pluto Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 I agree with Andrew. As Pippa says in the pilot (it's been on UK television tonight so forgive the indulgence) "Who cares what the figures were? It's what they're GOING to be that matters." You can't drive a show forward by harking back to the good old days. We also have to remember that, say, an 18 year old fan in 1988 will be 42 now. They've gone through the emotional mill, loved and lost, met someone, married them and had a kid who's probably watching the show now. Teens especially today consume their media so differently to even how people like me in my late 20s did. As I said earlier, the pilot was on TV here tonight. Despite the lower-budget production values, the obviously dated cinematography equipment and the 80s fashions and even despite some slightly dodgy acting from the kids (it was day one, remember) it stood up 24 years on because it was timeless. Character driven writing won't age. The event/sensation driven stuff we're seeing now will look SO horrifically dated in 10 years from now. But there's no point asking for the early years back. Today's Home & Away needs to be improved, so it's a good show in its' own right. At the moment it isn't. I appreciate the River Boys are loved by the girls - I put a Facebook status update earlier saying the pilot was on if anyone was bored of the River Boys and my friend Lois replied "The River Boys make it!" - but that needs to be broken up with some interesting stuff. The best stuff I've seen, recently, was Rebecca Breeds' performance after Charlie died. It was raw, it was emotional, it was character-driven. You felt so sorry for her. WHY can't we have more of that?! The other issues relate to the show's identity crisis. First, get some decent, 30s credits with the cast in them and the theme tune. It's what the Swoosh is to Nike, the building blocks are to Channel 4, chimneys are to Corrie, the aerial shot of London and the dum-dums are to EastEnders. Secondly, what's with the mass refurbishment of every property in Summer Bay? That should have been done more gradually methinks. You make a good point. I think the show needs to pull the best qualities it had from the early days (character driven plots, a good theme tune etc) and apply them in a modern way. At the moment theyve lost the plot a bit I think! I think you're right about it having an identity crisis, in a way Neighbours doesn't. A decent theme tune/titles would be a good start, along with working out a proper direction for the show, where certain characters are going (some just go round in circles) and how to make long term characters like Alf actually mean abit more to the show again. He's been abit relegated in recent years I feel, I always thought it was a real mistake killing Ailsa off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Judy Nunn wanted to leave though I believe for her more profitable writing career. That gives you three choices. You either split Alf and Ailsa up permanently and Ailsa leaves, you do what they did and kill her off or you have them stay together, but with Ailsa constantly in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.laur5 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Judy Nunn wanted to leave though I believe for her more profitable writing career. That gives you three choices. You either split Alf and Ailsa up permanently and Ailsa leaves, you do what they did and kill her off or you have them stay together, but with Ailsa constantly in the background. But Ailsa needed to be killed or she would never have left Alf or the Bay. I know she left in 1988 ,however, that was when she was new to the bay! I would have rathered if producers just told Judy to only come in once a week and only do an episode or 2, and then only be in the background of the Diner or in the beach house having coffee with Irene. I wonder how she would get along with the new Morag and I wonder how she would have sorted out bad female characters like Angie and Amanda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadyctslover Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Brand new recap image today as the camera pans over the bay then zooms to a 3D image of the Home and Away logo. It's strange to see another change so soon. Will this one remain until the end of the year, or will they have a new one every week, or alternate?! I really can't stand inconsistency with H&A openings. I wish they would decide on a musical and visual style and play it consistently throughout the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I remember in the old days the producers would come on here and would get a good flavour of what the fans wanted to see. Nowadays they have the Facebook page, but it's all the teenage girls who want more River Boys. I ended up having a bit of an argument with a teenage girl on my own Facebook last night about this - she thinks the show's really good as it is and that whilst she does like the River Boys, they don't dominate the show. I also argued that if she watched some older episodes she'd see things used to be more character-driven than event-driven, but she made a good point - "if the events are crap nobody's going to be interested." I don't think there's anything wrong with the standard of acting, and the production values are now quite high. What we simply need is to see more depth given to the characters who are there. They're thrown every emotional trauma they can at Ruby, now they need to spread the heartache out a bit. I really do think the issue's in the writing, rather than anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluto Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Judy Nunn wanted to leave though I believe for her more profitable writing career. That gives you three choices. You either split Alf and Ailsa up permanently and Ailsa leaves, you do what they did and kill her off or you have them stay together, but with Ailsa constantly in the background. I read not long ago an interview in which she said she regretted being killed off as she had only asked to be written out temporarily not permanently. I don't think she gave a reason, maybe for her writing, and didnt she herself suffer ill health at some point? Either way, unfortunately they couldn't accomodate this and said it's either go for good or stay. So it seems she had little choice. Very narrow minded of the network I think, they could have easily written Judy out for a period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Has any character disappeared on a soap for any length of time, like Madeline McCann type cases? They always seem to turn up in an episode. Perhaps Ailsa could mysteriously have gone missing and then after a year they could relook at the situation. She turns up, confused, dazed etc or maybe Alf starts receiving her body parts through the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c120701 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Has any character disappeared on a soap for any length of time, like Madeline McCann type cases? They always seem to turn up in an episode. Perhaps Ailsa could mysteriously have gone missing and then after a year they could relook at the situation. She turns up, confused, dazed etc or maybe Alf starts receiving her body parts through the post. Harold Bishop, although not a Madeline McCann type case. I think Zeke Kinski (he was kidnapped) was missing for quite a few episodes before we saw him after the rafting accident on Neighbours. How long was it before we saw Rosie Webster when John Stape kidnapped her on Corrie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 How could I forget Harold!!! You could say Dodge sort of fills this criteria, but also no one really cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluto Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 How could I forget Harold!!! You could say Dodge sort of fills this criteria, but also no one really cares. Ahh dodge.. it's funny you mention him, his storyline (and the burning down of the store) are my first memories of watching H&A lol I remember Pippa (Vanessa) burning his clothes in the garden too. Seems an age ago now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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