adam436

Judy Nunn's exit was highly publicised and I think the promos for the finale week said "it's time to say goodbye to Ailsa" or something like that. I remember the mudslide though - the details were never revealed and I remember being convinced Ailsa would die because we knew Judy was leaving and at the time, but it turned out to be guest character Gavin. The same for the Sarah Lewis cliffhanger - we were all genuinely shocked when it was revealed Golden Boy Noah had been killed.

Floss was not that bright, so it was probably the best she could come up with on the spot. Agreed. It really doesn't matter as long as they aren't onscreen at the same time. Tom and Jack are also really common names. The regular cast has also included at least two Nicks, two Brodies (though different spellings), two Caseys, two Liams, two Chloes, two Natalies. The list goes on I think the closest we've had (other than namesakes like Pippa, Casey) is probably when we had Dani Sutherland and Dan Baker on the show together for a few months. I had the H&A Classics channel on last night while I was making dinner and Brodie mentioned "Dan". The episode was from 2004 (a few months before Dan arrived), but it did take me a minute to work out they were actually referring to Dani.

I'd still love to see John and Marilyn paired up again - if not romantically, they would be fun as platonic "odd couple" housemates. I feel they will need to give him some new pairings

I agree. I think the writing and acting was just so overdone that it could easily be interpreted that way. Lance's lack of intellect was definitely dialled down in 1989, despite giving him storylines like the goldfish funeral, the hotdog stand and the band story.

I assumed they had got their qualiifcations offscreen before they arrived, just like Steven, Rebecca, Donna etc would have as well. I'd be more concerned about how Leah can be acting principal with no classroom experience

It's possible he just matured in 10 years. It does happen to some people.

I agree. I've never considered the intellectual disablity angle before, but I can see what you mean. It was toned down somewhat in 1989 when Marilyn was introduced, but for much of 1988 it certainly went too far. I agree. As I've said Adam was pretty much a new Martin, so they could have kept Martin ticking along and written out Adam and it wouldn't have made too much difference. The writers had a reluctance to break them up though, even though I feel both would have been stronger without the other - Lance could have been married off to Marilyn and had the newlyweds/young couple stories and Martin could have continued on in Adam's storylines, but just had him interact with a wider range of characters. Lance and Martin as a double act was starting to run out of steam by early 1989. Perhaps that's why Marilyn was brought in to shake up the dynamic? The writers could have and should have invested more time in making them independent of the other. They could have remained BFFs, but just not so co-dependent on each other.

That must have surely been one of Samuel Johnson's earliest TV roles. Sally went through quite a few love interests during that period: her crush on Joe Lynch (I can't remember if that ever came to anything), Gus Bishop and then Irene's nephew Nelson. Donna left rather abruptly shortly this storyline. Do we think Gus might have had a bigger role and a redemption arc had Donna stayed longer?

You also had Teigan and Aaron as other shortlived characters in that group too. Joey had interesting backstory with his dad, but I do think he was "bertter" because he had more of a chance to prove himself. We eventually got Justine, Will, Tom and Gypsy who overlapped with some of those characters and were much more successful. I liked most of the Steph/Casey/Liam/Joey/Teigan/Aaron group and it's a shame they weren't given more of a chance. I think a part of their problem was the group that preceeded them has been deemed "the strongest group of teen characters there ever was" (plus the recent losses of Shane and Angel), so it was always going to be hard for them to live up to that.

There have definitely been times when we've had too-similar characters in the same era. The current batch of characters proves that point, but it's happened in other eras too. The mid 2000s group of Lucas, Matilda, Cassie, Drew etc all felt somewhat interchangeable. The character-types like the popular girl, the tomboy, the surfie, the nerd, the jock For me, Joey Rainbow is the geek character, but depending which teen gang you grew up with, they'll mostly remember Steven, Damien, Dexter, Oscar etc. Occasionally, teenage characters have "broken the mould", such as Edward, Tegan Brook, Justine, Vinnie etc. But mostly, they are interchangeable, even some that are more memorable than others.

I assume Brad Armstrong was written out so that Sally's exit was about her, rather than her just getting married and riding off into the sunset - if that makes sense. Had Kate not quit in 2007, I assume Brad would have just become the next Mr Sally Fletcher/head of Summer Bay House for the next few years. I enjoyed the story too, and thought it was a great way to link the iconic Milco, but it was strange for them to be finally reunited and then just leave each other after a few weeks. I wonder what the reasoning was - was the idea to have a link to Sally remain in the show?

@Revealed I'm not sure not being attractive enough or not liking the character is reason why they are "pointless". Some characters I actively disliked, but I still see the purpose they served. Brodie Hanson, for example. I couldn't stand the character, but she did serve a purpose as the "voice of reason" etc, and had a love interest. I agree with others being dull (i.e. the Holdens), but again they served a purpose. Judith Ackroyd is an interesting one - I remember liking her at the time, but she was secondary to Edward's story arc and even her role as principal wasn't neccesary, since Donald was still around at that point and could have continuned in that role. She could have easily been written out with Edward and Peta to be honest. She just floated around doing very little after Edward other than a romance with Joel (which was essentially just to give two characters at a loose end something to do until their exits), so she was definitely pointless in her last 6 months or so. For me, pointless means they just hang around and don't add anything to the show (i.e. Matt Wilson, Simon Fitzgerald). Even some of the borderline characters like Colleen, Floss and Neville were created for comic relief purposes. I found their comedy stuff irritating and eye-rolling, but that was their purpose. Likewise, some of the "nerds" filled a character type and were part of the central teen gang, family unit or part of a central family unit. Yes, all the characters seem to be cookie-cutter characters these days. When one leaves, we pretty much get another one to slot straight in - Abi/Flick, Mali/Dean. There are certainly more pointless characters these days, mostly because the majority of the cast a similar age and therefore all serve a similar purpose. Sadly, I agree. She was one of my favourite characters at the time, especially after the Alex story and doing the right thing in Colby's trial, so I was really sad to see her go. I'm not now wishing she would come back or that she didn't leave though.

I liked that we had such a close male/female friendship that never crossed that line. It rarely happens in H&A. I agree. The producers clearly didn't though, since they'd invested months in her and Cash and introduced two half-siblings for her. They clearly saw a longer-term future for Jasmine.

It's honestly a shame the producers wasted so much time with time. Miles stayed nearly four years, so if they got together within the first few months, we got have had a decent amount of them as a couple, and avoided Miles/Kirsty, Leah/Roman and Leah/Elijah. My top five in no order: Edward and Peta - I loved their romance and the fact they stayed together throughout his diagnosis etc. Admittedly, Peta is pretty much only remembered for the romance though and didn't add much as an individual character. Tom and Pippa - Vanessa and Roger had great chemistry, even when they were arguing. Given how central they were, it's a shame we only got two years of them as a couple and they didn't become the backbone of the 90s like Michael and Pippa did. Vinnie and Leah - the only love interest I've truly enjoyed Leah with. They were cute together and she was great for Vinnie's character development. Alf and Ailsa - a constant of the early years was Alf and Ailsa, so much so that it became hard to imagine one without the other at the time. John and Marilyn - I love their chemistry and how they were a bit chalk and cheese. Honourary mentions to Travis and Rebecca, Don and Marilyn and Steven and Selina.

The main problem with Chloe and Mia is that they we tied so strongly to Ari, so once he was written out, they were surplus to requirements. They still weren't overly great characters, but had Ari stayed, I'm sure Mia and Chloe would have had a longer lifespan too. It looked like the producers might have decided to keep Chloe on for a while (she outstayed Mia by a few months!), but once Ryder and Bella left and they were clearly going in the Lyrik direction, she was written out too.

Martin had potential as an individual character (when you consider characters like Vinnie and Martin succeeded him), but the producers really weren't keen on breaking them up, even when Marilyn came along. I was never that keen on Lance though. I feel like they took his dim-wittedness to unrealistic levels at times. When you look at the rubbish they were given in 1989/1990 like the fish funeral, the hotdog stand and the band story, it did felt like they belonged more in a sitcom rather than a soap. You could argue that with some of the 1988 stuff like Santa Never Stops in Summer Bay.

Thanks Dan. I remember the very misleading Sally montage at the end of the 2006 finale too. Kate also had a role in a movie called Stepfather of the Bride which came out a few weeks before Sally was stabbed, which added further fuel to the fire too. I guess the fact that she was even making those comments publicly suggests that she had had enough, and if Kate was dead against Sally becoming "the next Pippa" before it happened and then leaving within a few years of it happening, it may have been a contributing factor in her decision to leave.

Here is a cover from TV Week from December 2006 that made me think she announced it much earlier. I don't have he actual article though, so the wording could have been misleading to sell more copies

Interesting. Kate Ritchie gave her notice within a few years of being instilled as "Pippa" (from memory, the news broke in late 2006), but that may have been a coincidence. I think it was a nice touch the show came full circle, but there were many issues with the set up. Having her only two foster children becoming a couple, Mark Furze and Sharni Vinson looking way too old to play teenagers (especially when hanging out with Henry and Matilda) and only having two children of the same age. The Fletchers/Rosses worked because we had a spread of ages of the children. Then Joel McIllroy leaving within a year or so didn't help either.

That rings a bell - thanks. It also explains why they recast Flynn. Sally and Flynn weren't yet married or on their journey to have a child when Martin Dingle-Wall left, so it's likely the producers felt strongly enough about Sally's long-term future they were willingly to recast Flynn rather than start over again with a new love interest.

I guess the Logan situation didn't feel that bad because he'd only been around for a few months and only had links to established character Mackenzie, whereas Jasmine had been around for over 4 years and three new regulars were all tied to her. Logan also exited at a time when departures were happening in quick succession (Ari, Ryder, Bella, Mia, Chloe, Jasmine, Logan), so having a relatively new character quietly slip away didn't bother me that much.

It was terrible timing for them. They'd spent months building up her and Cash, and had just introduced two half-siblings for her. I understand her exit had to occur off-screen, but it could have still been written so much better.

I'd say that's about average when you consider many leave within a few months, and others like Duncan, Christopher, VJ, baby Pippa and to a lesser extent Grace stuck around for years.

Wasn't the idea of Sally as the central foster mum floated either in 1998 when Pippa left or 2000 when Summer Bay House was empty again, but it was decided Sally was too young at the time? I vaguely recall reading that somewhere, but I can't remember which year they toyed with the idea. Then Dan Bennett(?) decided 2004 was when the timing was right

Tony was written out when Amy Mathews (Rachel) decided to leave. I don't know what happened to them though. I liked Zac up until the final 6 months or so. I really liked Charlie Claussen in Blue Heelers and McLeod's Daughters, so I was excited to learn he was joining the show. I recall Ada saying sometime after Dan was killed off that she didn't want Leah to get married again, so I assumed that meant when she did marry Zac, he must have been sticking around for the long haul.