End of 2007 - Anticipation of H&A's 21st year

[ter06]

Bevan didn't write the stalker storyline but he did write the Sarah Lewis/Noah storyline culminating in the Olympic Siege. That's still, for me, the best thing the show's done, ever.

My favourite spots of the last decade are definitely the post-Olympic to end period of 2004 and the first six months of 2008.

The Sarah Lewis storyline was amazing. She was a terrifying character but I found her funny in some scenes. She was really complex. I had never heard of Crystal Meth before and when I heard about this story I thought it was really unrealistic but when I googled it, it sounded pretty plausible. Then in the two episode climax, they used different lighting and there was a whole different feel to the show, it was very well done. I remember Tammin Sursok said at the time she had to cry every day at work for 6 months and found it gruelling. During the siege we also had the Leah and Vinnie saga.

That was a classic era for the show! Such great characters and well thought out stories.

[Dan F]

My memories of 2008 were that it started off really well, became rubbish for a short while (around the time Kirsty and Kane came back).....

It's very interesting that you cite Kirsty & Kane's return as a turning point, as that literally was the crossover to the next Script Producer - their return was the very last thing Bevan put in place before handing over.

The Sarah Lewis storyline was amazing. She was a terrifying character but I found her funny in some scenes. She was really complex. I had never heard of Crystal Meth before and when I heard about this story I thought it was really unrealistic but when I googled it, it sounded pretty plausible. Then in the two episode climax, they used different lighting and there was a whole different feel to the show, it was very well done.

The memory of seeing the cliffhanger ep is very vivid for me, as it aired only 45mins after I arrived in Palm Beach for the first time - after seeing the UK eps before leaving, I honestly thought there had been a huge change in direction for the show when I switched on and saw all the different colour grading You've probably seen them, but there's a couple of questions in our old Q&A where Bevan talks about the Sarah storyline. He was also kind enough to provide some background about the character in our Best Villain poll.

After posting in this discussion a few days ago I went and watched some eps from this period, when the town held a concert in memory of Noah, and Josie was in contact with Tasha's father who was a twisted millionaire who planted secret cameras in Irene's house! I forgot what a good character Josie was and she seemed much more layered than I remember her being in 2005. Was she Bevan's creation? It seems his replacement Daniel Bennett wasn't as invested in the character. Watching her this time, without having Angie in mind, she really was a completely different character.

Yes, Bevan specially created the character of Josie to bring Laurie back into the show, she said it was very much a collaborative process.

[cadyctslover]

The Sarah Lewis storyline was amazing. She was a terrifying character but I found her funny in some scenes. She was really complex. I had never heard of Crystal Meth before and when I heard about this story I thought it was really unrealistic but when I googled it, it sounded pretty plausible.

It's such a shame the current producers aren't brave enough to tackle these types of issues, or anything really socially relevant.

[ebrett84]

Bevan didn't write the stalker storyline but he did write the Sarah Lewis/Noah storyline culminating in the Olympic Siege. That's still, for me, the best thing the show's done, ever.

My favourite spots of the last decade are definitely the post-Olympic to end period of 2004 and the first six months of 2008.

The Sarah Lewis storyline was amazing. She was a terrifying character but I found her funny in some scenes. She was really complex. I had never heard of Crystal Meth before and when I heard about this story I thought it was really unrealistic but when I googled it, it sounded pretty plausible. Then in the two episode climax, they used different lighting and there was a whole different feel to the show, it was very well done. I remember Tammin Sursok said at the time she had to cry every day at work for 6 months and found it gruelling. During the siege we also had the Leah and Vinnie saga.

That was a classic era for the show! Such great characters and well thought out stories.

I reckon it would have been even better if they'd taken some regular character, got them hooked on crystal meth and then turned them into Sarah Lewis.

As far as anyone knew, Sarah was just crazy and meth may or may not have had much to do with it.

[greg098]

The Olympic Siege storyline involving Sarah Lewis was amazing. It was completely different to the usual home and away format and it worked. The episode was dark and edgy. The cliffhanger was amazing. Who died? Infact no one knew until it was shown on tv after the olympics. There was so much hype and discussion about these episodes. This is why the writers brought Zoe into the storyline as continue with it's success. The Zoe stalker storyline was also a highlight for the show. However the last appearance of Zoe was badly written and could of been better. She dies in a gas explosion? Whatever!

[Homeandawayfan.]

I have decided to take a back seat with watching current episodes of H&A for a while, maybe a break is needed for me and I will remain on the "I hope things improve" bench. But I will certainly not stop watching any 1988-2010 episodes on YT.

[James Martin]

Thanks for those links Dan. I remember the Q&A ten (ten!) years ago but I'd never read the villain piece before. I love how Bevan has this fantastic story to tell about each character. It certainly makes the on-screen performances spectacular when an actor has all that information to use in the subtext of their performance.

Dani's exit was brilliant. Low-key but absolutely bang-on true to the character. It must have been a huge challenge for Tammin like someone else stated but, that was it - Dani was a walking, talking Tiny Tears doll. Bring on the emotion memory, Vaporub under the eyes (this works, fellow actors!) and tearsticks all at once.

And a superb reasoning for killing Noah. It broke the hearts of legions of teenage girls worldwide but because of that it worked and it was believeable. Today it would be some guestie nobody gave two hoots about. It was kind of like how it'd be if Brax died tragically in the present day - you'd put a huge section of the fan base through a sort of grieving process. It'd be forgotten about next week, mind.

. That was a classic era for the show! Such great characters and well thought out stories.

it was so refreshing at the time, because the British soaps were a bit dull and it just provided something genuinely different and you didn't want to miss a single episode. A lot of very "human" storylines and completely character-driven.

[beau_t]

I reckon it would have been even better if they'd taken some regular character, got them hooked on crystal meth and then turned them into Sarah Lewis.

As far as anyone knew, Sarah was just crazy and meth may or may not have had much to do with it.

I agree with this. That's pretty much the only thing I would change. The shock of seeing someone in the Bay who was "one of them" become like Sarah Lewis ended up, pointing a gun at them all and threatening to fire randomly, would have been so shocking.

[Blaxland 89]

Bevan Lee also gave Jazz some really levels and made her a much more believable person compared to the writing in her 2007 stint

[jodlebirger]

I have always been a bit disappointed in the Sarah Lewis storyline, I feel that it was the beginning of the new and more crime related era with stalkers and guns.

I would have liked it better if it was a deeper portrait and development of Sarah's character. I feel it had several similarities with today's storylines, it was just "boom" and then it was over. Not really a good character driven storyline, which is something it could have been.

But some of the storylines in 2004 and 2005 were good character driven and exciting storylines, which kept me hooked on the show. I nearly stopped watching the show because it became too much "over the top" about early 2006. But I continued watching because there were some good moments.

But still, I felt that in the middle of the 2007 season some new characters and storylines grabbed my attention, and I felt that the show became more character focused and heartfelt again. I loved the storyline about Sally/Alf/Pippa and the car accident even it was tragic. And I liked the introductions of the Campbells.

I liked almost all in 2008, but in opposite to many there were a few things I didn't like about the storyline which lead to Sally's departure. I don't think it was quite true to her character, she had just met her brother again after that many years and she left because of an disagreement at work?? Silly. I wasn't happy with the violence and Johny Cooper either. But the farewell scenes were beautiful.

And the storyline about Elliot around OC was dull.

But liked Adens charachter developement, Belle and Drew's break up, the beginning of Melody's storyline, Morag and Ross and Nicole and Roman. But I do think that too much tragedy were packed in during a couple of moths. And the storylines "killed each other" a bit. They could have spread Adens backstory, Melody's breakdown, Adens breakdown,Ross Alzheimer and the development site over two seasons. All in all a very good year, and I don't think we can be happy with every storyline in the show. There need to be something for everyone. And I think that this period is satisfying most groups of fans, both they who love character driven storylines, and those who are fans of the more action packed storylines.

I do think that 2009 was a bit disappointing comparing to 2008, but it still had some good character driven storylines. The bigger shift did not come before 2010 when they destroyed some good (and popular) departing characters (Geoff, Annie and Aden) and the storylines became more calculated and manipulative, something that developed further in the coming years.

I wish they could go back to the 2008 writing style, because I do think it will satisfy more fans than they are doing now. It was more friendly to the past, and still had a modern action packed style.