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It's hard to believe the show has evolved so much that it no longer has any teens or fostering given this was the whole premise of the series when it first started and for the first 30+ years. The fostering set-up was an absolute dream scenario for family drama where young characters could come and go, staying weeks or years. Much of the drama in H&A revolved around the young characters trying to find their way in the world, making mistakes, and clashing with the older generation. The strange thing is that the series feels like it's dipping a toe in the water around fostering without actually committing to anything. These days a few of the 20/30-somethings seem to have been in the fostering system, yet it's only mentioned in passing and nothing is made of it. Long term characters like Roo, Marilyn, John could easily have been long term foster carers. Cash and Eden also seemed to consider the idea then put it on the back burner. The police/hospital set-up could easily be used to introduce younger characters who need looking after because their parent is sick or in trouble. Feels like TPTB are trying to dangle an invisible carrot. We only need 2 or 3 younger characters in inject some life into a foster family, with numerous existing cast ready-to-go as foster parents. The cast seems is a bit heavily biased towards 30-somethings. Maybe next time one or two of this group leave, it could be a good excuse to bring in a couple of teens. I doubt it would happen. But with the 40th anniversary not far off, it would be a hugely missed opportunity not to have any teens/fostering in some form or other.

I know H&A will never return to being a full-on teenage soap again, but I do believe the producers could find a better balance. Would it really hurt the show to lose a few of the cookie-cutter younger characters and replace them with teenagers? The show could still tackle the "adult" storylines with them rather than just teenage crushes, puberty etc. I agree with this statement too. The casting has generally been good, but then they've been served so poorly by the writers or not used to their full potential. Xander, Kirby and more recently Mali were really underused, whereas Jessica Redmayne deserved better than the material she was given. The producers definitely have their favourites - such as Tane, Eden, Theo - and some of the others I've mentioned get lost or sidelined because of that.

Copied from the UK discussion thread but I think I've got the injection... So, we've had more heartbreak for Levi & Mac. More... Now, I get the show needs light and shade but this whole show was built on a couple who couldn't have kids, so fostered instead. I've heard about how the WA storyline bought back lapsed viewers. I get why; Irene's departure bought me back into the fold after years of being very passive. They're missing a golden opportunity here to take the show back to its roots and recover some lapsed viewers. It's not beyond the realms of possibility at this point that you could move Mac & Levi into the big house to start a foster family. It's also not too big of a stretch that Pippa could be some sort of voluntary adviser for DOCS, and Alf & Maz convince her to come in as some sort of mentor to help them get started. I could go without a few explosions if they threw the chequebook at getting Debra back for a few weeks! In my mind the idea of Mac & Levi as a new Tom & Pippa is now too good an idea not to roll the dice on. It could be an incredible way to celebrate the 40th anniversary; we've watched them go through the same heartbreak one assumes Tom & Pippa went through in the 70s. I would love to see them take in waifs and strays who were able to turn their lives around. Who knows, they might take in a child actress who hangs around for 20 years!