| Tempany Deckert is an avid collector of antiques: one of her most
prized possessions is a pair of aviator's goggles!
Some favourite characters could have turned out differently: Isla
Fisher (Shannon) was almost cast as Angel
Belinda Emmett first appeared as Gail in 1995, who had a fling with
Travis. A year later, she returned as Rebecca and married him!
Jesse McGregor's daughter was originally played by Kelly Glaister, a
sister of Corey, who played Angel's son, Dylan
While most soap stars claim they've always wanted to be an actor,
Nic had a rather different ambition when he was a child - he wanted
to be an undertaker!
Michael Palin, a British comedian actor, made a guest appearance as
a surfer
As a 'Super mum', Pippa was always busy: she cooked for her large
foster family, and also did the baking for the Summer Bay Diner. Not
only these, but she also ran the Wave Cafe at the Summer Bay Surf
Club. During that time, she made more than 3,500 cakes and 10,000
muffins!
Daniel Amalm (Jack) found fame on the catwalkSummer Bay,
unnaturally, suffers a high number of natural disasters: it has
seen a flood, a cyclone, an earthquake and a bush fire
For Nic Testoni's first few weeks on screen, the credits of Home
and Away misspelt his name as Nick; they had copied it from one of
his previous shows, where it was also misspelt!
When Chloe cut her hair after her rape in 1996, it was so that
Kristy Wright could have a haircut herself
When schoolgirls at St Margaret's High in Airdrie were allowed to
choose their new uniform in 1998, they based them on Summer Bay
High's
Pop star Gina G used to perform with the band Bass Culture whose
songs were regularly heard on Home and Away
The name Travis Nash came from a combination of one of the crew at
the time and scriptwriter Sean Nash
The original actress of Natalie Nash, Angelica la Bozetta, was in
the all-girl pop group The Chantoozies
Tempany Deckert appeared in a sex education video and had bit parts
in Neighbours before taking on the role of Selina Cook
Shane Ammann, the Bay's Curtis, was born in snowy Switzerland
When Richard Grieve (Lachie) moved from Neighbours to Home and Away,
he didn't have to dye his hair anymore; producers thought his
natural hair suited his character. Richard's hair turned grey
when he was 15!
Norman Coburn once appeared in Coronation Street as a labourer
When filming of Travis and Rebecca's wedding was due to take part,
problems arose. Filming had to be cancelled twice due to a month
of rainy weather in Sydney
Home and Away was originally signed up by Channel Seven for just 20
episodes; however, those twenty have now become over 4,300
Rebekah Elmaloglou, who played Sophie, has a brother, who played the
terminally-ill Sebastian, who fell in love with Stephanie Mboto
in 1997
Judy Nunn (Ailsa) once wrote scripts for Neighbours
When Angel Brooks arrived in the Bay, she had red hair. Producers
refused to allow her to dye her hair; Melissa George then
lightened it gradually. It went unnoticed until a Channel Seven
boss saw her standing in front of a photo of herself in
reception and realised she had become blonde!
Judy Nunn and Ray Meagher have appeared in Prisoner: Cell Block H
The beach at Summer Bay is 20 miles away from the studios where the
rest of the soap is filmed. Companies in Sydney run tourist trips to
the location on filming days
Home and Away is shown in later timeslots in Australia; meanwhile,
in the UK, scenes are cut. Storylines such as Laura's death after
running across a railway track, Selina's pregnancy and the school
siege where Fisher was held at gunpoint, were cut. Despite these
cuts, the programme is shown uncut in the afternoon in Ireland!
Darius Perkins, who played in Neighbours, went for the role of
Frank in Home and Away, but lost out to Alex Papps and had to make
do with playing bad guy, Gary Samuels, instead
Emmanuel Marshall, who played Summer Bay High teacher Brett Egan,
never sat in a classroom before as he was educated at home by his
parents Judy Nunn got married twice in a week - a few days after
her alter-ego Ailsa married Alf, she married Bruce Venables,
who, incidentally, spoke the series' first words
In 1998, Home and Away left Oz for the first time ever to film in
Ironbridge, Shropshire in the UK
Home and Away is being shown in more than 15 countries and the
audience around the world is over 50 million viewers
Debra Lawrance and Dennis Coard (Michael and Pippa) married in 1992
after meeting on set. When Debra fell pregnant that year, producer
made Pippa pregnant also to explain her bump
In 1991, a stage musical of Home and Away toured the UK, which
starred Sharyn Hodgson, Julian McMahon, Justine Clarke, Mouche
Phillips and Adam Willits.
Norman Coburn used to stutter as a child; he claimed he bunked off
school because of it!
Norman Coburn's daughter, Nana, played two characters in Home and
Away: Vicki, who had a feud with Emma, and as a mum who helped hide
Dodge after he faked his death
Pippa was meant to be played by Carole Willesee whom she was
originally cast for. Carole left before filming started and was
replaced by Vanessa Downing. Debra Lawrance took over in 1990;
Carole also turned it down that year.
Summer Bay is a fictitious town in Australia
Marilyn is named after Marilyn MonroeHome and Away was brought
about by Alan Bateman, who was the Head of Drama at the time. He
visited a small village where he stopped for ice cream. there,
he saw building work, which was the main cause of the conflict
in the town. The building was to be a foster home. Residents
there were against the building as they saw it as trouble: their
fears being that troublesome kids would be brought from the
city, while the other side wanted to give them a chance. 'It had
all the elements of a fine drama,' he said. The idea for
bringing a family together with many and varied backgrounds – a
family that is then thrown into a new environment where the
problems of a group of street-wise kids come face to face with
the traditional values of a small town on the edge of the urban
sprawl – was what started
Home and Away. Fortunately, Alan's idea is a success, as Home
and Away celebrated its 10th anniversary on 16 January 1999.
When Dodge first appeared in the soap, he was played by Kelly
Dingwall. When he returned, he was played by Kelly Dale. It wasn't a
change of actor - he had changed his name in the time he'd been away
Some of the actors who have passed through Home and Away
include: Julian McMahon, who played Ben, is now starring in the US
television series Profiler; Craig McLachlan, who appeared in
Bugs, is working in the UK; Dannii Minogue, who is working on her
singing and TV careers in the UK; Dee Smart, who has appeared in
theatre and films; Guy Pearce starred in the films The Adventures
of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and LA Confidential;
Lisa Lackey had a role in the Flipper series; and John Adam
is working with the Bell Shakespeare Company.
Guest appearances were made by John Farnham, Michael Palin, Kieren
Perkins, Samantha Reily, Susan O'Neill, Clint Robinson, Geoffrey
Robertson, Annalise Braakensiek, Mark Gerber, Kate Raison, Belinda
Giblin and Susie Maroney.
Only four of the original cast members remain on the show, namely
Ray Meagher (Alf); Judy Nunn (Ailsa); Norman Coburn (Fisher) and
lastly Kate Ritchie (Sally). Steven Matheson returned a few times
and was played by one of the original cast member, Adam Willits
Home and Away was first shown on 18 January 1988. In Ireland, the
pilot episode was shown on both 3rd and 4th October. It wasn't
until 11 February the next year when it started showing in the
UK. Despite this, viewers in London and Yorkshire did not see it
until the next day.
Home and Away began its debut on 16 January 1988 with the 2000th
episode being shown on 30 August 1996
The ice cream Sam ate in the opening credits of 1996 is actually
mashed potatoes
Early episodes of the soap are currently shown on Living in the UK
(available on satellite, cable and digital) and also on Seven
Network in Australia
Home and Away has won the Logie Award for Most Popular Series
for eight of its ten years on air at the time. It won four years
in a row from 1993 to 1996.
Home and Away went overseas and filmed an episode in
Ironbridge, UK, which went to air on 30 March 1998. Emily Symons and
Lynne McGranger joined Tempany Deckert and Adam Willits, who came
back for this one episode. Home and Away producer Russell
Webb decided it was time to go over to the UK, due to the popularity
of the show, and film an episode especially for the UK market.
Channel Seven actually filmed Debra Lawrence (Pippa Ross) having her
baby (in Home and Away, it was called Dale, but Debra was
really pregnant at the time. Anyway, apparently Channel 7 cut
the scene because they thought it was too explicit for the
viewers as it was a real birth and not a fake one. In the end,
they only showed one scene were Pippa was actually getting her
backed rubbed by Michael. It's still not known who actually cut
the scene; some say it was Channel Seven but some also say Debra
Lawrence threatened to quit the show if it was shown as she felt
it would be an invasion of privacy.
(thanks to Mike Grant, October 1999)
It is always summer in Summer Bay. The climate is supposedly to be
very mild, so it is never too cold for someone to be going for a
swim – but try telling that to some of the actors at 6.30 on a
Sydney winter morning! Home and Away will shoot rain,
hail or shine.
There is an on-set tutor to help any of the young actors who are
continuing their education. At present Ryan Clark, Zac Drayson,
Rebecca Cartwright and Brendan McKensy are the students. Kate
Ritchie, who has been with the show since it first started, balanced
her studies with acting and completed her Higher School Certificate
in 1997.
In 1998,
Home and Away was nominated for Most Popular Series and for a
Silver Logie for Most Popular Program on Australian TV. In 1999 the
show was nominated for Most Popular Program; Rebecca Cartwright,
Kimberley Cooper and Graeme Squires were up for Best New Talent; and
Belinda Emmett was up for the Gold and Silver Logies.
There is no place called Summer Bay; the show is actually filmed in
the suburbs called Palm Beach
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