Classic Episodes on 5★

[Ryan]

If the people behind the show have gone and went "Hey Norm, fancy a return.", you would assume that he'd actually, you know, maybe read the scripts or asked what the reason behind his return was. I agree, the whole thing was horrible and perhaps if he's a trusting man, Norman Coburn thought that it could be quite good, but at some point he agreed to it.

I think the general premise about Fisher getting older and not being able to handle the pace could have worked, had they not heaped on ineptitude for skills he already shown he had (and unless you're going senile probably won't lose) and added 20 layers of misery as well.

[Red Ranger 1]

You're also right that in 4000, "He's a tosser" did get cut. Again, I didn't watch it because I've seen it endless times.

I can't say for sure about the original C5 showing, and I didn't want it this time round either, but it was definitely there on previous repeat showings because people commented on it.

Then it must have been cut on the original showing or why would people comment on it not being cut in the repeats?

I meant people were going "Wow, did you hear what Ric said last night?" rather than "Hey, that wasn't there before!"

Haven't seen the second of today's episodes yet, my Freeview box suddenly died yesterday(hopefully I'll get a new one tomorrow), so I'm reliant on what I can get working online.To pre-empt my later comments, I did think the storyline with Don was a misjudged one which, not for the first time, took a positive exit and turned it into a somewhat sour one, although it wasn't completely without merit.I do wish they'd bring Don back at some point to give him a more upbeat ending, maybe showing that he's managed to pull himself up and find a job he's more suited to.Anyway:First of today's episodes.And yeah, there was a keen sense of deja vu in realising that Sally goes through the exact same thing a year or so later.I noticed the surgeon's name as well.Sally showed an odd sense of priorities in crawling towards her car and away from her phone, was she seriously planning to drive home in that condition?!Nice to get a Rachel/Brad scene, they seemed to have less and less to do with each other as they became focused on their own relationship-based storylines.Rocco did manage to evoke some sympathy and part of me ended up wanting him to get away with it;he certainly didn't deserve to be punished as severely as he was.Nice to get a bit of Ric and Matilda in there, even if you'd need footnotes to realise they're meant to be a couple now, and I loved the way that pretty much the entire town(even Amanda!)turned up at the hospital once they found out what had happened, this is possibly the last gasp of the genuine community feeling that only rarely gets invoked these days.(Or maybe they just all love Sally?)Although I felt bad for Rachel, I adored Kit and liked her and Kim's scene here;I'm glad they got their happy ending and hey, Rachel did too, so everything worked out fine.It is weird to watch episodes from this period, I think for her first year and a half on the show Rachel and Tony had absolutely nothing to do with each other.It wasn't until halfway through Tony's scene with Beth and Kit(another one I enjoyed, by the way)that I suddenly remembered with a jolt that he ends up with Rachel.And ah yes, the picture frame opening credits.I think they were a nice compromise between the cast-list-in-the-titles opening and the later no-characters(and even later no-titles)opening.You do need to freeze frame them to see who's there though, it took me ages to notice when Beth was taken off...

[James Martin]

Controversially, I quite liked the 2007 (and once or twice in 2008) credits. Although I hated Israel Canaan's horrible singing (WTF were they thinking?) the musical arrangement of the (very) short-lived 2007 version was excellent.

The 2004 ones weren't that bad either. The theme tune was awful, but the sunny vibe thing worked until the 2005/6 rebrand of the show to a Cop Drama.

I like to think that the photo frames are a nod to the "photos on the mantelpiece" in Summer Bay House. Even after losing the theme tune, changing the style of the show and everything else - those photographs are very much the one sacred cow left on the show.

So here we go then, for the final week...

Monday: 2008

TV: 2008 Season Return & Sally's final episode

Online: 2008 Season Finale

Tuesday, 2009

TV: Bus explosion & Belle's death

Online: Roman's arrest

Wednesday, 2010

TV: Diner fire & Killer Kidnap

Online: Revelations regarding 2009's year-long mystery

Thursday, 2011

TV: River Boys debut (OH FOR F**K'S SAKE) & The Great Storm

Online: Marilyn baby kidnap

Friday, 2012

TV: Charlie's death & Liam and Bianca's wedding

Online: Bianca and Heath's baby issues

Probably going to watch Sally's final episode and that's it now but I have to say it's been a great five weeks. Channel 5 have done a great job and I urge anyone who's enjoyed the repeats - especially the ITV-era stuff - to email in and say so. I really hope the powers in charge realise classic Home & Away has a fanbase. Even if it was one episode a day, it would be ideal for a 3:30pm slot, obviously people can record it or use Demand Five to view the show whenever they want.

I'm actually told the Bianca/Heath baby thing is actually quite a good storyline... oddly, several people have told me to give the main show another go when it comes back next week.

[cadyctslover]

I think sometimes that people here are suggesting that the long time actors don't like the storylines they are given. For ex that they think the storylines are too overloaded by stalkers for example. Yes, some of them has said that, but in 2010 Ray Meagher said he liked upcoming storylines because the storylines were about to change. And then we got the Penn storyline (which airs in Norway now), and it was nothing else than a stalker storyline. I think that the actors like to have storylines, and probably don't see the characters like we do. We don't know what the actors think of the storylines they are given. And I saw a interview once (on youtube) with Lynne McGranger, she said she wanted a stalker storyline. But still she said that she want the show to be like it once was when Irene had more to do. But the show wasn't about stalkers before. I think that the actors want storylines, they want to act, and sometimes it must be funny to act crazy or having wild storylines even if it means that the character is going to change personality. That is what acting is about, to act different personalities and situations. It is we, the viewers who are more concerned about the characters personality.

Towards the end of 2009 in preparation for the 2010 season Ray Meagher was saying that the show had lost its focus and become too reliant on guns and bombs, which was fair enough. That's why 2010 took a slightly lighter tone. They also took the opportunity to develop some of the longer standing characters such as Alf, Colleen, and Leah, which was a good thing. I don't think Ray Meagher/Lynn McGranger were calling out for their own stalker storylines, just something to do in general, as unfortunately they continue to get very little focus as characters in themselves.

But to be honest I think the Penn storyline destroyed Alf. It is hard for me to imagine that Alf would have threatened Penn, just because he had an affair with his mum (when he still was married to Martha). That was totally out of character for him.

I'm pretty certain Alf started seeing Penn's mother after Martha's death. Penn's mother took her own life, Penn blamed Alf and came to SB to seek revenge. Alf told Penn to leave his family and friends alone.

As for yesterdays episodes, I too noticed the mention of Dr. Bennett, although I didn't notice his first name was Dan. What a subtle nod to his departure . Again it's an episode I have seen a few times, and it makes excellent use of much of the cast as they all gather to wish Sally a speedy recovery. I too wondered why Sally attempted to get back into the car, possibly for protection? I think the suspense of her critical injury was suspended by her regaining consciousness a few minutes into the episode, and her survival would have been far more uncertain if she had remained unconscious until she recovered a few episodes later when Rocco attempts to switch off the life support.

Although I think the build up to Sally being stabbed by Rocco was far better than the sudden return of Johnny to stab her again in 2008, the surreal flashbacks she experienced where she sees Tom and he tells her about Cassie's pregnancy and the death of Dan were great.

Controversially, I quite liked the 2007 (and once or twice in 2008) credits. Although I hated Israel Canaan's horrible singing (WTF were they thinking?) the musical arrangement of the (very) short-lived 2007 version was excellent.

The 2004 ones weren't that bad either. The theme tune was awful, but the sunny vibe thing worked until the 2005/6 rebrand of the show to a Cop Drama.

I quite like the 2007 credits, as they were far less flashy and happy compared with 2004-6, and suited the mood of the show far better. Although seeing as they were only shown every few weeks or so, they could have extended them to 50seconds.

I actually quite liked the theme tune by Israel Canann, as again it was a bit darker and reflected the mood of the show a little better than the chipmunks Robertson Brothers. The version that replaced it sung by Luke Dolahenty I thought was awful, boring and unimaginative.

[James Martin]

The Robertsons were OK for the 2000-2003 era. I think in all honesty they were a product of their time - when those credits were introduced at the turn of the century, very clean-cut boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys, 911, Westlife, Boyzone, etc. were ruling the charts in both Australia and the UK. By 2004 and certainly 2005, though, the music scene completely changed - and the boybands we have now are a bit more edgy - The Wanted, JLS etc. A good example is how different Take That were when they returned from their decade off.

(Sadly, we still have One Dire Erection as some sort of hangover from the "clean-cut" era.)

You've also got to bear in mind the sort of show it was then too. Until Coral Drouyn came, it was, for the most part, a relatively lightweight teen soap between 2000 and 2002. Certainly things got a bit more adult with Coral and Bevan Lee and by that time I felt they needed a more "mature" shop window for the programme. However, the "branding" of the show at that time appealed to an audience who in the UK would have been tuning into Hollyoaks or Crossroads (the second version of the show I should add which was Home & Away's replacement on ITV... and it's fair to say they tried very hard to create a British version. It didn't work.)

So the clean-cut boyband thing suited early-00s Home & Away, but by the mid-00s it seemed out of place. The reaction seemed to be to go the other way and get someone to do an edgy rock version, which sounded more like he was taking a dump in all honesty.

On a serious note though, why didn't they get Mark Furze to sing it?

[Red Ranger 1]

I'll probably have most of next week's episodes playing one way or another, I'm thanking my lucky stars I don't have to sit through the 2008 finale again, that really has replaced the barn explosion in the "That one again, really?!" stakes.Shame we've got what's at least the fourth showing of Belle's death in less than three years.Notice they seem to have realised their goof with the Roman episode, switched that to 2009 and stuck the 2009 finale in 2010 to make up for it.I'd actually rather see Sally's penultimate episode(because it's a good one and has Melody in it)than her last one, which aside from a couple of nice scenes was a bit of an anti-climax after the big farewell do at the school, but I'm looking forward to it all the same.

Just saw the Don's Return episode.Despite some slightly mean-spirited choices, it wasn't too bad and things got worse later even if they did end up on a slightly upbeat note.His comments on Marilyn's condition don't make it sound as serious as later implied so maybe things just got on top of him later.It felt at times like one of those returns when the writers foolishly expected the audience to side with the current characters over a fan favourite, as with Gypsy last year:Don bonded with Lucas and Annie but a lot of the teens and even some of the older characters were a bit disrespectful towards him and it felt like we were meant to see them as in the right.(Because in Cassie World, half of Year 12 walking out of school without telling anyone to take a sick friend home, rather than taking her to the office so they can ring her parents, is reasonable behaviour.No wonder I ended up hating her.)As Ryan says, having Don completely oblivious as to how to use a word processor when he's a published author who wrote his book with one was just stupid, sledgehammer-subtle characterisation.Sally's already got that rabbit in the headlights look over her impending wedding, she should never have let it go as far as it did.Dom's return, with both Drew and Belle grasping the Idiot Ball really hard:Belle really think Dom's planning to steal a car that he's popped the bonnet of and is looking at the workings?Clear evidence of her lifelong inability to have a happy relationship, give her a guy that she's always arguing with and she sticks to him like glue.

[beau_t]

I can't even talk about Don's 2007 return, it makes me so angry. I'm just glad since my time on this forum to discover I'm not the only one who feels this way about it.

[alexx]

I agree, I was really looking forward to seeing his return and was very happy to see him on screen. But then I quickly became irritated by the way he was being portrayed. I did like some aspects but I felt sorry for him during that very heated debate with Cassie (which was brilliantly acted Imo). I wonder if Norman pointed out that Don already knew how to use a computer but the writing was already set in stone? It made him look slightly foolish, 'past it' and a bit ignorant.

I also remember some of the newer viewers in the forum, who didn't know who he was, finding him irritating and obnoxious - they sided with Cassie and Brad.

[James Martin]

I hated Fisher's return. The whole thing with Fisher was that at the start he was an obnoxious old sod but The Bay softened him. Indeed, the tactic was repeated almost parrot fashion with Barry Hyde.

Talking of Hyde, I just realised that the 2006 choices pretty much skipped over Project 56 and Who Killed Josh. Despite everything else wrong with 2006, I actually thought Who Killed Josh was very, very well done. I didn't think for a minute that it was Barry who killed Josh, however - the answer was starting every viewer right in the face - even when Irene and Barry got back together the episode before, I didn't think for a second "Yeah, this is too good to be true..." It really did have me fooled right up until Morag had him.

[H&Alover]

I didn't like Israel Canaan's 'singing' either, why didn't tptb just have the usual guys singing it with a different arrangement? I did like the picture frame opening credits, though they did speed through them.

You're right cadyctslover, Alf did have his affair with Penn's mum (Tulip) she had lost her daughter after Martha had died. He finished it because he felt it was too soon and that is why she killed herself.

Glad I wasn't alone in wondering why Sally didn't drag herself towards her handbag and use her mobile? It quite moving to see so many people turn up at the hospital, as Alf said it showed how much the bay thought of her. I guess Amanda had reformed herself and accepted by the bay folk by being there.

I liked the brother/sister teasing between Brad and Rachel.

I nearly didn't recognise Tony with hair, what were they thinking of?

I'm glad they had a episode with Kit in, though her return being heavily pregnant did cause a lot of unspoken feelings. Kit of course didn't know Kim had had mumps and her baby was the last chance for him to be a dad, his son by Brooke not being his neither was Hayley's. He played it pretty well with with Rach after. as we now know Kit's pregnancy didn't progress without problems.

I guess Norman Coburn would have had a choice to return or not. It would have been strange for Don working for Sally seeing as she had been not only a pupil of his but a member of his staff.

I don't know if it's because of seeing again, but it does seem obvious now that Sally's heart was never really into marrying Brad. She did love him, but wasn't in love with him, she just wasn't yet over Flynn.

Ah Drew, Dom and Belle, quite right RR how many car thiefs do you know have their head under the bonnet of the car they are going to steal while it is still on the owners drive? Dom was a real creep though.