Had the original mainstay characters run their course when they left?

[c120701]

The thing for me is why haven’t they moved Leah in with Irene? It would work much better, give them both some decent scenes - maybe going out to speed dating or something. They could co-foster.

It made sense her living with Alf initially when the MacGuires were there, but I think it’s time she moved on, although Summer Bay of old would have rallied and built Leah a new house on her plot of land on James Street.

But I digress...

I think if Pippa had stayed around and they kept her on as a live-in Grandmother figure during the Sally & Flynn era, before stepping up again as Sally left she might have lasted longer.

[j.laur5]

I think Pippa would not seem as old had stayed as she look in her guest appeasers between 2007-2009  look  at Irene she still looks like she is still  55.

I am under impression that Irene was bought to replace Bobby and its shame because I would love having  Irene and Bobby on show as regulars as i enjoyed Bobby and Irene friendship as Alisa and Bobby were first to  treat Irene like she changed thought they still at one point Bobby did made joke about Irene and i guest it was just Bobby still showing signs not being 100% convince Irene had change by then but i think Bobby soon realise she had change. 

 

[Summer's Bay]

On 10/11/2018 at 17:59, j.laur5 said:

I know people were sad when the likes of Donald/Pippa/Bobby/Sally left but I think they all left at the right time.

Bobby- I think her character left at the right time. She had already married twice and I worried that her character would go in circles unless Greg had stayed long term as well. 

Pippa- Like Bobby her character would have gone in circles had stayed. She would be married about six times by now and I worry  that Pippa would have turned into an unlikable character like Irene has in recent years. 

Donald- I would not have liked Donald to be on the show as a retired man. Being principal suited him and Donald was never  a town leader like Alf.

Sally- As great as  her character was in her final years I worry she would just have gone in circles with husband after husband. 

 

The only original character I think could have lasted as long as Alf is Ailsa.  Ailsa, like Alf , was a strong town leader that didn't need storylines. 

So what are your thoughts?. 

I could be wrong but I don't think Greg had much of a purpose without Bobby. Also Ross was having issues with the directors, they wanted him to mask his sexuality so I dont think there was a long term plan to keep him on. 

Bobby is such an iconic character that  had Nicolle decided to stay, she couldve gone on to still be relevant but it seems as though everything was rushed with her and there was nothing left to explore by the time she was killed off.  I also think a lot of the story changed for her because Alex wanted to leave. What bothers me is that the only way to end her character was to have her killed off yet she was more popular than the Roo and Frank,  characters who had options to return.  Even Carly had options to return. From the time her first marriage ended until she was killed off, I never believed that Bobby was truly happy, she just settled. it wouldve been nice to see her living her dreams like going to Uni or be something other than what she was, but maybe, that was the idea

It wouldve been interesting to see what story lines the writers would've come up with for Roo in the aftermath of the love trinagle had Justine decided to stay for a while. 

[adam436]

12 minutes ago, Summer's Bay said:

I could be wrong but I don't think Greg had much of a purpose without Bobby. Also Ross was having issues with the directors, they wanted him to mask his sexuality so I dont think there was a long term plan to keep him on. 

Bobby is such an iconic character that  had Nicolle decided to stay, she couldve gone on to still be relevant but it seems as though everything was rushed with her and there was nothing left to explore by the time she was killed off.  I also think a lot of the story changed for her because Alex wanted to leave. What bothers me is that the only way to end her character was to have her killed off yet she was more popular than the Roo and Frank,  characters who had options to return.  Even Carly had options to return. From the time her first marriage ended until she was killed off, I never believed that Bobby was truly happy, she just settled. it wouldve been nice to see her living her dreams like going to Uni or be something other than what she was, but maybe, that was the idea

Wow! I had no idea about Ross Newton's issues with the producers! I agree he had little purpose without Bobby too - he was written out only a few weeks after Bobby died. 

Yeah, she got top of her year at school and then seemed to just run the diner when she could have done anything. With Greg leaving too, maybe Bobby could have left the bay to go to uni or something, as you suggested. 

If Nicolle had stayed, I think Irene would never have been a regular. Bobby instead, would have become foster mother to Selina, Chloe etc. in the 1990s. 

[Summer's Bay]

15 minutes ago, adam436 said:

Wow! I had no idea about Ross Newton's issues with the producers! I agree he had little purpose without Bobby too - he was written out only a few weeks after Bobby died. 

Yeah, she got top of her year at school and then seemed to just run the diner when she could have done anything. With Greg leaving too, maybe Bobby could have left the bay to go to uni or something, as you suggested. 

If Nicolle had stayed, I think Irene would never have been a regular. Bobby instead, would have become foster mother to Selina, Chloe etc. in the 1990s. 

Maybe Issues is not the right word but they told him to keep quiet about being Gay. He did tell Nicolle though

 

 Click the right arrow, look at the bottom right , Ross talks about it a bit in this interview

 

 

[j.laur5]

1 hour ago, adam436 said:

Wow! I had no idea about Ross Newton's issues with the producers! I agree he had little purpose without Bobby too - he was written out only a few weeks after Bobby died. 

Yeah, she got top of her year at school and then seemed to just run the diner when she could have done anything. With Greg leaving too, maybe Bobby could have left the bay to go to uni or something, as you suggested. 

If Nicolle had stayed, I think Irene would never have been a regular. Bobby instead, would have become foster mother to Selina, Chloe etc. in the 1990s. 

I think Sam was pointless to keep around after Greg left. 

[Summer's Bay]

18 hours ago, j.laur5 said:

I think Sam was pointless to keep around after Greg left. 

Sam and Greg had the exact same bowl haircut...I always find that funny 

 

 

[adam436]

On 16/11/2018 at 07:22, j.laur5 said:

I think Sam was pointless to keep around after Greg left. 

You do have to wonder why the Marshalls weren't given a happy exit as a family, when you consider Sam was disposable due to his age and Greg left just a few weeks after her death. I know heaps of drama kept out of her death, but she was hugely popular character and it unnecessarily closed the door on Bobby forever (apart from the bizarre fridge scene). She didn't need to die like other characters such as Ailsa, Flynn and Tom did. 

I don't think Bobby would ever have returned as a regular, but had the Marshalls left as a family unit, Nicolle Dickson would have continued to pop in and out for most of the late 90s and 2000s like Carly, Steven and Pippa did. We could have seen at her Steven's wedding (Carly returned for that one!), Sally's weddings to Kieren and Flynn, Don's wedding to Marilyn, the episode 4000 celebrations, the bicentenary thing in 2002, Don's farewell in 2003, Sally's farewell in 2008 and maybe Ailsa's funeral (or would that last one be too much to ask, since her death and funeral was wrapped up in 2 episodes?). Had she been alive, Bobby might have also popped up in 2001 when Don learned that Alan had a son. We could have even seen her develop a relationship with Morag in the 2000s too, as Morag was a much softer character during that era. 

[Summer's Bay]

7 hours ago, adam436 said:

You do have to wonder why the Marshalls weren't given a happy exit as a family, when you consider Sam was disposable due to his age and Greg left just a few weeks after her death. I know heaps of drama kept out of her death, but she was hugely popular character and it unnecessarily closed the door on Bobby forever (apart from the bizarre fridge scene). She didn't need to die like other characters such as Ailsa, Flynn and Tom did. 

I don't think Bobby would ever have returned as a regular, but had the Marshalls left as a family unit, Nicolle Dickson would have continued to pop in and out for most of the late 90s and 2000s like Carly, Steven and Pippa did. We could have seen at her Steven's wedding (Carly returned for that one!), Sally's weddings to Kieren and Flynn, Don's wedding to Marilyn, the episode 4000 celebrations, the bicentenary thing in 2002, Don's farewell in 2003, Sally's farewell in 2008 and maybe Ailsa's funeral (or would that last one be too much to ask, since her death and funeral was wrapped up in 2 episodes?). Had she been alive, Bobby might have also popped up in 2001 when Don learned that Alan had a son. We could have even seen her develop a relationship with Morag in the 2000s too, as Morag was a much softer character during that era. 

Maybe that was the idea, maybe there  was never meant to be a happy ending for them.. Alex Papps said years back that Franks relationship with Bobby was more genuine than Frank and Roo and we all know that Bobby never stopped loving him. I personally think the writers should’ve had Frank come back one more time and leave with Bobby and Sam and give her the happy ending she desired. Closing the door completely on Bobby’s character in my opinion is one of the worst tragedies ever on television and such a shame. 

[Red Ranger 1]

It's hard to imagine Sam happily dumping his dad for the bloke that tried to split Bobby and Greg up: He pretty much hated Frank! (I guess they could have reversed it and killed Greg off, although Bobby would have to be pretty cold to go back to her ex straightaway.)

I think they wanted to keep Sam on, probably because Sally was now a teenager and they felt they needed a proper "kid" character, and given that he stuck around for nearly eight years that was hardly an irrelevant decision, but couldn't envisage Bobby leaving him.Greg, on the other hand...