What if Pippa left in 1990?

[Skylover]

What do you think would have happened?

[j.laur5]

8 minutes ago, Skylover said:

What do you think would have happened?

Debra Lawrance could have been brought in as a new character and maybe it could have been a good friend of Pippa's who promised to look after things for her.

Pippa's exit storyline could have been that her mum got sick, and Debra's character came to deliver the news and promised to look after everything so Pippa could return to the city and look after her mother.

It would work because Sally and the kids would know her from when they lived in the city.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Debra could have played not just a friend, but Pippa's first cousin from her mums side. Also to add to it, Debra's character was also called Pippa, Pippa Johnson. She was born a few weeks after Pippa King so Coral and her sister gave their children the same name.

[Skylover]

Could a completely new family have worked instead? I'd love to know what the producers at the time thought, and what options they came up with. I've seen it mentioned in here that Alf and Ailsa could have moved into Summer Bay House.

[CaptainHulk]

Pip probably would have taken Christopher and moved near Bert and Coral, while Ben and Carly held down the fortress until their departures.

It's one possibility but Julian wanted out by the end of the year and I don't think Sharyn wanted to stick around. Then that begs the question, what of Soph and Sal? Stevo was in YR12 and would be starting Uni the following year. The PTB wouldn't have been keen to lose Rebekah (newly arrived) and Kate (producers loved her even as a kid) on top of that.

 

3 hours ago, Skylover said:

Could a completely new family have worked instead? I'd love to know what the producers at the time thought, and what options they came up with. I've seen it mentioned in here that Alf and Ailsa could have moved into Summer Bay House.

That could have worked but it'd be still a little raw for Alf even though 5yrs had passed since Martha Sr's death, having sold the place for a fresh start.

 

[Kitkat89]

Unless Pippa had been recast or killed off, the writers would have had little choice but to axe Kate Ritchie when Vanessa Downing left. Steven was old enough to stay in the Bay with Ben & Carly for a short while before starting uni, and it would have been easy enough to keep Sophie in the show as well - maybe have one of her aunts or uncles move to the Bay and offer to take her in? But Sally was Pippa's adoptive daughter and still very young, so she definitely would have left with Pippa & Christopher.

If Pippa had died, it's plausible that a relative of hers would have moved to the Bay to look after the kids - but killing her off shortly after her husband's death would have been overkill (literally!). Given that the show was initially conceived around the Fletcher family, Pippa's presence gave it a sense of continuity, even though she was played by two different actresses.

[j.laur5]

Debra Lawrence could be brought in as Pippa or Tom's sister. 

I think if they did this then maybe Vanessa Downing could have return in 1998 as a regular after Debra Lawrence  left. 

I think Vanessa would  return for guest roles as she always goes to reunions and does interviews on her Home and Away like in New Idea a couple years ago!. 

[Trudy Heine]

If Pippa left then Debra could still come, maybe as Debra Stewart.

[j.laur5]

8 hours ago, Trudy Heine said:

If Pippa left then Debra could still come, maybe as Debra Stewart.

Maybe it could be that Debra had been the one to tell Tom and Pippa about Summer Bay, and how the house she grew up in was on the market.

[CaptainHulk]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 8:53 AM, j.laur5 said:

Maybe it could be that Debra had been the one to tell Tom and Pippa about Summer Bay, and how the house she grew up in was on the market.

Only problem was We already saw the Stewart House that Alf and his sisters grew up during 1988-89 when Celia lived there. Family pets were buried. It was established Alf and Martha Sr. had lived in Summer Bay house a good while before Roo was born.