Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Red Ranger 1]

I think the “River Boy era” as such was basically over by the middle of 2012. The problem is it’s cast a long shadow. The “crime and drugs” storylines seem so entrenched in the format of the show that even losing most of the original Braxtons hasn’t done much to stop them, if anything the show is more about that now than it was this time last year. And they seem to be bringing in new characters to carry on that side of the show: I hope I’m wrong, because the likes of Kyle and Ash have potential as characters in their own right and it would be a shame to see them thrown away by being treated as direct replacements for popular characters.

I am enjoying the Maddy storyline, although possibly for different reasons to some people. It’s the sort of inclusive character drama that the show should do more of: A girl who isn’t the most emotionally mature person in the world having to deal with something very adult, her mood veering from a determination to live as normal a life as possible, to self-destructive denial, to quiet bravery, to wanting to curl up in a ball and pretend it isn’t happening. A reaffirmation of the show’s credo that family isn’t just about blood, with Roo’s utter unconditional love for the girl she sees as her daughter. And Maddy’s friends and peers, faced with something horrible and grown-up and doing their best to help out even though in practical terms there’s nothing they can do.

Yet if you don’t like or care about Maddy, as some audience members don’t, then the storyline’s going to fall flat and has done for some people. And I’m kind of in that situation with Hannah. I can see on paper why it should be a good storyline, a potentially life-changing injury, the pressure it puts on her family… but Hannah’s such a shallow and annoying character that I just don’t care. And then they put too little focus on her family and too much on her relationship with Andy, and my interest level drops further. I don’t care about Andy’s surname, if it was Josh or Kyle or even Brax standing by a disabled girlfriend I wouldn’t think twice about it, but I care that Andy’s a murderer, and that’s the true legacy of the “drugs and crime” storylines and the most damning indictment of the current producers: Andy has gone too far for a shallow retread of Heath’s “redeemed by love” storyline to be enough, and so I can’t accept the attempt to make the audience and the characters see him as a saint who would suddenly become a full-time carer to his on-off girlfriend.

And if you don’t know the characters…well, that’s a Catch-22 situation. You don’t watch the show because you don’t know the characters and you don’t know the characters because you don’t watch the show. It doesn’t feature Ric, Cassie, Matilda and Lucas or Aden, Belle, Nicole and Geoff or Romeo, Indi, April and Dexter, it features Maddy, Josh, Evelyn and Oscar. So people who haven’t watched the show in three years will need to watch a few episodes to see if the latest incarnation of bitchy but vulnerable blonde, brooding loner, bolshy brunette and kind-hearted geek match up to earlier ones and if they can invest in them. Unfortunately, those fans will probably look at the listings and trailers, see Brax is accused of murder and decide not to bother. If those storylines do continue, fans who don’t like them will have to pick and choose their episodes, fast forward through the bits with characters they don’t like, grin and bear it in the hope that it’s over soon or switch off altogether. There are people trying all four but the longer it goes on the more fragmented the audience will become. And sadly, the downside of internet forums is that they encourage fans to have very crystallised opinions on what they like and don’t like.

[630si]

I think there is definite promise for the year ahead. And as a fan for many many years, Im willing to stick with it, like in previous slumps. every now and then there will be an episode that just feels like Home and Away. Trouble is that isnt very often. Maddy's cancer is one of the main story arcs at the moment and it is helping with that community feel, and character led stuff that most us crave so much. With the Braxtons pretty much over, the other characters may be pretty much forced to be developed more. Isnt that what we wanted?!

Sometimes it seems the producers are damned if they do and damned if they dont. What I will say though, is that if folk switch off in their droves, they'll be a gang back in the bay kidnapping Irene before you could say HOOROO!

[Homeandawayfan.]

Some say that drugs and guns and stalkers is not all of H&A, maybe not but 85% of it is about those stories. When the dust settled after the bus crash I had high hopes of an improvement with the exterior of SBH back and more caravan park scenes plus Jett being caught riding a buggy in old school H&A style of pranksters but then after a few more episodes, whoomf, back to the usual relentless miserable stalker and gang storylines. I said this before and will say it again, Alan Bateman would be turning in his grave at what the current producers have done to his creation.

I have had people on other forums as well as this one who are my generation who are watching old episodes again and saying when H&A was watchable. If they dont improve things soon then I am going to wash my hands completely of the current show for good, when Neighbours finishes, I shall always switch over the remote.

[TelephotoMarigold]

I feel that there are a lot of assumptions going on about why people no longer watch the show.

This isn't a slump. This isn't because favourite characters have left. This isn't because the river boys took over or the focus of the show morphed into crime and drugs. No, I no longer watch because the writing is dire. I don't long for "feel good" factor of previous eras or miss my favourite characters.

I don't watch because in my opinion the show has overused certain characters without giving them decent characterisation. They brought them to the forefront of the show at the expense of other characters. They relied on them to carry the show. They didn't develop them or their back stories.

I don't watch the show because they had chance after chance to produce good drama and failed.

I don't want to watch Maddy because I can't stand her. Maybe if they hadn't focused on that other set of characters then her introduction would have been better and she might have been likeable, instead she's just a brat. Again, in my opinion.

[Homeandawayfan.]

If Lucy Addario and Louise Bowes read this thread, they would probably think "What dont you like drugs, stalkers and guns and car crashes? Well it is what most of the viewers want so we see no reason to stop and we add thriller style screechy dramatic background music to add to this".

[dee123]

If Lucy Addario and Louise Bowes read this thread, they would probably think "What dont you like drugs, stalkers and guns and car crashes? Well it is what most of the viewers want so we see no reason to stop and we add thriller style screechy dramatic background music to add to this".

I doubt they slum it here. Sometimes we have an opinion that doesn't match up with theirs. I'm sure they keep to their sycophantic lap dogs on twitter and the like.

You can tell i really don't like them, can't you?

[pembie]

If Lucy Addario and Louise Bowes read this thread, they would probably think "What dont you like drugs, stalkers and guns and car crashes? Well it is what most of the viewers want so we see no reason to stop and we add thriller style screechy dramatic background music to add to this".

To be honest I have enjoyed the Braxtons stories when they were more of a family unit when Heath and Casey were around But now with what feels like the Braxtons add ons like Ricky Ash, Denny and even Kyle and Pheobe But I do like them together I'm not sure I will when they break up. Kyle will go back to being pointless and Pheobe will go annoying I think. I think they do need to move on now. Hopefully when Brax goes they will. Crime is fine in soaps but they need to think of alot more other stories so the same type of characters aren't overused and become boring

[CaptainHulk]

Gotta Disagree, Red.

The River Boy era was still in full swing at that point. Okay, they were toned down but still got into more of the same messes.

[joany208121]

Some of us older fans have been accused of "blowing our own trumpets" when we say we have watched the show for 20 years or more compared to people who have only watched for 4 or 5 years. I know people who were not born when the show started can watch reruns but there are probably many 10-20 year olds who dont have a clue who Neville McPhee is or Damo Roberts, Shane Parrish, Emma Jackson, Carly Morris is etc.

I completely agree, and I'm so sick of people saying "Belles death was the best" or "Indi and Romeo" are the best couple ever, when they have watched the show for 4 or 5 years. I myself am 17, and started avidly watching around 2003, after watching on and off for a while. but as a fan I have watched (all early years and youtube) and researched all of the history of the show, so I know as much about the show as I can. It's frustrating to me when people claim that something is the "best ever" with only a limited knowledge.

[Homeandawayfan.]

In England while the show is still very cloak and dagger, I do feel a gradual improvement. Not out of the woods by a long way but I am optimistic about my fave Aussie show. At the end of the day if I had to choose H&A or Neighbours I would probably choose H&A due to it being much better from 1988-2009ish. In the 1990s I only watched Neighbours sporadically as it was totally whipped by H&A.

One good thing about Lucy is she is not retconning the history of the show or bringing in endless forced refs to the past and possibly the refs not tallying with the original storyline or backstory. In Neighbours these refs have increased but there are some inaccuracies as a result. Lucy Robinson saying she barely knew her mother when her mum died in childbirth and she would not have known her at all.