Dan F

This situation has been blown entirely out of proportion.... We have fully and thoroughly explained our reasons behind not creating a Tachel feature on the site, or hosting one created by forum members. If there is still any confusion over that, then here's a comprehensive list of them: Lack of Time: Due to maintaining the board, and creating other site content, the staff simply do not have time at the moment to undertake the extensive work that goes into a departure feature. Lack of Interest: Receiving feedback on our features is not about gaining recognition for ourselves (though a thank you is always appreciated), but about finding out what our members do and do not want. With a board of 17,500+ members, if only 5 people acknowledge that they've enjoyed the feature, then it would appear that it has only interested 5 people. Looking back at this thread, only 3 or 4 people have actually expressed any interest in having a Tachel feature which isn't enough to justify huge amounts of hours that goes into it. We figure that our time would be better spent concentrating on some of the core reference features for the site, such as character profiles, episode guides, locations etc. Quality: The truth of the matter is, if we allow members to submit their own work, we're going to run into the awkward situation where we have to turn people away because their work doesn't meet the standard we strive to maintain on the site. We run the site as a reference point for fans of the show, and for this reasons certain standards have to be met - and if we had to start doing that, we'd start getting - you guessed it - more abuse. In addition to this, Foxy has already suggested a compromise, in the form of something similar to the ‘Picspam’ in the Creativity & Multimedia forum. I’ll post a link here just in case anyone is having trouble finding it and seeing what we mean: http://www.backtothebay.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40821. In a thread similar to that you could easily post any artwork and links to fanfictions etc. - just as you requested. We cannot express these points any more clearly. Although you may not agree with them, these are points we are not going to budge on, so in all honesty, you need to accept them. As for those comments Mistified, frankly you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. It's not a case of us 'spitting the dummy' or not being bothered to do stuff, it's prioritising what features go on the site - and if we spend hours and hours on a departure feature which essentially repeats information in character profiles and episode guides, and only 5 or 6 people seem bothered about it, then our time can be better spent concentrating on other areas. It is no coincidence that when departure features stopped, we were able to upload episode guides for every episode of the show that's aired, and continue our daily episode summaries (which we’re still doing behind the scenes at the moment, despite separate issues getting in the way of uploading). They seem to be a thankless task, but we carry on with them regardless, which shows that we are dedicated to providing a thorough reference point for fans of the show. Departure features merely serve to collate information on certain characters alongside a few pictures, but the truth of it is that all the information is already on the site in other mediums. We are not denying anybody access to the information, but merely choosing to present it in different ways. It is quite telling that all we ever seem to be reminded of these days are of the things we don't do, rather than the things we do. We're not producing enough content, we're not releasing enough spoilers.... but is it any wonder when all we seem to get is abuse from people? We're not saying we need constant praise and encouragement, far from it, but once it a while it might be nice to hear something nice amongst the negativity we have to deal with. It is very easy to say from a member's point of view that the staff aren't doing their jobs properly, but I think until you've actually had the experience of what we have to deal with most of the time, you'd be a lot less inclined to judge. Cheers Ryan

That is correct, but as I mentioned in the Surf Club spoiler thread, the debut on screen is a little bit premature as the real life building work hasn't even started yet - it's still awaiting planning permission.

There's been a number of location updates this week - 2 new ones, and one with a long needed update (and another minor update)

Kim, Alison, Skye and Mav are all siblings as far as I'm aware.

Whilst we're continuing work behind-the-scenes on them, unfortunately they won't be going up on the site just yet for various reasons. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's a pain for us too. They'll be back as soon as possible though In the meantime we're still working on other updates - all of the current characters profiles are now up-to-date (with thanks to RR1, who also did Olivia's profile which went up today) - Ryan's also been busy with some updates in the Episodes section, and a new location has also been uploaded today (cheers to QA for the pics)

Had a few emails from members about a problem with the Flood Control today - I've disabled it for the time being, but let me know if you still have any problems

Yup, that was an Italian exchange student called Laura Bonetti, a girlfriend of Curtis, who came to a sticky end when playing 'chicken' with a train. That was 1995. The actress later returned in 1997 as another character called Jenna (real name Lisa, running away from an abusive husband), and Curtis ended up leaving the bay with her.

That's because there's a password on it to prevent topic titles from showing in the main index (and spoiling international viewers) The passwords for each forum are written in their descriptions.

Some tidbits amongst the 1988 episodes and a new location for today. I do believe that concludes all of the Brooklyn locations that the show used - a big thanks to QA once again for heading up there (twice) to take the pics

Another location added today.

You've got Foxy providing them this week Not a clue about Harry in that ep.....

Actually I think you'll find it's Murdoch Roberts - Irene's ex-husband who ended up being murdered by Dodge in 1995

Erm, if you're referring to the video where he's singing with his 'twin' - you do realise it's not real right? Good old split screen technique I'm afraid.

That was one of the places I'd always thought as a possibility - but with them mainly using West Head for Stewarts Point over the years, where you can see the lighthouse in the distance, it pretty much put pay to that one. As much as I love West Head, you do have to question how it's within walking distance for the residents of the bay when it's the other side of Pittwater

Ailsa'a original store was just across the road from the 'Pier Diner' but was demolished many years ago - there's absolutely no trace of it now with the whole area just being grass and picnic benches. This is the only pic I have showing the exact spot nowadays, you can just see the road heading up to the left: You can see the area on Google Maps here, but the Streetview doesn't really cover it. ETA: The body they found was Philip Matheson, Steven's uncle

I'd forgotten about that, meant to mention it when it aired. Was quite silly of them to try and pass it off as Stewarts Point when its just the far end of the car park. As far as I can remember there is a sign there for Barrenjoey Headland, but why they replaced it with 'Stewarts Point' when they could have just covered it or left it out of shot, who knows! Martha could have just stated she's already been up there. But then Stewarts Point has always been a strange one anyway, and quite inconsistent.

Saw the titles earlier and whilst I don't watch the show, I do have to say I really like them. Love the dark titlecard, though the transition into the show could be a bit jarring if its a bright scene. Good to see that the traditional back-alley cat has survived the move! Seem to have gone a tad more retro with the theme too

Yup we know about Lane Cove River Tourist Park - though whether we'd be able to add it to the site all depends on whether we'd be allowed in to take pics....I'm sure they'd be willing to help though....

Ah yup, that too

'The City' was always meant to be Sydney, though I believe they never named it at first to make Summer Bay's location a bit more ambiguous (can't remember if there's actually been any Early Years eps to prove that wrong so far...) From what we've learnt on screen, though it seems to change every so often, Summer Bay seems to be a couple of hours south of Sydney (they tend to talk of 'going up' to the city). There was a couple of other times in the 90's with Meg & Blake staying in a hotel overlooking the Sydney harbour, Shane & Angel going to the opera house, and of course the 'Secrets and the City' spinoff in 2002. They tended to stay in the harbour area in those eps - the 2010 opener with Derrick, Martha and Angelo in Chinatown was a nice change. Oh and I've just remembered Irene and Dylan going to Josie's brothel which was Potts Point, slightly away from the CBD.

That was here in Newport, just around the corner from the Townhouse location (filmed on the same day)

We're continuing almost daily updates - there's been various updates amongst Character Profiles, Locations, and the Episodes section recently, along with an update to the Credits Centre today. And of course Ryan is currently uploading the results of our 2010 MPC Poll which can be discussed in this thread.

Whilst its obviously not an exact replica, it does bear similarity and they evidently took the shape of the house into account when designing the set. All I've done below is rotated the staircase, and knocked down a few walls to open it up a bit more, and you've got the onscreen version. The living/dining/kitchen areas are basically the same, and the bathroom is in the same place. Before they added the bedroom at the bottom of the stairs it would have been even more similar with the boatshed remaining as it is in reality. Obviously its nowhere near to scale - the right hand wall needs to come in considerably now

The original Beach House location page has now been updated, with screencaps and the other pics that were promised

As yes it was Barry's car, that's the one I meant in 2006. Belle took that from outside the surf club and the near-accident was on good old 'Old Yabbie Creek Road' - and yes it was Macca I had a look at the scene you mentioned Alex, and whilst it was correct with the details, we didn't actually see Diana looking at the house - just Irene mentioning it and then Chloe going outside to meet her on the beach (not Clareville beach though). The search continues!