Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Jacklost]

While we are talking about Belle, did anyone ever find out it was Belle´s fault that Flynn fell down the stairs and his life time was decreased? i remember seeing her running towards him making him fall down the stairs

[Blaxland 89]

I must be really bad at explaining myself. In the 80s/90s the characters relationship grew in equal measure. One example Irene and Selina, or Chloe, or Joey. All relationship that took time to build trust. They needed Irene and Irene needed them equally. Move forward to Irene's relationship with Belle and they were instantly close but then would go for episode not being in the same scene.And Irene getting over Belle's death in less than a week. The relationship didn't feel as real. The same with friendships. There was not a consistent friendship but merely who was available in that episode.

But I think now we are seeing some positive friendships that feel really, Jet/Vj for example.

Being a fan from the start just trying to find some positives in the current show as I agree with past posts that the plot drivingness of the mid 00s is a big part of the blame for the state the show is in now. But I honestly think I can see some more character writing in 2013. There's still huge room for improvement. I'm starting to think there's only one man for the job. Beven Lee. His 2008 stint was a great example of how the show can be modern, but have the same quality of the original show. The characters from 2007 (like Belle) all became more likeable and had layers in. But the moment he left the became back to 2007 again.

[Jamie!]

While we are talking about Belle, did anyone ever find out it was Belle´s fault that Flynn fell down the stairs and his life time was decreased? i remember seeing her running towards him making him fall down the stairs

No, I don't think they did. That was the trouble with 2006. There were too many unresolved moments. For example, it was never revealed just how and why Zoe/Eve had managed to get Tracey Thompson to work undercover for her. And if I remember correctly, it was also ambiguous as to whether they were actually responsible or not for the explosion at Jack and Martha's wedding. Zoe/Eve had taken Tracey "hostage", Peter offered to go in her place and Zoe/Eve said she would take him. And less than a minute later, there was a smell of gas and someone from nowhere appeared with a cake and sparklers. We don't know who this person was, if they knew Zoe/Eve and Tracey or whether she was some random character. What I struggle with is why would she say that she would take Peter if she knew that the barn was about to explode at any moment.

Also, there were far too many life or death cliffhangers that got resolved within about a minute of the next show, with literally no reference to it ever again. it was totally unrealistic and got very tiresome and predictable.

[Blaxland 89]

Your post above just shows how bad it was in 2006. It can't be any worse now.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm not sure if it's totally fair or accurate to say that characters don't have the back story now that they did a few years ago.April actually had a pretty strong back story but a lot of it seemed to be drip fed or only revealed in articles or interviews.Her mother was someone who'd been travelling around Europe having children with different men and not paying her much attention so she'd largely been looking after herself.Her father was French and an extremist environmentalist and she'd got into the same sort of things as him to try and get his attention.She was closest to her older sister, who wasn't as mature or even tempered as her meaning often April was the one that had to look out for them.Problem was we had to piece that together ourselves instead of being told up front.(The show didn't even establish she and Bianca had different fathers until they'd been on the show nine months, leaving fans who just watched the programme wondering where it came from while fans who read character profiles insisted it had been mentioned loads of times.)Of course, all of that quickly became irrelevant but then so did Belle's back story:By the end of 2006, the idea of her grandmother telling her mother she was dead and paying another family to look after her had been almost completely forgotten(along with early ideas like her having an adopted sister)and by the end of 2007 even Amanda wasn't around anymore, meaning it was sometimes a struggle to work out why she was still in Summer Bay.April's problem isn't the lack of back story, she actually had a pretty strong introduction, it's just they completely changed her personality every six months(with the other characters acting like she'd always been like that)and stuck her with Dexter largely for storyline rather than character reasons and put them in a break up/date other people/make up cycle that seemed designed to infuriate everyone.

Kyle has actually turned out to be one of the stronger new additions after a terrible introduction, partly down to Nic Westaway being one of the better actors and partly down to the producers either planning things out better than it seemed or realising they'd made a mistake and quickly changing things.It's another case of us being drip fed back story but he has actually ended up close to what I thought a fourth Braxton sibling should be like:Someone who grew up away from the Braxtons' world, who's educated and at ease in situations when the other Braxtons are like fishes out of water. Problem is we joined his character arc at the wrong point, when Danny's influence and his desire to fit in with the family means it's hard to tell the difference between him and the others and the subtler points of characterisation are lost.

Tamara, on the other hand, had shedloads of back story:She grew up on a farm in the outback, she was in an abusive relationship and her brother was killed trying to get her out of it, she became estranged from her parents and on the run from her ex-boyfriend as a result.But, as with Belle up to a point, that just gives her an introductory storyline and once it's over they have to think of something else for her to do.So she falls in love with Casey in about a day, then starts going back and forth between him and Kyle in a way that pleases no-one.

[jodlebirger]

Belles backstory was over the top and rubbish, but still she had one. And they used time to explored it even if it was rubbish. But April's backstory has just been told with a few words here and there. But Belle is probably the charachter who marks when they started to introduce charachters with crappy backstories which is not used in a proper way. April had a lot of potential which is not used.

A while ago we had a tread called "is home and away on a downwars spiral". And I think it is, even if the quality varies from time to time. Some things are better now than in 2009 for example, and some things aren't. And I think that the seasons often are best in the beginning and then dip through out the year.

But generally things are handled worse and also quickier now than earlier. And I think harder pressure and competition between the tv channels is to blame and not the writers. This is something that every program, tv series and the tv channels has to struggle with, not only home and away. They are trying to capture most viewers and I think that sometimes this can limit the writers freedom and ability to write the storyline and the characters the way they want to. I also think that the channel bosses put a lot of pressure on the writers to write the storylines in a way they think is the quickiest way to sucsess.

[Jacklost]

Belles backstory was over the top and rubbish, but still she had one. And they used time to explored it even if it was rubbish. But April's backstory has just been told with a few words here and there. But Belle is probably the charachter who marks when they started to introduce charachters with crappy backstories which is not used in a proper way. April had a lot of potential which is not used.

A while ago we had a tread called "is home and away on a downwars spiral". And I think it is, even if the quality varies from time to time. Some things are better now than in 2009 for example, and some things aren't. And I think that the seasons often are best in the beginning and then dip through out the year.

But generally things are handled worse and also quickier now than earlier. And I think harder pressure and competition between the tv channels is to blame and not the writers. This is something that every program, tv series and the tv channels has to struggle with, not only home and away. They are trying to capture most viewers and I think that sometimes this can limit the writers freedom and biltype to write the storyline and the characters the way they want to. I also think that the channel bosses put a lot of pressure on the writers to write the storylines in a way they think is the quickiest way to sucsess.

I think Belle´s back story was great, special the part where Amanda was her mother tho it´s kinda weird because Amanda is only 9 years older than her

[Light of the Bay]

I don't believe that she was only 9 years older than her daughter?

I seem to think that Amanda was 14/15 when she gave birth to Belle?

[Perry]

I think the problem is all the new characters introduced in the last few years aren't that interesting.

[Jacklost]

I don't believe that she was only 9 years older than her daughter?

I seem to think that Amanda was 14/15 when she gave birth to Belle?

Ivé never been good at knowing the characters age, i usually think of them as the age they are in real life, like Indi and Dex. I have no idea what year they where born so i just assume Indy is 21 and Dex 21. Considering Belle was 14 years younger i would assume Amanda was born in 1977 and Belle was born in 1991. There should be a official site where the characters age is listed just so people can know