Ray Meagher hasn't been all that happy with H&A

[patrick]

Maybe the return of the summer bay house is the start of it!

[elikell]

Good on Ray for speaking up. I hope his opinion counts even a little and TPTB actually LISTEN to what he's saying about the show...we'll see.

[Homeandawayfan.]

The 2014 season finale has to be one of the worst episodes of H&A I have ever seen. What have you done Lucy and Louise to our beloved H&A? It is hard to believe I am referring to the same TV programme that was 100% fantastic 20 years ago. I am still confident the show will be a better show in the future with the return of Summer Bay House exterior and Dan Bennett back. And now Ray has had words.

2006/2007 was OTT but a hell of a lot more warm and tame than 2014.

[jodlebirger]

The 2014 season finale has to be one of the worst episodes of H&A I have ever seen. What have you done Lucy and Louise to our beloved H&A? It is hard to believe I am referring to the same TV programme that was 100% fantastic 20 years ago. I am still confident the show will be a better show in the future with the return of Summer Bay House exterior and Dan Bennett back. And now Ray has had words.

2006/2007 was OTT but a hell of a lot more warm and tame than 2014.

Was it really that bad? And what was so horrible about it that make it worse than the finales in 2011, 12 and 13? I haven't seen it all yet... but I have read a lot about it, and I have difficulties with thinking that it was any worse than the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 finales. I know 2014 finale is about a bus crash and a cancer storyline together with a probably horrible Brax storyline, and even if it involves a kidnapping and a crazy woman I think it sounds like it has more potential after 2015 season start than the 2012 and 13 finales which were only about kindapping and crimes. And Sophie is more a human character who is obviously mentally ill.

But I think that H&A have been far too violent in 2014, really awful with the storyline about Casey's death... which is the worst one so far. And the characters are too stiff and that's the reason why the season even feel more tame than the 2006/07 season despite even more violent scenes. But I did not like the 2006 and early 2007 seasons either.

And the person who is responsible for casting Matt Little as the new VJ should really be sacked... together with Matt Little himself... what a ridicoulus replacement! He would have been ok if he was able to play a vulnerable teen like Jake Speer or Cassandra Clementi are, for example and they are older that Mr. Little. But he is totally hopeless in this. I think that he should have played an adult villain instead.

[Homeandawayfan.]

It is just a case of all soaps go through their good phases and their bad phases and H&A is just going through a bad phase at the minute. It is not like Neighbours hasn't gone through such phases before. I am actually quite pleased with the behind the scenes changes and quite excited.

The 2014 finale could just be another crazy finale, a very OTT episode to see out the 2014 season, and have people on edge for the 2015 season. Often soaps have a crazy end of year episode, EastEnders and Corrie have done it.

[dee123]

It's just a PR stunt, and strategy I think. I said something like this in 2009 after Mr. Meagher's criticism after a string of criticism against the show. And then he said the show was going back to it's roots. But I remember what happened, more violence even including Alf and more dragged out triangles and storylines. I thought at that time that he said so to make people believe that the show was going to change.

Now the show has got a lot of focus on what will happen when the Braxtons departs, especially Brax. It feels like media and some people that it will fall apart. So to make this loss look smaller, the focus on what's wrong with the show once again gets focus from the iconic actor in the media.

But the violence has been there for a long time. And a time with a lot of praise of the show in the media.

And why is Ray Meagher still on the show if he is that disappointed with it? I think it would have made a change if he quit because of the violence, sex-dramas and so on. The show has been violent since 2004-05, so it is nothing new.

And why is he only in media about this issue when the show gets either bad criticism about the actors behaviour in private life (2009) or when the media is concerned about what's happening when their "pets" are leaving? Especially since the show has been violent all the time, and also because of these characters?

Isn't he on like half a million a year? That's nothing to sneeze at. He IS Home & Away, especially in the U.K. so he has them over a barrel in that regard. He's basically in the position to say what he wants. Within reason of course.

[Old H&A Fan]

Too flamin' right!!

[Jacklost]

I hope he don´t leave the show, we need him!

Why has Home And Away dragged on for so long anyway? I mean we're talking a third of an average lifespan here!

Alot of shows has lasted longer so i don´t see the problem?

[Old H&A Fan]

Jacklost, You don't see the problem with extremely long series runs?

Can you imagine how long it would take to watch 6000+ episodes at, say, 1 episode, 2 episodes (or even 3 episodes) a day every single day? These are extraordinarily long stretches that go way beyond the attention spans even of superhuman strength, and would take years to get through even that.

[Dan F]

Jacklost, You don't see the problem with extremely long series runs?

Can you imagine how long it would take to watch 6000+ episodes at, say, 1 episode, 2 episodes (or even 3 episodes) a day every single day? These are extraordinarily long stretches that go way beyond the attention spans even of superhuman strength, and would take years to get through even that.

Did that sum last year - 91 days, 17½ hours for the first 6000 eps non-stop.

But no-one's forcing anyone to actually sit through them all, and it's not a requirement for new viewers to have knowledge of everything that happened in the past.