Rewatching The Early Years

[Bobby Forever Missed]

9 minutes ago, adam436 said:

Didn't he also film a scene where someone found him on the floor of the Macklin office? It's been a while since I watched those episodes, but I don't think we ever actually saw Tom collapse.

We didn’t the scene showed Gordon Macklin leaving the office and talking to Pippa as she came into the foyer Pippa walks into the office and finds Tom collapsed 

[nenehcherry2]

2 hours ago, adam436 said:

Didn't he also film a scene where someone found him on the floor of the Macklin office? It's been a while since I watched those episodes, but I don't think we ever actually saw Tom collapse.

Correct... Unless they used a life-like, waxwork model of Oakley (unlikely in 1989)

[cymbaline]

I was a teenager when Tom died and at that time, many of my schoolfriends were avid Home and Away fans. We used to talk about it in school and amongst ourselves. I don't remember Tom's death making a huge impact. Yes, we were all talking about Tom being dead in school the next day but soon our attention was drawn elsewhere. I think we all liked Tom and would've preferred if he stayed around. But once he was gone, he was gone. We related more to the kids who were our own age or a bit older, not people who were the same age as our parents. Also, most teenagers have thankfully never lost a parent so they can't relate to it, nor do they want to go there. 

To be honest I see Pippa's head change as a more iconic moment. In the lead-up to that, I'd cringed like nothing on earth at the scenes between VanPip and Flathead. I love both characters but they never ever belonged together .  Having to get used to a new Pippa took a bit of work and they were right to bring in Michael to reboot everything

[nenehcherry2]

5 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I was a teenager when Tom died and at that time, many of my schoolfriends were avid Home and Away fans. We used to talk about it in school and amongst ourselves. I don't remember Tom's death making a huge impact. Yes, we were all talking about Tom being dead in school the next day but soon our attention was drawn elsewhere. I think we all liked Tom and would've preferred if he stayed around. But once he was gone, he was gone. We related more to the kids who were our own age or a bit older, not people who were the same age as our parents. Also, most teenagers have thankfully never lost a parent so they can't relate to it, nor do they want to go there. 

To be honest I see Pippa's head change as a more iconic moment. In the lead-up to that, I'd cringed like nothing on earth at the scenes between VanPip and Flathead. I love both characters but they never ever belonged together .  Having to get used to a new Pippa took a bit of work and they were right to bring in Michael to reboot everything

I have friends (who don't really know how much I love early H&A) who STILL talk about the Pippa swap. And they were only casual viewers of the show. It really was a big moment (especially here in the UK where face swaps of regular characters were still very unusual, pre-Emmerdale's Sarah Sugden). 

PS they usually get Tom and Michael muddled up too! 

Things that stood out to them besides stalwart characters (e.g. "iconic"):-

Everything about Bobby

Pippa swap

Shane & Angel 

Sophie

Edited July 25 by nenehcherry2

[adam436]

7 hours ago, cymbaline said:

To be honest I see Pippa's head change as a more iconic moment. In the lead-up to that, I'd cringed like nothing on earth at the scenes between VanPip and Flathead. I love both characters but they never ever belonged together .  

I do wonder if that story was cut short when Vanessa left. Her final episode saw Pippa gently letting Donald down, then it was pretty much dropped.

It could have just been a coicindence, but the producers might also have wanted a "clean slate" for the new Pippa. Let Debra settle into the role with a seamless transitition as possible, without an ongoing story having over her.

[Old H&A Fan]

The "Pippa swap", as you call it, would have to rank as one of the most embarrassing cases of glaring appearance changes in the history of any soap. Why couldn't the producers have at least saved face by at least killing "Pippa" off (after killing Tom off), seeing as was impossible for the blonde-haired "Pippa" to work alongside Michael as on-screen husband and wife?

[cymbaline]

14 hours ago, adam436 said:

I do wonder if that story was cut short when Vanessa left. Her final episode saw Pippa gently letting Donald down, then it was pretty much dropped.

It could have just been a coicindence, but the producers might also have wanted a "clean slate" for the new Pippa. Let Debra settle into the role with a seamless transitition as possible, without an ongoing story having over her.

Was there much more to be said once Pippa gently let Donald down? I think that was always going to happen, whether Vanessa stayed on or not. You could see what way that was going and there was only going to be one conclusion. Unless I'm missing anyone, Donald only had one love interest before Marilyn. That was Patricia the ex-nun who taught in the school for a while. He spent a lot of his time single and over the years, his loneliness was touched on a few times. Would viewers have wanted to see Pippa and Donald getting together anyway? Especially so soon after Tom's death? Obviously, all of that went out the window when they had to recast Pippa.

 

14 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

The "Pippa swap", as you call it, would have to rank as one of the most embarrassing cases of glaring appearance changes in the history of any soap. Why couldn't the producers have at least saved face by at least killing "Pippa" off (after killing Tom off), seeing as was impossible for the blonde-haired "Pippa" to work alongside Michael as on-screen husband and wife?

Would you think differently if they'd brought in another blonde actress who was more similar to Vanessa? It doesn't look like finding a similar actress was high on their list of priorities - the two actresses in the frame for the job at the end were Debra and Jackie Woodburne.

Recasting Pippa was the least disruptive solution to the quandary they found themselves in. What were the alternatives? Killing Pippa off 2 months after Tom died and then finding a new Mum & Dad behind the sofa doesn't sound like a great solution either. The alternative, which they probably didn't have time for, would've been to create circumstances that forced Pippa to move away and leave the kids behind. They, let's not forget, were the main stars of the show. Not the oldies. 

Why do you say it was impossible for the original Pippa to work alongside Michael? If Vanessa had stayed on, it's unlikely they'd have introduced a new love interest for Pippa so quickly. It might not have been the same actor either. According to Debra Lawrance, she did chemistry tests with a few actors and they went with Dennis. I can't envisage Vanessa acting opposite Dennis either but they'd simply have given another actor the job. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

It is like blonde Pippa went upstairs to go to bed, then during the night when everyone was asleep, she sneaked off to Yabbie Creek head transplant clinic, and came back in the late early hours and no one batted an eyelid.

Edited July 26 by Homeandawayfan.

[nenehcherry2]

6 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Was there much more to be said once Pippa gently let Donald down? I think that was always going to happen, whether Vanessa stayed on or not. You could see what way that was going and there was only going to be one conclusion. Unless I'm missing anyone, Donald only had one love interest before Marilyn. That was Patricia the ex-nun who taught in the school for a while. He spent a lot of his time single and over the years, his loneliness was touched on a few times. Would viewers have wanted to see Pippa and Donald getting together anyway? Especially so soon after Tom's death? Obviously, all of that went out the window when they had to recast Pippa.

 

Would you think differently if they'd brought in another blonde actress who was more similar to Vanessa? It doesn't look like finding a similar actress was high on their list of priorities - the two actresses in the frame for the job at the end were Debra and Jackie Woodburne.

Recasting Pippa was the least disruptive solution to the quandary they found themselves in. What were the alternatives? Killing Pippa off 2 months after Tom died and then finding a new Mum & Dad behind the sofa doesn't sound like a great solution either. The alternative, which they probably didn't have time for, would've been to create circumstances that forced Pippa to move away and leave the kids behind. They, let's not forget, were the main stars of the show. Not the oldies. 

Why do you say it was impossible for the original Pippa to work alongside Michael? If Vanessa had stayed on, it's unlikely they'd have introduced a new love interest for Pippa so quickly. It might not have been the same actor either. According to Debra Lawrance, she did chemistry tests with a few actors and they went with Dennis. I can't envisage Vanessa acting opposite Dennis either but they'd simply have given another actor the job. 

I totally agree... I've always assumed that Pippa would have been married off again anyways had Vanessa remained in the role  (though perhaps not as quickly) and they'd have casted an actor for "Michael" (had the character even been named that) based on his chemistry etc with Vanessa. 

They'd have already known about Vanessa's upcoming departure from the role at the point of scripting Don's crush, so I don't think that was ever planned to go anywhere... Perhaps it was even all written for the purposes of giving Vanessa one final good story to act out, complete with her trademark facial expressions (maybe even as a thank you for her time in the role)...

Edited July 26 by nenehcherry2

[CaptainHulk]

22 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

The "Pippa swap", as you call it, would have to rank as one of the most embarrassing cases of glaring appearance changes in the history of any soap. Why couldn't the producers have at least saved face by at least killing "Pippa" off (after killing Tom off), seeing as was impossible for the blonde-haired "Pippa" to work alongside Michael as on-screen husband and wife?

Forgot recasts were a bugbear of your along with age gaps, hippies, handymen, young blondes marrying and subsequently falling pregnant, ex-cons going straight or trying to, Doctors, LGBT+ matters...

Was there anything that *didn't* get your goat in the early years?