Rewatching The Early Years

[nenehcherry2]

10 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

The Australia school system is different to here in the UK as far as I am aware, we have school years starting in September and usually finishing the following July. And they go by people born from 1st Sep to 31 August. So say someone born early September could try to fudge the DOB to 31 August so as to be in the same year as a mate of theirs born in August. That would be hard though, as it is usually the parents or guardians who enroll the pupils. That would have made a great storyline in H&A at some point, a character pretending to be a day or 2 older to get into the same class as a pal. I heard personally that someone once tried that at my old college, and they found he was born 1 Sep not 31 August.

I think Sandra Barlow was also at SBH with Stevo and Lyn, and Sandra was said to be 14 in April 1988. I always thought Stevo was born March 1973.

To be clear, the strict 1st September - 31st August academic year and intake system which you, myself and some others on this forum grew up within is only relevant to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland (equally part of the UK, as it stands) has an entirely different intake system which is more similar to the New South Wales one (as well as many US states) where parents of kids born in certain months have more flexibility regarding which year their kids start school. 

I concur that the England / Wales & NI system is ridiculously inflexible. It's a fact that kids develop at different rates, regardless of chronological age  Believe it or not, I still remember being in Reception year with a couple of (mostly younger) kids still wearing nappies. I kid you not, one was still needing assistance in year 1. In general, those kids went on to be the ones who never caught up, even by GCSE years (sorry to everyone else for this very England-centric point!). They should have had another year in Nursery. Period.

11 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

It's just I remember Stevo being in YR9 with Lynn in 1988, in 1989 in YR11 with Dodge, Viv and Emma and finishes the following year.  It is possible he quietly skipped or a writer cockup.

How interesting. I look out for these things and never noticed a direct mention of him being in year 9 (only the implied scene with him in a classroom with Lynn, which easily might not have been in the context of a lesson). Can't believe I missed that! 

Edited August 1 by nenehcherry2

[Homeandawayfan.]

When H&A first began, it is known Don was quite the antagonist, especially in the pilot when he said he knows plenty of wayward teens who could make Tom Fletcher's life a misery, and trying to get them to commit perjury to put Bobby away, and for the next few months Don did still have these traits, he could even have been a classic case of Short Man Syndrome. But as we know, he mellowed when he became a regular character and Alan's premature death.

[adam436]

There were signs earlier of him showing his softer side before that though: walking Sally back to class after she ran away, helping out at the Pappas farm, his friendship with Ailsa, offering Lynn and Carly a lift home to avoid hitch-hiking etc.

Lance and Martin were also very two-dimensional early on too and developed somewhat as regulars. Certainly not to the extent Donald did though, but they developed beyond bullying Nico, chasing women, money making schemes and trying to avoid work.

Edited August 6 by adam436

[nenehcherry2]

10 hours ago, adam436 said:

There were signs earlier of him showing his softer side before that though: walking Sally back to class after she ran away, helping out at the Pappas farm, his friendship with Ailsa, offering Lynn and Carly a lift home to avoid hitch-hiking etc.

Lance and Martin were also very two-dimensional early on too and developed somewhat as regulars. Certainly not to the extent Donald did though, but they developed beyond bullying Nico, chasing women, money making schemes and trying to avoid work.

Totally agree! Don always rode that bridge between his "dark" and "happy" sides but there were "sub-eras" during which he was definitely oriented on one side of that divide. For the most part, he's prominently shifted in the warmer direction from later 89-early 95 (though he could still be an *ss to his students at the best of times!). But, by then, his role on the show had gone beyond simply a Principal / neighbour and he was now also a family man to some (whether biologically or otherwise) as well as a firm friend to others (e.g. Ailsa).

He definitely goes more towards the dark side again during the 95/6 revamp; I watched the first few weeks of EARLIEST 95 recently and he'd almost become a male Pippa by then!...hanging around SBH to help out when Sally's ran away, helping to reconcile Shane & Ros, constantly hugging Angel and Sam... Only months later, as the show itself enters the "dark side", he's making Shannon's life a misery at school, conniving to have Jack moved to another school to boost the average grade (though it's all balanced with being there for Shangel during Dylan's leukaemia). He definitely goes back to some earlier 88 layers in that period before his romance with Maz kicks off. 

Edited August 6 by nenehcherry2

[cymbaline]

Even so, he had evolved from the two-dimensional character he had been in early '88. Having him backslide in 95/96 wasn't so bad because he was a better-evolved character by then. I was surprised at how cold and nasty Fisher was until they brought Alan in. I'm glad somebody - probably a combination of Norman and the writers - got a handle on Donald and humanised him. I liked how he could be a strict headmaster and a softie in the one episode. I assume that's a tightrope many head teachers have to tread in real life as well. 

[adam436]

On 06/08/2024 at 20:16, nenehcherry2 said:

Only months later, as the show itself enters the "dark side", he's making Shannon's life a misery at school, conniving to have Jack moved to another school to boost the average grade (though it's all balanced with being there for Shangel during Dylan's leukaemia). 

I remember he got into a punch up with Alf in the school corridor at one stage too, but I can't recall why. I think it was because he'd dobbed Curtis into the police after Laura died for something they did prior to her death? 

[nenehcherry2]

1 hour ago, adam436 said:

I remember he got into a punch up with Alf in the school corridor at one stage too, but I can't recall why. I think it was because he'd dobbed Curtis into the police after Laura died for something they did prior to her death? 

Correct. He realised that Curtis and Laura were the ones in the shopping mall. Something about a jacket? 

To be fair, I can imagine 89-4ish Don still thinking it was right for Curtis to face punishment. But he would have gone to Alf and Ailsa with his findings in the first instance, also being more sensitive to Curtis' grief (for them likely to talk him out of pursuing any criminal justice) and not straight to Hale behind their backs, as he did in this case. That felt like very 88 Don behaviour. 

Edited August 7 by nenehcherry2

[CaptainHulk]

14 hours ago, nenehcherry2 said:

Correct. He realised that Curtis and Laura were the ones in the shopping mall. Something about a jacket? 

To be fair, I can imagine 89-4ish Don still thinking it was right for Curtis to face punishment. But he would have gone to Alf and Ailsa with his findings in the first instance, also being more sensitive to Curtis' grief (for them likely to talk him out of pursuing any criminal justice) and not straight to Hale behind their backs, as he did in this case. That felt like very 88 Don behaviour. 

It was the t-shirt and Alf was about to burn it on the grill before Hale turned up. Curtis got cautioned for that

1988 Don was Arresting Officer, Prosecutor, Judge, Jury and Executioner rolled into one.

 

[Chair]

On 28/07/2024 at 08:22, nenehcherry2 said:

The older guy Sally saw was Sean Ellis. I can't remember the daughter's name but I can see her face in my mind 

Sean's daughter was called Daria.

[nenehcherry2]

6 hours ago, Chair said:

Sean's daughter was called Daria.

That was it, thanks!