Did Neville and Floss only have a proper purpose in the Pilot?

[j.laur5]

I really felt the only time Neville and Floss seemed like they brought something to the show was in the pilot. At least they were both supporting the Fletchers in establishing themselves in town and the driving  force in Bobby meeting the Fletchers .

 I feel after the pilot neither really brought much to the show other than Floss's prediction about one of them dyeing and  that came somewhat true later on when Frank nearly died and Bobby died several years later. 

I think it's possible that Neville and Floss could have easily magically disappeared after the pilot like Doris Peters and the show would not be that much different. 

Personally I am glad they didn’t as I liked their characters. But at the same time I do think that unfortunately they were very one dimensional characters and unnecessary once the Fletchers became established. 

 

[CaptainHulk]

They had the backstory with the resentful son who they managed to patch things up with (somewhat) but toward the end of 1988, they didn't do much but hold down the fort at the store whenever Celia was out or something.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Floss and Neville were the Stan and Hilda of Summer Bay, the older couple who you could relate to. Shame how they were underrused by the first 2 or 3 months. I think they were prominent until about March or April 1988 then they just faded into the background.

I heard that Sheila Kennelly was not happy with her being underrused. She may have been secretly pleased when they were axed, she was hoping for either more storylines or to be written out totally.

[j.laur5]

I wouldn’t be surprised if turned out it was mutual choice for Frank and Shelia and H&A. 

It’s Like  Clarissa  House who played Beth said  interview not long after she left that both H&A and her agreed character had served its purpose. 

Though I do think it did sounded like it was more Clarissa choice to leave given she also said she wanted to move to new projects.

[adam436]

8 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

I heard that Sheila Kennelly was not happy with her being underrused. She may have been secretly pleased when they were axed, she was hoping for either more storylines or to be written out totally.

I've also heard that both Sheila and Frank Lloyd read they were being axed in a TV magazine too 

I know they were axed so the writers could focus on the younger cast. I know after they left, the younger cast expanded with Marilyn, Adam, Matt, Viv, Emma. Two of them would have replaced Frank and Roo, but that's still an additional three younger characters who were used much more than Neville and Floss were. 

If you look at the months after Neville and Floss left, many of the older characters were starting to get sidelined. Morag was also axed by the end of 1989, and Ceila, Tom and Pippa all took a fairly lengthy break - Celia went to Europe, Tom recovered from a stroke and Pippa went to care for her sick parent. I don't know if this was the actors' decision to take some time off or the producers decision to "rest them", but even when Tom and Pippa were around, they didn't feel as central as they did in that first year. It became pretty apparent that the most popular characters were Frank, Bobby and Carly, and the writing reflected that pretty quickly. 

On the other hand, Don's role probably got bigger as the principal of the school, taking in Viv and building a relationship with Bobby. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Sheila Kennelly owned a farm when she got the role in H&A so she had to spend less time on her farm due to the gruelling schedule of filming a 5 episode a week soap.

I am glad Sheila did reprise her role 2000-2008.

[c120701]

I heard that about the magazine too.

The show was definitely changing direction after that first year to focus on the younger cast (& audience), The Bayside Diner was launched, we then saw the Surf Club and the beach which was a secondary character, really started to become more of a focus. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

People moan about the lack of fostering in today's show but by the end of 1988 the show was drifting away from Tom and Pippa and the fostering format and became more about the Stewart's, Macklins, Fishers - and Bobby, Carly and Frank taking centre stage out of the foster children. Luckily Pippa was revived 2 years later and given a central role again. I feel by the end of 1988, Tom had reached his natural end, as did the aforementioned Floss and Neville.

H&A always was a show for younger characters mainly, but it had more of a blend of older characters. Neville was the only character over 60 in the first episode in mid Jan 1988, Floss maybe late 50s.

[c120701]

Yes, it became the Stacey Macklin show for a while.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neville was one of only 2 originals who never returned either chronologically or as a vision such as Tom in 2008. The other one was Lyn Davenport, it has not been said what happened to Lyn in the years since her departure as far as I know.

Floss was great, she was bubbly and chatty.