Most Popular Character

[beau_t]

so has John, a character that pretty much the entire audience seemed to hate because they thought that was what they were supposed to do, and maybe they were, but who I'd realised by the end of 2009 was turning into a classic character.

Is John a main character now? I remember for ages he was still listed as guest cast even after he and Gina (a main character) were married.

[Ryan]

Yeah, it changed at some point in 2011.

[ebrett84]

Interesting update.

I'm surprised Ryan didn't mention Rachel's infinite number of kidnappings when talking about her traumas. That was a running joke on these forums for a while. Even her baby got kidnapped! Totally agree about Tony being a storyline vacuum. First Beth and then Rachel really fell off the radar once they hooked up with him.

I'm torn between being happy that John did this well and wishing he'd done better. I never really got all the hate for the character early. As RR alludes to, it seems that people are so conditioned to the teenager being the "bad boy done good" and having all their behaviour whitewashed by having a jerk parent that people just expected John to be that guy. Even at his worst, he just seemed a bit overly strict and a bit of a weasel throwing his weight around. I always liked him.

I'll say it: I liked Dani Sutherland. I never really got why she was stuck with the "whiny princess" label for so long. Yeah, she was that when she arrived but she did change, and she was no worse than characters like Matilda, Gypsy, Nicole, and Indi who never seemed to get anything like the same grief for their initial stuck up snobbiness. Plenty of the show's other teenage characters were at least as self absorbed as she was without ever catching half the grief for it. I guess that's what you get for being the obstacle in not one but two popular relationships (KK and Gypsy / Will). A character who deserved better both in life itself and from fans of the show.

I'm surprised Sid did so well. He's just a blah character to me. What do we know about him other than that he apparently used to be a playboy (a trait which conveniently disappeared once he arrived on the show)?

Kane's fall in popularity is interesting. It's not surprising that he's not so popular now, it's surprising that he ever did so well in these votes. Apart from a few weeks where Kirsty (and a heap of viewers) fell in love with him back in 2002, he was a complete tool his entire time(s) on the show. The fact that so many young girls apparently thought this guy was just a great husband / father / boyfriend is kind of alarming. It's a real shame because when he left in 2002 I thought his "bad boy done good" story was easily the best and most believable one they ever did. Looking back at what a massive jerk he was before then and from 2003 onwards it now just seems like a massive prick acting ludicrously out of character for a few weeks for the sake of an amazingly contrived relationship and it wasn't always like that. I guess for a while, viewers were just so attached to the guy he had been that they just didn't notice or care about what a total jerk he'd become. You could actually say the same about his onscreen wife.

Flynn to me was a horrible recast because they totally had to change the character to make it work. Original Flynn was awesome. I loved the left wing, Kombi van driving, dippy hippie, pot smoking (it was never shown on the show, but come on) counsellor. Then he got recast and became a a humourless, straight as an aarow doctor. I realise that new Flynn was a better match for Sally, but I thought original Flynn should have been dating Charlotte, Leah or Shauna.

I don't mind Peter although he does seem to be, along with the much worse Jackass Holden, kind of a tipping point in the show's lamentable obsession with cops and robbers.

[Ryan]

I always really liked Kane's 2002 stint (and for the fact, probably his 2001 stint as well), because they felt like they had been written because of the interesting storyline potential, rather than we must get Kane and Sam Atwell back on the show.

[ebrett84]

I always really liked Kane's 2002 stint (and for the fact, probably his 2001 stint as well), because they felt like they had been written because of the interesting storyline potential, rather than we must get Kane and Sam Atwell back on the show.

That's a really good point. I loved his 2002 stint and even in 2001, I liked him because he was at least interesting as a villain. It just seemed like when he came back in 2003 they totally ignored his 2002 character development and wrote him as 2001 Kane except instead of being the villain, people were actually supposed to want him to be with Kirsty despite the fact that he was now a complete tool who made her permanently miserable. The end result was a mess of Brax and Charlie proportions.

I really don't know what the writing staff was thinking back then. I'd say they turned him back into a bad guy because they wanted him to be with Kirsty but they didn't want to take the flak for "turning the rapist into a good guy". Which, funnily enough, people accused them of doing anyway. Much like with Brax and Aden, it looked like they were trying to perpetuate the myth of "the total jerkass who treats his girl like a princess" without realising that he treated her just as badly as he did everyone else. Again, a huge shame as KK actually had a really sweet, kind and innocent yet complicated relationship once upon a time.

[jodlebirger]

I really liked Kane and thought he was a very interesting character... I think his way from being a thug to a decent person was described very well, and his background was really explored. To those who said that he shouldn't got forgiven for what he did, I wonder if you think that you are never going to change no matter what... And sometimes the background is the reason for the bad behaving, not an excuse but the explanation. But with some help a lot of people are able to change. Not always, but sometimes. And for those who have said sometimes that it is just a show when others have complained that the show lacks realism with its over the top crime storyline and the show is just escapism. I like that crimes are punished even on the show, but I am willing to overlook small faults when it comes to "space and time" things are changing, because it is a show. It is better to have someone two weeks in jail or in a mental institution instead of years.... but then it is ok for the character to change. I like the bad boys/girls going good storylines if they are build well, because this is the world I want to escape to. A world where people/characters can overcome their past and troubles and move on. In the real world it is not always like that, the real world is so much harder. And that is the reason why I watch h&a, I really like those storylines.

I wish that they had done K&K's departure in 2005 better, for me their storyline was destroyed there. I never saw Danni as a princess. I liked her too. And I never saw Kane as a devil, he really wanted to change. I did want him to be punished for what he did to Danni, though, but he was away for a while in prison - and this should have been his punishment. After he returned I just saw the whole thing like a very difficult situation with a lot of interesting and moral questions. Just not only from danni's side, or Shelley/Rhys' side, but also from Kane's and Kirsty's.. I think they all marked a really great era in H&a, and they all should have been higher in the rankings. Even if I didn't vote for them...But times has past, some of their fans have dissapeared from this site and other characters are taking the glory. And I also think that the 2008 stint destroyed their popularity among a lot of fans.

Rachel... I never saw her as a very interesting character. I probably thought she was highly overplayed from time to time. And I had a little break from H&A in the beginning from her stint, but have seen some of those eps later. And I never thought she and Kim were a good match. And whats happened was very natural, Kim was good with Kit. I never saw Kit as a "devil" in this triangle either. I think that RAchel drove Kim away with her constant nagging, and they were far too different to work.

Tony and Rachel were a better match, someone older suited her. Rachel had a lot of storylines in the beginning, but she really had a lot with Tony too, so I don't agree with Ryan there. She was kidnapped (again), lost the child she wanted to adopt, had a vascetomy (spelling?) storyline with Tony before her non-wedding. Was betrayed, got pregnant, her son in-law got killed, got married, someone almost died of an overdose on her wedding day, her husband tried to kill someone while she got sick and almost lost her unborn baby, her baby got kidnapped, she got post natal depression, she got blamed for a babys death and had also several hospital scenes. Tony had too little storylines on his own, and their storylines together were winkled from her side. But that is typical H&A and especially that time. In 2010 season their storylines slowed down a bit.. and the boxing storyline was a bit meh... but then the whole year was a big yawn, so it was a lot better than the other storylines!! I liked their departure, though. And concidering that they had such a hard fan base here, I am suprised to see them both so low.

Flynn was a great character both versions, I think. I liked Peter but not so much as I liked his onscreen brother Dan. I found Dan a much warmer character and he is underrated by fans.

But thanks for the updates on the list!! :)

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't think Kane ever spent any time in jail until he returned in 2008, so he did essentially go unpunished for Dani's rape and for all the robberies he committed in 2003.Oddly though, I didn't mind so much in 2001 and 2002 when he seemed to be adequately redeemed, recognising that he'd done wrong and needed to change and showing genuine remorse for his actions.It was only in 2003 that things started to go wrong and after a fairly promising start he seemed to forget about showing remorse and be as bad as ever.He did eventually develop into someone who had a fairly good heart but a volatile temper and dodgy moral compass and did often come across as a total jerk but his 2005 departure wasn't really the romantic ending that some fans viewed it as, as demonstrated by his 2008 stint where we saw just how much the decision had wrecked his and Kirsty's life.By the end of that, he really did deserve to be left in prison rather than being let out after a token sentence just so Kirsty could tell him to go away because she liked Miles better.(I suspect that whole return appearance was designed to convince KK shippers that Miles was the better choice.In many cases, it didn't work.)

[Pierced Musie]

It's curious because I continued to love Kit up until the end and didn't find her smug or self-righteous at all, certainly not towards Rachel.So far as I could see, she was just doing her best to deal with a very messy situation, just like Rachel and Kim were.She defended Rachel after she suffered her headache so I don't think she was really in the wrong.

I never saw Kit as self-righteous either but the idea of her sleeping with Kim while he was with someone else and then coming between them always felt out of character (to me anyway). When she left in 04 (her main stint) she had grown so much as a character, which showed when she came back to help Hayley after Noah died. That was a friendship I loved watching and was the only time I actually liked Hayley... although I did like recast Hayley . I just felt they wrecked Kit just to make a storyline work. Plus it always pissed me off that they only started bringing Kit back so longer when the actress started to look different (she was always hot to me but got hotter everytime she came back). Plus the Noah/Kit shipper in me still mourns... although I always that she would have been a good choice for a bi/lesbian character as well

On to KK...

I was a KK fan until I watched the storyline again and realized how screwed up it got in 2003. The idea that Kane could come back and be forgiven straight away grated on me, as did the way the writers tried to manipulate the viewers into KK = good and Dani/Rhys = bad. If they had got the balance so there was no good and bad then it could have been perfect but they went down the route of forcing others to forgive Kane. I still think they would have been better to hold off the KK relationship and focus on Kane trying to gain forgiveness before getting back together with Kirsty.

By 2004 they actually started doing things right. I quite liked the fact that Kane was worried about Dani through the whole Felix/Sarah thing. They kind of had an awkward yet interesting friendship going on before they completely ruined Dani (her departure was bad).

Wow, even now it still brings strong reactions out of viewers. Surely that is a sign of a good character/storyline.

[John]

It's curious because I continued to love Kit up until the end and didn't find her smug or self-righteous at all, certainly not towards Rachel.So far as I could see, she was just doing her best to deal with a very messy situation, just like Rachel and Kim were.She defended Rachel after she suffered her headache so I don't think she was really in the wrong.

I never saw Kit as self-righteous either but the idea of her sleeping with Kim while he was with someone else and then coming between them always felt out of character (to me anyway). When she left in 04 (her main stint) she had grown so much as a character, which showed when she came back to help Hayley after Noah died. That was a friendship I loved watching and was the only time I actually liked Hayley... although I did like recast Hayley . I just felt they wrecked Kit just to make a storyline work. Plus it always pissed me off that they only started bringing Kit back so longer when the actress started to look different (she was always hot to me but got hotter everytime she came back). Plus the Noah/Kit shipper in me still mourns... although I always that she would have been a good choice for a bi/lesbian character as well

On to KK...

I was a KK fan until I watched the storyline again and realized how screwed up it got in 2003. The idea that Kane could come back and be forgiven straight away grated on me, as did the way the writers tried to manipulate the viewers into KK = good and Dani/Rhys = bad. If they had got the balance so there was no good and bad then it could have been perfect but they went down the route of forcing others to forgive Kane. I still think they would have been better to hold off the KK relationship and focus on Kane trying to gain forgiveness before getting back together with Kirsty.

By 2004 they actually started doing things right. I quite liked the fact that Kane was worried about Dani through the whole Felix/Sarah thing. They kind of had an awkward yet interesting friendship going on before they completely ruined Dani (her departure was bad).

Wow, even now it still brings strong reactions out of viewers. Surely that is a sign of a good character/storyline.

I really liked Kit as a character and Amy Mizzi as an actress. I still have the clip of her tribute to Noah with Barry Hyde at Noah's memorial. As I've mentioned elsewhere I also clearly recall conversations with Coral Drouyn where she expressed her frustration with her bosses because of their refusal to accept Amy because they felt she would never make the cover of TV Week. If my recollection serves me she eventually did any way.

[ebrett84]

On to KK...

I was a KK fan until I watched the storyline again and realized how screwed up it got in 2003. The idea that Kane could come back and be forgiven straight away grated on me, as did the way the writers tried to manipulate the viewers into KK = good and Dani/Rhys = bad. If they had got the balance so there was no good and bad then it could have been perfect but they went down the route of forcing others to forgive Kane. I still think they would have been better to hold off the KK relationship and focus on Kane trying to gain forgiveness before getting back together with Kirsty.

By 2004 they actually started doing things right. I quite liked the fact that Kane was worried about Dani through the whole Felix/Sarah thing. They kind of had an awkward yet interesting friendship going on before they completely ruined Dani (her departure was bad).

Wow, even now it still brings strong reactions out of viewers. Surely that is a sign of a good character/storyline.

I'm really surprised to hear you say that, because I don't think that happened at all. There were a million problems with the post 2002 portion of that storyline but turning Kane into a good guy was definitely not one of them. I thought the biggest problem was actually that they turned him from the good guy they'd developed him into back into a pushy, demanding, controlling, manipulative, smug, whiny, entitled, bad tempered, aggressive, selfish piece of garbage who acted like his rape victim was responsible for ruining his life. And had his ex girlfriend drool over him anyway, which basically ruined her character. Mind you, you're right that they didn't do Dani and Rhys any favours either. As a fan of Dani, it was pretty sad how she went from standing up to Kane and using his own twisted logic against him in the awesome mediation scene they had to going back to being a simpering, nervous wreck around him. And Rhys was at his worst, constantly being an angry, overprotective monster. It's kind of amazing how many characters they ruined just by bringing Kane back. Kane, Kirsty, Rhys, Dani, Jade (who went from being her own character into basically mini-Dani) and Seb (not that I ever really liked him anyway, but he seemed to become really awful once Kirsty dumped him for Kane).

And I don't think the fact that it still brings strong reactions out of me is a sign of a good storyline. It brings a strong reaction out of me because it was basically a brilliant storyline with a perfect ending (Kane heartbreakingly giving up his soulmate because he realises she'd be happier without him)..... that somehow wasn't the ending and everything that happened after that just threw away all the goodwill that the initial storyline had created. Basically they had the perfect bittersweet ending which they ruined and invalidated because the writing staff caved into the demands of a bunch of 15 year old girls who couldn't leave the past in the past. That's what Ryan was alluding to a few posts back. They'd already reached the endpoint for the character and the relationship and then they stuffed it up because "Kane = ratings!!! We have to bring him back".

I actually liked Dani's departure and I thought that did far more to ruin Scott's character than hers (again, not that I ever liked Scott in the first place). He went from being really supportive of her career into this possessive jerk who wanted her to be nothing more than his wife.