Red Ranger 1

So yep, Kirby's gesture, while very much welcomed by Remi, went down like a lead balloon with Bree.I guess at least it's forced Bree to be honest about how she feels but ultimatums can backfire.I guess my feeling is that Bree probably has a point, but no more than she had before the accident.Motorcyclists are vulnerable but the chances of Remi having another accident are fairly remote.(Okay, I guess living in Summer Bay makes it more likely but still.) I'm assuming good intentions from Felicity here. Despite Cash seeming to assume that, I don't think she saw this as a way to win back Tane, i think it was genuinely motivated by wanting to do something for him, possibly with a bit of guilt in there.I forgot that she and Cash had been fostered, which adds another dimension to it.I think in Felicity's mind she'd foster the baby for a bit, with Tane helping out, then once Tane was approved she'd hand Maia over to him.Cash eventually found the right argument, helping her see this is a bigger commitment than she's willing to make. It really is Irene's month for putting her foot in it: First dropping Dana in it with Harper, and now dropping Leah and Justin in it with John. John was typically indiscreet but did manage to provide Justin with a decent ear afterwards.

We do get at least some insight into Tane's thought processes here: He sees it as traditional to take in and care for a baby that needs someone like that and can't really grasp the way other people see it, even with Roo trying to get him to put himself in the mother's shoes. (I assume Rose did manage to log the donations for Maia before Roo turned up at the hospital with them in the very next scene!) Felicity seems to be about the only one who can see his point of view, but then she hasn't seen as much as the others.She didn't look entirely committed while looking up foster care at the end: I think it might be the guilt talking there, given she's denied Tane one opportunity to be a parent and can now do it in another way.But really, I can't see that ending any different. Theo was absolutely pathetic here, using every trick in the book to get his next fix and, frustratingly, succeeding.I don't know what Valerie was playing at: Even from a solely self-preservation viewpoint, Leah and Justin aren't going to see any difference between her giving Theo drugs herself and helping him get them from someone else.

Tane continues to be a bit over-involved in this and the other characters don't quite seem to know how to react.It's all right saying family's everything to him, but the newly christened Maia isn't his family.And he seems to be jumping to unnecessary conclusions about the people who are, despite Harper and Rose trying to keep him grounded.Mackenzie and Mali made an attempt at airing their concerns but it fell on deaf ears, so it's probably smart for them to back off for now.Tane volunteering his services as a foster carer wasn't the worst idea in the world, although I'm not sure he fully grasped the part where he had to be ready to give her up if her family turned up. I know Valerie hasn't exactly behaved responsibly, but it does seem as though, for the most part, she's just been using the pills to get her through rough patches.Theo seems to have quickly reached the point where he needs them to do normal everyday things and, while she's not entirely selflessly motivated given her worry of people noticing, Valerie's right to cut him off.

I had to check you were right but yes, closest we get is Roo saying "my daughter".

Alf's episode count this week:Three. They obviously had to make room for him: Irene, Leah, Justin and Dana were the only other ones to make three and Marilyn didn't appear at all! Well, the other characters are expressing concern about Tane, especially Mackenzie and Mali. He is coming across as a bit...obsessed? Along with talking with authority about parenthood in the way only a non-parent can.Rose is coming across as a lot more measured, worrying about both the baby and the parent.It was good to see everyone coming together to help her:Alf, Roo and John have become quite the unit! I did like that chat between Alf and Roo, but I'm glad Roo pointed out this isn't the same thing: She didn't abandon Martha and was frantic to find her when she went missing. Valerie gets her first obligatory bikini scene! If she and Theo are trying to keep their relationship on the downlow, then kissing on the beach isn't exactly being discreet.I'm not sure how much of a point Kirby has, although I can't blame her for being concerned about what Theo's getting himself into.Valerie's defiance certainly crumbled when she saw Kirby with Rose and realised what exactly she could do if she doesn't play ball. Aside from her concern for Tane...what exactly is Mackenzie on? I mean, I don't trust Levi and I'm not entirely convinced by his offer to leave Imogen for her, which did feel a bit like him telling her what he thought she wanted to hear. But...what exactly did she want to hear? She doesn't want him to be serious about his wife, but she doesn't want him to leave her either, but she whines about not getting to see him. Frankly it's hard to take her breaking things off seriously given her track record: This must be at least the third time she's said "That's it" and in the past she's been back in his arms pretty soon after.

Those were some fairly excruciating chats between Xander and Dana. Xander was doing his best to be nice about it but didn't really manage to backtrack on the humiliation.It sounds like he actually does like her but doesn't want to ruin their friendship, and doesn't have his sister and Irene giving him "Be bold!" speeches. Dana did seem a bit more relaxed when they chatted later: Possibly she has other things on her mind but hopefully that's them on an even keel.Maybe Xander will end up getting his dog to go with the Matheson sisters' cats. Alf seemed to be trying to get John and Roo to cut it out and stop being silly but in the end had to resort to telling them the truth.I kind of wish he'd given Roo more of a serve:Instead, he settles for putting the fear of God, or rather Alf, into John and letting Roo off the hook because she gives a speech about how great he is.It's one of the unwritten rules of the show that, whenever the plot calls for it, Alf has unlimited funds at his disposal.No sign of Banjo among the bronze medallion recipients (most of whom didn't get awards or names because they're not main characters...):Guess he really has just disappeared in a throwaway line never to be seen again. After all his recent obsession with having a family, Tane has an abandoned baby drop in his lap.Guess that's Mali's night out off then.I had to smile at the crying noises being dubbed onto the perfectly content looking baby.

So...the mystery donor is Alf? That's a bit of an anti-climax after all the names we were throwing about! Oh well, at least we get the prospect of him ripping a hole in Roo and John for being a pair of flaming galahs... It was grossly unfair of Mackenzie to leave Felicity to break the news to Xander about her rejecting his idea and, it seems, him.Felicity definitely seems to be being the grown-up at the moment, once again showing that the days of her being Cash's irresponsible sister are long gone (well, you know, except when the storyline requires her to be) as she's sorted while he hasn't even got a job now. Has he ever slept this week? He seemed to come off shift, spend hours hanging around Salt with Felicity, then go back to work! Justin handled things extremely well with Leah. I don't know if we should be worried about her going back to the clinic or not: The fact it's only a week suggests it's mostly an excuse to have Leah off screen now she's done her three episodes for the week! Irene really can be a blabbermouth at times. We get some more nice sibling banter between cat ladies Harper and Dana before Harper makes the mistake of encouraging Dana on very little evidence, leading to her being humiliated.

James and Juliet?

Justin really doesn't learn, does he? He knows Leah's in a fairly fragile state but he just had to insist on going from 0 to 60, wanting to get all the wedding plans in place straightaway and shout it from the rooftops. It's a shame because Leah did seem happy, and everyone they told did seem happy for them, Irene's quiet word aside. Hopefully this wobble won't last long. Definitely Mackenzie's turn to be the grouchy and unreasonable one among the Salt owners, with Felicity, who was as amiable as she gets, getting all Mackenzie's issues dumped on her and now apparently having to disappoint Xander.And she even took time out to act as an agony aunt to a mopey Cash! Eden was a bit premature in suggesting Levi and Imogen were trying for a family, but she's obviously an admirer of Imogen and I guess just accepted her word that she'll talk Levi round eventually. I can understand Remi being concerned by Bree's u-turn. He went in a bit hard but then she was a bit defensive. Now that she's explained it I guess I understand her reasoning.

To all intents and purposes, the original Jack Sugden left at the end of 1973, after only a year. He just had a six week guest stint in 1976.

There seemed to be a touch of jealousy in Valerie and Kirby’s attitude towards each other: Neither seems particularly keen on the other having any influence over Theo. I guess time will tell whether Valerie pushing Theo to do the interview on his own turns out to be a disaster or not. Still, after backsliding a bit recently, Valerie seems to be all-in with her support of Leah and Justin again, and there doesn’t seem to be any agenda other than wanting to be a good friend to Leah. We finally meet Imogen and she seems about as nice as you can get, almost excessively so in fact, which makes Levi and Mackenzie’s dalliance seem even more hard to justify. She embraced Eden as part of the family well enough whilst managing to avoid any awkward subjects! I wondered if Remi was hiding something on that laptop but…apparently not? Bree managed to curtail her overprotective stream and let Remi out of the house and all seems well…until she gets that call.

I've heard that. I will say that I have absolutely no memory of it and I think I was paying attention and always believed that Pippa and Ian weren't married. (I'm not sure the Pauline Fowler comparison above is apt either, given she'd been Ross for, what, seven years maybe? So not exactly most of her life.) So I suspect it's yet another example of someone's faulty memory falling into the fan consciousness and being treated as fact because the episodes aren't around for us to check.

I don't think they did, although I'm sure someone will insist otherwise. She was always Pippa Ross if a surname was given in later appearances.

It's not like it was done away with completely: There's always been a Diner on the show since the concept was first introduced, so it's not that different to Neighbours burning down and rebuilding the Lassiters complex multiple times.

Home and Away is one of those soaps where there's no fixed idea of where everything is: There's no standing set or single location to pin everything down, and where things are in relation to each other in real life may not reflect where they are in-story (especially when they've used several different locations for the same place). So it's basically down to what each writing team at the time decides.