adam436 Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 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. I honestly can't remember how 2004 even finished other than Vinnie returning as a bear and Dani leaving. Surely there must have been a big cliffhanger though I'd have to agree though - after being a loyal viewer since 1996ish (and the early years til around the Pippa swap), I gave up not long after the Holdens arrived which was around this time and didn't really bother to watch it again. I have tuned in for a week or two on a few occasions over the years (around the times of Flynn's death, Sally's exit, Marilyn's return and Georgie Parker's debut), but it didn't really hooked me like it used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 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. I honestly can't remember how 2004 even finished other than Vinnie returning as a bear and Dani leaving. Surely there must have been a big cliffhanger though The 2004 finale was the last ep of Bevan's tenure and he wanted a 'feelgood' finale like they had in the earlier years of the show. This is what he told BTTB at the time: The 2004 Cliffhanger is gentle, warm, uplifting and low key this year. I felt, like a lot of you, that we did not need another life and death style cliffhanger. Especially having had the Sarah Rampage Olympics cliffhanger just a few months before. I felt the show did risk going OTT if we cranked up to another one of those. The end of year this year is designed to say, despite the fact it's an increasingly grim world these days, isn't it great to be alive! The main focus of the ep was the opening of Noah's Bar and Pippa's Christening, with Paulini performing at both. And it ended with a great montage of "happiness reigning throughout Summer Bay". The last shot was Noah's ghost returning one final time to kiss a sleeping Hayley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Ah memories Dan. I do remember that finale. Bevan was right the finale did provide a great antidote to the mayhem that preceded it in the year before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezz Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 The 2004 season finale was definitely one of the best episodes I've seen and it concluded the year very well after the hectic year that 2004 was. I've even heard some people say in hindsight that the show should have stopped then and never continued after that! Interesting hearing that but I couldn't see a show that was easily raking in 1,000,000 million viewers a night stopping all of a sudden at the time. The 2005 season premiere started six weeks after the events of the 2004 finale and then that's when the mayhem and chaos of the Stalker storyline truly began with the bushfire storyline being the first sign of the Stalker's appearance even though viewers weren't aware of the stalker being involved in the bushfires that occurred in the town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam436 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 The 2004 season finale was definitely one of the best episodes I've seen and it concluded the year very well after the hectic year that 2004 was. I've even heard some people say in hindsight that the show should have stopped then and never continued after that! Interesting hearing that but I couldn't see a show that was easily raking in 1,000,000 million viewers a night stopping all of a sudden at the time. Sally and Flynn had just moved into Summer Bay House and (I think!) had just agreed to foster Ric, so ending things there would have been a brilliant. It would have been like the show had come full circle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeandawayfan. Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I think if Dan Bennett was around when Sally returned in 2013, then her disastrous return may have been written better. I dont think H&A should have ended after the 2004 season finale. It was a popular show and a happy ending to a season does not always mean the show should have ended then, should we say that Neighbours should have ended when Scott and Charlene married? 2001-2010 was my non viewing phase, (work schedule so I drifted apart from the shows) same with Neighbours so the Noughties eras of both shows is my weak spot in terms of knowledge. I do hope Dan has returned to the show, he was no means perfect but I am sure was better at script editing and giving characters more equal stories. Yes the current direction may work well, but write it better and make it watchable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexx Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I dont think H&A should have ended after the 2004 season finale. It was a popular show and a happy ending to a season does not always mean the show should have ended then, should we say that Neighbours should have ended when Scott and Charlene married? That's not the point though, Neighbours was still great and well written in the years after Scott and Charlene's wedding, whereas those who suggested H&A end at 2004 said it because they felt H&A changed too much after that point, in a negative way and it would have been better if it ended on a high, whilst it still felt like H&A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Up until last year, Louise Bowes was the Supervising Script Producer, but when Gary Sewell took over, Louise was credited as Series Script Executive. At the end of 2013, Dan Bennett, who was the Script Producer of Winners and Losers, however the reins were handed over to Emma Gordon in 2014, with Dan becoming Associate Script Executive, presumably under Bevan Lee, who was the Network Script Executive. From what I've read, Bevan has gone over to America for several months (due to this, he - who was the Script Producer of A Place to Call Home - has handed the reins over to Susan Bower), and I believe Dan is acting in his position. If we look at past scripts, Bevan Lee has always been credited as Network Script Executive, but alas, he's no longer - nor is Louise, but Dan is. What I'm trying to say in an extraordinarily complicated way is that I believe Dan has taken over from Bevan and Louise has stepped down, but continued on as writer as she tweeted me the other day stating that we would "see her name in credits to come!" and that she "would never wander too far from the Bay!". UPDATE: Dan Bennett has updated his Twitter to "Channel 7 Script Executive" - which has been Bevan's job since 1998. Louise Bowes has changed her to "Lest We Forget" - it used to be something about creating drama in Summer Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHulk Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Sometimes a nice light finale works (1988, 1994). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeandawayfan. Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 I am glad the exterior of Summer Bay House is returning, but a return of a house may visually make the show feel like H&A again but will probably have not much effect on the storylines, just a few of the scenes filmed outside the "Summer Bay House" replica. Having had a re look at the screengrab, it says Dan Bennett is Series Script Executive. It is hard to tell who does what now but can you be Series Script Exec and Network (Channel 7) Exec at the same time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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