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One of the better season premiere’s of recent years, although Tane showing up to play the hero seemed tired to begin with, that ending actually has me on his side for the first time in a long time.

I wonder who dropped the ball and forgot they needed a train driver for them to use one of the crew.

Alf's episode count this week:Three. As is often the case in finale week, things go a bit mad with Remi, Dana and Jo all appearing in four episodes. Mali was an absolutely terrible boyfriend here and I'm annoyed that Abby somehow got convinced that she was at fault. I'll say it again: If you're going to plan a surprise, then you have to accept that the other party don't know anything about it and might not do what you want them to. Especially if you're going to outright tell them you're not interested in doing something with them and they should go off and have fun on their own. Mali going into a sulk, refusing to meet Abigail and going off on his own instead, as opposed to trying to salvage the trip and actually spend time with her, was the definition of petulant. And Alf takes the award of second most awful person in the episode I'm afraid. He's great with Leah and then he spoils it all by being nasty to John just because he can. John's an old friend of Leah and Justin, he's known Justin as long as Alf has, Leah for over half as long as Alf, why shouldn't he ask if she's all right? Why does Alf feels this incessant need to treat him like something he's stepped in? And why do the people making the show expect the audience to be fine with it? As for the train...I was a bit confused that at the beginning of the episode, Remi's sat with a blonde woman who definitely wasn't either Jo or Lacey, who were further along. Was he networking? Lacey probably had more time than that to tell Jo what Eddie was going to do, but I'm not sure anyone expected him to do that. I guess we should be grateful he wasn't planning to do it on stage! Nice chat between Justin and Lacey. Isaac was like a dog looking for a bone. Holden...is Richie Amblin from Neighboyrs and that's about as far as it goes. It's to be hoped that we'll begin next season with Leah keeping to her epiphany and trying to make things up with Justin. Boy, that stunt was bad. It was like no-one could work out a convincing way to make the train turn over, so we get some shots of it out of control but upright, some shots of cast being flung about in a way that doesn't really convey anything in storytelling terms beyond "we're crashing", and then cut to it on its side in a "Oh yeah, that's happened" manner. Was there even room for it to turn over? Whilst I'll wait until Monday to give a full opinion, I don't immediately see a problem with the promo showing the locals responding to the accident. We're told at the start that they've only just left Yabbie Creek, and the episode appears to only cover a few hours at most, possibly less. Whose area would they be in, the kangaroos'? So yes, 6pm is the new 1.45pm for everyone except the Channel 5 publicity department and those legally obliged to print their nonsensical schedule, as they imperiously demand that everyone must treat their First Look/Streaming schedule as gospel despite having deliberately come back on a Friday so the blocks are messed up. I'm not sure why following the same blocks and schedule as last year is a particular difficulty in avoiding spoilers, given full details of the episodes have been freely available since they were shown in Australia last month, but hopefully anyone wanting to comment on today's Streaming/First Look episode will have the decency to use the other thread to talk about it, and those of us still watching at 6pm will know not to look in there if we don't want to know. Seriously, isn't the whole point of streaming that you can watch the episodes whenever you like?

My understanding is they shot on a real, moving train. A significant number of the cast and crew had a trip away for it, with the location being a good four hours' drive away from Sydney. Unsure about the wreckage as I assume they can't really destroy a "vintage" train for the purpose of filming.

It's not as smart as my other set but it's still a flatscreen

Not quite. She was in the 8000th episode, shown on 21st December. The Jim-Robinson-in-a-bauble Christmas Day episode was two episodes later.

Largely bc kids can be idiots?

Seems Leah's turned a corner at last. Pity she's pissed Justin off so much he doesn't want to talk to her now. I know Abegail was drunk, but would she really have gotten on board the train for a kip? And why would kids be putting graffitti in a tunnel? You want your "artistry" to be seen and that won't happen in there. And how would they even ride their bikes into the tunnel? Would they want to bounce over the rail supports? Would be a pretty bumpy ride. Bad story writing again.

Who are the best hunks. Shane. Curtis Jesse and Travis.

OK.

Yes and It's a Sony Bravia. The other three were Frank and Bobby getting hitched, The first part of Meg's death and Sophie giving birth. The first regular episode was a bonus on the 2000 eps Video.

Partial Credit. Vera was the sister of Valerie Grundy who had lived there for a while. Valerie made her only appearance on Christmas Day 2018. She died of a mild heart attack and Piper and Toadie found her. She had like 30yrs+ of moments in the house (Jim's funeral programme, Wedding invited, etc) Vera took over the house. Mo knowing Reg tallied because she and Pat were thick as thieves in the 50s/60s as young women and lived in Walford. Dot remembered Johnny as a naughty child.

I had the 5 episode H&A Classic on VHS about 28/30 years ago. I think one episode was Roo's non wedding to Frank, and the aftermath of Meg's death and Blake crying on the beach. I cannot remember the other 3 but I do not think the first ever regular episode was on the list, the one after the pilot movie. I once considered writing to Jimmy Savile on Jim'L Fix it to see if he could get a clip of the first ever episode of H&A and show it on his show.

And Johnny Allen in EastEnders was said to have grown up in Albert Square, and Big Mo Harris, Kat's gran said she knew Reg Cox, whose death opened the series. Donna Bishop in H&A also grew up in The Bay I think. Neighbours also had a woman who was said to have lived in a house at the end of Ramsay Street which never featured in the show until the last few years. Vera Punt I think.

Sonny has been a bit of a softie regards Leah, him telling her in a gentle way to back off didn't work but I don't think it's his way to be brutal about it. Lacey's talking to her followed on from Alf's comment about getting she's mourning someone she's lost but that she should remember who she's still got. Lacey's comment about how Theo would want her to carry on living and how he'd want her to go to the Festival for him. It did make her change her mind about going to the station and harassing Sonny and finally admitting to Alf she had got it all wrong. No surprise Justin was ignoring her calls, at least it was him she was ringing and not Sonny. Alf had the right ide to ring him, maybe to suggest he answer her call? I wonder what Irene would have made of it all and if she could have made Leah see it from Justin's side and that she isn't alone. Leah did have the good grace to apologise to Maz for her recent behaviour. That is indeed the problem with surprises, if the person it is being sprung on doesn't know about it, they would want to do their own thing. Abi seemed to have forgotten it was a year since she and Mali got together until Mac filled her in. It looked like she was in a completely different part of the train when she woke up as she had to dash from one carriage to where the Party was. I'm guessing Abi was meant to get off before the train left. Eden, despite her insistence, did seem wistful she wasn't on the train, still the Bloody Mary made up for it. Soaps, any soaps, had a lot more money back in the day but due to cut backs they have to wing it and make stunts like that as realistic as they can. The most recent for us in the UK was the one in the Corriedale episode, it was a night shoot which also, I guess, makes it easier with bodies, wreckage. The train crash was in a tunnel so also dark. All we saw were various shapes of bodies lying around. Is there a railway station in the Bay because Abi asked which the next station was and told it was Yabbie Creek where David works out from. It did look by from what we saw the scenery outside they has been travelling a while, yet David and Cash seem to be able to get to the bay pretty easily. The emergency crew did get here pretty quickly but I suppose they would be quick on their toes if an emergency like that happens. The Graffitti artists did seem surprised to hear the train, they must some clue how many trains run on it. Them dumping their bikes caused the crash then. Isaac's lighthearted flirting with Mac came to an abrupt end when she told him she had a boyfriend and was hoping to have a baby. My have been my eyes but it looked like he had reversed after walking off and resumed his walking. Jo hasn't said no to Eddie's proposal but hasn't said yes either, leaving him in limbo. Her explanation being, quite rightly, that they have only just got back together so need to reacquaint themselves as a couple. He was disappointed to say the least. I did have the wicked thought that David may slip into Cash mode and do some digging on what Eddie has been up in the two years he and Jo had split up. Ah the old 'who dies' problem that TV mags like teasing us with. Headline reading 'Jo/Sonny/Remi/whoever Dies' Everyone thinking 'they' know who of the regulars it is. I do know something about Holden, Isaac's mate, but keeping schtum. Hope I'm not jinxing it but surely Remi can't be put through anymore injuries, beaten up by that guy who stole his guitar, his hand smashed up by Jacob, then run off the road by those crazy guys in their van. I know "Don't call you Shirley". Did the main cast/guest actors/actresses actually travel on a train or was it just a carriage being rocked about in a studio? Kind of good news we will only be a month behind OZ now.

Well that was a decent finale, bringing together many of the arcs that dovetailed by off the (intended) UK finale. It was all a bit "blink and you miss it" at the end though, I know they don't have the budgets the British soaps do but if you look at the Corrie tram crash, or the very similar "party train" stunt Hollyoaks did a few years back, it didn't have the same sense of spectacle. But that's the problem with H&A; you can't do a stunt that "wounds" an exterior central community location in the way Corrie's tram crash or Emmerdale's plane crash were able to. AI probably will be able to pull off a tsunami in time but you can't then convincingly water damage half of Palm Beach in the aftermath. I know the Promo's big plot hole got pointed out when it aired in Australia, but WTF is David and the Yabbie Creek team doing there so quickly after an incident, errrr, out of area? It will be interesting to see how the Sonny arc plays out - the last time I heard "I can't feel my legs" on a soap was Chris Tate in Emmerdale with either half the Woolpack or an aeroplane, not sure which, on top of him. Fair play to Yorkshire TV they saw that one through right until the actor left a decade later, no miracle cure. Anyway, thanks 2025 it's been emotional. See y'all in the 2026 thread when it appears! As Dan points out over in 2026, 6:30pm is the new 1:45pm and the one "press are expected to follow" (so I assume the soap mags are working to the new format?) so if you're still wedded to 6pm and don't want who dies (we hope it's not Sonny or Justin, given it can't be Leah) be mindful of that over the weekend.

As much as Leah is being insufferable at the minute, I think it’s easy to forget that as well as grieving her nephew, she’s essentially grieving the loss of her best friend & business partner too, or at least the Irene she knew. I can’t help thinking that she could really do with Colleen right now, and I think the show could too. It’s been a heavy few months.

I’m growing really tired of the Surf Club being the centre of the show. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like most scenes are based there now, probably due to it being home to five businesses (including itself). Meanwhile the Diner has more regular staff than customers and is in need of a refresh.

So now that the old 'first look' pace is the official UK pace (and the one that us press are expected to follow now) we kick off the 2026 season on Friday 20th February—streaming on 5's on-demand platform from 6am and airing on 5Star at 6:30pm. We begin the season just under 5 weeks behind the Australian airings.