Irene Roberts - Lynne McGranger

[Homeandawayfan.]

If I was a writer or producer I would certainly ditch the current format and return H&A to its roots. Not eradicate totally but severely cut down on the crime stories and ditch the very harsh unbearable underscore music. And as others have said, I'd elevate Irene to prominent character status again.

[Gazza]

JamesC10 - I completely agree. Maybe when the Braxton era comes to an end, we will hopefully see the return of a more character driven ensemble storylines. Irene has been criminally underused in previous years. I think her last major storyline was the cancer storyline but that fizzled out too prematurely. One aspect of that storyline with which I could never understand, is why was there no reference to Belle, and again no connection to the unanswered development site. I absolutely loved her relationships with Belle, Geoff, Annie, and Aden. They were so refreshing real, and the dynamics between all the actors lit up the screen, making them a pleasure to watch. Oh how I miss those type of scenes. Writers, please let Irene's character return to her mothering/fostering roots helping troubled, wayward kids turn their lives around.

i would love to see Irene how she used to be with the fostering it's a part of the bay that I miss there has been some very good characters come through that have been fostered by Pippa and Irene. I would also love a return of her children even just for a few episodes I know Lynne would like this and I think Irene deserve's a special episode like the 4000th for Alf's 60th.

[alexx]

j.laur5, on 08 Feb 2015 - 6:23 PM, said:

I like Irene being prim and proper!.

It's completely out of character if you look at who she was/where she came from. Irene was a working class woman with working class ideologies.

I just don't think people like Irene change as dramatically as she has in H&A and lose pretty much all of the characteristics that gave the character so much life in the first place, particularly because all of those changes took place within ten years without any reason on screen. I just think it's bad writing and inconsistent writing. When Dan Bennett came on board the flow of characterisation and consistency was damaged and Irene was one of the victims of that I think.

But Irene's character has always been changing and she may be happy to become prim and proper.

But that is just your guess, it hasn't been address on screen or as part of the character development. It's just happened without explanation or reason.

Edited February 9, 2015 by alexx

[Blaxland 89]

The current writers seem to have no idea who Irene is as a person and what makes her tick. You're right Alexx. People do change but not in this way. She always felt like a very real person before. I just don't think they have it in them to write like that anymore.

The current writers seem to have no idea who Irene is as a person and what makes her tick. You're right Alexx. People do change but not in this way. She always felt like a very real person before. I just don't think they have it in them to write like that anymore. There a big difference between character development and change of character. Late 90s Irene differed from when she first came in it. But fundamentally she was the same person.

[alexx]

There a big difference between character development and change of character. Late 90s Irene differed from when she first came in it. But fundamentally she was the same person.

I think that's the point. We saw Irene develop realistically so that by the time she went to uni in the early 00's we believed that it took a lot of hard work and she was very humble that the working class, once alcoholic Irene was now a uni student.

But like I said, once 2005 came around (with the arrival of Dan Bennett) all of that character development went out of the window and she's just become someone completely different now, she's not even a shadow of her former self, she's a new character. I think the writers don't write for Irene anymore, they write with Lynne McGranger's personalty in mind.

They've tried in the past few years to incorporate elements back into the character like her country and western singing, but it falls flat because it's used as a short term plot device instead of genuinely writing Irene as Irene on a consistent basis.

Edited February 9, 2015 by alexx

[JamesC10]

It looks like we are going to find out more about Irene's backstory according to recent episodes?? I'm thrilled for Lynne McGranger because Irene has been a background charactr for years. Can't wait to see more of Irene's storyline. 

[AlfFISHER]

So if she was pregnant as a teen all those years sgo, will we see the now-adult son or daughter come into the show?

Random thought/speculation - perhaps her child is a current character....Greg Snelgrove would perhaps fit the age profile, although there would perhaps not be enough resemblance between the actors/characters to pull that one off.

[omega_tango]

So watching the latest episodes and I think there was a continuity error with Irene. She was talking to Claire in the beach and mentioned her kids Finlay, Damien and Nathan. 

The problem is she said Damien was the eldest. Nathan was the eldest, Finlay was the middle child and Damien waa the youngest. Bit of a whoops there! Did anyone else notice this?

[joany208121]

3 hours ago, omega_tango said:

So watching the latest episodes and I think there was a continuity error with Irene. She was talking to Claire in the beach and mentioned her kids Finlay, Damien and Nathan. 

The problem is she said Damien was the eldest. Nathan was the eldest, Finlay was the middle child and Damien waa the youngest. Bit of a whoops there! Did anyone else notice this?

this was mentioned in the Week 5 discussion thread

[omega_tango]

Thanks, must've missed it!