Bobby, Fisher and Ailsa are the best characters in the very early years

[BobbyFridge]

If we're thinking about the very early years of the show, maybe the first couple of years give or take, i will explain why i think these three are the best characters

Bobby starts out as a rebel, she is wild and troubled. Over the years she grows up, matures, learns and mellows out. By the early 90's she is putting up with obnoxious Greg, annoying Sam, she takes Tug under her wing (truly a saint would take on Tug) She always wants to be fair and deal with issues without going over the top but she is no push over. She loves her father and their relationship is very sweet as it develops.

Fisher is the most complex character. At times he can be a very nice man, other times he is stubborn, bloody minded and refuses to see reason. But Norman Coburn is brilliant in this role. Here we have a character who can be kind and thoughtful one minute and an unreasonable dictator the next. Coburn is never less than brilliant playing this character. If Fisher is sad he plays it to perfection, if Fisher is being ''evil'' he seems to relish this and its always great fun. His relationship with Bobby is lovely, how it grows from them hating each other to a close father/daughter bond later.

Ailsa is the voice of reason, way more so than Pippa in my opinion. Ailsa has flaws, she can be judgemental and harsh at times but compared to Alf, Fisher, Tom Michael and sometimes Pippa i feel like she is fairer and always wants to give people a chance or see different points of view, and she always stuck by Bobby. Ailsa is tough and she was given the best backstory of any character on H&A's history, that she killed her abusive father and spent time inside. In the very early episodes, when Ailsa in engaged to Alf,  Roo and Morag trying to expose Ailsa was one of the biggest storylines. 

[j.laur5]

I think Alisa was more wise with her words than Pippa. 
 

I think Donald and Morag are were the most complex characters back in 80s. 

[CaptainHulk]

No Doubt that they were three legacy characters.  

All three DRAMATICALLY evolved and had some skeletons in their closet.

[Herx]

I agree with those 3.

Bobby was THE IT character of the early years, it was fascinating to follow her development.

[adam436]

1 hour ago, Herx said:

Bobby was THE IT character of the early years

I suspect that wasn't planned though. It was obvious from the very early episodes that the producers were expecting Carly and Frank to be the "It" girl and boy, as you describe it, but Bobby quickly emerged as the breakout character. 

Those three were definitely the best characters in the early years, but if I had to add a fourth, I would go with Steven too. He had an interesting back story, seemed to genuinely care about everyone else and had a pretty good relationship with both the adults and the kids. Adam Willits gave us some quite understated performances, that he is often overlooked when we talk about the early years. I wish he had done more in those early years. 

[Red Ranger 1]

3 hours ago, adam436 said:

I suspect that wasn't planned though. It was obvious from the very early episodes that the producers were expecting Carly and Frank to be the "It" girl and boy, as you describe it, but Bobby quickly emerged as the breakout character. 

I'd say that the three of them were the ones that the show was focusing on most originally. After all, the pilot is basically Bobby's story: Frank's hardly in it, with little characterisation beyond "He doesn't like Steven". And Bobby's the one who has the close links (for very different reasons, at least initially!) to Ailsa and Donald, which brings her into the wider world of Summer Bay more than the other Fletchers.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

11 hours ago, adam436 said:

I suspect that wasn't planned though. It was obvious from the very early episodes that the producers were expecting Carly and Frank to be the "It" girl and boy, as you describe it, but Bobby quickly emerged as the breakout character. 

Those three were definitely the best characters in the early years, but if I had to add a fourth, I would go with Steven too. He had an interesting back story, seemed to genuinely care about everyone else and had a pretty good relationship with both the adults and the kids. Adam Willits gave us some quite understated performances, that he is often overlooked when we talk about the early years. I wish he had done more in those early years. 

I DEFINITELY agree about Steven.  He very quickly became one of my all-time favourites and had some heartbreaking scenes after Phil's death and a bit after Tom's death too.