Classic Episodes on 5★

[Dan F]

Yup Roo had Martha in 1988, hence Alf's reference to young girls having babies

[James Martin]

Yep, closing credits are intact. These aren't the ITV edits thankfully, which I think means this is the first time the excellent 96-99 closing credits will be seen on television in the UK.

Albeit talked over and shrunk down by 5★

I have to admit that continuity announcer is getting on my tits!

[-Andrew-]

That is one of the reasons why I haven't turned on my TV in over three years. I cannot STAND the chatter over shrunk credits, graphics popping up during the episode and increasingly patronising (and LONG) adverts. I notice they've cut a few seconds off before the ad breaks too (just before the unfolding 'Home and Away' ad-bumper appears) which is quite jarring when there's an underscore playing, but understandable I guess.

[James Martin]

They've done that with the break bumpers since Seven introduced them down under in 2004. No other way round it really, apart from inserting stock shots on top of the "bumper" image.

[Red Ranger 1]

Found it, if anyone's really interested!

Thanks for the info!I don't know if I'm dreaming this or not but I seem to recall Anglia had the lunchtime showing at 14:10 at one point, so as with the evening you could turn over straight after Neighbours. I've completely blocked out it being moved to 17:00, which would have been hugely inconvenient for me because it's right across our tea time.I think probably because I was unemployed for most of that period and watching the lunchtime showing.

As someone said, even though I've seen these episodes fairly recently it's quite a jolt to see it on a proper television with good picture quality.And wow-221,000?For 5*?!Be interesting to see if it keeps that up once the novelty's worn off and people are confused by the succession of random episodes.As has been discussed, in some ways the pilot seems a long time ago(for a start, it's impossible to look at Carly's hair in the early episodes without wondering what on earth she was thinking), in others the themes of mass redundancies haven't really changed.I'm always a bit unsure about the subplot of Frank having a problem with Steven, which thankfully didn't carry through to the series, since it doesn't seem to go any deeper than Frank being a jerk.No-one else comments on it but Nicolle Dickson always comes across as a bit too mannered in the pilot:I'm surprised to learn she was only 19 at the time, she comes across as someone much older who's having difficulty getting into the mindset of a sullen teenager.Thankfully, I think either her acting or the writing improved rapidly soon afterwards.Alf working as a fireman, when he quickly changes to a shopkeeper, is probably less jarring for current viewers after years of him running SES rescues singlehanded.Donald Fisher being a moustache-twirling villain is far more jarring, I don't think he'd ever be quite that bad again, trying to get Nico locked up was the closest he got.I seem to remember hearing he was originally meant to be the local counciller and an occasional antagonist but when they saw the pilot they made him a teacher and one of the main supporting characters.Hence, three episodes later he's looking after an upset Sally and by a quarter of the way through the year he's a sympathetic villain at worst.(Shame he wasn't in either of today's episodes, aside from the montage at the start of the first one, to show how much he changed in so short a time.)And ahh, Lynn.The main reason why it's a shame we only get one episode from 1988.Virtually an extra in the pilot compared to the attention Carly, Steven and Bobby get but still making the most of every little bit of screen time she's got.Why did they get rid of her so quickly.

I was hoping we'd get an episode of the original Roo and that was the only one from when she was on the show.That little subplot of her and Martin was actually rather touching.It wasn't until the credits started that I realised they were basically still using the originals with a few tweaks at that point.Frank and Bobby were rather sweet together, I think it went downhill pretty rapidly after that.Everyone's reaction to Celia at the start was a brilliant laugh out loud moment and I liked that scene of Alf brushing aside Ailsa's concerns without her even saying a word.Wondered what Matt was doing with Alison until I remembered that whole "pretending to go out with her" thing.I'd forgotten that Alf told Bobby about Morag being her mother off screen, that seemed an odd choice.

Man, Kate Ritchie was a little star even then, she practically stole that second episode with her assessment of Marilyn("She was silly and she talked too much...But I liked her").Martin's desperate attempts to avoid the delivery man were a nice self-contained little comedy routine.Shame that Ailsa learning of her mother's death is flatly contradicted in 2000, when we're told she died while Ailsa was in prison and she wasn't allowed to attend the funeral.Nice touch that, despite his opposition, Alf defended her to Celia.Bit distracting that there's an extra who looks and dresses exactly like Emma wandering around in the background at the time, especially where there's one who looks and dresses exactly like Emma's soon-to-be-best-friend Viv right next to her.Were they their stand-ins or something?!

I didn't watch the pilot till the end but today's episodes didn't shrink the credits, did they, even if someone talked over them?

[Dan F]

I think it's same to presume that Alf was simply one of the Rural Fire Service and/or SES volunteers - though don't think we ever actually saw him again with the fire engine

Yeah the Pilot's credits were shrunk down for a while - as someone who works behind cameras I've always hated it, very disrespectful for any cast and crew when their names aren't legible (admittedly some broadcasters are worse than others)

[home and away 1988-2000]

Yep, closing credits are intact. These aren't the ITV edits thankfully, which I think means this is the first time the excellent 96-99 closing credits will be seen on television in the UK.

Nope the Living repeats of 1996-1999 from 2001-2003, had the credits in full as well and completely uncut, so it will be the first time since March 2003, so over 9 years ago.

[James Martin]

I liked the 2004-early 2005 credits, where the credits were down the side (much like the pre-96 ones!) which meant you could just slide an ECP over the side the credits weren't on. Australia had the standard-of-the-era "Someone dies this week" faux-movie-style trailer in a 4:3 box on the left, with the credits down the right.

Personally, I think the best compromise is the style both ITV (at least on soaps) in the UK and Seven in Australia (at least on Aussie transmissions of H&A I've watched) adopt. You can still see who's who whilst getting your accelerated programme flow stuff out.

[James Martin]

Oh - no shrinking tonight, but the final episode had a website banner directing viewers to the "third" episode. Probably to spite any fansites who might want to update their credit galleries... ;)

Either way I'm not fussed. It's just so good to see these episodes on television again. After some pretty meh summer breaks, C5 have done very, very good indeed. I hope there'll be more next Summer.

[c120701]

I did find it quite odd tonight how of the two episodes shown there were no scenes in Summer Bay House (bar the recap photos of the Wedding reception) and very little of the Tom & Pippa - obviously they were quite the focal point in the early days and it's just the luck of the draw that they didn't feature in the episodes chosen. That said it was nice to see some Stewart drama, which is probably more relevant to the show today - especially for new viewers seeing Alf, Morag & Roo and a little of their backstories.