The Pilot Episode

[j.laur5]

I watched the pilot again and the thing I love most about it is that Home and Away still feels the same after 21 years, whereas Neighbours does not feel the same as when it began in 1985 to what it is now.

I really think Pippa's character was ruined by being recast as Vanessa. Vanessa's Pippa was very diffrent to Debra's Pippa. They had a different sort of warmth about them.

I think Doris Peters would have been a good character but I think they should have just used Colleen instead and made her a regular in the pilot. That way we would have had Colleen on the show for 20 years. I wish Irene and Leah were there since the pilot but I find it hard to imagine Leah fitting in the pilot seeing as she would have only been 8 years old, like Sally. Whereas Irene I don't find it hard to imagine her being in the pilot seeing as she could have been working with Ailsa in the shop or being a friendly neighbour.

If they made Irene, Colleen and Leah regulars and they were played by Lynne, Lyn and Ada we would still have four characters since the pilot.