Home and Away's lack of Returnee Characters

[adam436]

14 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

It feels like there's a lot of "excepts" here. "Since Sally's departure, there's been no returns of characters from the first 20 years except Kane and Kirsty, Pippa, Shelley, Sally, Morag, Celia, Colleen, Marilyn, Roo recast, Olivia recast, Duncan recast, Quinn recast, Martha recast technically and Dmitri." And maybe some others that I've forgotten.

There was also Gypsy and Will in that period too, who I'd say were trashed by their return story. 

I think it's the way they've been used more so than how many have returned:

• Shelley Sutherland only appeared in a few scenes, despite Kirsty being in the show for 18 months
• Duncan Stewart - I have no issue with the recast, but more so the way he was used. 
• Quinn Jackson - I can't recall how her previous stint ended, but from memory she's had nothing to do with Alf for 25 years and then suddenly shows up on his doorstep to dump her son on him. I applaud the producers for remembering she exists, but because of her and Alf's relationship, it was definitely a convivence thing more so than trying to bring back a legacy character. I've got no issue with recast, since she was only a minor character in her first stint. 
• Dimitri - only a minor character so I'm not sure we can fairly count him here. It's great they got the original actor back, but I feel that comes down to Ada's relationship with Salvatore Coco and probably mentioned it to the producers moreso than the writers appeasing long-time fans. 
• Celia was ruined by her return story
• I struggled with Olivia's return because she was the same age as VJ, who was born over 3 years later. I'd also say they threw James under the bus for the sake of the story too. 
• Sally's return wasn't great - after all the tragedy in her life, it's a shame to think that continued after leaving Summer Bay 
• Roo was recast, so essentially a new character for me. They share the same history, but I struggle to view them as the same character. That would be my argument if they recast Finn or Damien too, which I'm fine with to be honest if it gives Irene a purpose. 
• Pippa's 2009 was not the best - Debra Lawrence explains why in the Soap from the Box podcast.

 

14 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

I certainly accept that the current show is reluctant to acknowledge its past, and there are certainly characters from that era who'd have a reason to come back, but I think there's a certain snobbishness about acting as though the characters from the first 20 years are all sacred icons and bringing back someone who only debuted 10 years ago doesn't count.

As I said, I think it's the way those early years have been used upon their return. I think to fit into the current show, the returning characters have to be given such storyines in order to fit into the current format. Will, Gypsy and Celia are hardly going to return for a nostalgic visit to see Alf and Irene, are they? Which is fine if that's the producers' stance, but I'd rather such characters not return at all and live happily-ever-after then be brought back to be treated the way Will, Gypsy, Sally etc. were. 

It's not like there is a disproportionate number of returning characters from the Lucy Addario years anyway: we've only had Jett Palmer on a few occasions, Heath and Bianca (who I imagine have an open invitation to return because they are Braxtons), Angelo Rosetta and then Bella for Nikau's exit. It's not even like more recent characters like the Ben, Maggie, Willow, Brody, Raffy, Ryder, Olivia etc. ever returned for a visit after they left, despite having connections to the current characters. 

 

7 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

They should not have bought Martha back from the dead, trashing Alf's character as well, or dookied on Irene and Marilyn like they have in recent years.

I found Marilyn's storyline quite offensive because much of her second stint revolved around her and Don trying to get pregnant and having a baby. It pretty much ruined her and Don's marriage for me in the same way the Martha secret did for Alf and Ailsa. 

Edited May 4 by adam436

[Red Ranger 1]

9 hours ago, adam436 said:

I found Marilyn's storyline quite offensive because much of her second stint revolved around her and Don trying to get pregnant and having a baby. It pretty much ruined her and Don's marriage for me in the same way the Martha secret did for Alf and Ailsa. 

Maybe it's because I've never been a huge Marilyn fan (or a fan of her and Donald together) but I found it completely in character, and I think it definitely adds an extra layer to her obsessiveness with having a baby, both during that second stint and during more recent years, to know that she had a child out there who she'd chosen to cut off and pretend didn't exist and that she was trying to bury those feelings by focusing on some second chance at motherhood.

[Homeandawayfan.]

In a way it is probably good that H&A is not brimming with returnees, as soaps nowadays tend to mess up returnees like Neighbours has done to some extent. However I could envisage original school wild child Alison Patterson returning after 35 years or so, on crystal meth, Sarah Lewis style, and holding up the school with a machine gun.

[adam436]

11 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

In a way it is probably good that H&A is not brimming with returnees, as soaps nowadays tend to mess up returnees like Neighbours has done to some extent. 

I agree. The current producers have little regard for history that it's probably best to leave legendary past characters in the past.

We've seen with some characters like Don, Pippa, Will and Gypsy how returnees can be messed up and they returned in an era where history was more respected.

[cymbaline]

Bringing a character back seems to be a tricky business at the best of times. Usually, a character has been put through so many things during their time on the show, there isn't much more left for them to do. Or they give long-running characters such as Pippa and Donald a nice exit storyline. Everything is nicely tied up in a bundle until it isn't. The writers seem to want to do something bigger and badder to give the return some impact. Maybe it's part of why a departed actor might like to come back. There's also the issue of who the returnee can hang around with. If their friends have moved on, all they're left with is Alf and his buddies. 

[adam436]

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Or they give long-running characters such as Pippa and Donald a nice exit storyline. Everything is nicely tied up in a bundle until it isn't. 

I think that's probably they were reluctant to give Pippa more than just appearing for Sally's life events. She didn't come back to stay with Sally because she was running away from Ian or needed money. They kept her ending happy. They pretty much did for Donald too up until his final return. 

 

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Bringing a character back seems to be a tricky business at the best of times. Usually, a character has been put through so many things during their time on the show, there isn't much more left for them to do. 

Steven Matheson's return worked because he was in a different stage of his life. He'd been through so many things during his time, but he'd left as a teenager and returned as a teacher, so there was fresh story ideas for him. Marilyn had equally been through so much, but because she had such a long hiatus between her second and third regular stints, there was also plenty of fresh stories for her. 

 

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

There's also the issue of who the returnee can hang around with. If their friends have moved on, all they're left with is Alf and his buddies. 

Again, Marilyn worked. Upon her return, the only remaining regulars were from her last appearance were Alf and Irene. She also knew Colleen because she was engaged to Lance, and Morag, though I can't remember how frequently she was appearing at that point. 

Good writing or a well-developed character quickly will quickly re-assimilate into the new cast anyway, and probably only need to have the stalwarts hold their hand for the first few episodes anyway. This happened with Marilyn and Steven in 1995 before Marilyn moved into the Beach House, and Steven became friends with Travis and Kelly. 

[hapitoby]

53 minutes ago, adam436 said:

I think that's probably they were reluctant to give Pippa more than just appearing for Sally's life events. She didn't come back to stay with Sally because she was running away from Ian or needed money. They kept her ending happy. They pretty much did for Donald too up until his final return. 

 

Steven Matheson's return worked because he was in a different stage of his life. He'd been through so many things during his time, but he'd left as a teenager and returned as a teacher, so there was fresh story ideas for him. Marilyn had equally been through so much, but because she had such a long hiatus between her second and third regular stints, there was also plenty of fresh stories for her. 

 

Again, Marilyn worked. Upon her return, the only remaining regulars were from her last appearance were Alf and Irene. She also knew Colleen because she was engaged to Lance, and Morag, though I can't remember how frequently she was appearing at that point. 

Good writing or a well-developed character quickly will quickly re-assimilate into the new cast anyway, and probably only need to have the stalwarts hold their hand for the first few episodes anyway. This happened with Marilyn and Steven in 1995 before Marilyn moved into the Beach House, and Steven became friends with Travis and Kelly. 

Well said. I even found Sally effortlessly assimilate in her brief return in 2013 - and that was when it was very heavy crime and Braxton centric. I also found Heath and Bianca's return in 2016 very natural despite all the rest of the family had left (except Irene). Granted both examples new other characters but I felt they're well developed characters, the transition was seamless.

[cymbaline]

Steven and Marilyn are exceptions to the general rule and neither had been trashed to death during their first run. The break definitely gave them the chance to reboot and come back as different people. Steven as a young man who had lost his way a bit, and Marilyn as a divorced woman who had had to grow up. I wasn't watching H&A by the time the 10's came around so I can't comment on Sally's return, nor Heath and Bianca. 

I thought Haydn Ross was a good returning guest character but he had the luxury of still having some familiar faces around. He exploited his dad's guilt over his shortcomings as a father, and created some long-lasting drama for the Rosses. Then when he came back after Michael's death, somebody remembered his past connection to Marilyn. 

Some of the returns were pretty bad. They brought Chloe back just so they could kill her off. Donald Fisher's ex-wife turning into a psycho was definitely a WTF moment too. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

I did not watch Sally's 2013 return but some viewers reckon "H&A died when she returned" but I am not sure what they mean by that, as I did not watch the episodes.

[adam436]

12 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Some of the returns were pretty bad. They brought Chloe back just so they could kill her off. Donald Fisher's ex-wife turning into a psycho was definitely a WTF moment too. 

Will and Gypsy's was amongst the worst too. 

Chloe's death made little sense to me - Other than generating some hype for the 4000th episode by publicising that "someone would die", the only purpose her death served was to facilitate Jesse's exit, which could have been achieved with him killing a random guest character. But then Jesse's exit made no sense either - he could have simply moved away to be closer to his daughter, or got a happy ending with either Chloe or Josie, who was written out at the same time.