adam436

Another good point - in 1988, all the regular teens lived with the Fletchers except Roo, though we did have a number of recurring and extended guest characters like Alison, Sandra, Alan, Matt etc. to flesh them out. Later teen gangs had less reliance on such recurring characters.

That's true - I guess the producers had no way of knowing that H&A or even Donald would have lasted so long, so it made sense to me for her to be a regular at that point. Maybe they thought one biological daughter for Fisher at a time was enough (again, the producers couldn't have known Bobby would stay so long!). Or maybe the producers wanted to increase the Summer Bay foster children? I think at this point, we were down to just Sally and Steven. Bobby and Carly were now adults (plus Bobby had a new family), an adult Frank and Lynn had left. Fisher fostered Viv and the Stewarts got Emma Jackson, but for some reason, the Fletchers didn't get a new permanent foster child until Sophie in 1990. Given they were the central family, I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind that - they got guest character Dodge, but no one full-time. It could have been that Roger and Vanessa both took extended breaks from the show, or maybe the producers wanted to give the other adult characters to develop more as foster parents.

I assumed it was Debra's maternity leave and them needing a "mum" at Summer Bay house - given she was the biological mother of two (of three?) of the foster children, it made sense logistically. Who else would there have been? Ailsa and Bobby had their own homes/families. On the subject of "testie guesties", do we think Jane Hall as Rebecca was another one? I only ask because just a few months later, Viv Newton was introduced: Viv moved into the Fisher household, was the same age, similar personality (studious, quiet) and also had a relationship with Steven. It's possible the original plan was for Rebecca to fill that gap, but for whatever reason, opted for a new character.

I used to have a VHS copy signed by Nic Testoni, but I'm not sure what happened to it. I can't remember too much about it though - I think it was filmed on Hamilton Island and I recall Belinda Emmett sang most (or all?) of the music soundtrack and it was directed by Nic. memory, it was Nic, Ben Unwin, Belinda Emmett and Kristy Wright on holiday somewhere tropical. It's also sad that two of the four are are no longer with us

Justine, Tegan, Ken and possibly even Vinnie were another characters too. It's definitely the better way to go sometimes - it gives the producers a chance to test chemistry with other actors in the cast and depending on the gap between filming and transmission, gauge their popularity from the audience. Another one is possibly Teresa and Joe Lynch. They may have just been a plot device for Fisher's work life and the teen gang, but the fact they had them live with Irene and made an effort to develop Joe beyond two-dimensional bully suggests to be they were testing the waters there. Had Donna not been axed to make way for Marilyn, Gus Bishop may have made the list too: he would have been the latest wayward-teen-comes-good story arc and a love interest for Sally.

The weird thing is that his exit did feel somewhat planned. He'd quit his job at the school, moved out of Irene's place and his friendship with Donna had effectively ended. There was a conscious effort to physically isolate him from the rest of the town and very little reason for him to interact with the characters on a day to day basis. A temporary exit story or one he had to leave slightly early makes sense with how Rob's final weeks played out. Given Donna was leaving a few weeks later, it's possible they were meant to get their happy ending but Matthew had to leave early, so Travis stepped in for the Gus story and her exit.

I liked Kelly too, but I definitely would say I warmed to Donna more in the shorter time she was there. I've also seen Donna's episodes more recently and was probably a little young (I was 7/8 when Kelly was onscreen) to truly appreciate her as a character back then. As for bringing in Kelly after ditching Donna for budget reasons, I guess there may have been other factors. Maybe the producers wanted a doctor in the regular cast - given the ramped-up drama and stunts, it made sense - or maybe the producers didn't know what else they could do with Donna?

Me too! I've not seen them since then originally aired, other than the Nash house fire episode that was on 7Plus a few years ago. I was only 9 or 10 in the late 90s, so I'd like to rewatch that entire era with adult eyes -Joey's schizophrenia, the cult stuff, Justine's drug addiction, the Robert Perez stuff, Vinnie's testicular cancer, Marilyn and Donald's marriage, Justine on trial for the baby's murder etc.

I did not know this. Do you happen to know if it was the same situation for Rob Storey and Steven? It's a shame Donna was axed, because not long after Marilyn returned, Kelly Watson was introduced and pretty much slotted into that group where Donna probably would have been. Nothing against Kelly, but Donna was a far stronger character and more memorable character.

I guess for me, the difference between character and plot driven is how those characters develop as a result of the storyline. For example, everyone thinking Pippa was having an affair with Zac the Shark Hunter was very plot-driven for me. Once it was over, everyone just went back their lives the next day as if they hadn't accused their wife/friend of an affair. Alan and Donald's relationship was character driven for Fisher, because I feel that's when Fisher became more rounded and human, as opposed to the mean headteacher. If Alan had died and Fisher had just returned to his old self the following week (like how Alf discovered he had a long-lost daughter in Quinn, then forgetting about her for 20+ years), then it would be plot-driven. An example of a current plot-driven story is the recent Marilyn/Heather story. The story was heightened for dramatic affect and hasn't changed as a result. If the result was that we saw Marilyn have a relationship with her adult daughter or she decided to return to fostering etc. then it would be character driven. The same goes for John and Marilyn's split - the split didn't take either of them in new directions as characters and even the build up didn't make a great deal of sense. Apart from John's romance with Brydie Carter's character (which was plot driven, since she was murdered in a whodunnit), nothing has really changed for them as individual characters. In good writing, splitting up long-term couples should be a creative choice because it should allow the characters to go in new directions from which they may not have otherwise been able to.

The group that followed them were largely forgettable, but they didn't stay that long. I'm thinking the likes of Liam, Casey, Aaron, Stephanie and even Tom Nash to a lesser extent. Justine, Joey and Tegan are more fondly remembered, but they also stayed much longer. I'd say Will, Gypsy, Hayley, Nick, Jade and Kirsty were also quiet starters who went on to become iconic characters too.

That's a good point - Jack, Selina, Shannon and Curtis were all given time to settle in and build a fan base before they were thrown into the thick of storylines. I don't think it's a coincidence that they are probably considered the most iconic teenage gang the show has ever had. Many new characters aren't given that opportunity to settle into the show before they are thrown in the deep end, which sometimes affects how well they are received. It helped that Steven and Marilyn still knew quite a few characters from their time, which is not always the case. Also Marilyn was pretty much immediately moved into the Beach House and Steven had new interactions through his job as a teacher and with Travis (I think it was said that he, Travis and Donna were all in the same year at school together!) so that got him out beyond just interacting with the Ross family. The writers really put some thought into how they were going to work. ' May I ask who you were referring to with it isn't always the case? The only other regular returnees H&A has had have been Jesse McGregor, Kirsty Sutherland, Marilyn in 2010 and a recast Roo, plus Morag's semi-regular appearances in the mid-late 2000s. Jesse's eventually worked, but I felt like they had to pair him off with Leah pretty quickly for it to happen, and I wasn't really watching in the late 2000s, so I can't comment on Marilyn, Roo and Kirsty. Morag's semi-regular stint worked too because she's such a strong character and as a lawyer, was often in demand professionally.

1995 H&A just shows how a revamp can be done without a massive cast shake up. There was some natural turnover that is part and parcel of H&A, but for the most part, it was using the characters that were already established (the exception was probably Donna?). Bringing back Steven and Marilyn as full-time cast members was a shot in the arm too. That would have potentially renewed interest for lapsed or long-term viewers, whereas the cranked-up stories and focus on the newer younger cast (Curtis, Shannon, Selina, Jack) would have brought in some newer viewers too, including myself as a 7 year old at the time! Compare it to later revamps like 2000, where half the cast were written out to make way for newcomers like the Sutherlands, Noah etc who were instantly thrown into the thick of things. Axing characters seems to be Neighbours' and Hollyoaks' go-to when a revamp is required too (I can't comment on other soaps!), which we know have had mixed results.

Aaron and Mitch came after Curtis too! Do you remember if they were sent by the department too? I vaguely remember Mitch being a street kid, but I can't remember if Alf and Ailsa made the connection first before they fostered. By the time Mitch came along, Duncan had been SORASed to a teenager so he was their own "wild child". All while trying to write her novels

For the early part of the 1990s, they didn't really do much. Apart from the Quinn Jackson story in 1994, did they have any major storylines at all between 1990 and 1995? It was only from 1995 onwards when they started having big storylines because the writers were actually using them - the car accident when Ailsa thought Alf was trying to kill her, the diner break-in and diner siege and Ailsa's subsequent PTSD, Ailsa getting stalked by her brother, the Shauna story, Alf's heart issues, their marriage breakdown around 1997/98 (I can't remember the cause, but he moved into a caravan that caught fire and met the blind woman played by Belinda Giblin). Plus SORASing Duncan created more angst for them too. Yes, the final years of their marriage were unhappy at times, but that's because they were actually given storylines. Look how unhappy Tom and Pippa's marriage was at times because they were at the centre of things - arguing over Danny, their 1989 fights about his job and fostering Dodge which culminated in him getting lost at sea, his post-stroke attitude, the stuff with Zac the shark hunter and then the fight they had in the lead up to his death. If they were supporting characters, they'd have just been the perfect foster parents.

I agree with that statement from H&A Early Years Insta page and I definitely prefer 1998-2000 over any other era of the show, but sadly character-driven drama is not considered engaging commercial television anymore. 1980s H&A would not survive at 7pm in 2024, even though it was filled with drama like Roo's pregnancy lie, Carly's rape, Alan and Donald's relationship and the Summer Bay Nutter. I can't speak for all soaps, but Neighbours and Hollyoaks have less emphasis on character and more on plot now. Hollyoaks has always has inter-family affairs, massive stunts, sinister villains and characters literally getting away with murder, and everyone has moved on the following week and it's often the repeat offenders repeating the same mistakes over and over, meaning very little character development. Neighbours is certainly better with character-driven stories, but it is still under pressure to opt for the plot-driven stuff, like Terese and Toadie's marriage being an obstacle to keep her and Paul apart, Karl becoming caricature so he can be used for all the comedy B plots and several regular characters being involved in covering up a "murder".

It seemed like a weird choice to bring back Pippa to oversee the teenagers at the Beach House, especially with the only two characters Pippa knew being absent at the time. They could have recast Irene's sister Wendy or even used Shelley Sutherland. Kirsty was around at the time, so Shelley could have popped back and stayed at Irene's with some flimsy throwaway line about the Caravan Park being full or something. From Debra's interview, it sounds like it was all very last-minute and disorganised, so they probably didn't have time to think logically about it.

I agree. And Neighbours is certainly looking and feeling more aged than H&A. I'd say a large factor in that has been the volume of returnees and older characters. There was a long period where the producers chose not to introduce any new characters into the cast and just brought heaps of returnees back as regulars, which really does not work in such a small cast. I don't think it's a coincidence that the only characters I am really invested in at the moment are Haz and the Varga Murphys, the few new characters to be introduced in the revival. H&A has its faults - the disregard for its history and spread of characters ages being the primary ones - but it has evolved and moved with the times. It looks sleek and modern, the storylines are more engaging and watchable and it's still rating well. If it were still a soap about a foster family in a sleepy coastal town, it would most likely have been cancelled years ago. H&A has always felt a head of the game to me. In 1988, H&A was airing stories like Carly's rape and Roo's pregnancy, Neighbours were playing it safe - I think the worst they had that year was Scott kissing Jane. In 1995, when H&A went darker, Neighbours had one of it's dullest years. When the Braxton era started, Neighbours was in the peak Susan Bower years. Perhaps the only time Neighbours has felt like the stronger soap (ignoring the first few years, before H&A aired) has been 1992-1994 when Neighbours had that revamp and went a little darker. The rest of that time it has felt like Neighbours have just been catch up.

I hate to say it, but you're right. Most viewers wouldn't care, even if those characters do have links to the current cast. Any sort of 40th anniversary reunion is likely to be top-heavy with cast from 2011 onwards like Heath and Bianca, Ricky, Dean and Ziggy, Ash, Jasmine, Jett, Bella, Ryder, VJ, Tori etc. with maybe one or two token early years icons like Sally, Gypsy and Colleen.

I don't think it was a coincidence that Judy quit when they started giving her big stories. In 1999-2000, she had the PTSD story after the diner siege (was that when Ailsa shot Alf?), the car accident and subsequent story when she thought Alf wanted her dead, and then the Shaun story. She was also involved in the mudslide, but Judy would have given her notice by that point. Prior to that, she didn't really do much for most of the nineties - her and Alf had marriage issues at one point which seemed like a B plot (I can't remember the build up, but he moved into a caravan and met a blind woman played by Belinda Giblin!) and then her breakdown in which she saw Bobby, but that was probably written as a temporary exit story for Ailsa.

I imagine it was a bit of both to be honest. Pippa had no real reason to return without Sally around and it sounds like Debra was done after that latest stint.

She definitely did, but H&A was also undergoing an overhaul at the time so it may have been a mutual decision, especially when you consider the original diner set and Stewart house were both gone a few weeks before Ailsa's exit, the remaining original cast were relatively underused in 2001/2002 and Judy has been quite open about just going through the motions in her final years on H&A because writing was her passion. I suspect it was ultimately Judy's decision to leave, especially after the long-running story to introduce a long-lost daughter for Ailsa, but I also think it's likely the producers didn't fight to keep her with all the wider changes happening at the time. Just recently on Hollyoaks, Stephanie Waring has publicly said she was given the chance to say it was her decision to leave, but chose to say she was axed. It absolutely would have happened on Australian soaps in the past too and probably with some actors/characters we'd be shocked to learn about.

Will and Gypsy's was amongst the worst too. Chloe's death made little sense to me - Other than generating some hype for the 4000th episode by publicising that "someone would die", the only purpose her death served was to facilitate Jesse's exit, which could have been achieved with him killing a random guest character. But then Jesse's exit made no sense either - he could have simply moved away to be closer to his daughter, or got a happy ending with either Chloe or Josie, who was written out at the same time.

I think that's probably they were reluctant to give Pippa more than just appearing for Sally's life events. She didn't come back to stay with Sally because she was running away from Ian or needed money. They kept her ending happy. They pretty much did for Donald too up until his final return. Steven Matheson's return worked because he was in a different stage of his life. He'd been through so many things during his time, but he'd left as a teenager and returned as a teacher, so there was fresh story ideas for him. Marilyn had equally been through so much, but because she had such a long hiatus between her second and third regular stints, there was also plenty of fresh stories for her. Again, Marilyn worked. Upon her return, the only remaining regulars were from her last appearance were Alf and Irene. She also knew Colleen because she was engaged to Lance, and Morag, though I can't remember how frequently she was appearing at that point. Good writing or a well-developed character quickly will quickly re-assimilate into the new cast anyway, and probably only need to have the stalwarts hold their hand for the first few episodes anyway. This happened with Marilyn and Steven in 1995 before Marilyn moved into the Beach House, and Steven became friends with Travis and Kelly.

I agree. The current producers have little regard for history that it's probably best to leave legendary past characters in the past. We've seen with some characters like Don, Pippa, Will and Gypsy how returnees can be messed up and they returned in an era where history was more respected.