Why were all characters who arrived in 1999 short lived?.

[j.laur5]

Expect for Colleen they all left within less than two  years. 

Edward and Peta- I believe they were axed to make room for new younger characters to arrive . 

Ken-   I read somewhere the actor wanted out. 

Judith- I really liked her character. She was a strong, independent woman and if she was axed I guess it was because there was no purpose left for her if she had more kids under her wing and Donald could return as principal. 

Shauna - Not sure if she was axed or not. 

Harry -Not sure if was axed but if he was I guess he was axed to make room for Jude. 

Mitch-  Not sure if he was axed either. 

[adam436]

You could add Natalie #2 to that list too really - she appeared in the 1999 opener and was gone before mid 2000, though the character debuted in early 1998. 

I personally loved the late 90s/2000 era, but I think it is widely considered to be a bit of a lull from when Pippa left through to late 2000/early 2001. There was some absolutely amazing storylines (Byron's illness and death, the Robert Perez stuff, Ailsa's accident, the Ailsa/Shauna stuff), but there were equally some pretty forgettable characters (i.e. James, Judith, Tom Nash, Mitch, Harry). 

I think this is why the show underwent a bit of a revamp - the cast overhaul, the new diner etc. so I'd imagine some of these characters would have been casualties of that. I am pretty sure Joel, Natalie, Tom and Judith were all axed (she was very much a spare part with Edward gone!). I'm sure Justin Melvey and Cameron Welsh left of their own accord, but I don't know about the others: 

• Edward's story was very much based around his illness, so maybe he was ever going to be around short-term. He couldn't stay 20+ years for example, without making a mockery of his condition. It wouldn't surprise me if Peta was axed though, since it makes sense TPTB would want to clear out the caravan park for the Sutherlands
• Ken - didn't the actor leave for some big film role or something? Given how frequently he returned, I doubt he would "want out" of the role. 
• Shauna - I'm pretty sure it was her choice, as I read somewhere she wasn't very happy working on H&A. Equally though, Shauna had become a spare part. When the secret daughter story was written, I imagine the writers thought Judy Nunn would be around forever and when she died, Shauna just became another 20something. I don't think she even shared that many scenes with Alf or Duncan after Ailsa died either (not that I recall, anyway!).

[j.laur5]

13 minutes ago, adam436 said:

You could add Natalie #2 to that list too really - she appeared in the 1999 opener and was gone before mid 2000, though the character debuted in early 1998. 

I personally loved the late 90s/2000 era, but I think it is widely considered to be a bit of a lull from when Pippa left through to late 2000/early 2001. There was some absolutely amazing storylines (Byron's illness and death, the Robert Perez stuff, Ailsa's accident, the Ailsa/Shauna stuff), but there were equally some pretty forgettable characters (i.e. James, Judith, Tom Nash, Mitch, Harry). 

I think this is why the show underwent a bit of a revamp - the cast overhaul, the new diner etc. so I'd imagine some of these characters would have been casualties of that. I am pretty sure Joel, Natalie, Tom and Judith were all axed (she was very much a spare part with Edward gone!). I'm sure Justin Melvey and Cameron Welsh left of their own accord, but I don't know about the others: 

• Edward's story was very much based around his illness, so maybe he was ever going to be around short-term. He couldn't stay 20+ years for example, without making a mockery of his condition. It wouldn't surprise me if Peta was axed though, since it makes sense TPTB would want to clear out the caravan park for the Sutherlands
• Ken - didn't the actor leave for some big film role or something? Given how frequently he returned, I doubt he would "want out" of the role. 
• Shauna - I'm pretty sure it was her choice, as I read somewhere she wasn't very happy working on H&A. Equally though, Shauna had become a spare part. When the secret daughter story was written, I imagine the writers thought Judy Nunn would be around forever and when she died, Shauna just became another 20something. I don't think she even shared that many scenes with Alf or Duncan after Ailsa died either (not that I recall, anyway!).

I remember Shauna moving in with Alf before she left Sunmer Bay as fell out with Sally after falling in love with Flynn. 

 

[CaptainHulk]

^ She came back the next year and took off with Jude.

[adam436]

She did. I do find Shauna and Jude's exits a bit weird - Shauna returned as the villain determined to win Jude back and Charlotte, Jude's current partner, was randomly killed off a few weeks later. That whole story did none of the characters involved any favours. 

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't think we were meant to see Shauna as the villain.She came back to look after Alf when he had his heart attack and tried to stay away from Jude, but feelings were reawakened and I guess Charlotte was a bit of a rebound that only became more serious because of the pregnancy.It was a happy ending of sorts and they left on good terms with at least some people.

[CaptainHulk]

Jude ended up looking like a prize knob, during his final arc. All the sympathy he got the year before kind of went out the window.

[Sally Keating]

Shauna was kind of treated like a villain by characters we are generally supposed to be on the side of though, like Sally. Always hated that.

Jude was rubbish anyway, glad to see the back of him.

I agree with Adam. If Ailsa hadn't left, I think Shauna would have remained a much better character than what she became in 2001.

Ken - I'm sure I read that the actor did indeed want out. His numerous ghostly returns were simply because the actor was happy to do them.

I agree with your list of forgettable characters with the exception of Judith. Ok... maybe in the grand scheme of things she was a forgettable character but at the time I liked her a lot more than the others you mention. I would have been more than happy for her to stay on, she played the part really well.

[CaptainHulk]

The thing which was stupid about killing Ken is he only just made the credits!

[Red Ranger 1]

8 hours ago, Sally Keating said:

Shauna was kind of treated like a villain by characters we are generally supposed to be on the side of though, like Sally. Always hated that.

Yes, but she was treated sympathetically by people like Alf and Don, who we're also generally supposed to be on the side of. A rare occasion of us being allowed to see both sides of the story: She wasn't a completely bad person, but she did hurt people who didn't deserve it.