Why weren't Sally, Steven, Barbara...

[matty]

Frank, Celia and Rebecca at Bobby's funeral? I know that it's not for a few years, but I watched the clip on youtube, and it doesn't make sense.

[Bobby Forever Missed]

Sally was babysitting Chris i think I don't know about the others

[Red Ranger 1]

Was Sally really not there?I don't remember that, it seems like odd plotting.As for the others...well, the real world answer is "because they'd left the show", which also accounts for characters like Carly, Sophie, Lynn and Marilyn.Not sure if any of them were mentioned, I guess they had their own lives and weren't able to drop everything.Celia was in Africa at the time so it would have been especially difficult for her.Not sure what the situation was with Frank at the time, I haven't seen his early 90s return stint.The way they talked about him in the mid-90s it sounded as though he'd parted on bad terms with most people and they weren't really in touch anymore but then he turned up again in 2000 without a word.

[Ryan]

I think at some points as well, quality is best over quantity. They got Morag back and that provided a few months of drama, which is better than had Carly, Steven and co returned and just been sad.

[matty]

Thanks all for your responses. It just doesn't see realistic. All of the people that I said (and Red Ranger) should have been there, except Celia, because it's understandable, being in Africa.

At funerals in real life, all close friends and families go, barring an exceptional circumstance, like Celia's.

[Ryan]

Maybe they were there and we didn't see them?

[j.laur5]

I had a bigger problem with Ailsa's funeral. Why couldn't they bring back at least Pippa or Morag?

Ailsa was on the show for 12 years and the producers didn't think it would be a good idea to bring past characters back. It could have been the 3000th episode. I know Ailsa was dead before that episode, but they could have got Judy Nunn to stay on for a few more weeks.

[beau_t]

IIRC Sally's absence was part of the plot - she chose not to go because it was too upsetting for her. I remember her talking to someone (Finlay?) about it.

The absences of Carly, Frank, Marilyn etc do stand out, but the actors had left. It's not the writers fault.

Carly did express regret over her treatment of Bobby when she returned in 2000. Strangely no mention of her from Frank though...

[matty]

IIRC Sally's absence was part of the plot - she chose not to go because it was too upsetting for her. I remember her talking to someone (Finlay?) about it.

The absences of Carly, Frank, Marilyn etc do stand out, but the actors had left. It's not the writers fault.

Carly did express regret over her treatment of Bobby when she returned in 2000. Strangely no mention of her from Frank though...

That's what makes it stand out though. That made it look fake, and not down to earth. I have been pretty disappointed with the (lack of) mention of Bobby over the years. All that Carly said was "I was such a cow to Bobby". It didn't even make sense, and led nowhere. Similar to how Morag said "Not many people know, but I had a child out of wedlock".

[Lulu1978]

It would have been nice if all those people had of been there,but as happens so often on H&A and other shows when people leave the series the writers don't bother to bring those characters back most of the time for big occasions.Sally should have been there because she was still a member of the cast and she was close to Bobby.I had forgotten all about that.