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

[Homeandawayfan.]

What did not make sense to me, perhaps me alone was how Luke Cunningham never returned to the Bay after his mid 1994 exit. I liked the character a lot and feel he had more mileage. The show also tackled issues surrounding intellectual disability regarding Luke's younger brother Bill. Bill was starved of oxygen when a toddler and almost drowned but never made a full recovery and had learning disabilities. I had a work colleague born in the mid 1940s who was starved of oxygen at birth, and thus at work his mind was never on the job, he was voluble, always telling tales, and often struggled to follow or understand work rules. Also he used to grab people by the arm and got spoken to about it. He could do basic tasks but reminded me of Bill from H&A. My supervisor had little to no patience with this colleague and often put him on jobs where he would work alone so he did not have to be distracted by talking to others.

[CaptainHulk]

3 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

What did not make sense to me, perhaps me alone was how Luke Cunningham never returned to the Bay after his mid 1994 exit. I liked the character a lot and feel he had more mileage. The show also tackled issues surrounding intellectual disability regarding Luke's younger brother Bill. Bill was starved of oxygen when a toddler and almost drowned but never made a full recovery and had learning disabilities. I had a work colleague born in the mid 1940s who was starved of oxygen at birth, and thus at work his mind was never on the job, he was voluble, always telling tales, and often struggled to follow or understand work rules. Also he used to grab people by the arm and got spoken to about it. He could do basic tasks but reminded me of Bill from H&A. My supervisor had little to no patience with this colleague and often put him on jobs where he would work alone so he did not have to be distracted by talking to others.

Was like he like Bill (mainly with Fin) towards Women in particular? 

[Old H&A Fan]

What happened to Ben's best best mate "Dave" (whose voice sounded like Luke Cunningham)?

Why didn't he come back, instead of Pete as an old Army mate when Ben and Carly were shacked up together at the farm?

[CaptainHulk]

1 hour ago, Old H&A Fan said:

What happened to Ben's best best mate "Dave" (whose voice sounded like Luke Cunningham)?

Why didn't he come back, instead of Pete as an old Army mate when Ben and Carly were shacked up together at the farm?

He Buggered off after being little more than a plot device to settle Ben in.

But in 2016, a guy named Atticus Decker who sounded like BOTH Luke and Dave turned up in the bay but copped a bullet.

It is possible to have more than one army mate, ask Alf!

[cymbaline]

8 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

What did not make sense to me, perhaps me alone was how Luke Cunningham never returned to the Bay after his mid 1994 exit. I liked the character a lot and feel he had more mileage. The show also tackled issues surrounding intellectual disability regarding Luke's younger brother Bill. Bill was starved of oxygen when a toddler and almost drowned but never made a full recovery and had learning disabilities. I had a work colleague born in the mid 1940s who was starved of oxygen at birth, and thus at work his mind was never on the job, he was voluble, always telling tales, and often struggled to follow or understand work rules. Also he used to grab people by the arm and got spoken to about it. He could do basic tasks but reminded me of Bill from H&A. My supervisor had little to no patience with this colleague and often put him on jobs where he would work alone so he did not have to be distracted by talking to others.

Luke was axed, along with Roxanne, Tug and Sarah. I hope the story about the actors finding out by reading TV Week isn't true but who knows? I was sorry to see Luke go too. He was a likeable character and they could have done more with him. He was unfortunate to come along in an era when they didn't write well for young adults. The producers must have had plans to turn Luke and Roxy into the next big couple, going by their first appearance in the opening credits. Apart from some Roxy melodrama and him taking Tug under his wing after Bobby's death, I don't remember him doing anything particularly memorable. The Bill story was quite poignant and well done, I thought. It also gave us an idea of where Luke's life would be heading in the medium to longer term, unless they could find some sort of sheltered accommodation for Bill. 

[cymbaline]

4 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

What happened to Ben's best best mate "Dave" (whose voice sounded like Luke Cunningham)?

Why didn't he come back, instead of Pete as an old Army mate when Ben and Carly were shacked up together at the farm?

Would Carly have let him inside the front door? Not that Pete was much of an improvement as it turned out. 

[nenehcherry2]

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Luke was axed, along with Roxanne, Tug and Sarah. I hope the story about the actors finding out by reading TV Week isn't true but who knows? I was sorry to see Luke go too. He was a likeable character and they could have done more with him. He was unfortunate to come along in an era when they didn't write well for young adults. The producers must have had plans to turn Luke and Roxy into the next big couple, going by their first appearance in the opening credits. Apart from some Roxy melodrama and him taking Tug under his wing after Bobby's death, I don't remember him doing anything particularly memorable. The Bill story was quite poignant and well done, I thought. It also gave us an idea of where Luke's life would be heading in the medium to longer term, unless they could find some sort of sheltered accommodation for Bill. 

Nick and Damo were also axed (although Bruce had already long decided to move to the UK to be with his new partner, so perhaps that was partly a mutual decision). 

Apparently Tina/Fin chose to leave though I can't help feeling that she would have been axed eventually had she not quit given how neglected she was in the final half of her stint. 

Lots of underused characters in that 93/4 period, wasn't there? It comes across to me that the senior producers and writers had their "favourites". Nick, Fin and a few others were very "make up the numbers" by that point. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by nenehcherry2

[Bobby Forever Missed]

38 minutes ago, nenehcherry2 said:

Lots of underused characters in that 93/4 period, wasn't there? It comes across to me that the senior producers and writers had their "favourites". Nick, Fin and a few others were very "make up the numbers" by that point. 

I agree with all of this but just to add even as early as 1990 the producers definitely had their favourites Emma and Viv spring to mind from early 1990

[CaptainHulk]

1 hour ago, Bobby Forever Missed said:

I agree with all of this but just to add even as early as 1990 the producers definitely had their favourites Emma and Viv spring to mind from early 1990

Must have crapped themselves when Mouche and Dannii decided to throw in the towel!

I hsd always thought Matt and Tina had "outgrown" their roles but they made a load of guest returns.

 

[cymbaline]

Was Matt/Damian really axed? I always assumed that Damo leaving for university was the logical exit for him. Maybe I'm wrong. Still, somebody behind the scenes must've felt Damian still had potential because he got good storylines when he came back as a guest. Bruce/Nick's exit was far more abrupt and it beggars belief that he'd not return for his father's funeral (offscreen) or his brother's wedding or his brother's funeral. I assume Bruce was living in the UK by then.

Fin was definitely kept on the show for too long. Her exit storyline was very very quick. At the start of her last episode, she got a letter offering her a place on a course. By the time the credits rolled she was gone, with a seemingly random bunch of characters waving her off. Pippa was nowhere to be seen, nor Damian. But her close friends Shane Parrish and Donald Fisher were happy to turn up at the caravan park and say goodbye. It was almost as if somebody woke up one morning and suddenly remembered she was still on the books. Then they got the writers to despatch her as quickly as possible.