Opening titles: Rank the cast

[BobbyFridge]

I thought maybe this might be a fun game to play. Above is an opening  credits sequence from 1995 featuring 15 characters

Pippa

Michael

Shane

Angel

Jack

Curtis

Shannon

Selina

Alf

Ailsa

Fisher

Sam

Irene

Donna

Sally

 

You rank your favourite to least favourite with favourite getting 15 points and least favourite only 1 point and we will see which character gets the most points and wins most popular character. I think after 1 week i will add up all the points and post the overall result and then we can post another title sequence and do it again if anyone is interested.

This would be my rankings, from that particular cast, from least favourite to favourite

1 point: Angel - I never liked Angel, sorry Angel fans

2 points: Sam - Same as Angel really

3. Michael - Bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character for me, One minute i think he seems ok the next i really dislike him

4. Donna - Mostly underused and fairly forgettable but inoffensive

5. Sally - Not really a massive Sally fan. I know she is well loved for being an original cast member and for growing up from a little girl into a young woman on the show. But i find her often quite annoying and she seems to cause a lot of trouble and get away with it. But deserves credit for longevity and sometimes she has good moments. 

6. Curtis - Good looking boy. Possibly the blandest of the teen characters at that time but still a decent character

7. Jack - The bad boy stuff got a bit tiresome after a while but good character who we saw grow up and mature on the show. Also responsible for the classic bush fire disaster in which Fishers house was burnt down which is one of the stories that stays in my mind the most.

8. Shane - I like Shane but to be really honest i think he was better when he wasn't with Angel (by all accounts Dieter Brummer felt the same) as she just dragged him down. I was shocked by how much the show became the ''Shane and Angel'' show during 1995/96 but its more like the ''Angel with her nagging and endless drama'' show with Shane along for the ride.

9. Pippa - I tend to lean towards preferring Vanessa Downing over Debra Lawrence (controversial opinion maybe?) and i don't think Pip and Michael were entirely wonderful as foster parents. But still, Pippa is one of the legendary characters.

10. Alf - I do like Alf, i sometimes dislike his stubbornness and his habit of flying into a rage over nothing but i guess those things also make him entertaining 

11. Irene - Of course it goes without saying that Irene is one of the classics

12. Selina - Some classic storylines like Saul and the cult and being stung by the bee stay in my mind strongly. 

13. Shannon - She was actually my #1 favourite character when i originally watched her era. Now i still like her but i wouldn't say she was my favourite but still very high ranked. It seemed like she got some of the biggest stories around 1995/96 

14. Ailsa - She was always one of my favourites throughout the 80's and 90's and it was actually when she left that i started to drift away from the show. Other classics had left before her but i still liked the show, but after Ailsa left it all changed for me.

15 points: MR DONALD FISHER - Yes Fisher wins my ranking. Throughout the 80's and 90's episodes i find him to be consistently the best character, always interesting, complex, often troubled, stubborn and difficult while also being compassionate and kind at times too. And always extremely well acted by Norman Coburn 

So far Fisher is the winner but will he remain so when others add their own rankings?

[adam436]

I've tried to isolate all these characters to 1995, as opposed to different eras they appeared in. I've added some notes next to some of them if I have something 

15. Donald - the greatest character H&A has ever had. You've summed him up quite well above. 

14. Ailsa - I am probably ranking her higher because of her longevity, but she was a great friend and always willing to lend a friendly ear. 

13. Donna - a fun and underrated character. She had some great storylines and it's a shame she left so abruptly

12. Irene - A great comedy character, but she was also great in the dramatic stuff too, like the Mud story and being a support to Selina's pregnancy story.

11. Alf - another classic character.

10. Shannon - had some amazing stories in 1995 including the eating disorder and the historic abuse story

9. Jack

8. Sam - mostly just a cheeky kid in 1995. If we were looking at 1999 Sam, I feel like I'd have ranked him much lower

7.  Sally - wasn't a huge fan of teenage Sally. I didn't hate her, but at the same time I liked her more than other teen characters in that era. Like Sam, she'd be ranked differently if we were looking at adult Sally or child Sally. 

6. Selina - Another constant complainer. I know she has her fans, and she definitely got more likable towards the end of 1995, with the Saul stuff and Steven romance. Those storylines definitely cemented her as an iconic character, but I really didn't like her for most of 1995. 

5. Pippa - only really rated higher than Michael because she is more of a classic character. 

4. Michael - you've summed up my feeling on the character above. 

3. Curtis - I am probably judging him on his relationship with Laura. Couldn't stand her, and she made Curtis a very unlikable character.

2. Shane - dragged down by Angel.

1. Angel - I feel like all she did was complain. Way too over-rated as a character and I absolutely couldn't stand the character. 

 

[jakeyy.]

Going off their 1995 not overall longevity.

15. Shannon - Good storylines and Isla Fisher was a great actress.

14. Fisher - You can't dislike him, great character in this year too.

13. Selina - Like most, good and memorable storylines and just a likeable character.

12. Donna - A forgettable character, but her storyline about DV was one that I remember, just a great character in my opinion.

11. Jack -Just likeable in my opinion, good storyline and character development

10. Irene - Likeable and loveable, classic, funny but a rock to Selina.

9. Alf - Iconic, but down a bit as he wasn't the best written in this year.

8. Ailsa - Loved Ailsa, her storylines in 1995 were good, the fridge with Bobby etc.

7. Pippa - Loved Pippa, but I feel like she wasn't written well.

6. Sally - As people have stated, credit for her longevity but her teenage phase wasn't liked by me.

5. Shane - Was there for the couple, wasn't utilised well.

4. Sam Didn't love or hate, neutral but annoying

3. Curtis - Honest opinion, was over-utilised

2. Michael - Underutilised.

1. Angel - She was annoying

[BobbyFridge]

Thanks adam and jakeyy

So far no one likes Angel  Donna is more popular than i thought she would be and Fisher is the most popular. Shannon also doing well.

[j.laur5]

Irene-One my all time favourites

Alisa -Other of my all time favourites and if I could chose one character to had stayed longer it would be Alisa.

Pippa-If Vanessa was still in role she be on top of list and have to admit Debra Lawrence definitely  made Pippa feel prominent presence on show . 

Not much more to say on rest. 
Alf 

Sally 

Donald 

Selina 

Shannon 

Angel

Josh 

Curtis 

Shane 

Michael 

Donna 

Sam-No offence but never sure Sam anything more then pointless character. 

[BobbyFridge]

Thank you everyone who participated. Here are the results

 

Rankings

Pippa 9, 5, 7, 13

Michael 3, 4, 2, 3

Shane 8, 2, 5, 4

Angel 1, 1, 1, 7

Jack 7, 9, 11, 6

Curtis 6, 3, 3, 5

Shannon 13, 10, 15, 8

Selina 12, 6, 13, 9

Alf 10, 11,9, 12

Ailsa 14, 14, 8, 14

Fisher 15, 15, 14, 10

Sam 2, 8, 4, 1

Irene 11, 12, 10, 15

Donna 4, 13, 12, 2

Sally 5, 7, 6, 11

 

 

1. Fisher 54 POINTS
2. Ailsa 50 POINTS
3. Irene 48 POINTS
4. Shannon 46 
5. Alf 42
6. Selina 40
7. Pippa 34
8. Jack 33
9. Donna 31
10. Sally 29
11. Shane 19
12. Curtis 17
13. Sam 15
14. Michael 12
15. Angel 10

 

 

 

 

[cymbaline]

Great thread. I'm late to the party but the results are broadly what I'd have voted for anyway. I'd have given Irene my highest vote because she was a great character. She was slappable and huggable in equal quantities and well able to hold her own against classic characters like Fisher, Alf and Ailsa. It's interesting to see Shane and Angel so far down the list. They seem to be remembered these days as a doomed Scott & Charlene but to me they were a young couple who became far too old before their time. They took up too much screen time too. I can also see why the powers that be decided to kill Michael off - by then they'd more or less run out of ideas for him and he was reduced to being a grumpy little man with no boatshed to play in any more. 

[BobbyFridge]

I think poor Shane ends up so low because Angel dragged him down with her. He was much better in his early years before he got with Angel in my honest opinion. Angel was just annoying.  

This time we go way back to 1989. Again there are 15 characters in the opening credits

 

 

TOM

PIPPA

STEVEN

FRANK

CARLY

ROO

BOBBY

SALLY

ALF 

AILSA

LANCE

MARTIN

FISHER

CELIA

MORAG

 

 

15. FISHER - Of course

14. BOBBY - Yes absolutely. Bobby was one of my favourites and one of the truly iconic characters in my opinion. She got the best character development in those early years

13. AILSA 

12. MORAG - I rate Morag highly for a couple of reasons. First of all, i rate the late Cornelia Francis highly as an actress and secondly, I regard the Bobby/Fisher/Morag storyline as one of the most iconic of the early years of the show. On the down side, despite liking her, I feel she was not always used as well as she could have been or given the best material. Whatever she is given she always plays it brilliantly but she could have been even better. It was a sad day when Morag left and didn't return until 1993 and after that even later.

11. CELIA - I like Fiona Spence as an actress, she was great in Prisoner as Vera and she did her best with what she was given as Celia. Unfortunately, she was underused and not always given the best to work with but she was often very funny. I am not religious and didn't care for the constant references to God (usually Celia saying stupid things like ''the Lord works in mysterious ways!'') but her habit of saying something stupid and annoying people was funny or poking her nose in and getting people like Tom or Morag telling her where to go! And often making Alf angry! Towards the end of 1989 it seemed obvious that the writers didn't really know what to do with Celia along with Lance and Martin. This was when all 3 of those characters ended up being put together in an uneasy threesome with silly nonsense like the goldfish funeral and the hot dog stand.

10. PIPPA - The original Pip! Vanessa's version, while not without fault, is in two of my favourite scenes. The first when Fisher takes Dodge home after catching him trying to frame Adam Cameron, Pippa asks him why he did it ''stop lying, just tell me the real reason you did it, is there even any reason at all?'' and later after Tom's death when she is sitting by the phone waiting. So, i tend to prefer Vanessa to Debra.   

9. ROO - Roo started as a complete troublemaker, those early episodes when she wants to break Alf and Ailsa up and exposes the truth about Ailsa serving time in prison are great and her feud with Bobby also great. Then she starts to settle down and change, by the time she leaves she had turned ''nice''

8. ALF

7. CARLY - Despite being a pain at times and a moaner i find myself having a slight soft spot for Carly because in the end she always tries to do the right thing and make amends when she behaves badly (even if someone has to tell her to do it first) plus her moods and tantrums can be quite amusing sometimes.

6. LANCE - I'm not a big fan of ''lovable idiot/loser'' type characters but Lance was harmless enough, even funny sometimes

5. STEVEN - Ok, some decent storylines but came across as arrogant at times

4. TOM - Bit of a hot head, The stuff when he thinks Pippa is having an affair with the shark hunter and his attitude after the stroke were bad. Towards the end Tom seemed to run out of steam and it's not that surprising that he got axed.   

3. MARTIN - The nastier one on the Martin/Lance double act, he thinks he is the smarter one but that's debateable. He had his moments but I'm not really a fan. Stuff like bullying Nico and being obsessed with Carly when she clearly isn't interested irritated me. 

2. SALLY - ANNOYING!

1. FRANK - Arrogant jerk! What was so great about him that he had two girls, Bobby and Roo, fighting over him? What was the attraction?

[adam436]

I found it quite difficult to rank some of these. The top 3 and bottom 5 were easy, but everyone else in the middle took me a while. Once again, I have isolated the characters to the 1989 season rather than their characters as a whole: 

15. Morag - one of the most complex characters from the 1989 season. She had some great quips and one-liners and came across as the villain, but I think she was more just lonely and fallen on hard times and didn't know how to deal with it or admit it. We saw her human side at times too, such as during Ailsa's post-natal depression, when Alf and Tom were missing and she offered to babysit Christopher and during her friendship with Marilyn and her friendship with Nigel. She also genuinely cared for Roo, she just had a poor way of expressing it. 

14. Fisher - goes without saying

13. Bobby - another strong early years character, whom we saw develop more in this season
12. Tom - another strong year for Tom. Definitely the epitome of H&A fathers, but as you say he ran out of steam towards the end. 

11. Pippa - I'd place her around equal with Tom. I just ranked her lower, as I felt like Pippa seemed to have a shorter fuse in 1989. It could be her making an "executive decision" about Dodge without really consulting Tom, or maybe the Zac stuff that came in late 1989. She also "held the fort" for a long time while Tom was recovering from his stroke, so maybe she just didn't fare so well without him. 

10. Steven - one of the more complex and developed early years characters. As BobbyFridge said, he was a bit arrogant at times, particularly when it came to challenging Fisher over Viv or Rebecca or when he rebelled during the Dodge saga, which is perhaps why I ranked him lower than he would have been if we were ranking other years in which Steven was a regular. 
9. Ailsa - not too much to say on Ailsa here. I enjoyed her friendship with Stacey (one of my favourite characters!) and she seemed to be "everyone's friend" in this period. 

8. Alf - not too much to say on Alf either. I liked his just as much as Ailsa, but I think I just ranked him lower because he sometimes came across as too "patriarchal" and masculine, like when he didn't understand Ailsa's post-natal breakdown. 

7. Roo - I felt like Roo tended to go backwards in 1989. We'd seen her grow and move on from the baby lie, then she came between Frank and Bobby. I also felt like Roo enjoyed playing Celia, Morag and Alf and Ailsa off against each other for her affections, or that could just be bias from the 1988 season. I also couldn't stand her love interest Simon and the way she was so lovelorn after just a few episodes. Despite what I thought of the character, Justine Clarke was always up for the challenge and always knocked it out of the park, which is probably why I ranked her higher than Martin. 

6. Martin - Martin was very hit and miss for me. I enjoyed his money making schemes, but he treated Lance and later Marilyn pretty poorly sometimes, especially when money was involved. Once Adam came in, Martin was really "dumbed down", as Adam took over as the "get rich quick" scammer and and Martin was assigned the idiotic storylines with Lance. It's a shame, as I think Martin would have fared much better as a character without Lance, but sadly the producers saw them as an inseparable double act. 

5. Carly - spoilt and selfish brat. As you said again, she would eventually come to her senses and make amends, but I genuinely found myself hating her during her self-centred phases. I also got bored of her fickle nature and throwing herself at every new man on the show

4. Celia - she was quite a caricature at times. I did however, enjoy her relationship with Nigel and Fiona Spence was brilliant in the scenes in which she recalls Les and the tragedy of that relationship. 

3. Sally - still an annoying kid at this stage. 

2. Lance - annoying. I just found alot of his stuff "dumb" rather funny. His romance with Mariyln was sweet, but not enough to really save the character. 

1. Frank - can't stand him. Arrogant and a bit of a jerk

[j.laur5]

PIPPA

AILSA

ALF 

BOBBY

TOM

MORAG

CELIA

FISHER

CARLY

STEVEN

SALLY

FRANK

ROO

LANCE

MARTIN