1988 in review

[Ryan]

Well, I guess there's a few of us here that had seen it before, but never thought we'd get the chance to see it again, others whose experience existed of about five copies of the pilot and the odd episode clip and here, that have now been put into more context, but well bar tomorrow mornings episodes, which is effectively a load of filler, that's 1988 done with. It does seem bizarre to think that on Monday, if it's still scheduled and no one's said anything otherwise that we will now be onto 1989 episodes, bringing with it loads of Viv, Adam and Morag goodness.

I've spent a lot of time this year writing stuff for the site, summaries, character profiles and transcribing (so much so that 1988 is now my second most complete season!), so it's not exactly like I've been watching one episode and then leaving it to the memory back, but watching the recent episodes and then comparing them to the ones at the start of the season, the way the show has grown up during the season is very noticable. I guess a lot of us would have read the stuff that the show was nearly cancelled 30 or 40 episodes because nothing was happening, or not enough was happening. I look back at Block 3, and essentially there's a week there where nothing happens. Lynn is missing and yet no one looks for her. To be fair, the show then starts moving through the gears, though those first 100 episodes do have those bizarre sideplots that are soon forgotten, like that woman that was going to buy Floss and Neville's home, and some pretty dodgy actors, perhaps the result of new show at the time. I still laugh at Brett's first appearances, where each sentence appeared to be in a different pitch and accent.

I think it is probably with Roo returning around Episode 60 that the show starts really catching on and loses some of the elements from that period, like the road gang, the Barlows etc, and a lot of these stories from the rest of the year are still memorable, though sometimes I was surprised by how they actually turned out on screen, having read about them on various websites, including the Early Years website. For instance, Danny King was nothing like I expected. He looked about 30 years older than I had imagined.

I think from episodes 100 till Gary Samuels death it was constantly good, with a mixture of relatively dark and dramatic, but usually still family orientated storylines, offest with some general silliness, was pretty good. These last few weeks I feel as, with the exception of the Bobby parentage storyline which has sort of crept into 1988, they've been filling up the episode quota. At the same time, it's nice to see the end of the season without some ridiculous finale tagged on the end.

[Skylover]

I agree with what you've said, Ryan. I definitely think stories like the Barlow family, Floss and Neville's son and Danny King signify an era during which the show was finding its feet. I think once Morag returns to the Bay things really start to get interesting, but for me, Stacey and Philip Macklin's involvement in the show during the latter half of the year was really when the show began to feel like a real community and transcended so well on screen. Although Sandie's acting at time had been patchy, there was an element of the show seeming very natural and the scenes in Ailsa's shop began to feel very real.

Having said that, I am extremely surprised by the show's reliance on the guest actors to have appeared, though I suppose that adds to the essence of community feeling they're aiming to achieve. A really brilliant season, and like you say the last 100 episodes or so is when the show starts to really take off. I think it's a shame that Floss and Neville appear to just be floating around in the second half of the season.

[codyw1]

I love 88. I'm hard pressed to choose between it and 89. Much of 89 is astonishingly good, with the Bobby/Morag/Fisher stuff and the Dodge story. On the other hand, last time I felt it did go slightly downhill after Morag left.

It's about a tie IMHO. But both rock, so who cares?

[Ryan]

One thing I've found though, the episodes are much better stuck on my USB and then watched on TV, sounds stupid, but television was meant to be watched on TV and watching TV programmes on media players, skipping bits and sometimes trying to get the jist of the story in 5 minutes, can have it's effects.

[codyw1]

I honestly can't watch tv or movies on the computer. Clips and music videos, sure, but not full programs.