The Macklins would have been great regulars

[adam436]

Does anyone else think the Macklin family would have been good value as regular characters at the time?

 

If Gordon was a regular, I could see him being a scheming millionaire and manipulating his family/the locals in much the same way Paul Robinson currently does on Neighbours. I also think him being around would have given Stacey more of a purpose after Philip died. I could see Brett being a bit of a root rat and I imagine Stacey would be the “nice” one, constantly being caught in the middle between her family and the community.

 

The 1980s was a period where regular characters needed to be wholesome and law abiding citizens. Not every character was universally loved within the Summer Bay community (e.g. Roo, Morag, Donald), but designated villains were always guest characters and no regular characters broke/bended the law and got away with it like they do in the current episodes.

 

On the other end of the scale, if Gordon was a regular character, it’s also possible he (and Brett) would have become more and more Machiavellian the longer they stayed because their schemes would have got more ridiculous as the writers run out of ideas.   

[Martin]

I totally agree they would have made great regulars. I remember thinking that at the time, it would also have given more of a reason to keep Roo in the series too. And Stacey had the right amount of fire and sweetness and wouldn't have been adverse to getting involved in a scheme or too if it achieved the goals she wanted.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Watching 1988 episodes I think Brett was a central character in mid to late 1988. Gordon was my fave Macklin character but only appeared in a handful of episodes.

[Gazza]

I kinda would of liked to see Brett in the Paul Robinson sort of role I think he'd of fit that perfectly, maybe they could of killed Gordon and he leave all the money to Stacey with makes Brett even more bitter and more ruthless and he goes out to become a ruthless business man and try and out do what his Dad achieved.

[beau_t]

I found the Macklins pretty boring to be honest, and they screamed of the 80s. It was all suits, shoulder pads, business talk, boring office scenes, it wasn't what I liked about Home and Away. I get what they were trying to do with the story of a big corporation trying to win-over and work with a small town that was anti-development. But it just wasn't very interesting to me.

I did like the characters slightly more than their storylines though. Stacey, Gordon and Brett had a pretty interesting dynamic but they were never all together enough for it to flourish.

[CaptainHulk]

Stacey wouldn't have settled long-term. Even if she had married Andrew or Philip, they'd have left almost immediately.

[adam436]

On 05/08/2016 at 0:53 AM, CaptainHulk said:

Stacey wouldn't have settled long-term. Even if she had married Andrew or Philip, they'd have left almost immediately.

I would have loved to see Phillip and Stacey get married and start trying for a baby, perhaps leaving around mid 1990.

Does anyone know the situation with characters like Andrew, Phillip and Stacey? They were treated as a regulars in that they had promotional photos (e.g. my avatar), their own autonomous storylines and were around longer than some regular characters in the same era (e.g. Morag, Viv, Floss, Neville, Lyn) and many in later years, yet they were only ever officially guest characters.

[CaptainHulk]

They were semi-regulars. Never made the credits but had enough of a presence.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Gordon Macklin was a virtual mirror of Lewis Fleming from Neighbours in 1986. A flash gravel voiced shady businessman.