What Happened to the Hunters?
After all that voting and subsequent compiling of the results it would be foolish not to learn anything from them. Later on as we get nearer the top end I will go into more depth with some of the successes. However here I'm going to focus on some of the more disappointing results, more specifically the performances of Robbie and Beth.
When we held this contest last time in November 2004, Beth and Robbie had been on Australian for screens for around a year each and in the UK Robbie had recently appeared whilst Beth had been around for a few months. Robbie and Beth each ended up on the outskirts of 10th place. Now neither has made it above 30th place and Beth was extremely lucky to make the top 50 at all. Robbie isn't even the second favourite Hunter anymore, falling to third beyond his two sisters, Kit and Matilda.
Robbie came into the show, rather loud, rather boisterous, but also rather fun. He was different to most of the usual seventeen year old boys on the show. With his glasses he didn't look like he was brought into solely sell millions of magazines to the screaming hordes of sixteen year old girls.
Coral thought Robbie one of her better creations and initially we did as well. However those initial moments that we loved, the naked runs through the bush with Tasha, the inventions gone wrong faded away. Subsequent storylines, subsequent writers took away more and more of originality of Robbie, he had slowly became a Home and Away boy clone.
There have still been the moments of humour, last year we were treated to the delightful donuts storyline. This didn't feel funny, it felt forced and only served to break Robbie and Tasha up for the twentieth time. His faux wedding with Tasha, we didn't feel warm and fuzzy, we just felt annoyed.
Tasha's position hasn't slipped to the same extent, she's been held up by stronger storylines. Whilst Tasha got caught up in a cult, Robbie gets caught up at a nudist camp for a few days. Rumours are abound that Jason Smith is leaving, will time let us remember the Robbie that we first knew and loved or the second Robbie that we didn't love as much.
Beth, is a different story. Beth as a character hasn't changed much. She's still loving, she's still caring. She even has a nemesis now in Amanda. The trouble is that she has moved from being the centre of the show to a character used infrequently. As a mother to the Sutherland's and a husband to Rhys she got a chance to show herself, living in Summer Bay House she drew comparisons with Pippa. Like Pippa she has lost two husbands, and the divorce she went through rather than having her come out the other side all guns blazing she did compartively little.
She has bought a stake in the bar and has served drinks, in a similar way to what Alf has done recently. Tony was brought in, but he's a bit like John Major. Completely grey. Tony and Beth have had a relationship for approximately six months and the most exciting thing to happen during that time is Beth throwing her drink over Amanda.
It's the classic soap syndrome. You get a couple of characters who you know a big players. They have a huge storyline every month. Beth has became a bit-part player, just filling the screentime that they are required to give Clarissa House.
Whilst you are praised for your successes, you learn more from your failures, and over the past two years Robbie and Beth appear to have been two of the biggest.
Alf : Have the flames been doused?
In all soaps, there are characters that become almost as well known as the soap itself. Neighbours originally had Helen Daniels, then in later years Harold Bishop. In Home and Away, you think of Alf Stewart. These characters have stayed around for yonks and in Alf's case, for a Yank as well. Of course staying around doesn't automatically make you a great character.
If you watched Home and Away during the eighties and through into the nineties, a week of Home and Away wouldn't seem to go by without Alf going off at someone or something. Whether it was Luke playing his saxophone, walking in on teenagers playing strip poker or going off at Irene saying something about whisky bottles. Sites and webpages were set up honouring just this.
When Ailsa died in 2000, Alf lost his long time partner and then in 2001 his troublesome Duncan left as well, meaning within just six months Alf had gone from having a family to being a lone ranger.
Since then, in my opinion, the character of Alf has been on a downward slope. Within months of Ailsa dying he was pointlessly kissing an other woman at Leah and Vinnie's wedding. I'll acknowledge that going through a change in your life like Alf has can change the way you look at life, but this is a soap. You can control the way someone reacts to events like this.
I'm not campaigning for Alf to turn into Muhammed Ali, mouthing off whilst punching anyone within reach, that's not Alf either.
Alf is one of the old guys, moaning, complaining at the state of the world. He is not a bad man, in fact quite the opposite, but current Alf justs stands there, serving drinks, doing very little.
For someone so well known, it's a surprise he isn't more popular. He can't even give the "left the show" excuse.
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