Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[alexx]

15 minutes ago, SunnyG12 said:

It does to me. I'm not familiar with Hamilton Budd but I'm pretty sure that Faith worked on All Saints a few years ago so she supposedly knows what she's doing.

All Saints was quite well written and had strong storylines, most of the time.

I loved All Saints too but they were stand alone weekly episodes that didn't really require a lot of on-going character development which I think it what keeps on lacking in H&A.

[Matt]

1 hour ago, cadyctslover said:

Were the current Aus-pace episodes produced during Dan's absence from the show? (BTW there are no UK spoilers below)

I thought he left around December 2015 which (due to pre-filmed and pre-planned storylines) meant that his material would continue on-screen until August 2016? However when Dan's first return was publicised in June 2015, it actually coincided with his episodes airing. Could this also be the case for his departure, i.e. December 2015 on-screen were the final episodes he was involved with?

What I'm getting at is that every episode since the 2016 Premiere seems to be completely lacking Dan's magic touch. The credits show Associate Script Producer as Hamilton Budd, and Story Consultant as Faith McKinnon. Does it feel like a creative grey patch to anyone else?

The only reason Dan's return was publicised in June 2015 is because we knew about it from a leaked script cover and were able to ask Dan on Twitter. His material will be onscreen until August, and then presumably pick up again in October. Hamilton has always been Associate Script Producer with Faith as Story Consultant. Gary has been the Script Producer, and Dan in the top job as Series Script Executive.

Presumably when he leaves, Gary stepped into the position in an acting capacity, until Dan's work resumes.

[Sunny Girl]

24 minutes ago, alexx said:

I loved All Saints too but they were stand alone weekly episodes that didn't really require a lot of on-going character development which I think it what keeps on lacking in H&A.

You make a good point there, Alexx.

[cadyctslover]

4 hours ago, Matt said:

The only reason Dan's return was publicised in June 2015 is because we knew about it from a leaked script cover and were able to ask Dan on Twitter. His material will be onscreen until August, and then presumably pick up again in October. Hamilton has always been Associate Script Producer with Faith as Story Consultant. Gary has been the Script Producer, and Dan in the top job as Series Script Executive.

Presumably when he leaves, Gary stepped into the position in an acting capacity, until Dan's work resumes.

Thanks for the confirmation Matt, I thought that was the case. But for me the 2016 episodes just lack the energy that had returned in the latter half of 2015.

Perhaps that is why Dan left again? Also wouldn't there be a 4 month gap, rather than 2 months?

[Matt]

22 minutes ago, cadyctslover said:

Thanks for the confirmation Matt, I thought that was the case. But for me the 2016 episodes just lack the energy that had returned in the latter half of 2015.

Perhaps that is why Dan left again? Also wouldn't there be a 4 month gap, rather than 2 months?

To my knowledge, there was a break over the Christmas period, so Dan quit in Jan, and production didn't resume until after Australia Day - I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works, so it's more like 3 months... My mistake

[Gerard]

16 hours ago, Blaxland 89 said:

I feel sad at saying this but I read some spoilers that I won't go into detail on. If I'd had read them 20 even 15 years ago I'd be so shocked and interested in. But it's so sad that now I just have the feeling of the same old thing and everyone will be over it it 5 minutes and it won't make any difference to the show. I realise this is just a personal thing but I hate that something so dramatic can happen in the show I love and it doesn't even effect me. Makes me feel even more strongly that the current show needs to stop with the over the top drama and focus on getting the audience to care about and love the characters for who they are and let the dramas follow that.

That's the main problem with H&A these days. Lives are put on the line nearly every week, which becomes a bit tired and repetative, and the people who are in mortal peril are characters we don't really care about anyway, because the series is more focused on dramatic events than developing characters. Then after a few days they are forgotten about and life goes on as normal. Viewers invest a lot of time in getting to know the characters and once upon a time, departing characters used to be a big deal, whether they left alive or dead. They need to write more for the characters than for the action.

[Little bean]

I agree, there's a complete overload of drama so I feel I'm getting numb to it. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Shows like Emmerdale and Neighbours are closer to Home And Away than H&A is. ED and Neighbours have drama but they are quite light hearted and watchable. H&A is closer to The Exorcist, CSI or NCIS. The Jam could play a gig in Summer Bay, and sing "A Town Called Malice". Someone is always being killed, maimed or a building being blown up.

[Red Ranger 1]

To be honest, I find this whole "Neighbours is closer to what Home and Away used to be" a useful stick to beat the show with which on paper seems to have little basis in fact: They've just had their own "big event" the long-term impact of which is debatable (everyone seems to have picked themselves up very quickly and the surrounding businesses seem to have been completely unaffected), which has now morphed into their own drawn-out murder mystery that people are struggling to care about.(Don't even get me started on Emmerdale, a show which I gave up on the moment they tried to turn their resident psychotic murderer into a heroic romantic lead while still having him plot, scheme and leave people to die, just because he's good looking.It's about as far away from what Home and Away used to be as you can get.)

I do think that this season's episodes have shown Dan Bennett's fingerprints.His previous stint was similarly marked by disasters and short-term guest villains, yet there also continues to be an attempt to subvert the clichés of the past.As I noted in Character Discussion, the Kyle storyline currently playing out in the UK might be frustrating to watch but it's also in stark contrast to how it would have played out a year or two earlier.I think there is a light-hearted side there, it's just a shame that I find so many characters hard to like so their "fun" moments tend to irritate rather than amuse.

[dee123]

15 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Shows like Emmerdale and Neighbours are closer to Home And Away than H&A is. ED and Neighbours have drama but they are quite light hearted and watchable. H&A is closer to The Exorcist, CSI or NCIS. The Jam could play a gig in Summer Bay, and sing "A Town Called Malice". Someone is always being killed, maimed or a building being blown up.

Home & Away is closer to Hollyoaks these days. As little clothes as possible and sensationalism, sensationalism, sensationalism.