Is 2005-2006 considered classic era?.

[CaptainHulk]

It had a hook and I dub it the "Emergency Era" (At least once a week someone was down YCPS or NDH) but far from Classic (1988-97 for me) but a classic to some I guess.

On 03/06/2021 at 12:12, Homeandawayfan. said:

Although what soap opera is the exact same as what they were 30 years ago? Characters leaving and old locations leaving in soaps/new ones coming in are part and parcel of a soap. Neighbours is very Lassiters based now.

Tbf, That's where the Entertainment centre of Erinsborough is w/o having to go to Eden Hills/Elliot Park/West Waratah or out into the City.

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

18 hours ago, James Martin said:

No.  For me "Classic Home and Away" ended with the 2004 finale.

2005 to 2008 are kind of "The Middle Years" - you had two years of Dan Bennett and mega-octane drama, then Bevan Lee took it a bit more "old-skool" for the 20th and Sally's exit.  After that though, is what I'd call "New Home and Away."

In many ways it's gone through the same sort of revolution Emmerdale did between its 20th and 25th anniversary.  By 1997 it was a completely different show to what it was in 1992.

That is why I think Emmerdale and H&A are the 2 soaps that have changed the most over the years and are the furthest from their originality. Corrie, Enders and Neighbours are closer to their originality.

[CaptainHulk]

TBFT Emmerdale, this IS their 3rd village set

[Homeandawayfan.]

3 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

TBFT Emmerdale, this IS their 3rd village set

And TBF to Emmerdale, the original farmhouse had to go in 1993 as the new owners in real life wanted to turn many of the farm buildings into dwellings. If the old farmhouse had stayed, the show would not have seemed so different in 1993-1994 onwards.

At least in H&A the interior of Summer Bay House was kept after the real life house was burned down (and stock shots of the outside of SBH were seen) until a new replica was built, not a set for the show, but a new house and they allow H&A to film there.

[Jezz]

Have very fond memories of 2005-2006 years.

Exciting storylines left, right and centre. The Summer Bay Stalker saga was brilliant.

[adam436]

On 05/06/2021 at 02:47, James Martin said:

No.  For me "Classic Home and Away" ended with the 2004 finale.

2005 to 2008 are kind of "The Middle Years" - you had two years of Dan Bennett and mega-octane drama, then Bevan Lee took it a bit more "old-skool" for the 20th and Sally's exit.  After that though, is what I'd call "New Home and Away."

I'd say the Middle Years were extended until the arrival of the Braxtons. Sally's exit was definitely a turning point, but 2008 - 2010 still had a combination of "old school" H&A (i.e. Pippa's, Marilyn's and Will's returns, the fostering element with Romeo, Jai, Belle) alongside the meg-octane drama like the Hugo mystery, Jack's death, the school formal disaster and the Elliott/Nicole stuff. 

I guess you could sort of split out 2005 - 2010 into two eras: 2005-2008 (the years where Sally was front and centre) and 2008-2010, which I described above. The arrival of the Braxtons and the climax of the Penn storyline is what I would consider to be "New Home and Away". 

[James Martin]

There was a lot of promise after Sally left, especially with the return of Kirsty and Kane which I imagine Bevan Lee set up to give the old-skool fans a link into the post-Kate era.  And, controversially, I thought her and Miles worked really well.  The only real mis-step of that era was getting Jack & Martha back together.  For me they'd run their course, as a viewer I struggled to care about them.  I suppose though the show lost the other golden couple of that era in Ric and Matilda, so what ya' gonna do?

[630si]

I agree about Jack and Martha running their course at this point. 

For me the show had shifted before Sally's exit but maybe I'm in the minority thinking the shift away from 'Classic Homers' was a good thing. I don't think the show would've survived had it not gone more dramatic and plot driven. Always watched home and away, but was absolutely HOOKED from mid 00s when things were less fluff and more danger. Haha.

[adam436]

On 25/11/2021 at 08:38, James Martin said:

There was a lot of promise after Sally left, especially with the return of Kirsty and Kane which I imagine Bevan Lee set up to give the old-skool fans a link into the post-Kate era.  And, controversially, I thought her and Miles worked really well.  The only real mis-step of that era was getting Jack & Martha back together.  For me they'd run their course, as a viewer I struggled to care about them.  I suppose though the show lost the other golden couple of that era in Ric and Matilda, so what ya' gonna do?

Were Ric and Matilda actually a Golden Couple? I stopped watching in 2005, around the time of episode 4000, at which point Ric and Cassie were together and Matilda had a crush on him. I know the Ric/Matilda/Cassie/Lucas/Belle/Drew group swapped partners quite a bit too. I know they ended up together, but I didn't realise they were considered a "golden couple" as such. 

 

18 hours ago, 630si said:

For me the show had shifted before Sally's exit but maybe I'm in the minority thinking the shift away from 'Classic Homers' was a good thing. I don't think the show would've survived had it not gone more dramatic and plot driven. Always watched home and away, but was absolutely HOOKED from mid 00s when things were less fluff and more danger. Haha.

Definitely, the show shifted from 2004ish onwards. The Sarah/Felix stuff and Noah's death was a turning point, then the drama kept ramping up from there and never really stopped. 

 

After Sally left, I'd say Charlie and Martha really became the "poster girls", for lack of a better term. They became the TV Week cover girls, the household names etc. 

[James Martin]

Yes, for me the Sarah Lewis storyline was to Home & Away what the Plane Crash was to Emmerdale, especially when you consider how that then dovetailed into the Zoe/Eve arc.  It either made you tune in or quit; there was no in-between.