Blake Dean - Les Hill

[Stewarts Point]

I couldn't see a thread for Blake, so here goes.

Early 90s heart throb who appealed to teenage girls in the New Kids on the Block and Beverley Hills 90210 era.

Likeable character who had two lives on the show, before and after his sister Karen's descent into crime. 

Before he teamed up with Sophie and Hayden, after with Simon and Finn.

And then there was the Meg storyline, which is infamous in Home and Away lore.

I think he faded in his final months as he was replaced by Shane in the school boy hunk role. Showing that even the new kid on the block has but a brief moment in the sun.

Interestingly he had a deep relationship with Alf (more so than Curtis) which perhaps wasn't replicated in the rest of the 90s.

What are your memories?

[early years fan]

Recently watched the sunrise scene with Megs death Episode, beautiful and poignant scene 

[hapitoby]

1 hour ago, early years fan said:

Recently watched the sunrise scene with Megs death Episode, beautiful and poignant scene 

Same. Just rewatched it earlier. So beautiful and sad. Meg saying to her mum " thanks for letting me go" was so heartbreaking

 

[cymbaline]

I was a teenage girl at the time but for some reason I never fancied him. He looked and sounded older than he was, which was off-putting to me at the time  In hindsight he was one of the more interesting young characters from the early years and could have moved nicely into young adulthood if he'd stayed. Unlike Shane who succeeded him as the bad boy hunk du jour, Blake never got consumed by a big romance or grew old before his time. He worked well as Haydn/Simon's sidekick and had a touching relationship with his sister Karen. It was fitting that when he left Summer Bay, it was to help Karen get back onto the straight and narrow.

It's a pity that he's mainly remembered for that doomed romance with Meg but on the other hand, there are many characters who don't have a "Greatest hits" moment. 

[atrus]

By far one of the best of the younger early-years characters, in my view. Shane is probably better remembered now as fulfilling a similar role, but I got on with Blake much better than I ever did with Shane, I think. Blake could be a bit of a rascal at times, but definitely a good kid at heart, and the show was never scared to show his sensitive, vulnerable side - such as his grief and guilt over his mother's death and then later, reliving all that in a sense with Meg. Les Hill was quite an idiosyncratic performer and often managed to bring some clever, quirky moments to otherwise run-of-the-mill scenes, which made Blake stand out more than a lot of the teens who've passed through the Bay. I was glad he ended up with Sophie down the line - not in a 'meant to be together' kind of way, particularly, but just because I cared for both characters, and they suited each other, and I thought they deserved a happy epilogue.

Edited February 2, 2023 by atrus