Home and Away's lack of Returnee Characters

[Martin Dibble?]

Just wanted to express how disappointed I am in the way the current powers that be have destroyed the show over the past 15 or so seasons, disrespecting and abandoning its proud history in the process. I would love to see former iconic characters return, but realise that ship has sailed, and can't even imagine how it would work in the modern era, given the current writing team's apparent lack of understanding of previous eras. Bringing back Bevan Lee might be the show's only hope.

Aside from the occasional recast (Roo, Olivia), can anyone name one character from the first 20 years of the show to have returned over the past decade and a bit? Up until 2008, former characters would return en masse all the time (Sally & Kieran's wedding in 2000, Summer Bay's 150th Anniversary Celebrations in 2002, Alf's 60th Birthday Party in 2005, Sally's Farewell in 2008). And prior to 2000, we had the full-time returns of characters such as Steven, Marilyn, which kept the continuity of the early years, as well as the likes of Finlay, Hayden, Carly and Adam popping up now and then. Back then, we also had Ailsa, Donald, Pippa, Michael, Sally and Sam to keep the show grounded in its history. And in the 2000s, we had Sophie, Blake, Lance, Steven, Pippa and Floss returning on occasion, which gave the fans a link to the show's origins, not to mention the full-time return of Colleen, beginning in 1999.

Since 2013, the show has been unrecognisable, featuring a rotating cast of unknowns interacting with Alf, Irene, Marilyn, Leah, John and a re-cast Roo. The only returnees since Sally's farewell have been Kane and Kirsty in 2008-09, Shelley and Pippa in 2009, Will and Gypsy in 2010-2011, Celia in 2012, Sally in 2013, and Morag over a few stints (the last being 2017). So since Sally's six-week guest stint back in 2013, a couple of guest appearances from Cornelia Frances (R.I.P.) has been it. It is as if they enacted a policy to never feature any former cast ever again.

I'll stress it again, it has been more than a decade that anyone from the first 21 seasons of the show has returned. Let that sink in. With the show's incredible history over 37-and-a-half years, this is an absolute shame, and makes no sense, especially given the way Neighbours has respected its beginnings and its fans. Since 2013, Neighbours has featured the return of literally dozens upon dozens of former characters from every era, making it feel like the same show and giving the fans what they want. They're even brining back Harold to their opening credits next month at the age of 85! But I won't hold my breath that H&A will ever bring back someone like Don, Colleen, Floss or Celia, even for a guest stint. Not to mention the huge amount of other characters they could mine from.

I understand that many of the show's cast have since moved on from acting, and some are unattainable (Dannii Minogue, Julian McMahon, Melissa George, Simon Baker, Isla Fisher, Ryan Kwanten, Tammin Sursok, etc.), but I'm sure so many other former cast members would jump at the chance. Give the fans something! Anyway, those are my thoughts. What do you all reckon? Who would you like to see return to the show full-time?

[adam436]

There was also the recast Duncan in 2016 too, who is pretty much brought in to drag out Tori/Nate, rather than provide a story for Alf and Roo.

I also suspect many of those mainstay actors like Kate Ritchie and Debra Lawrence probably have little interest in returning to the current show either.

I don't want the show to feature shoehorned returns or overkill volumes for anniversary specials like Neighbours, but it would be nice to acknowledge the past of existing characters at least. 

I'd like to see Irene's family acknowledged or even appear, especially since Finn's children are now the age of most of the cookie-cutter current characters. It would probably mean recasting Finn and Damien though, which I could live with. It would be less controversial than recasting Roo, and there are definitely actors of the right age would be a coup for the show.

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

Alf and Martha's wedding had no returnees, it was current cast members and what was possibly Alf's "friends" other than the ones we know. I don't even think Morag's passing has even been mentioned.

Also, with some of the storylines we have seen in recent months, some that would benefit from stuff like "I remember when this happened to X all those years ago...".

There hasn't even been any mention of the Summer Bay City Rollers, despite one of the band members being still in the show, especially with Lyrik being a thing.

[Martin Dibble?]

20 hours ago, adam436 said:

There was also the recast Duncan in 2016 too, who is pretty much brought in to drag out Tori/Nate, rather than provide a story for Alf and Roo.

I also suspect many of those mainstay actors like Kate Ritchie and Debra Lawrence probably have little interest in returning to the current show either.

I don't want the show to feature shoehorned returns or overkill volumes for anniversary specials like Neighbours, but it would be nice to acknowledge the past of existing characters at least. 

I'd like to see Irene's family acknowledged or even appear, especially since Finn's children are now the age of most of the cookie-cutter current characters. It would probably mean recasting Finn and Damien though, which I could live with. It would be less controversial than recasting Roo, and there are definitely actors of the right age would be a coup for the show.

Typical of them to recast Duncan – a legacy character – once again, and treat him in that manner.

I think you would be right about Debra and Kate. It's clear to everyone how little regards the show has for its history these days. Long gone are the days when much of the legacy cast would reunite every so often for important storylines.

You're spot on about the modern-day cookie-cutter characters. You would never get an Alf, Irene or Marilyn these days, much less a Martin, Lance, Fisher, Morag, Celia, Colleen, Joey, Vinnie or Edward.

Lynne McGranger said in an interview that the actress who played Finlay, Tina Thompson, has given up acting, so unlikely she will ever return. Her oldest son (until the Mick Jennings revelation) was already recast, last appearing in 2002. Matt Doran (Damien) could be a candidate, since he is still acting, however there must have been opportunities in the past 28 years for him to return, and yet he hasn't. Tempany Deckert (Selina) and Adam Willits (Steven) would be perfect returnees, and not just to dump one of their kids on Irene. Surely Stevo would be cashed up enough to buy the Summer Bay Caravan Park!

13 hours ago, Luigi Severus Fletcher said:

Alf and Martha's wedding had no returnees, it was current cast members and what was possibly Alf's "friends" other than the ones we know. I don't even think Morag's passing has even been mentioned.

I don't watch the show nowadays, but they actually showed Alf and Martha's wedding on-screen?!? That's absolutely mad to have no returnees and just feature the current cookie-cutter blow-ins on their 1-3 year contracts. It would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back a bunch of former cast members, but I guess making believable television and respecting the fans is not on the current producers' to-do list.

 

13 hours ago, Luigi Severus Fletcher said:

Also, with some of the storylines we have seen in recent months, some that would benefit from stuff like "I remember when this happened to X all those years ago...".

I believe that. It's crazy when cast members don't seem to know their characters' on-screen properly, too. But then again, even if they did pick up on inconsistencies in the writing, it's not necessarily in their best interests to mention it when they have to film the equivalent of a feature film each week. I reckon a bit of improv could work wonders, though.

[cymbaline]

I'd love to know who is watching Home and Away regularly these days, and how long they have been doing so. Would they even remember or care about these past characters? The actors are now in their forties and fifties, which would probably work against them. Home and Away is a soap which has evolved far more than the other main ones I can think of. It morphed from a teenage-heavy soap into the River Boys which is pretty crazy if you think about it. Would anybody following the Summer Bay Bunyip story arc have ever imagined we'd have gang members and people dropping like flies. Personally I don't care for the current format - Martin hit the nail on the head with the description of what it is - but it is a format that seems to suit everybody. The older actors are happy to have a steady job and the newbies think they could be the next Chris Hemsworth or Margot Robbie. The show is a behemoth now (I've heard Lynne McGranger say there's huge money tied into it) and as long as the current format works, I can't see them bothering to do anything radical. I find it to be shallow and rootless but maybe that's all most people want. 

[adam436]

1 hour ago, Martin Dibble? said:

Lynne McGranger said in an interview that the actress who played Finlay, Tina Thompson, has given up acting, so unlikely she will ever return. Her oldest son (until the Mick Jennings revelation) was already recast, last appearing in 2002. Matt Doran (Damien) could be a candidate, since he is still acting, however there must have been opportunities in the past 28 years for him to return, and yet he hasn't. Tempany Deckert (Selina) and Adam Willits (Steven) would be perfect returnees, and not just to dump one of their kids on Irene. Surely Stevo would be cashed up enough to buy the Summer Bay Caravan Park!

Tempany now lives in the US and Adam has left acting completely. I also doubt Steven would come back any time soon while there are two unrelated Mathesons around. The same could be argued for Frank Morgan too (we have Justin Morgan!), Roo's ex husband. He'd be a prime candidate too as it would give Roo a potential story and Alex Papps is still acting. 

 

1 hour ago, Martin Dibble? said:

I don't watch the show nowadays, but they actually showed Alf and Martha's wedding on-screen?!? That's absolutely mad to have no returnees and just feature the current cookie-cutter blow-ins on their 1-3 year contracts. It would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back a bunch of former cast members, but I guess making believable television and respecting the fans is not on the current producers' to-do list.

I think the problem with characters returning for Alf's wedding was Martha's backstory. Having Duncan return for the wedding would mean that the writers would have had to address the fact that Ailsa existed and Alf lied to her for so long, and others like Fisher would need to address the fact that Martha left Bobby high and dry since Morag didn't know where to send the money to. 

The perfect opportunity for Fisher to return would have been Marilyn's amnesia story about 10 years ago when she thought she was still married to him.

I always think it's a shame Lance never returned to visit Colleen in her final years when Marilyn was back. Lance is well and truly moved on, but they've actually never appeared onscreen together since 1990, despite both characters returning several times over the years. Lance began making sporadic appearances in 2000, just a few months after Emily Symons left and then he never appeared after 2006(?). I assume for Peter Vroom wasn't interested or was unavailable to return to return, since I assume he would have otherwise been back for Sally's or Colleen's exits, and he was a constant at reunion episodes up to the mid 2000s. 

Edited May 3 by adam436

[Red Ranger 1]

It feels like there's a lot of "excepts" here. "Since Sally's departure, there's been no returns of characters from the first 20 years except Kane and Kirsty, Pippa, Shelley, Sally, Morag, Celia, Colleen, Marilyn, Roo recast, Olivia recast, Duncan recast, Quinn recast, Martha recast technically and Dmitri." And maybe some others that I've forgotten. I certainly accept that the current show is reluctant to acknowledge its past, and there are certainly characters from that era who'd have a reason to come back, but I think there's a certain snobbishness about acting as though the characters from the first 20 years are all sacred icons and bringing back someone who only debuted 10 years ago doesn't count.

It is ironic that Neighbours and Home and Away have pretty much swapped over from where they were 20 years ago: Back then Neighbours was outright saying they didn't think the current audience cared about the show's history while Home and Away was organising regular reunions of old characters. Now Home and Away is the one trying to avoid mentions of the past as much as possible (and oddly skirting around it when they do, like the recent references to Roo giving up a child for adoption), while Neighbours has gone way too far in the other direction, being run by overgrown fanboys who think bringing back a short-lived character from over 30 years ago to deliver about four lines while being virtually unrecognisable is a work of genius. I think there is an argument that Home and Away's format of a revolving door of younger characters (which they've always had) with a few stalwarts that lapsed viewers can latch onto as recognisable (six character who've been there over 10 years, with a seventh who's been there nearly 8 and none of them look like they're going anywhere) seems to have worked at keeping it in the public eye, while Neighbours has narrowly survived cancellation, been reduced to four episodes a week and relegated to streaming in most countries and seems to be being made purely for a committed minority.

So, yeah, it's a shame, but we've still got a show that many people still enjoy so I won't complain too loudly.

[cymbaline]

You'd probably have to recast many of these old characters, because the original actors have either left acting, live abroad or are retired. That's a solution that'd make nobody happy. 

[Bobby Forever Missed]

I’ve held back here because I have mixed feelings on returnees for H&A if they are going to have them please don’t dookie on the legacy I’m sorry but there’s no way Celia would’ve given Les’ ring to anyone Nevermind Heath, i don’t think the current producers have enough respect for the show’s history to have returnees, it’s all about appealing to Gen Z and social media 

[Homeandawayfan.]

14 minutes ago, Bobby Forever Missed said:

I’ve held back here because I have mixed feelings on returnees for H&A if they are going to have them please don’t dookie on the legacy I’m sorry but there’s no way Celia would’ve given Les’ ring to anyone Nevermind Heath, i don’t think the current producers have enough respect for the show’s history to have returnees, it’s all about appealing to Gen Z and social media 

They should not have bought Martha back from the dead, trashing Alf's character as well, or dookied on Irene and Marilyn like they have in recent years.

Alf Stewart and Helen Daniels were trashed by the Ramsay/Martha retcons.