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Here's what Bevan told us at the time: "I felt we had to somehow keep the spirit of Sally in the show after she had gone and I was wondering who could take her place at the heart of Summer Bay House. And a little voice from the creative void whispered in my ear "Milco"." It was also for that reason that Josh Quong Tart was actually given a four-year contract from the off.

The forum did indeed used to be on backtothebay.com, but it moved to .net back in 2013. When we first launched, the main site was on .com and the forum was on .net – and I've absolutely no idea why it all got switched around

Don't worry, the Back to the Bay name isn't going anywhere – it's just the forum that has moved to a new domain, the rest of the content will remain on backtothebay.net and there are no current plans for that to change.

The Home and Away Forum has moved from backtothebay.net/forum to its new home at https://www.backtothebayforum.com/ Unfortunately, you will have been logged out and will need to log back in. If you don't know your password, you can reset it here. I've temporarily allowed logged out users to reply to this post, so please post here if you experience any problems.

@Revealed I'm not sure not being attractive enough or not liking the character is reason why they are "pointless". Some characters I actively disliked, but I still see the purpose they served. Brodie Hanson, for example. I couldn't stand the character, but she did serve a purpose as the "voice of reason" etc, and had a love interest. I agree with others being dull (i.e. the Holdens), but again they served a purpose. Judith Ackroyd is an interesting one - I remember liking her at the time, but she was secondary to Edward's story arc and even her role as principal wasn't neccesary, since Donald was still around at that point and could have continuned in that role. She could have easily been written out with Edward and Peta to be honest. She just floated around doing very little after Edward other than a romance with Joel (which was essentially just to give two characters at a loose end something to do until their exits), so she was definitely pointless in her last 6 months or so. For me, pointless means they just hang around and don't add anything to the show (i.e. Matt Wilson, Simon Fitzgerald). Even some of the borderline characters like Colleen, Floss and Neville were created for comic relief purposes. I found their comedy stuff irritating and eye-rolling, but that was their purpose. Likewise, some of the "nerds" filled a character type and were part of the central teen gang, family unit or part of a central family unit. Yes, all the characters seem to be cookie-cutter characters these days. When one leaves, we pretty much get another one to slot straight in - Abi/Flick, Mali/Dean. There are certainly more pointless characters these days, mostly because the majority of the cast a similar age and therefore all serve a similar purpose. Sadly, I agree. She was one of my favourite characters at the time, especially after the Alex story and doing the right thing in Colby's trial, so I was really sad to see her go. I'm not now wishing she would come back or that she didn't leave though.

There's a lot and the difficulty in answering the question is many pointless characters are long forgotten. Fortunately Wikipedia has a list of all the past characters so I've gone through this, the present characters still have the opportunity to prove their worth: Judith Ackroyd - her son was really the focus and don't remember an awful lot about her Charlotte Adams - speculating here because her brief time on the show when I wasn't watching because I couldn't get Channel 5 so never saw an episode with her in it. I could however tie up the show before and after my hiatus without her featuring Brad Armstrong - just remember him being a young headmaster Rachel Armstrong - not attractive enough and came at a time where we needed someone especially hot to fill the void of Rebecca Cartwright Maggie Astoni - not only did we never see her in a bikini but she always dressed in trousers or long skirts. Complete waste. Gina Austin - an extension from the dreary Holden family was not welcome Xavier Austin - as above Josh Barrett - just Casey Braxton part 2 really Logan Bennett - forget he was ever on the show and it wasn't that long ago Annie Campbell - too young when she was on the show. She grew up to be hot, that's when she should of been on. Geoff Campbell - just remember Aden calling him bible boy but they could of easily been the same person Lucinda Croft - this ones borderline. We never saw her in a bikini and she wore trousers a lot, though she did occasionally wear something more appropriate. Immediately upstaged by her replacement Roxy who appeared on the credits in a bikini Drew Curtis - just remember he had curly hair and a hot mother Lynn Davenport - too young Xander Delaney - simply the man who worked at Salt Jai Fernandez - only remember he was fostered by Miles Simon Fitzgerald - a clone of the equally pointless Haydn James Fraser - seem to recall watching a repeat just a couple of years later and had already forgotten who he was Christian Green - did nothing Brodie Hanson - not attractive enough Spencer Harrington - arrived with Maddie, had a more memorable brother called Chris but can't remember anything about the character himself Jack Holden - part of the pointless Holden family, remember his wives and his more memorable police colleague who killed him but that's about it Lucas Holden - remember him being a clone of the equally forgettable Henry Hunter Tony Holden - on it for a long time and amongst the dullest characters Beth Hunter - too ugly Henry Hunter - even Wikipedia says nothing about him Aden Jefferies - just remember him calling Geoff bible boy but they could of easily been the same person Hunter King - quickly forgotten Oscar MacGuire - nerd who gets the bird, but that's all I remember. Edit: no that was Dexter Zac MacGuire - remember branding him pointless as soon as he joined Seb Miller - just there to make up the numbers after Duncan left Brody Morgan - just the guy from Salt who went of the rails a couple of times Mason Morgan - I'm learning I don't like families that have more male than female characters Tom Nash - they should have given Gypsy a sister instead Matt Page - think he was like Theo, but not sure Nikau Parata - seems there's a reason they used to ship out the school kids once they'd left school Joey Rainbow - don't know why he outlasted the other similar aged characters who arrived at a similar time Haydn Ross - he did work better as a guest character later Colleen Smart - just there to work in the diner and be irritating Max Sutherland - seemed pointless bringing in a little kid to an already large enough family Liam Tanner - he had long hair, that's all I remember Dexter Walker - nerd who gets the bird Aaron Welles - remember him existing, don't remember anything he did and Wikipedia has nothing on him Matt Wilson - somehow doesn't seem as pointless as some I've listed but he's got to be included

Thanks Chris. The Forum used to be Backtothebay.com didn’t it? I think that just redirects to .net now though.

My list Alf and Ailsa-Back bone of the show for first 12 years and no doubt if Judy Nunn hadn’t decided to leave, they would continue on as backbone of show. Neville and Floss- I know this might seemed an odd choice as they left very early on and they were rather one dimensional, but you still couldn’t have one without the other and the actors did pair well with each other. Tom and Pippa-First Parents on show that bought us Summer Bay. Michael and Pippa-Despite preferring Tom and Pippa I still do feel that Pippa and Michael really did bring strong realism being together as they were together in real life . Matt and Evie-Despite getting together just before they left after being friends for years but build up to their characters maturing and getting together was great development and good ending for characters

Jade and Nick - forever my favourite ever couple in H&A history and I don’t see that changing. Had a very little drama relationship on screen for almost 2 years. Was obvious they were meant to be from their first meeting and I will never forgive the writers for them not ending up together. Sally and Flynn - Sally’s best pairing. Her soulmate. The father of her kids foster or otherwise. They were made for each other. Leah and Vinnie - Leah’s best pairing. They were fun together and she showed him how to be a grown up. Gyspy and Will - They ended up together the first time. Bringing them back ruined that. Kirsty and Kane - the couple that proved they could withstand anything together. Let’s forget they ever came back to the bay.

The quote that Coral originally gave us: The one thing that did surprise me was that she was so adamant she did NOT want to move into the Caravan Park and play Pippa to foster children - and I had to promise to her I wouldn't do that to the character - who was way too young. I hope she did, in the end, enjoy those years of following in Pippa's footsteps. After all, it's where it all began.

Sonny has reformed into a likeable character now. Definitely did not like him when he first appeared though