Before the days when ratings ruled the roost, soaps were more low key affairs, reflecting in some ways the day lives of their chosen location. There was uproar after 3 or 4 years on air, a main character was to be killed off in Corrie. Nowadays our soaps are busy blowing more things up than your average Iraqi suicide bomber and Home and Away hasn't been left behind, with this years finale seeing the school prom blowing up - the perfect combination of a life or death cliffhanger including about 90% of the cast. Of course we all know that they'll probably all survive and if they have any negative effects, like paralysis, blindness or 90% burns, they'll be back running, seeing or playing strip poker by March, but that doesn't stop us being enthralled. So here's our look at Home and Away best bangs.
Lance and Martin's Home Brew (1988)
Let's face it, most of Lance and Martin's storyline's during The Early Years were unlikely to get those helplines you get after some programmes dealing with issues, so it's no surprise to see them on this list with this little heard of, but probably iconic storyline from 1988 which sees their attempts at home brewing litterally blow up in their faces.
Jack, Fags and Sally's Chemical Experiment (1995)
I'm sure they might have been some point to blowing this caravan up in 1995, but seeing as I'm not too clued up on that I'm not sure. I'm guessing it might have been showing that smoking was bad, but giving Jack lung cancer would have probably been a more realistic storyline than having him blow up one of the caravans due to Sally's carelessness in clearing up her science project properly. Saying that it, it seemed pretty fun to watch and even got a re-airing when Jack returned in 2000.
Duncan blows Alf Up (1999)
OK, perhaps I've made it sound a bit dramatic, seeing as we know Alf is still alive with no limbs missing or horrible scarring, but back in 1999 when Duncan became a bit manic, he and his rent-a-friend decided to make a bomb. Duncan kept one under his bed and Alf opened it, blowing him across the room, causing minor damage to his hands. Marks off though as it looks like CGI, rather than TNT.
The Bus Crash (2002)
I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I can sit here and be cynical about the storyline, seeing as how it fulfils the pointless paralysis storyline criteria. On the other hand, it actually handilly shapes up the action for another 50-60 episodes before the show sank a boat. Seb and Fisher get together, it inadvertantly leads to the school being save, Nathan Roberts rebuilds his life and we get to hear Alf say "Strike me roan". All of which had nothing to do with the bus exploding, which was added in with comic timing seconds after they got Nick out and Alf commented how lucky they were the "flamin thing didn't blow"
Zoe v Sally: The Showdown (2005)
After two episodes around an abandoned warehouse, abatoir type thing, Sally escape and Zoe/Eve launches a mad chase around the building. For reasons I forget, Sally escapes with the help of Peter in the nick of time leading to excellent throwing yourself to the ground as the building explodes scene. This would have killed any normal person, but Eve escaped, leaving somebody else in her place and like a cartoon villian who at the end of each programme is thought to have been killed off, we see her at the end of the season, almost complete with cartoon villian laugh.
Jack and Martha's Wedding Explosion (2006)
The Mother and Father of Home and Away explosions, built on a storyline as solid as Colleen's homemade jelly. After the succesful stalker storyline of 2005, what better way to make it better than, eh, bring the same stalker back to wreak havoc on the bay for a second time. (It's beginning to sound rubbish already, isn't it?) In lots of half storylines never properly explained, Jack and Martha are having their wedding reception in a barn (presumably because it's cheap to blow up?), when a recently captured Eve returns with Tracey, who was actually her accomplice all along. Then, eh, there was a gas leak at the exact moment some women walked in carrying a cake and the whole blows up, killing the two antagonists and a couple of extras (presumably CakeGirl, to make it up to the networks claimed 5). If that wasn't enough, a helicopter crashed a few days later, of which we saw no footage, so presumably the stunt budget was used up.
The School-Prom Explosion (2008)
Once a year TPTB sit down in a darkened room and try and come up with a storyline that will have us hooked over the summer/winter. Some are brilliant, some are dull. After some great endings in recent years and other mediocre ones, we have a car crash into the building, blowing it up, but who will get out in time?