As the year draws to a close, we look back at what we liked and disliked in 2007.
BTTB-ROX!
2007, in my opinion, was a strange year. We had a great beginning, a slightly boring mid-year and quite a good end to the season. The first episode of the season was as much of a cliff hanger as the last episode of 2006 was. We were put out of our misery as to whether Sally would survive when she woke up in the second episode of the season. From then on, there were some brilliant storylines. But something happened somewhere down the track, and I didn't feel as interested in the show. Reams of guests started appearing (with some of them being interesting characters and others being a bit bland), the never-ending Jack and Martha saga continued to get on my nerves and overall... my interest had started to flag. However, slowly but surely, my interest started coming back. That takes us to the week of Beth's death. It was advertised in Aussie promos as 'The Big Week' and for me...half of that week delivered. It gave characters such as Tony a chance to shine, and it opened up a whole stream of storyline possibilities. But the aftermath of Beth's death was a slight letdown. As if having her funeral off-screen wasn't bad enough - 4 episodes after her death - some of the teens held a party on the beach. That to me was one of the worst moments of 2007. Nevertheless, Beth's death was a good (and emotional) storyline and a sad end for someone who once had a central role in the show but had been taking a backseat for quite a while.
We saw some amazing performances from the likes of Kate Ritchie, Amy Mathews, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Sivewright, Indiana Evans and Mark furze, in 2007, just to name a few. While these actors were amazing us with their performances, others were being forgotten. I'm not going to name them, as I'm sure you know who they are, but some strong storylines for the characters that have been neglected are seriously needed.
In 2007, we witnessed numerous departures, a couple of weddings, some very sad deaths, reams of guests flogging in, hundreds of break-ups, etc. but throughout all of that...the year had a fairly relaxed feel to it. Whereas 2006 was full of non-stop drama and explosions (with some hating the year and other's loving it), 2007 was different. The characters were explored properly and instead of the storylines leading the show, the characters were.
The season finale received very mixed reactions, but I thought it was one of the best the show had seen in a long time. It left me wondering, and I wanted to know more.
For me, and I'm sure others will have a different opinion, 2007 will go down in H&A history as a great year. I wouldn't say it was incredible, but it certainly wasn't bad. Relationships between various characters were explored, storylines were mostly led by the characters, and, except for a few dull parts here and there, I enjoyed watching the show. Long live 'Home and Away', I say!
EMMASI
Kim left in disgrace, Dan left without anyone noticing or caring, Jules left, then came back, then left again, and Rocco up and died. 2007 was not a good year for me.
Ric and Mattie, for the most part, bored me to tears. Belle destroyed a much-loved relationship with Lucas, and Lucas degenerated into an amoral ball of contempt. He finally purged the bad vibes in a gut-wrenching display of grief when Lisa died (reminiscent of Tony crying for Beth) in what was probably my favourite scene of the year.
The car crash, and the introduction of Jazz, allowed Drew to become a legitimate, purposeful character. His determination to keep Belle safe from Dom made for one of the best episodes of the year, "I Know What You Did Last (Night in) Summer (Bay)."
"Michael's" return would have been great if the writers hadn't completely erased "Jonah" for the purpose of creating a not-too-controversial boyfriend for Martha. Why she couldn't just stay a drug-addled pole dancer with Cam, I'll never know.
The Campbells were different. Geoff was pretty, but dull - then he snapped and got himself a shotgun. That, along with the delightful "tension" he built up with Lucas and Aden, made him a lot more interesting. And Annie had a dog!
Meanwhile, Jack was lured into an instant family, only to have his beautiful son and a reasonable wife switched out for a whiny little brat and a succubus/she-devil. Poor Jack. Poor me...
Sally's epic story lines left me pretty cold. I think she did her best work bleeding to death in the school car park on day one. Certainly Rocco's heartbreaking scenes of remorse, and his tragic, senseless death, were among the most memorable of the year, if not series.
FRANKIE
2007 was an odd year indeed. It had several script producers and it showed; it had been left with with some messy story lines from 2006, and brought some more in for 2007. The beginning of the year with the will Sally live cliffhanger was so over done it was risable, but that's promo departments for you.
Lets start with the negatives. At times the show has been dominated by Jack and Martha at the expense of others and in my view this has made the show feel unbalanced. Many characters have been ignored, and were just used as fillers for example Irene, Leah, Alf, Colleen and others. Those that have not been ignored have been given personality transplants to suit a story line, for example Kit. They also turned Rachel into a harridin for that storyline. The story lines might just as well have been a set of sketches at times and totally unrelated as the people of Summer Bay and the generations, and the family members barely acknowledged each others existence. At times there was little to make one care what happened to any one.
On the plus side during the year there were "moments" which touched you, or which were memorable because of the performance of the actor. Rocco stabbing Sally, Ric going to Jail, Tony seeing Beth's body, Matilda's speech at her memorial, and a lot of Belle's scenes. Jazz was a memorable comic turn, I liked Michael/Jonah although they failed to use all the potential they had with this character; the introduction of the Campbell's was interesting, as they are different from the conveyor belt bronzed cloned teenagers that are usually churned out. Ditto Dom. The newcomers all look interesting and it is very evident that they are now employing good actors rather than just going for the hunks. Roman and Milco are intriguing.
Overall it was good in parts but it was not one which I will remember a great deal about. I remember a lot more from previous years than I do from last year to be honest.
RYAN
When it came to write this feature, I tried to thinking what my favourite part of 2007 was and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was ultimately nearly all mediocre. The much-hyped "Biggest Week of Home and Away" turned into a damp squib with Beth's death treated abysmally and I can't say I cared much about Kit passing out in the bush as she gave birth. The week then had some stolen alcohol before Matilda was washed out to sea. Saying that my bright spot of 2007 arrived around that time, Jules. He was a breath of fresh air amongst a group of rather boring teenagers and for his troubled few months brought a sense of much needed excitement to said group. It was rather depressing when he was ran out of town by a character as abysmal as Jazz. It was a year that that corrected some of the faults of previous years, but in doing so rather meandered without any meaning throughout the year.
However, I will focus on what I consider the worst part of 2007 - the aftermath of Beth's death. Death off-screen need not be a cop-out if the characters react in a proper manner. However nearly everything about Beth's death went wrong. Firstly it was given full-billing, it had to share the episode with Kit giving birth. The writers might have though it was a good idea, but it didn't work and we got a half-arsed attempt at both. Everyone in the episode was in the room when Beth's death was announced: about six of them. Everyone else in the Bay appeared in later episodes apparently unperturbed that their friend had been flattened. Then there was no grief, just a few scenes of people looking miserable and then the Hunter/Holden family doing bizarre things and they were all somehow related back to Beth's death, despite no apparent reason for that to be such. Well, lets hope the mistake are learned for the next time.
SKYKAT
have to agree with the others that 2007 was a mixed year. It returned with a great cliffhanger as to whether Sally lived or died and even when she did, the storylines continued to be gripping over Rocco's death and Ric's imprisonment. The family scenario in The Caravan Park House continued to be a highlight of Home and Away this year. After a good start though, the middle of the year will go down for me as being distinctly unmemorable.
There was some good acting but in all this year was ruined for me by repetitive storylines and changing characters for the sake of things. The endless tedium of Jack and Martha meant I genuinely stopped caring about them at all by the end of the year. Chracters such as Kit, Sam and Rachel were destroyed for the sake of other characters and bland storylines. High drama departures such as Beth's were disappointing and a huge let down as major character departures.
There were very few new characters introduced this year but a number of guest characters who were bought in, had good storylines and were then forgotten. Jazz and jules were good creations but very few others remain memorable. Annie and Geoff Campbell were interesting creations, being different from the usual teenagers.
Ric and Matilda lost a lot of their zest this year and Drew and Belle seemed to go through the same tedious storylines over and over again.
Irene, Dan, Leah were all very much underused but characters like Tony, in the aftermath of Beth's death, really shone. His grief was well acted and believable and the way he bounced from one destructive mess to another in women like Naomi and Jazz.
Towards the end of the year things did start to pick up, Kim's exit saw Rachel reinvent herself as the intelligent person I had liked from the start as opposed to the whiny housewife she had started to become. Sally's jilting Brad at the altar and little Pippa's accident gave Kate Ritchie another chance to shine, she's so much better when not in that Pippa, mother earth role. Alf too benefitted from stronger storylining and it was good to see Irene take Annie under her wing. The hospital stalker storyline had me gripped and new characters like Miles and Roman are interesting and different.
Overall I'm tempted to agree with everyone else, 2007 started well dipped in the middle but started to pick up again towards the end.