Were Carly and Steven supposed to be foster parents?

[cymbaline]

I don't think either of them would have made for good foster parents. Good idea for a thread though. Unless she changed as she got older, Carly would've been too selfish to become one. I'm not sure how much Ben would've had behind the ears either  Stephen's not the fostering type either. But it would've been fun to watch and see how they got on.

[adam436]

I am talking once they were settled in stable relationships for a bit, so I'd expect them to have matured (look how Bobby changed between the pilot and fostering Sam!), both actors didn't stay long enough.

Would you say late 90s Sally would have been then fostering type?

[Spinach]

What about Stacey and Andrew? With Andrew's job, the writers could easily have come up with an excuse for a troubled teen to come and live with them. I know they sort of tried this and Stacey's inability to cope with it was part of her leaving storyline - but what if they'd brought someone slightly less over the top, just a regular, troubled teen, and let it play out. I can picture Stacey not liking it but trying to deal with it for Andrew and gradually - over a period of a few months - learning to care for the teen... It's not like Stacey never showed maternal feelings, I can see it working.

[adam436]

Yes, she certainly had a big sister relationship with Steven, even after Phil died. 

I think she would warm to the idea - Fisher also, did not seem like fostering material either, and he ended up with Viv, Casey and a few others, plus family like Seb, Sam etc

 

I think it's a shame Stacey and Phil never stayed longer and developed into that role. I never took to Andrew, but I liked her and Phil. 

[Spinach]

^I also preferred Phil to Andrew - but I feel like Phil's death really developed Stacey's character. It really caused her to question her values to the point where I could see her sticking around in the bay for several years and I could see her fostering (obviously despite this she still left some six months later). If Phil had stayed alive and he got a happy ending with Stacey, I'm just not sure I'd believe the two of them would stay in the bay for that long. Stacey was still too ambitious...

[adam436]

On 18/03/2018 at 21:11, Spinach said:

^I also preferred Phil to Andrew - but I feel like Phil's death really developed Stacey's character. It really caused her to question her values to the point where I could see her sticking around in the bay for several years and I could see her fostering (obviously despite this she still left some six months later). 

 

Phil, had potential, as the local community doctor. Had Stacey stayed, I could perhaps see her taking in a teenager from a similar background to her's (a child from a rich family who resents their father etc.), perhaps even making them a family friend of the Macklins to make it more plausible. Do you think, if they were still around in 1990, they could have "taken over" the caravan park in a similar way to Rebecca and Travis in 1998, instead of recasting Pippa. Phil was Steven's uncle, which would have made the transition smoother too