Rewatching The Early Years

[cymbaline]

I wonder has any well-known American ever made a cameo appearance in Home and Away? The only non-Australians I can think of have been British. 

[CaptainHulk]

21 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

I liked seeing John Farnham in H&A in 1988 briefly where he met Sally. It would have been ace if Bruce Springsteen had done a cameo in the show, seeing as Frank Morgan was a fan of his, and he was seen reading a Bruce Springsteen magazine in the opening credits, titled "The Boss".

I wouldn't be surprised if he played Born in the USA til the tape popped driving Tom and Pippa crazy

[Homeandawayfan.]

Frank Morgan probably liked playing Springsteen's music and dancing to it in his room, and if Summer Bay House had a power cut he would be Dancing in the Dark.

I cannot think of any famous Americans who have been in H&A. The show has had the odd American character such as that showbiz man in 1988. As we know many famous Brits and Australians have been in H&A from Michael Palin to Lleyton Hewitt.

[adam436]

I'm struggling too! Ed Sheerin is probably the biggest international star to make a cameo on the show.

[cymbaline]

Michael Palin is probably the next most famous person after that. Neighbours has a surprisingly long list, though again most of the overseas ones are British. They also have some random ones like André Rieu, Dave Bautista, Hanson and Paula Abdul. 

[CaptainHulk]

11 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Michael Palin is probably the next most famous person after that. Neighbours has a surprisingly long list, though again most of the overseas ones are British. They also have some random ones like André Rieu, Dave Bautista, Hanson and Paula Abdul. 

Batista fit as Toadie is a Wrestling fan who was seen playing SVR and mentioned Hell in a Cell, Smackdown and RAW and had he a brief spell in the ring while the Lassiter's offices were under repair. And WWE just happened to be in Oz in 2009.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Quite random here, but read on, it involves a 1990s character. I guess due to the show being 37 years old next month, all of the 1990s can be The Early Years. I remember the storyline with Doctor Kelly Watson in the late 1990s when she thought she had HIV but was given the all clear. And during stress once she almost threw her pager at the wall as it kept bleeping. I get that today in 2024 when my mobile bleeps. I get my "Kelly Watson" rage where I almost throw it against the wall, or feel like doing it.

[CaptainHulk]

On 12/12/2024 at 12:45, Homeandawayfan. said:

Quite random here, but read on, it involves a 1990s character. I guess due to the show being 37 years old next month, all of the 1990s can be The Early Years. I remember the storyline with Doctor Kelly Watson in the late 1990s when she thought she had HIV but was given the all clear. And during stress once she almost threw her pager at the wall as it kept bleeping. I get that today in 2024 when my mobile bleeps. I get my "Kelly Watson" rage where I almost throw it against the wall, or feel like doing it.

And it's always during

Dinner

Your Show/Film

Ablutions 

After you've already texted your explanation

[cymbaline]

It's such a 1990's scenario, isn't it? The beeper and the spectre of HIV. I've read that doctors still use pagers in some hospitals, but I'm sure they've long since ditched them at the Northern District Hospital. Where would the program makers be without text conversations on a screen? I checked for when HIV became treatable and saw that it was in 1996. I assume Kelly's HIV scare happened before this breakthrough? 

[nenehcherry2]

10 hours ago, cymbaline said:

It's such a 1990's scenario, isn't it? The beeper and the spectre of HIV. I've read that doctors still use pagers in some hospitals, but I'm sure they've long since ditched them at the Northern District Hospital. Where would the program makers be without text conversations on a screen? I checked for when HIV became treatable and saw that it was in 1996. I assume Kelly's HIV scare happened before this breakthrough? 

The effects of Truvada and other combination drugs in the HIV viral load management were first clinically confirmed in 93 but they didn't become widely available in most developed countries until 96/7. Unsure when Australia's medial authorities approved of these meds but, here in the UK, they became available on the NHS as an initial trial given to cherry picked folks in late 1996-early 1997 (Mark Fowler on EastEnders was fictionally shown to be accepted on the trials in early 97).

I'd imagine that news of impending treatments would have been a headline story in Australia by the time Kelly's storyline aired.

PEP didn't become widely available until the mid 00s (nowadays, Kelly would have been given a course of PEP within 72 hours following exposure to reduce the statistical likelihood of transmission).

In addition, the patient concerned would likely have been on the treatment and undetectable, further minimising the already minute risk to Kelly. So, overall, this is a very 90s storyline and literally wouldn't happen today. 

And, of course, PREP became available over 10 years after that point still. But this is only usually prescribed to folk who are statistically more likely to be susceptible to the risk of HIV infection (as opposed to those working in the medical profession).

Edited December 15 by nenehcherry2