little hazy, but surely he wouldn't have come to stay and help out at Summer Bay House without Pippa around if he was still suffering from the memory loss? 

[nenehcherry2]

1 hour ago, adam436 said:

From what I remember of 1996/1997, he came to stay at Summer Bay House when Pippa was in a coma and developed a relationship with Donald's mother Isobel.

I've not seen the episodes since they aired and I was about 8 years old, so my memory is a little hazy, but surely he wouldn't have come to stay and help out at Summer Bay House without Pippa around if he was still suffering from the memory loss? 

Bert King. World's first and only ever known case of curable dementia.

Edited January 26 by nenehcherry2

[cymbaline]

22 minutes ago, nenehcherry2 said:

Bert King. World's first and only ever known case of curable dementia.

Looks like somebody on the show was suffering from memory loss and it wasn't Bert...

[CaptainHulk]

On 26/01/2024 at 00:58, cymbaline said:

Looks like somebody on the show was suffering from memory loss and it wasn't Bert...

Ze Writing Team lol.

At least with Nana Moon on Enders, they explained it away with Water on the Brain!

 

[cymbaline]

Maybe they thought the viewers wouldn't notice amidst all the turmoil of the time. I've just taken a quick look at some episode synopses and there was an awful lot going on in 1996. An old codger's miraculous recovery from dementia was always going to come second to deaths, departures and the general amped-up nature of life in Summer Bay at that time. 

[Red Ranger 1]

To be fair, I don't think there was ever any formal diagnosis of dementia and it's possible being in a less stressful environment helped. And he did have Sally and Shannon there, so he wasn't running the house completely single-handed. But yeah, he did seem to get more clear-headed with every appearance!

[nenehcherry2]

I think you're right there. I know some of the soap mags at the time (the bastions of scriptural "canon" that they were. NOT!) were writing about "Pippa's senile Dad comes to stay after a dementia diagnosis!" but I re-watched some 95 recently and don't actually recall a direct mention of it. But I could have easily missed it.

[cymbaline]

I don't remember any diagnosis being mentioned either. I think it's one of those storylines that resonates differently with people, depending on their stage in life. I daresay most teenagers won't bat an eyelid. If you're a bit older and have personal experience of a parent or another close relative with dementia, it puts a different complexion on it. To be fair, they dealt with the issue in a light and breezy way - it wasn't like the Ashley Thomas storyline in Emmerdale. They just had Bert becoming a bit doddery and being sent off to live in a retirement village which happened to be home to some of his old buddies. Glad to hear it made him better - they should find out what's in the water there. 

[adam436]

I can't remember how long Pippa was in hospital for (as a 8 year old, it felt like ages), but they obviously needed someone to "fill in" at Summer Bay House, and I doubt there would have been many other alternatives that wouldn't have felt too jarring/obvious. Bert returning as he did would certainly have been preferable than a fully-able-bodied Danny returning in the same capacity. 

[nenehcherry2]

14 hours ago, adam436 said:

I can't remember how long Pippa was in hospital for (as a 8 year old, it felt like ages), but they obviously needed someone to "fill in" at Summer Bay House, and I doubt there would have been many other alternatives that wouldn't have felt too jarring/obvious. Bert returning as he did would certainly have been preferable than a fully-able-bodied Danny returning in the same capacity. 

At one time, Ailsa would have helped out here and there. But the character had become so grumpy towards and detached from teenagers by that time that it wouldn't have felt right. Besides, she was always complaining by then about how busy she was with "the diner, Alf, Duncan, Curtis" (Yadda Yadda).

And it felt so out of character that Don didn't step in where there was a risk of Sam being fostered elsewhere. Especially as he was by that time married to Maz & talking babies. The writers pretty much forgot about Sam and Don's connection for a few years, didn't they?

 

Edited January 31 by nenehcherry2