Ailsa Stewart - Judy Nunn

[j.laur5]

This is the thread for Ailsa Stewart, the late Queen of Summer Bay who was soul of Home and Away from 1988-2000.

It's hard to belive it's been 8 years since Ailsa has been dead but lets have brain storm how things could of been different if Ailsa was still alive and on show. Because if Ailsa was still on show things would have been a lot different.

This is a list of ten things that would have been different if she was still on show.

 

1 Irene would never of returned to the Dinner

2 Alf would not have had a brain tumour, or he might of seen his other died wife, Martha

3 Alf would not have found Duncan a hand full

4 Alf would've lived somewhere else, had his own place

5 Alf would never have dated Brigit

6 Martha would've never have become a pole dancer

7 Ailsa would've stopped arguments between Morag and Colleen

8 Seb would've never of got injured, because Ailsa would've kept Duncan under control

9 Sally would've had Ailsa as her rock as well as Alf

10 Ailsa would've of helped Colleen though her gambling problem instead of Shelley

 

How do you reackon things whould been different if Ailsa was still alive.

Edited July 4, 2015 by QUIET ACHIEVER

[allybee]

I LOVED Ailsa, and for me she is still missed on H&A, and after 8 years Alf and Ailsa are still my ultimate all-time fav soap couple.

I don't know how different things might have been if Ailsa had still be around, apart from the one's listed above, but you know - and please remember I am a die-hard A&A fan - I think I might liked to have seen them split up and maybe even divorce - (Yes it would have been a risky move but it worked when they did it for Karl and Susan in Neighbours - and we got a happy ending back there) And add a little bit of will-they-wont-they reunite, the scriptwriters never delved very far into their marriage for me, they always had them bickering.

I think I might just have planted the seed for a fan fic, I'm off to write

Ali

[rachel1990]

Alisa in the early years has proved to be a great character and its been wonderfull to see how Alf and herself began. 1 tiny issue. Did we have to see in the later years her go crazy twice?

[Ryan]

At least.

We see her see Bobby in 1995 and then in 1999. In 1999 though I think she was fully aware what she was doing, it's just was she was doing was bizarre.

[rachel1990]

At least.

We see her see Bobby in 1995 and then in 1999. In 1999 though I think she was fully aware what she was doing, it's just was she was doing was bizarre.

Maybe they just ran out of ideas. No wonder Judy quit

[Blaxland 89]

Actually Ailsa never "went crazy". She suffered from serious mental health issues and being strong as she was she coped very well on a day to day basis. However certain things that she had been though in her life affected her always in this way. A character trait like this has nothing to do with running out of idea's but insures good continuity of character. Sadly something that the show lacks today.

The first part of Ailsa trauma and what stared her mental instability was probably watching the abuse her Mother went through from her Father, which resulted in Ailsa stabbing him. Other times was suffering post natel depression 1989 which lead to her nearly smothering Duncan. In 1995 she was attacked at the Diner which could through anyone in a state, let alone someone with Ailsa's history. And in 1999 she had a major car crash and came out of the coma hearing that Alf wanted to turn off her life support.

Then of course there was the road rage incident that scared her to bits resulting in almost shooting Alf!

As the years went on Ailsa was not as strong as she used to be in the pilot but after what she went through who would. After losing Bobby in 1993 she was never the same, which is why in her darkest moment she saw her vision. (Also she had been taking out of date anti-depressants)

Judy Nunn played all of these scenes amazingly with care and sensitivity and I'm sure any actor would rather those stories then just pouring coffee in the diner.

And by all account Judy left from ill health. The only negative thing I have heard her say was the way they wrote her out. Which I myself thought was pretty awful.

[j.laur5]

Actually Ailsa never "went crazy". She suffered from serious mental health issues and being strong as she was she coped very well on a day to day basis. However certain things that she had been though in her life affected her always in this way. A character trait like this has nothing to do with running out of idea's but insures good continuity of character. Sadly something that the show lacks today.

The first part of Ailsa trauma and what stared her mental instability was probably watching the abuse her Mother went through from her Father, which resulted in Ailsa stabbing him. Other times was suffering post natel depression 1989 which lead to her nearly smothering Duncan. In 1995 she was attacked at the Diner which could through anyone in a state, let alone someone with Ailsa's history. And in 1999 she had a major car crash and came out of the coma hearing that Alf wanted to turn off her life support.

Then of course there was the road rage incident that scared her to bits resulting in almost shooting Alf!

As the years went on Ailsa was not as strong as she used to be in the pilot but after what she went through who would. After losing Bobby in 1993 she was never the same, which is why in her darkest moment she saw her vision. (Also she had been taking out of date anti-depressants)

Judy Nunn played all of these scenes amazingly with care and sensitivity and I'm sure any actor would rather those stories then just pouring coffee in the diner.

And by all account Judy left from ill health. The only negative thing I have heard her say was the way they wrote her out. Which I myself thought was pretty awful.

Judy quit because she wanted to devote more time to her novels. According to IMDB Judy's had no acting roles since leaving H&A, and I have a feeling that had she wanted to keep acting, she would have been on H&A to this day.

[beau_t]

There is an interview with Judy on youtube (quite a recent one) where she says that towards the end of her time in H&A she didn't especially want big storylines because it would take time away from her writing. She was happy just to serve coffee in the Diner because it meant she could spend more time in her dressing room writing. Considering that 1999 and 2000 were quite heavy years for Ailsa storyline-wise, this is probably what pushed her to leave.

She also said the writers would try to involve her in decisions about what to do with Ailsa's character but she always told them "no just you come up with something" because she was more interested in writing her novels by that point!

I do think the mental breakdowns provided good continuity, especially after the 2nd Diner hold-up in 1998(?) where she started to go the same way she did in 1995, very nearly managed to pull herself out of it, but then the road rage storyline happened immediately after and pushed her right over the edge again. I think they even referenced the 1995 breakdown with Ailsa or possibly Alf saying "it's happening again."

As for the storyline where Ailsa comes out a coma and becomes extremely bitter and resentful towards Alf, I found this storyline a bit too dark and depressing. Even though she was one of my favourite characters I just thought it was too much for she and Alf to go through after everything else. It was just a bit uncalled for. I also thought it was a very self-contained storyline, the rest of the town didn't really seem to care that Ailsa was having her life support turned off, nor did they especially care when she was a wheelchair bound mad woman. And then after weeks of this dank depressing storyline Ailsa suddenly snaps out of it with no real resolution. Having said that, Judy Nunn was great during this story. Isn't there an episode where we hear inside Ailsa's head and all the bitter twisted things she is thinking about Alf while sitting there silently

[Dan F]

Isn't there an episode where we hear inside Ailsa's head and all the bitter twisted things she is thinking about Alf while sitting there silently

Yes we heard it a few times early into her recovery, as whilst Ailsa was improving she hid every sign of it from Alf - it did get quite dark when we just heard in her head that she going to make his life "a living hell". I think the resolution came about after she and Duncan were taken hostage by Robert Perez, but my memory is a bit sketchy on that - will have to give them another watch at some point. I know Alf walked out on her just beforehand after she simply stood and watched when he was accidentally electrocuted.

It was a surprisingly lengthy storyline, lasting over 10 weeks in all.

[Ryan]

As for the storyline where Ailsa comes out a coma and becomes extremely bitter and resentful towards Alf, I found this storyline a bit too dark and depressing. Even though she was one of my favourite characters I just thought it was too much for she and Alf to go through after everything else. It was just a bit uncalled for. I also thought it was a very self-contained storyline, the rest of the town didn't really seem to care that Ailsa was having her life support turned off, nor did they especially care when she was a wheelchair bound mad woman. And then after weeks of this dank depressing storyline Ailsa suddenly snaps out of it with no real resolution. Having said that, Judy Nunn was great during this story. Isn't there an episode where we hear inside Ailsa's head and all the bitter twisted things she is thinking about Alf while sitting there silently

The town had other cheery things to concentrate on at the time like kids dying from cancer, being in jail for killing a kid, losing their home to Diana Fraser, marriage break-up, testicular cancer.....