Why was Lachie replaced with James?

[Red Ranger 1]

  On 16/02/2018 at 22:53, Sally Keating said:

Did Lachie also have a brief fling with Terri Garner?

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Yes.

[adam436]

I don't remember that. Was that during his relationship with Chloe or before it? 

[Red Ranger 1]

Kind of...in the middle of.It was after that one afternoon stand that got her pregnant but before they got together properly.Lachie was with Terri when Chloe found out she was pregnant.

[CaptainHulk]

James was initially a one-ep throwaway character (the dinner party where it was made evident that Peter /Diana was a front for Peter being in a homosexual relationship with a family friend) like his and Lachie's other two siblings (Edward and Elizabeth, neither of whom were heard of/from again), so when Richard Grieve quit, the writers had to act fast by recasting James and making him a regular.

 

[adam436]

Do you think Chloe would have got her happy ending with Lachie in 1999?

I know she married James and it quickly ended, followed by her leaving, but do you think that would have been different had Lachie stayed and James was never a regular?

Even if it meant "staggered exits for them, I think they would have tried harder to make it happen with Lachie.

 

Also, why not just recast him? Lachie wasnt that memorablr or unique that it would have offended viewers...

[Sally Keating]

  On 27/03/2018 at 21:08, adam436 said:

Do you think Chloe would have got her happy ending with Lachie in 1999?

I know she married James and it quickly ended, followed by her leaving, but do you think that would have been different had Lachie stayed and James was never a regular?

Even if it meant "staggered exits for them, I think they would have tried harder to make it happen with Lachie.

 

Also, why not just recast him? Lachie wasnt that memorablr or unique that it would have offended viewers...

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Bringing in James instead of recasting Lachie created more story opportunities.