adam436

In no particular order: Fisher, Sally Alf, Ailsa, Sally, Marilyn, Irene, Bobby, Brax and Gypsy. My list is skewed toward the early years because they were my core viewing years and I've dipped in and out since 2005, rather than watch it consistently. The first 7 characters are long-running characters who have survived many eras of the show and loved by most fans. There are long-running characters like John, Roo, Leah and Colleen, but I wouldn't call them iconic in the same way. Again, maybe it's bias towards the early years because I do really like John as a character, or maybe it's the way the writers don't seem as invested in the older/stalwart cast in the same way early years writers were. Gypsy, Brax and Bobby were all relatively short-lived in comparison to my other 7, but they well and truly defined the eras they were in.

It's discussed briefly on page 32 of this thread. I did a quick google and couldn't find any reference to the original article though, so I only know what was mentioned there.

I enjoy reading the interviews with actors I used to really enjoy watching who perhaps we don't really too much about or know about their thoughts of working on the shows at the time. You learn lots of little bits of info of actors who have since faded into obscurity, like real-life romances between actors or that they had kids etc. I still recall the TV Week gossip column of one issue of TV Week said Georgie Parker was in talks with Neighbours about a possible role, and they were negotiating a schedule that allowed her to commute between Sydney and Melbourne (I think something similar was offered to fellow H&A alumni Jodi Gordon and Kip Gamblin). It obviously came to nothing and I've never found it again or a trace of it online, but there must be so many behind-the-scenes stories and gossip snippets in those magazines that have since been lost and make interesting trivia now. Me too - the one she had Bobby is probably the prime example of why I didn't like Floss. Her telling Bobby about that caused so many disruptions for Bobby, just as she was becoming settled into a stable life with Tom and Pippa. Floss just wouldn't let it go. I know the show has to think and about keeping the show fresh and not "let's make sure we still have some original cast in 20-30 years time", but the majority of the cast likely didn't leave of their own accord: Lynn, Floss, Neville, Martin and Lance were all definitely axed. Celia, Tom and Pippa #1 - based on Cornelia Frances' comments about her own exit, it sounds like those three were either axed or something went down behind the scenes that led to their departures. Steven and Carly - I suspect they didn't have their contracts renewed, but we don't know for sure. By 1990, the show was moving into the next generation of the Fletcher/Ross family (Michael and new Pippa, Finn, Sophie, Haydn), so they may have it felt it was the natural time for Steven to move on too, especially since Steven had just finished high school and his peers Emma and Viv had left a few months earlier. And Julian McMahon wanted to leave, so it's very possible Carly was written out too, since the character would have become a spare part in the new Ross family, and had pretty much run her course. Roo - Justine Clarke supposed wanted to leave because of the way she was treated by viewers. Justine has had the most successful post-H&A acting career of the original cast, so she would have left sooner rather than later anyway, but we still might have got another year or two out of her. So that just leaves Frank, and longer-running characters Bobby, Fisher, Ailsa and Sally.

They faded into the background pretty quickly too, long before they were written out in the space of 1 or 2 episodes. I vaugely recall reading somewhere the actors learned they were being written out after reading it in TV Week, though I can't find that information now.

She also returned briefly in 2002 and 2004. She returned Summer Bay's bicentenary(?) in 2002 in which she predicted something bad was going to happen, which turned out to be the ferry sinking. She returned in 2004 believing that she was dying and asked Sally and Flynn to help her die. I liked Floss when I watched the early years as a child, but re-watching the 1988 season last year on 7Plus, I really didn't like her. I just found her to be really in-your-face and a bit of a busybody. She was never a gossip like Celia was, but she would always interfere and often make situations worse. The Bobby stuff being the prime example, but also working with Celia on the Mikado production. Her bickering with Neville always felt really forced and OTT too. Having said that, I did really enjoy her relationship with Sally and I did feel for her during the storyline with her grandson.

Hollyoaks do it too, but at least for the most part, they seem to slot back in seamlessly. I can't say the same for many of Neighbours returning characters, and I've never watched Eastenders so I can't comment there. Bringing back former characters is certainly something that should be done sparingly for it to be impactful. Marilyn and Steven were the first big characters to return full-time and look at the impact that had.

I do think it depends what purpose the returning characters serves though - characters like Gypsy, Sally and Don are the best examples recent years of why past characters should never return. If we exclude cameos for weddings, funerals and character exits, I'm struggling to think of a character who returned in a guest capacity that actually benefited from their return. Lance returned sporadically during Colleen's regular stint, but it was largely due to nostalgia. Chloe was brought back to be killed off. Will was thrown under the bus for the Penn murder storyline. Gypsy, Sally and Donald had awful stories in their returns. Even Golden Boy Heath's latest return in which he helped characters he'd never shared a scene with prior served no purpose whatsoever and was clearly just a nostalgia thing. Neighbours generally only bring back characters for nostalgia reasons only and then shoehorn them into a cast they are out of place in, or come up with a contrived story as to why they've returned. H&A did that with Heath's latest return, but I really wouldn't want to see that happen to H&A and would rather just leave iconic characters in the past where they belong so they can retain their iconic status. Nathan also hasn't been seen in nearly 23 years, so he could have children in their early twenties. Both characters would likely be recast if they returned though, so would pretty much be entirely new characters at this point anyway like Roo is.

Can't really blame him there I can't really say I took to most of the 1989 additions either except for Morag and Marilyn. Viv and Matt had zero personality and were pretty forgettable. Emma was okay, but she was saddled with Viv and Adam for much of her stint, which I felt dragged her down. Marilyn and Morag were a great comic pairing, so it's a shame that didn't last longer. For me, that was one of the highlights of the 1989 season.

Reducing to 4 episodes a week would probably suit Channel 7 scheduling to be honest so I'm surprised they haven't pushed for it before now. Hollyoaks, Neighbours and NZ's Shortland Street have all reduced their output in recent years. I can't speak for the other UK soaps, as I don't watch them, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens when the next Channel 5 contract is due for renewal. For Hollyoaks, I don't think it's been it's that successful storyline-wise. Several characters who survived the cast cull were sidelined because there wasn't enough air time for them, and the initial months were so slow that by the time the next Monday rolled around, I would forget some of what's happened. I think it's a catch 22. Viewing habits/ratings are changing, so therefore the budget (investment from networks/advertising revenue etc.) has reduced. Hollyoaks pivoted to a streaming first model, so maybe that's something H&A could investigate. Their core demographic is now 18-39, who are probably more used to streaming episodes rather than "appointment television". H&A could still remain at 7pm weeknights for the audience who prefer to watch it there or are unable to access 7Plus. I guess given all the scheduling changes at Channel 7, it may become logistically difficult when the broadcast schedule differs from the 7Plus streaming release schedule. I also think Channel 7 would be too scared of losing ratings though, which would happen (though I don't know to what extent) if the episodes were released hours in advance on 7Plus. Unless Channel 7 wanted to use it an argument for moving H&A onto 7Two, so they can free up 7pm for their "premium" programming on Monday-Wednesday, and AFL on Thursdays.

I also remember Channel 7 doing a tribute/retrospect type thing. I don't remember much about it though, other than Nicolle Dickson and Alex Papps turning up to a location shoot to surprise Ray Meagher. I do remember reading somewhere that the Martha story was meant to be considered a 30th anniversary story, just as I recall Sally's forgettable 2013 return was intended to mark the 25th anniversary. I can't find those quotes now though.

Anniversaries don't have to age an TV show. If anything, it just celebrates what the show has done to survive. H&A has had to pivot to the high-octane drama in the 2010s and 2020s, if it hadn't and still relied on similar stories to the simpler Early Years, I don't think it would still be around today. Whilst I'm not a fan of the retcon stories (like Marilyn's and Irene's secret children, Alf's not-dead wife) or the imbalance of age groups in the current cast, I do enjoy the more heightened drama like we had in the Braxton years and the Robbo years. I will always prefer the early years of 1988-2000, but I can appreciate that would never stick with 2025 audiences. That's true. Other than episode 4000, no other milestone episode or anniversary has been celebrated onscreen. I guess it's also harder to have special episodes on the actual date, because often H&A is still on it's Christmas/Summer hiatus at the time. The first few months of 2008 coincided with Sally's exit, so I guess you could argue the returnees for her farewell could be seen as an unofficial 20th anniversary celebration, though that connection was never officially acknowledged.

If the show celebrated Alf's 80th onscreen, the most returnees we would get would be Ryder. Likewise, for Irene. We might see Bella or Olivia if we are lucky, or maybe Heath or Bianca because they are Braxtons, but certainly not anyone earlier. I honestly wouldn't want to see any classic characters return at the moment. The show made a mess of classic characters in recent return stints - Will, Gypsy, Celia, Sally. Iconic 90s and 2000s characters are best left in the past as far as I'm concerned so we have fond memories of them.

I personally think there is too many now - if the producers used them effectively or if we had a greater balance of cast, it wouldn't be an issue. Justin and to a lesser extent Leah overlap with the younger cast, but generally the producers seem to want to segregate the stalwart cast from the newer cast and generally only have the groups interact when it is necessary. If one or more them left, I doubt the producers would rush to bring in a new character in that age group. As thing stands there are too many characters who I suspect that the producers feel obliged to keep because of their stalwart status. I don't think we've really ever had so many stalwart characters at any one time in past eras - some of them overlapped (i.e. Leah was a new character when Ailsa and Fisher were on the show, as was John and Roo#2 with Colleen).

I honestly think being a hard act to follow was part of the reason why so many of those teen characters are considered flops. Liam, Aaron and Casey for example, offered nothing new in terms of characterisation. I certainly didn't dislike any of them, but they were all just quite boring. Their predecessors were just so incredibly popular that I think viewers may have been overly critical. If they were replacing characters of equal value, I think they would been given more of a fair go. It's also possible the producers opted for such characters, rather than trying to create the magic of those teen groups. Joey, Tiegan, Gypsy and later Gypsy were all great characters that emerged from that era though.

I would like to see H&A return to the "family" aspect too. I feel like the current producers think families and teenagers as a backward step (i.e. how it was in the eighties or the Sutherland era), but it doesn't have to be, especially with a PG rating. The show can do darker/more adult teen storylines with the current ratings rather than just the usual "X has a crush on Y" or the latest school yard drama. The show seems to shy away from LGBT storylines (I'm not sure whether this is down to the current producers or Channel 7/Channel 5 though!), but the show could cover a teenager exploring their sexuality and coming out, plus other teen stories that Hollyoaks and some British soaps cover really well like a drug storyline, eating disorders, the online world, historic sexual abuse, self-harm, teen pregnancy etc. Some have been covered in the past and done well within the timeslot restriction, but I think it could be done better now with a PG rating. Here would be my solution: The twenty-somethings: I would keep a core group of 5-6 twentysomethings. The show has generally had some, but they've been one age group of many (often the most under-represented!). I would keep Mac, Remi, Mali , Kirby, Dana and maybe Theo for the Leah and Justin connection. So I would axe Rose, Bree, Eden, Theo, Tane, Harper, Levi, Abigail and Cash, and replace them with families and younger characters. It might make sense to keep characters with a purpose (i.e. a doctor or a police officer), but I struggle to see those exisiting characters fitting into a show with a bigger family focus. If the school is reintroduced, we would need a teacher, so maybe Remi, Kirby, Mali or Mac can reveal they completed a teaching degree prior to arriving in Summer Bay. It honestly wouldn't be the worst retcon in recent years and would at least have a long-term gain for the show. It would also make more sense logistically to use an existing characters in the high school rather than to axe so many characters in an age group to introduce new ones for the role a teacher. If the show needed to round out a teen gang, maybe Mali could take on responsibility for a younger cousin or mentor a young River Boy onto the straight and narrow. Summer Bay House: I'd then introduce a recast Duncan as a single dad, having just lost his wife, and three children: his son Bryce, and two-step children from his late wife. Alf would have a large family to play granddad to, giving him a greater purpose as the show's patriarch, and make Summer Bay House the central family home again. With Emily Weir seemingly in it for the long haul, I'd also introduce a slow burn romance between Duncan and Mackenzie, with them eventually getting married and maybe even having a child of their own. I would then either axe Roo or move her into her own place (see below). John and Marilyn: I'd reunite them and introduce a foster child for them too. It is still one of the most baffling decisions as to why they even split up in the first place, since neither have developed as individual characters since. Aside from the odd storyline (Stunning Organics, the Heather stuff), she's pretty much just floated around the Diner and Summer Bay House. John has done even less in the last 5 years! If the producers deem them too old to be foster parents, maybe John's grandchild via Shandi could lob on his doorstep in the same way Seb did to Fisher or Ryder did for Alf, but I'd save the grandchildren aspect for Alf and Irene (see above and below!). Roo Stewart - As much as I like Georgie Parker as an actress, she's wasted and underused in the role of Roo, so she could easily be written out to be honest. I imagine losing her would also increase the cast budget and with Duncan and family around, she wouldn't be needed as family for Alf. If they were to keep her, she would need to be made principal of the high school and move into her own place. It would be hard for Roo to become a main parent/guardian given how much time Georgie Parker has off though. Irene: There are two options for Irene - make her a supporting older character with no family (similar to how Colleen was for many years) or you bring in her grandchildren. Irene has been around for so long now that the former could work - she would just be on the peripheral of the Palmers or Justin and Leah's family, in the same way Colleen was for the Sutherlands and Sally and Flynn. Alternately, you've got her grandchildren. We've got Paul and Mark who haven't been seen yet, who could become lodgers at Irene's. If Paul, Mark or Finn's subsequent children were introduced, I'd make them a teacher, police officer or a doctor. It might seem too much to have Alf, John and Irene all suddenly have grandchildren around, but that's what happens when you have an aging stalwart cast who might be past becoming serious foster parents. Nathan's family would likely be teenagers or younger at the moment, so I'd probably keep them in reserve for when a full nuclear family is needed. Justin and Leah - two characters I wouldn't be sad to axe, but as the younger stalwarts, it makes sense to keep them on, perhaps even more so than John and Marilyn. They could look into official fostering or maybe expand their family with maybe Leah's nieces and nephews (we still have Alex and Chris' families who haven't been explored!) in the first instance. Theo could stick around for a transitional period and perhaps even act as a big brother while the newcomers settle in. With Danny Raco working behind the scenes, it might make sense to start with Alex's family if Danny is willing to make the odd appearance on the other side of the camera.

That teen group was very hit and miss. We had characters like Joey, Justine and to a lesser extent Tiegan that are still fondly remembered, and others like Liam, Aaron and Casey who were not. That group found their groove a little more once some of them left and others like Will, Gypsy, Tom and Hayley were brought in. If you compare them to other teen groups like Shannon/Curtis/Selina/Jack and and to a lesser extent the Jade/Kirsty/Nick/Seb who just seemed to immediately click with each other and resonated with the audience. We also had Rebecca and Travis pick up Pippa's leftovers, and after they left, Justine stuck around with Joel and Natalie, and they also fostered Peta. I've said it before, but in hindsight 1998-2000 is very much like a transitional period between the Pippa and the Sutherlands. They are some of my favourite years of the show, but looking at it now, the show is was in limbo. The fostering was left to the previously-secondary foster parents, and whilst Travis and Rebecca inherited Justine, Tiegan and possibly Sam (I can't remember at what point he moved in with Don and Marilyn?), it seems like they were just there to see out the existing foster kids rather than to see them foster new characters from scratch. I think part of the in limbo status also came down to Pippa's exit being written as "temporary". Pippa just went off on a road trip leaving the kids and Caravan Park with Travis and Rebecca while she was away, with Ian returning later to say they'd settled in the Carrington Ranges. I never understood why they didn't just "rip the band-aid off" from the beginning and have her sell up, since Debra was done by this point. Did the producers think it might soften the blow of losing such a popular character or did the producers think they could persuade Debra to come back after she'd had some time off The Nash family were meant to be the big new family of the show, but by the time they were given free reign of Summer Bay House (when Travis and Rebecca left in August 1999), they'd been around for nearly 2 years. Maybe had Pippa's exit been "permanent" from the start, they could have moved in there much earlier and been given a better chance. Joel is a character who should have kept going for years, especially with his role as the local town cop. Side note: Justine must be one of the few characters to 3 sets of fosters parents, not a bad achievement for a character around less than 3 years: Pippa, Travis and Rebecca, Joel and Natalie. I guess Sam had just as many, if not more, but stayed for much longer.

Agree! I'm just thinking the current producers loves them and Darcy would now be the right age to fit in with the show's demographic, so it's surprising they haven't thought to go there yet.

I found 1993/1994 to be very boring years for the show in general with every little going on. There were a few major events like Bobby's accident and Dale's death, but on the whole, I believe those years are probably considered to be the dullest of the Early Years. Alf and Ailsa were certainly pushed to the front again in the mid/late 1990s - there was his secret daughter (who was never mentioned again until Ryder's arrival!), Ailsa's mental health challenges, her car accident, Ailsa's secret daughter and SORASing Duncan gave them more to do as well.

I think I must have started watching not long after Michael died - I have some vauge memories of 1996 like the earthquake, Don and Mariyln's wedding and the 1996 finale (which terrified me at the time!). The first major death I remember is Stephanie Mboto. An insignificant character in the grand scheme on H&A, but as a 9 year old, it was quite confronting because it was unexpected and had never seen a main character killed off on H&A before and she had been around for my entire viewing period.

There are very few characters with links to the past now who would realistically return now. Even when we look at past characters connections - many actors are happily retired now (i.e. Celia, Colleen, Fisher) or we'd be realistically looking at a recast (i.e. Duncan, Finn, Damien). Even the actors behind more recent connections like Brody Morgan and Jett Palmer seemed to have moved on from H&A now. We've seen Tori and VJ recently. Ryder may one day make a comeback, but I think many actors have moved on or the characters become irrelevant after they leave. Maybe Lance Smart or Frank Morgan could return to try win back their first loves? Or Martha McKenzie return to appear alongside Roo for the first time since 1988? But most other past characters, especially 80s and 90s ones, would feel shoehorned and forced, which Neighbours have proved time and time again that those are rarely successful. Given the show's obsession with twentysomethings and River Boys, how have they not thought to recast Darcy Braxton? It would open things up for Heath and Bianca to return over time.

Thanks for sharing. It definitely had the nostalgic feel with returnees like Lance, Pippa, Carly etc. I guess I didn't enjoy the melodramatic direction it took in 2005 onwards, nor many of the newcomers from that period. That's a good point. I have fond memories of the Liam/Joey/Casey/Steph years (admittedly not seen them since though), as that was the era I first started watching. And the Nash years of 1998-2000, because I was a little older and understood more of what was going on. 1997-2000 are still some of my favourite years of the show (having seen most of 1988-mid 2005 and 2013-mid 2016), but I know those periods aren't as highly regarded by some.

Aside from Ailsa's exit, 2000 also saw the revamped titles and theme song, losing the original Stewart house and original Diner location and a brand new family moving into Summer Bay House. Plus the huge cast turnover that occurred over late 1999/2000 which included some fairly iconic characters like Sam, Ailsa, Marilyn, Rebecca, Travis, Chloe, Justine, Jesse and the Nashes among others. May I ask why you consider that a golden period? Admittedly I stopped watching for a long time from mid 2005 because I'd lost interest, but I wouldn't have rated those years I did watch particularly high.

It's hard to believe sometimes. I consider the Early Years to be 1988-2000, which seemed like such a long period at the time, but now it's less than a third of the total period on air. I know others consider the Sutherland era and perhaps even the years up to Sally's exit as the "Early Years" though. But still, in 3 years time, Sally would have only been on H&A for half its run.

Other than the Fisher connection, they pretty much were. I'm surprised Roxy pick up with Nick where Lucinda left, since Nick did next to nothing for the remainder of his time on the show. 1993-1994 was generally poor with twentysomethings. Nick was pretty forgettable, Adam had overstayed his welcome, Roxy and Luke weren't great characters. It felt like Bobby and Greg had been "aged" up too once they'd formed the family unit with Sam. Marilyn, Ryan and Lucinda had all left the previous year too.