2000 Episode Discussion

[Pierced Musie]

Watching these episodes makes me miss the drop-in centre. The Den was okay but it just felt like a watered down version of it, with kids that just wanted to hang out, where the original drop-in was for kids who had no where else to go.

Perhaps that it what is missing from the show now.

[dan]

Ailsa's old neighbour actually made two mistakes, as well as using the wrong surname for Ailsa (though could she have known Ailsa had changed her name, and used the changed one so as to not offend Ailsa?) she also said it had been thirty years. which Ailsa agreed to, but in a previous episode Ailsa told Alf it had been twenty years since she was there, so how long ago was it really? I also found it odd that the house was still how it used to be, right down to what I presume was meant to be the murder weapon still being on the side, even though at least 20 years had passed, and that the door was open but there was no real sign there had ever been squatters or vandalism or anything. I know it might be very difficult to sell a house that once saw a murder, and perhaps there was no-one to make a sale if both parents were gone and the remaining kids (brother Tony and possibly others) were pesumably put in care, but surely in those circumstances the council would bulldoze and put in a bench and some flowerbeds or something (or is that just a British thing?).
One other minor continuity thing that I know can't be helped, but didn't Jade's hair get noticeably longer between episodes during this week?

[alreetlike]

Watching these episodes makes me miss the drop-in centre. The Den was okay but it just felt like a watered down version of it, with kids that just wanted to hang out, where the original drop-in was for kids who had no where else to go.

Perhaps that it what is missing from the show now.

I loved the drop in centre and the whole community thing at the time. The den was poor in comparison, in my opinion.

I think I might stop watching the current show and just watch these repeats instead.

[c120701]

It's odd to think that Chris Egan is 16 in these episodes as he doesn't look it at all. How old are Nick, Duncan and the twins here - 12/13? Nick looks his age (Duncan was SORASed with the recast, right?)

[beau_t]

she also said it had been thirty years. which Ailsa agreed to, but in a previous episode Ailsa told Alf it had been twenty years since she was there, so how long ago was it really? I also found it odd that the house was still how it used to be, right down to what I presume was meant to be the murder weapon still being on the side,

I noticed the "20 years" thing too and I think that must have been a mistake. We know Ailsa killed her father when she was 14, assuming she was arrested straight after that and didn't get bail. If this storyline was meant to be 20 years later it would make Ailsa 34. No offence to Judy Nunn or Nancy Hayes, but they were not 34 at the time of this storyline! Unless Ailsa HAD been back to the house, after leaving jail, but couldn't go in. And thus she had been avoiding it for 20 years since then.

Actually, the more I think about it, it DOES make sense. Ailsa's neighbour wouldn't have seen Ailsa for 30 years, but Ailsa was in jail for 10 of those years (approximately, just to keep it simple). So Ailsa wouldn't have needed to avoid the place while she was inside. It's only for the 20 years since she came out, that she has avoided going back there. This explains her saying she's been avoiding it for 20 years, when she actually hasn't been there for 30 years.

So, there's a couple of explanations for that one! Either way I don't think it was really a continuity error.

As for the knife, it wasn't still in the house. It was in Ailsa's imagination as she was re-living the murder. The knife appears and disappears between shots to show that it's not really there.

I have to say the flashback scene is very effective, I can only imagine how good it would have been if Judy Nunn had been able to do the scene. The piano music as Ailsa approaches the house sounds a lot like early years music, and I like how it becomes sinister as she steps inside.

I like the drop-in centre, but maybe that's nostalgia talking, as I wasn't overly keen on it at the time. I seem to remember it starts off well but becomes increasingly pointless as they run out of things to do with it. What happened to it in the end? Did it burn down? I have vague memories of that but I could be thinking of The Palace. Either way I don't know why they had to get rid of the set. Even if the writers did feel that they didn't want to use the drop-in centre any more, they could still have kept it in storage to bring out if and when a storyline called for it over the years, even if it wasn't in use constantly. It would have provided some much needed continuity.

As for the Sutherlands, I was always on the fence with them. I didn't love them but I didn't hate them. I do remember wondering why the writers seemed to be trying their hardest to make them SO unlikeable when they first arrived. The twins are rude to Duncan and Nick, Dani is rude to Will and Gypsy, Rhys is rude to Alf... These are all characters we know and love so why should we like these new characters turning up and being nothing but horrible to them? I think I compared them to the Fletchers when they first arrived, and how they made such an effort to fit in.

This time I'm going to watch the Sutherlands with an entirely different mindset. At the very least, I already know everything they do (good and bad) so I can't be disappointed by them. I'll just enjoy them for what they are this time, rather than hate them for what they are not. I expect I'll enjoy them a lot more this time.

[Liz]

I also liked the drop-in centre. It really marked a change in Gypsy and I love the relationship between Shelley and Gypsy. Shelley was a great character and it's said to see how she used to be so kind and caring and compare that to post-Angie Shelley who wouldn't give her dying daughter a kidney because her boyfriend didn't like scars.

[Red Ranger 1]

It's odd to think that Chris Egan is 16 in these episodes as he doesn't look it at all. How old are Nick, Duncan and the twins here - 12/13? Nick looks his age (Duncan was SORASed with the recast, right?)

I think they're 13 going on 14, I seem to remember Rhys saying Duncan and Nick are "almost 14" shortly after this and the twins had a birthday, probably their 16th, near the end of 2002.

I'm trying to remember what year Colleen's husband left her, had a feeling it was 1989 but I could be wrong.Whether it's eleven years or twelve, bit of a stretch that Colleen would have hung onto his clothes through several moves and lengthy absences from the Bay.

It's curious, Joel and Gypsy seem to have a much closer relationship than I remember them having during this period, I thought it was more fractious.Similarly I thought there was hostility between Alf and Rhys pretty much from the word go whereas they seemed to make up pretty quickly.Loved the way Will switched between laidback and caring with Dani, she's definitely starting to warm to him. Nice mention of his history with Peta too.(If only 7Two keep going to the end of the '90s and join up with this...)Shauna starting to go all militant feminist on Vinnie and Leah, which she's going to end up regretting.Leah telling Luke that Sally "likes" him seemed a bit left field:Apart from opening up to him, has she done anything to suggest that?I was thinking that Leah had left the house in a mess deliberately to see how Sally would react but I guess I was wrong.

I remember, even in 2004, being massively frustrated at the fact that everyone sweated blood to get the Drop-In Centre up and running and to keep it up and running only for Josh West to close it down with barely a word of protest from anyone.And then they burnt the building to the ground just to rub it in.

[c120701]

Oh, Sally's green shirt. Now where is that clothing thread... She wore it a lot in this period, not sure why I remember it so much.

I don't remember it being this long before the Sutherlands were added to the opening credits, but obviously it must have seemed even longer at the time.

[Liz]

Oh, Sally's green shirt. Now where is that clothing thread... She wore it a lot in this period, not sure why I remember it so much.

I don't remember it being this long before the Sutherlands were added to the opening credits, but obviously it must have seemed even longer at the time.

Yes, I thought the same. I've been assuming they will be added when Edward and Peta leave...?

[dan]

Red Ranger said "I was thinking that Leah had left the house in a mess deliberately to see how Sally would react but I guess I was wrong."

I was thinking the exact same thing, maybe it comes back into play in another episode or two, it seemed too unlike Leah to be something she just happened to do coincidentally during Sally's OCD illness.