Is it the ultimate sin to say you dislike Alf in the early days?

[Sb boy]

I will agree that Alf has lost an edge to him  but he remains the same loveable old grump   It’s just the writers  don’t really give him strong enough stories anymore  he is now reduced to a bit part and is the only reason. I watch the current show   When he is there he just stands around drinking coffee or   Arguing with John  he never really loses it  much  anymore never complains  about the youth  etc 

[adam436]

  On 16/03/2025 at 19:25, Sb boy said:

When he is there he just stands around drinking coffee or   Arguing with John  he never really loses it  much  anymore never complains  about the youth  etc 

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Well there's no youth for him to complain about anymore

[Sb boy]

True  the youngest member of the main cast is probley   Theo and. He is. Mid 20s  I loved it when. Back in. The. Old days. The teens would. Do something. And  Alf would explode  one of the funniest. Moments. Was  back in. 1994  when the  teens think it was Damian and Shane put up his waterbed.  

[CaptainHulk]

  On 17/03/2025 at 08:53, Sb boy said:

True  the youngest member of the main cast is probley   Theo and. He is. Mid 20s  I loved it when. Back in. The. Old days. The teens would. Do something. And  Alf would explode  one of the funniest. Moments. Was  back in. 1994  when the  teens think it was Damian and Shane put up his waterbed.  

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1994 was a year where Alf had QUITE a few comedic mishaps bad back, waterbed, Nick bending his putter ("the first time he lends the flamin' thing!"), Christmas Tree catching aflame, etc

[adam436]

That all sounds very 1994 - probably the least dramatic season of H&A to date

I think another reason we never see "fiery" Alf anymore is because he has little reason to fired up. Whenever he did in the past, it's because people he was sticking up for those he cared about - punching Don for reporting Curtis, Sally's non-wedding to Kieran, defending Ailsa and Roo in 1988 etc. Given the only characters that would get him that fired up now (Roo, Marilyn and to a lesser extent, Leah) don't really get themselves in situations that warrant it, that side of Alf has little reason to come out. 

[Revealed]

I think Big Alf is a legend myself. Every village has a grumpy old man who demands respect because they've lived there all their life. They also tend to be judgmental about anyone who's not from the village. That's exactly who Big Alf is.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Alf was like the Max Ramsay of Summer Bay. If Max had stayed on in Neighbours, I think he would have become more iconic but Max only lasted for just over a year. Actor Francis Bell was getting tired of the demanding role and took sick leave and never returned so max never got a proper farewell scene.

The Ramsay's and Stewart's pretty much founded Erinsborough and Summer Bay, hence why Alf and Max like/liked to always point that out and amusingly use that as leverage, and claim they had fingers in pies due to that.

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

He was hilariously thump-happy back in the early years... Always wanting to punch someone. I didn't like how he was kinda racist when it came to David (Roo's Asian boyfriend).

[Sb boy]

I am rewatching 1994 at the minute. Got up to the part whear  there is graffiti on the wall calling ALf. A NXxx from hell  and jack got the blame  ALf like I said before is my fave ever character and in 1994 he was certainly  at his best  although. The main. Storylines. We’re comedy based  the show was a little slow in 1994 then became great again. From 1995 to. 1997   2000 was a new era 

[Old H&A Fan]

You should have seen him when he ran Blackmoor. He really was a Nazi from hell. And the way he treated Aboriginal social worker Pamela Madigan. When he called her a darkie she slapped him one! And when he was Jim Fletcher's Army mate until Mr Fletcher and Meg double-crossed him. Mr Fletcher paid, with a flamin' bomb delivery. It destroyed his family, blew them to smithereens. Then when Alf came to Summer Bay, he became Craven-lite.