adam436 Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 Does anyone know why Morag lasted for less than a year as a regular in 1989? It's a shame because back in those days, there were no real nasty or flawed characters to stir things up and when she left, we only got guest antagonists for years after that. Even Fisher had softened and Roo had been pretty much redeemed. Was it a case of the producers wanting to focus on the younger characters? That was supposedly the reason Neville and Floss were axed from the show? I'm assuming Cornelia wanted to leave, as the producers would have been silly to let her go, but where else could they realistically have taken the character? A villain can only be around for so long because they start to go over the same storylines again and again (take Neighbours' Paul Robinson for example!). I guess they could have explored her relationship with Bobby and perhaps try to build a constructive relationship with Alf, Ailsa and Celia to bring out her softer side (by "softer side" I mean the Morag we've had 2004-onwards)
j.laur5 Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 I think the PTB felt the character went as far as it could. I reckon they should turn Morag into a battle-axe, busybody like Mrs Mangel/Hilary from Neighbours as Celia/Colleen were more like an endearing comic busybody like Eileen/Edith from Neighbours. There are two breeds of busy-body. One battle axed kind like Mrs Mangel/Hilary and then a comic endearing busybody like Celia /Colleen.
Blaxland 89 Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 I think you're right. If she were to stay that should of been the direction to take. And I would have like to have seen the natural process of her becoming softer played out in real time rather than the, imo, unrealistic way she kept changing in the mid 00s for no apparent reason. Would have been nice to give the softening of her some diologue. Not so sure it was Corny's decision to leave though.
Matt Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 Well, she signed a three-year contract with the show in late 1988 and was written out nine months...
CaptainTed84 Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 I highly doubt that it was her decision to leave. From what I understand she was begging for a regular role on the show for years so I can't imagine that early on she would decide to leave
samdanfan Posted January 8, 2017 Report Posted January 8, 2017 10 hours ago, CaptainTed84 said: I highly doubt that it was her decision to leave. From what I understand she was begging for a regular role on the show for years so I can't imagine that early on she would decide to leave Sad must been something she and the show couldn't work out. They been other actors who have been forced off shows and when I hear of actors who are begged to stay and they resent TV work makes me angry they feel that way. Most actors would love job security of a role,
beau_t Posted January 9, 2017 Report Posted January 9, 2017 15 hours ago, Matt said: Well, she signed a three-year contract with the show in late 1988 and was written out nine months... That really sucks. Where did you find this out? I am in two minds about this one. I do think they wrote Morag into a corner in 1989. But I also believe it was completely fixable. They made her too nasty, and while it was great to watch, it isolated her character. I recently did a rewatch of 1989 and I noticed that a lot of her screentime was devoted to her lamenting how she had no friends and nobody ever came to visit her, yet whenever anyone did, she cut them to shreds with her acidic tongue. And there are plenty of scenes where characters like Nigel, Ailsa, Celia, Roo etc tell her that she needs to change her ways or she'll forever be on her own. But she never does. Her character went round in circles this way rather than developing. Which is weird, because they focused on Morag's character so much, she was obviously a writer-favourite and they built an extravagant new set just for her character, but they didn't develop her. The Bobby/Morag story especially was crying out for some development and I'm sure we'd have seen this eventually if she'd stayed on the show. I agree with the above posts that she should have softened towards some characters, and this would have given her better integration into the Bay. As pointed out, it also would have been good to see her softening happen on-screen, rather than her character feeling disjointed between visits from 2001 onwards. At the same time, they could have kept her acidic side in relation to other characters (Celia and Bobby for example).
adam436 Posted January 17, 2017 Author Report Posted January 17, 2017 I loved the early Morag and Marilyn stuff and I think there was potential there to make them more of a "classic comedy duo".
j.laur5 Posted January 17, 2017 Report Posted January 17, 2017 I would have liked Morag to have taken Viv in as that might be start and showing Morag softer character.
joany208121 Posted January 18, 2017 Report Posted January 18, 2017 I think the issue with Morag back then was she was very isolated in terms of class,status, family and location. They needed to involve her more with the community
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