The early years had the most memorable villains

[adam436]

I have been re-watching the classic episodes of Home and Away on 7Plus as they are only available for 7 more weeks and watched the episode where Robert Perez burns down the Nash house with them inside and kidnaps Natalie. That could me thinking about how the early years had some of the great memorable villains. Saul Bennett, Dodge and Robert are easily my three top H&A villains in terms of their evilness. Even 20-25 years later, I still remember the reign of terror all three characters brought to the show. 

The "middle years", which I consider to be 2000 - 2010, had some memorable villains (i.e. Angie Russell, Sarah Lewis, Johnny Cooper, Mamma Rose, Eve Jacobsen), but to me, they still don't hold up to the nineties villains.

Don't get me wrong, we also had many equally forgettable villains in the early days (i.e. Nicholas Walsh, Zac the shark hunter), but I feel like the major villains such as three I mentioned above were more complex and well-rounded. The current villains just seem too frequent and most of them are two-dimensional, probably because the crime element is such a a huge aspect of the show now. 

 

What are your thoughts? 

 

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Yes, in the 1990s, H&A had just 3 proper villains - Dodge, Saul and Perez. The days when proper villains were rare in the show but made their mark. Those 3 men were my fave villains as well.

Today, H&A villains are the norm, and are regular characters.

[Sally Keating]

To be honest I would put Brad Cooper ahead of Robert Perez.

Brad was one sick individual.

[Jezz]

Dodge is the greatest villain hands down. He was even more deranged in his return in 1995.

On 15/12/2020 at 09:20, Sally Keating said:

To be honest I would put Brad Cooper ahead of Robert Perez.

Brad was one sick individual.

Both were psychotic, but Brad was a twisted individual to say the least.

[CaptainHulk]

Brad = Therapist

Now split those two words...

[BobbyFridge]

Sam Barlow, Morag and the Samuels brothers certainly were total horrors who helped make the first year a classic. Also Fisher in the first half of 1988 and Roo for most of the year were good baddies.

[CaptainHulk]

^ 1995 had its share of scumbags too. Raging Roidheads, Domestic Abusers, Old Pervs, Murderous Ex-Cons, Cultist Whackos, Scheming Speed Pushers...

[Homeandawayfan.]

1995 was when the show was really cranking up the pace and returning to the gritty 1988 style.

1988 and 1995/1996 were the most dramatic pre 2000 years for me. At least 1988/1995 and 1996 were still balanced with everyday stories and comedy. Listen out 2021.

[BobbyFridge]

On 13/10/2021 at 20:48, Homeandawayfan. said:

1995 was when the show was really cranking up the pace and returning to the gritty 1988 style.

1988 and 1995/1996 were the most dramatic pre 2000 years for me. At least 1988/1995 and 1996 were still balanced with everyday stories and comedy. Listen out 2021.

I seem to recall 1995 was when they cranked up Fisher being more like his original 1988 self too (bordering on villain status) after years of gradually mellowing him out

[adam436]

I agree about Fisher, in the school setting at least, anyway - I watched the power struggle with Teresa recently and it felt like Don was almost "targeting" her toward the end of her stint. And the students always seemed out to "get back at him too", like when Shannon willingly let him have his hair dyed the wrong colour. 

I've been rewatching 1995 lately and the drama has certainly ramped up a notch. We've got Laura's shocking death, Shannon's eating disorder, Donna's domestic abuse, the bush fire, the plane crash, Selina's teen pregnancy and miscarriage, Angel's stalker, Dylan's Leukemia, Selina being sexually harassed by Irene's ex, Ailsa's breakdown, the Jack/Eric/Shannon stuff and probably much more after that