Do you think they'd have ever axed Pippa?

[nenehcherry2]

17 hours ago, cymbaline said:

That's a fair comment. They were probably always going to get rid of the fostering and the teens eventually. Which brings us back to a version of the original question I asked. Would Pippa have been a casualty of the pivots towards the Braxtons and latterly, the adults-only cast we have now? If you remove Pippa's role as mum to the kids of Summer Bay, she doesn't have a lot going for her really. Is it fair to say that she'd have become increasingly irrelevant and if she was in that group of long-term characters today, she'd be the weakest of them. 

This is so true. Whilst both incarnations of Pippa each had their unique nuances, she was always fundamentally a "Mum", followed by "Wife". Her degree of characterisation wasn't strong enough to generate storylines in itself; it was her ROLE in the show which did this (as well as her being absolutely p****d on by life itself). Her characterisation came into play more as a reaction to her husbands' or kids' issues (e.g. her aloofness when Sophie wanted to give up Tammy). 

That said (assuming she was around in the post-fostering era), her longevity and what she HAD been in the past (as well as all the heartbreak she'd suffered along the way) would have kept her well-loved by the longer term fans to still want her around. But, she'd have had to either evolve into a more independent type (e.g. career-driven) to whom bad things keep happening or just be another Alf, Irene, Roo, Leah etc type (I don't watch the current show but my understanding from this forum is that they're very much supportive to the 20/30 somethings?). To avoid Debra becoming an expensive waste of Channel 5, ahem Seven, payroll. "The Bill Roache of Australia" springs to mind.

Edited August 24 by nenehcherry2

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

I could see Pippa return to nursing after handing over the reigns of fostering to someone else and still living in the Summer Bay House OR living in her own little flat, still to this day even, I can even see Pippa giving advice to the likes of Bree, Xander and Harper during their careers in the hospital.

[Homeandawayfan.]

If Pippa was around, she'd be the Susan Kennedy of the bay. I feel Irene is the closest to that.

Ironic to think "Susan Kennedy" almost became Pippa decades ago. Jackie Woodburne auditioned twice but lost out. And another unknown actress apparently auditioned.