What things never made sense to you on Home and Away?

[cymbaline]

Bobby's connection with Sam seemed to be far closer and more intense than any other foster parent/child relationship. He became the son she never had and the two of them had a profound effect on each other. She wasn't in Sam's life for a huge amount of time but he still spoke of her years later. He was the son she never had and she became the mum he'd always wanted. Maybe he filled the void in Bobby that had been left after losing her child and she never wanted to foster again. 

I wonder did the powers that be change track after they saw how Nicolle and Ryan worked together? There seems to have been a genuine affection between the two. Maybe they decided to bring in Greg and turn them into a nuclear family? Although Bobby didn't seem to ever look for another foster child, she had taken Tug under her wing before she died. 

[CaptainHulk]

2 hours ago, nenehcherry2 said:

I've never bought him turning 50 in 95. Not only because it doesn't fit with previous mentions of his career history but because Norman Coburn looked 60 when he was 58. Not believable as a 50 year old from that POV alone (never mind, to your point, how old Don also acted).

Same with Ailsa's 50th in 2000. I remember being shocked to the core when I read that on a Teletext (yes, I said that!) synopsis at the time. No offence to Judy Nunn, I'm sure she's a very lovely person and all that, but she looks about five years older than her own age. She could easily have passed for 60 by 2000. So that, in combination with Ailsa acting so conservatively by that time, made her being "50" rather unbelievable to me.

That would all make complete sense and think we're aligned in all of those guesses! But why didn't they incorporate that in the script? Would have been more bearable than Sophie changing nappies or Ryan sitting at the diner counter looking pretty with no purpose at all! Oh wait... Because the writers in the Andrew Howie era didn't give a **** about such details! 

The Girlies didn't care about the latter. MacDougall's looks had them swooning 

[nenehcherry2]

44 minutes ago, CaptainHulk said:

The Girlies didn't care about the latter. MacDougall's looks had them swooning 

And not just the "girlies" either....  

[Homeandawayfan.]

16 hours ago, nenehcherry2 said:

I've never bought him turning 50 in 95. Not only because it doesn't fit with previous mentions of his career history but because Norman Coburn looked 60 when he was 58. Not believable as a 50 year old from that POV alone (never mind, to your point, how old Don also acted).

Same with Ailsa's 50th in 2000. I remember being shocked to the core when I read that on a Teletext (yes, I said that!) synopsis at the time. No offence to Judy Nunn, I'm sure she's a very lovely person and all that, but she looks about five years older than her own age. She could easily have passed for 60 by 2000. So that, in combination with Ailsa acting so conservatively by that time, made her being "50" rather unbelievable to me.

That would all make complete sense and think we're aligned in all of those guesses! But why didn't they incorporate that in the script? Would have been more bearable than Sophie changing nappies or Ryan sitting at the diner counter looking pretty with no purpose at all! Oh wait... Because the writers in the Andrew Howie era didn't give a **** about such details! 

Your response has raised a further point from me (never a good thing!)... Why not show Sam's by Bobby adoption on screen? Rather than it being a retrospective mention a year later. Oh, that's right, to justify the Morag storyline... "She's been after Sam since day one". 

In 1988 Don said he had been teaching for 25 years, this means he started about 1963, no way would be have only been 18 when he started teaching. I think in 1988 Don was about the same age as the actor born 1937, and the writers tripped up with Don being 50 in early 1995 when he could have passed for 60.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Also in 1991, Don said he will be retiring in a few years anyway. If you go by the 1995 birthday, he would only have been 46 in 1991, so would deffo have been too young to be considering retirement. The writers deffo slipped up when Don had his 50th in Feb 1995 as it "aged down" the character, whereas several previous refs to his career duration etc, point to him being around the same age as the actor, born about 1937.

Then again ages and birthdays in H&A have never been consistent. Same for Neighbours. Jim Robinson's age has varied from 1940 to about 1945.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Homeandawayfan.

[nenehcherry2]

On 06/07/2023 at 15:05, Homeandawayfan. said:

Also in 1991, Don said he will be retiring in a few years anyway. If you go by the 1995 birthday, he would only have been 46 in 1991, so would deffo have been too young to be considering retirement. The writers deffo slipped up when Don had his 50th in Feb 1995 as it "aged down" the character, whereas several previous refs to his career duration etc, point to him being around the same age as the actor, born about 1937.

Then again ages and birthdays in H&A have never been consistent. Same for Neighbours. Jim Robinson's age has varied from 1940 to about 1945.

No offence to Norman but it's hard to believe that Don was supposed to be so young. Similar with Ailsa/Judy. The visual age of the actors aged the characters in turn. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

In March 1988 Don said he has been in the game for 25 years so deffo would not have started teaching at 18. And as I said in 1991 he said he would be retiring in a few years, hinting he was well into his 50s in 1991, not a mere 46.

I also agree about Ailsa, she could have passed for 50 in 1988 not 40.

Tom had his 40th birthday in the pilot in Jan 1988 yet his grave said he was born March 1947. He also looked about 47 in 1988 anyway.

 

[cymbaline]

I'm not sure Norman Coburn ever looked young! 

Judy Nunn (born 1945) and Fiona Spence (b. 1946) were in their early to mid-forties when H&A began but both looked far older. The hair....the sensible shoes....the dresses. Even allowing for fashions having changed, I don't think any modern-day fortysomething woman would be seen dead in their outfits. It's also curious that Pippa was older than either of the actresses who played her. Vanessa Downing (b 1958) and Debra Lawrance (b 1957) weren't all that old to be playing a long-married foster mother. 

Tom's middle name was wrong on the headstone too. I just love their attention to detail 

[nenehcherry2]

For me, it wasn't just Ailsa's dress sense, makeup and hairstyles that aged her but, if I'm honest, Judy's face! Judy was born in 1945 but has consistently looked about 5-10 years older. To me at least. That's also my feeling when I watch clips of Sons and Daughters and, on the flip side, more recent pictures. Like in the This Is Your Life with Ray, she genuinely looked like a woman in her mid-late 80s, albeit one who'd kept in good health etc. 

Norman has always looked pretty much bang on his age to me. 

Vanessa and Debra, on the other hand, both looked like women born circa 1957 who'd been aged up by the makeup and wardrobe team. Actually, Debra looks SLIGHTLY older at times but only a little.

 

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

14 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I'm not sure Norman Coburn ever looked young! 

Judy Nunn (born 1945) and Fiona Spence (b. 1946) were in their early to mid-forties when H&A began but both looked far older. The hair....the sensible shoes....the dresses. Even allowing for fashions having changed, I don't think any modern-day fortysomething woman would be seen dead in their outfits. It's also curious that Pippa was older than either of the actresses who played her. Vanessa Downing (b 1958) and Debra Lawrance (b 1957) weren't all that old to be playing a long-married foster mother. 

Tom's middle name was wrong on the headstone too. I just love their attention to detail 

In 1988 Alf was 45 but looked about 58. Also Alf's age has fluctuated a lot. In 1993 his drink driving record on Nick's computer said Alf was born January 1943. But in 1995 he was said to be 47 so born 1947 or 1948. Then he had his 50th in July 2005 so born July 1945. So he was 45 in 1988 and 47 in 1995, I wish I could age that slowly.