Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[cadyctslover]

Actually Dan was Script Producer - Lucy Addario is the Series Producer. Dan didn't come on board as Script Producer until 2005 (at that time Julie McGauran was Series Producer) and it was Bevan Lee that was responsible for Sarah Lewis in 2004.

The new role that Dan appears to have taken over from Louise is 'Series Script Producer'.

When Louise first came on board she was credited as 'Supervising Script Producer', which I do know was a title created to show her being further up the hierarchy than the Script Producer of the time, and that in that role she would control all the writing and story generation. The name of that role has evidently changed to Series Script Producer, but with further Script Producers and then Associate Script Producers all being credited alongside each other in recent years, it's difficult to know who does what nowadays.

Precisely. What is not clear is whether Louise has now left the show, or has returned to being an episode writer.

[c120701]

Dan was responsible for Sally's increased role though wasn't he? That was a good thing and he did have some good stories, but I seem to remember his downfall was that every storyline had a sequel and that wasn't always necessary.

As I recall he also knew a lot of the show's history.

[Spinach]

I think the beginning of Dan Bennett's era was pretty good. The stalker storyline was really exciting at the time because it was fresh and new - and I think characterization was still pretty good during that storyline. However, after the episodes surrounding the 4000th episode (which were amazing; I can even forgive killing off Chloe because we got Irene versus Diana round 2) things started to get a bit too over the top. I guess the success of the stalker storyline encouraged him to do more stories along those lines - which have become increasingly less interesting since.

Overall, I think 2005 was still a pretty good year for the show (although the paternity storyline did drag on a bit); it was 2006 when things got really bad in my opinion. So, assuming Dan Bennett can give us more 2005-esque years (though perhaps dial back the stalker storylines) I'll be quite happy.

[greg098]

It will be interesting to see what direction the show goes forward now

the Braxton's are leaving.

I stopped caring about the show in 2010 because the storylines were getting really silly. I remember when Sally left, that episode was fantastic, but what ruined it was the murder mystery storyline following straight after which they promoted like crazy. 'Who's body washes up?'. I think that was a very poor and clearly just a catch to keep viewers still watching. That whole storyline was not even interesting. It was Jack's wife that died and she killed herself and tried to blame Jack for it. A very silly storyline.

I think the current show has some very strong older actors, but they are massively underused. They could do so much with Irene but her character is rarely used. A few years back, she was chucked a storyline where she had breast cancer. That storyline seemed very forced and to this date, nothing is ever mentioned about it.

It's been 15 years since Alisa died in the show. It's a pity Alf has not found love since. He has had some girlfriends but nothing serious. I think it could be hilarious to have Alf start dating in the 21st century and eventually find love again. I think the last time Alisa was mentioned was by Celia for Alf's birthday which was for the 4000th episode.

I think they recast VJ to give Leah more storylines, but the recasting was horrible. The actor looks so old. The viewers aren't stupid. Her relationship with Zac seems forced and badly written.

I would love to see Martha come back to the bay after spending time in jail after being caught on the run. She has so many ties to the bay now her Mum Roo lives there that it seems stupid not to use that.

I would love to see Morag come back.

[Spinach]

^Ailsa was mentioned last year when Alf was 'hallucinating' (?) after eating Chris' risotto. And I think she may have been mentioned in 2013 (or at least referenced when Alf was comforting John after Gina died).

To be fair, they have been better at referencing past characters in the last year or so e.g. Alf's mention of Ailsa above; Irene mentioning she was going to visit Fin in the city; John and Marilyn mentioning Fisher etc.

[alexx]

^Ailsa was mentioned last year when Alf was 'hallucinating' (?) after eating Chris' risotto. And I think she may have been mentioned in 2013 (or at least referenced when Alf was comforting John after Gina died).

To be fair, they have been better at referencing past characters in the last year or so e.g. Alf's mention of Ailsa above; Irene mentioning she was going to visit Fin in the city; John and Marilyn mentioning Fisher etc.

In what context did John and Marilyn mention fisher?

[Dan F]

^Ailsa was mentioned last year when Alf was 'hallucinating' (?) after eating Chris' risotto. And I think she may have been mentioned in 2013 (or at least referenced when Alf was comforting John after Gina died).

To be fair, they have been better at referencing past characters in the last year or so e.g. Alf's mention of Ailsa above; Irene mentioning she was going to visit Fin in the city; John and Marilyn mentioning Fisher etc.

In what context did John and Marilyn mention fisher?

It's when they were talking about John having taken off his wedding ring (Gina's), he said "I know how I'd feel if you still had Don Fisher's wedding ring on that finger".

[Homeandawayfan.]

Recently Alf's first wife was mentioned, Roo's mum. Also in shots of Summer Bay High, I have seen a signpost to "The Donald Fisher Hall", nice touch to a legend.

I do finally see some hope for H&A now, it will have a long way to go and will never be perfect but as said, regarding Brax (may be spoilerish to some who dont yet know), and the exterior of Summer Bay House is returning and Dan Bennett looking to have taken over from Louise Bowes. If Louise has left the show then I wont miss her. Underbelly would be her sort of show to work on, a proper crime show, not H&A.

Neighbours has improved but is still problematic in places.

Regarding Des Monaghan, I think he is still alive and working in TV. He is about 75 now. He was EP from late 1988 to 1992.

[CaptainHulk]

^ He chose the right time to ride off into the sunset and Andrew Howie was the perfect successor.

[Light of the Bay]

Dan Bennett learned the ropes working under Coral Drouyn and Bevan Lee so that gives me hope. However, I immediately noticed a change from the 2004 finale and the start of the 2005 season. That's when the show really changed direction and it's never recovered. 2005 was still good on the whole though but 2006 has got to be one of the worst years ever and I noticed an improvement in 2007 which ironically is when Dan stepped down.