How Do You Think The Characters Have Changed This Season?

[bttb-rox!]

In the UK we are almost half way through the 2007 season, so I thought it could be fun to discuss how the characters and their lives have changed this year. I've made a little summary of how I think the charcaters have changed this year, so feel free to do the same. You don't have to write an essay, but it would be good to hear your thoughts, and what you would like to see happen to certain characters .

Alf - Alf has not had much in terms of storylines so far this year, but it's true to say that he has always been there for his family. When Ric went to jail, Alf was extremely supportive of him and Sally. It's been pretty tough for him to support Martha, however, because she has distanced herself from her family, but never the less... he has always tried to. And last but certainly not least...Sally. Alf's words to Ric after she was stabbed spring to mind, ''When word of this gets out, this whole town is going to come to a halt''. You can truly see how much Alf cares for Sally, and it's wonderful to see this developing.

Sally - What with the stabbing, she has had to deal with Ric going to jail, Martha moving out, and various other dramas. However, throughout all of that, she is still the Sally we all know and love. Kate Ritchie's acting has completely blown me away this year. I was ecstatic when she won the gold logie!

Tony - As my avatar shows, I am a HotDad fan! I'm sure many of you would agree that since Alf, Beth and Irene have been away, Tony has taken on a more central role as a character. It has been very enjoyable to see this, because he has been a bit of a 'background' character, since he arrived. This season has seen quite a bit of drama in the Hunter/ Holden household. First of all...Kit turns up on Tony and Beth's doorstep. As I have made aware in the HotDad appreciation thread, I love scenes with Kit and Tony in them. I also enjoy watching scenes with Tony and Matilda in them.

Matilda - This year, Indiana has really shown what an amazing actress she is. Her acting ability has just got better and better! I especially loved watching Mattie after Ric went to court. I'm really looking forward to seeing what storylines the writers have got instore for Indiana to work on because she plays a great character and is a fantastic actress!

Amanda - She has had quite a year! Firstly, Belle got kidnapped, then her sister arrived, and then she got engaged to Peter. I think it's fair to say that Amanda has been involved in quite a few dramas in the Bay. Including her 'reaquainting' herself with her sister, Kelli. Why can't she see that Kelli is the one responsible for all the bad stuff that's happening in her life?! That's the question I ask whenever Kelli and Amanda are in the same room. Amanda is one of those characters that you either love or your hate.

Peter - I must say, I never really got very excited over Peter as a character...until 2007. His return in 2006 didn't wow me, and I hadn't really realized he was gone. It has only been in the last couple of months that I have felt he has added something to the show. Don't get me wrong, I did like Peter before this year, but I have now really warmed to him and have started to enjoy his character a lot more. Peter and Amanda's relationship is very interesting to see progress. Their relationship is one of many that are being properly 'explored' at the moment.

Belle - Possibly the cheekiest girl in the Bay at the moment! I have loved Belle's character ever since she arrived in Summer Bay. However, the Belle/Drew/Lisa/Lucas thing was soooo boring. Some storylines can drag on for way too long and that was definitely one of them! Never the less, Belle is a cool character and Jess is a super actress!

Ric - Furzey is awesome at playing Ric. Ric going to jail was definitely one of his biggest dramas. It was a very captivating storyline and at the same time... quite emotional too.

Cassie - I like Cassie so much more this year than I did last year! This has also been since Macca left her. I love Cassie's bubbly personality. A certain calender shoot comes to mind, while I think of it! : lol:

Lucas - He is another great character! Him and Belle were quite good together, but ' Drelle' are more convincing as a couple. There hasn't been a lot of stuff that Lucas has been involved in this year, but I liked Lucas joining the gang... even if it was just for a day! One thing is for sure, Lucas will always do anything to help a friend. Take, for example, Drew and Belle falling off the cliff. He didn't hesitate to risk his life in order to save them. That's a pretty nice thing to do, considering how both of them treated him!

Irene - Poor Irene. Another character that hasn't had much to do this year. It's a shame when excellent characters don't have many storylines. Now I have to bring this up....Irene's house. Where has it gone?! I recall seeing it just after Belle was kidnapped and then when Belle was upset that Lisa would say something to Lucas about her and Drew. We really need to see the Beach House [ i]a lot[ / i] more.

Kim - I have to admit, I am not his biggest fan. However, Kim is played by Chris Hemsworth (who is a great actor), so you kind of have to love him! He has had sooo many storylines this year, I can't even begin to count them all! I think Kim has matured a lot this year, what with Kit's arrival and being married to Rachel.

Rachel - I love her smiley and bubbly attitude, although we haven't seen much of that this year, because this season hasn't been very kind to Rachel. If I posted my thoughts on every single argument that Kim and Rachel have had, I would be here all day! Nevertheless, Amy Mathews is an incredible actress, and she truely deserved to win the new female talent award at the logies!

Colleen - What can I say about Colleen? Well, she still manages to make us laugh after all these years, that's one thing. Whenever she is onscreen, you know there is a pretty high chance that you will fall off you chair with laughter! However, she, like Irene, Leah, etc. hasn't had any storylines this year. It's such a shame that a character like her's is being underused

Leah - She has become a dreadfully underused character, which is a real shame. I really enjoyed watching Ada portraying Leah when her and Dan broke up. That really proved what she is capable of when she is given the material to work on.

Dan - He is an interesting character, but is also underused. I'm sure that if the writers and producers gave Tim more to do, he would rise to the challenge and give us some great storylines!

Jack - Jack kisses Martha. Sam leaves. Jack goes after her. Jack finds her. Sam leaves again. A pretty eventful year for Jack. Paul has been great this year. One of my favourite Jacky moments was when Jack was reading Sam's letter after she left with Rory. His face spoke a thousand words.

Martha - Like Kim, Martha has been given too many storylines this year. However, this has given me the chance to really appreciate Jodi's acting.

Drew - Drew has definitely become a more interesting character to watch this year. He has been given more in-depth storylines which has been good. More of them, and he's set to become an even better character.

Brad - He's a funny character. I think there is another thread related to this. To me, Brad comes across as being very changeable. Anyhow, Brad is still a great character. ' Brally' are very sweet, but Sally and Flynn will always be the perfect couple.

Feel free to discuss!

[claire_louise]

Well, IMO there are quite a few characters who have changed for the worse, some who have changed for the better, and the rest are pretty much the same!

Worse:

Kim - I was never a Kim fan and have to disagree with bttbrox that Chris is a good actor (although he is better now than he was to begin with). I was finally starting to like him after he got together with Rachel, who I felt brought out the best in him, but now he's annoying me as much as ever. I understand that he's in a difficult situation and that it's impossible to please both Kit and Rachel, but surely there must be a better way to handle it? His constant over-protectiveness of Kit and dismissal of Rachel makes me want to throw things at him. The way he carries on, anyone would think he's the only man to ever father a child!

Martha - Also not really a Martha fan, but I liked her much better when she first arrived, before she and Jack got married. It was a good idea on the writer's part to explore her character and give her deeper storylines, but I think they took it too far. Instead of being a troubled and misunderstood young woman, she's now just a brat.

Kit - words cannot describe how disappointed I am by the writers' character assassination of her. The character they originally wrote would never turn up right after Kim's wedding and announce she was pregnant with his baby, or tell Rachel how to handle her husband, or turn up every five seconds to bug them about the slightest thing. She's become selfish, thoughtless and patronising - not the Kit we know and love.

Better:

Amanda - couldn't stand her when she first arrived, what with all the Josh/Graham gubbins and cartoonishness, but I really like her now. She is incredibly dense sometimes and the Kelli storyline is absolute c**p, but I love her with Peter and her relationship with Belle is fab.

Matilda - she continues to improve as time goes on. I was so glad when they finally got her and Ric together, and I haven't been disappointed. The chemistry is great and they really convince as a young couple in love. I'm also looking forward to seeing her upcoming storylines.

Jack - so much better without Martha. I still don't particularly love him, but I really liked his relationship with Sam.

Lucas - he has a backbone after all!

Tony - although I hate the fact that Beth has gone with a passion, I love it that Tony is taking a more important role in the show. Long live Hot Dad!

[Mistified]

I like what they've done with Ric this year, making him more fun and showing a cheeky side to him. His boyfriend performance is also fantastic - the perfect partner!

I'd like to see Brad and Rachael interract more and brother and sister.

Sally needs to start having some fun and acting her age - but I've been thinking this since she was a teenager. They've just never really written her to be typical to her years.

Lucas to me is always a pain in the ass and his silly, moody, childish reaction to Drew and Belle was so typical of his petulance. Ok, I suppose he was hard done by but I just don't like him so have no sympathy for him

Tortured Jack this year is hard to watch and I'd like to see him have more fun. The bucks night was a good start....but obviously Martha brought him back down to gloomy earth with a bang.

I loved what they've done with Martha this year because it does tie in with her fiestyness and independent streak to rebel like this. It has shown more layers to her too which is always good in TV drama.

Leah and Dan are yawnsome but that's because they've so little to do. Ok, the actors were busy off set this year so maybe that's why. I'd love to see some big challenging storyline for them before the year is out.

Kim has certainly earned his pay check so far this year and I think it has made him a better actor.

I never had an opinion on Cassie before but I'm really starting to like her since she came out of the Macca thing.

Drew and Belle are good fun and I like now that we can see they have real and deep feelings for each other. They could be a new Shane and Angel in time as I don't think their relationship will be fly by night now. They'll ultimately leave together I'd say too, á la Will and Gypsy.

Irene, Alf and Colleen are just serving a purpose, which is a shame. I'd like to see more with them, particularly a serious exploration of Colleen's character.

Mattie is a little sweet heart. I love her for her strengths, which are often surprising, and her weaknesses, which Ric is always there to help her out with. What a teriffic actor Indiana is too!?

Kit I have never had any opinion on and still don't I'm afraid. She's just a plot device so far this year with just the one story line.

Tony is great and I'd love to see loads more of him

Amanda is such a caricature that I can never warm to her. I find her boring actually, and an incredibly daft character. The fact that she never, NEVER learns from her mistakes makes her sooo frustrating to watch. This year has been no exception.

Peter is another character who has lalways eft me cold and it's the same this time around. He's just not interesting, funny, charming or entertaining in any way for me, I'm afraid.

The Kelli storyline BTW should win the prize for THE WORST storyline ever. Other than that I'm loving the show this year - best year in a while!

[bttb-rox!]

Wow, long posts!! I loved reading them both .

I agree with alot of what you have both said, about certain characters. I'd also love to see some more Rachel and Brad 'big bubba' interaction. 2006 was great in that way, but the storylines have been quite different this year from what they were last year, so thats most likely why. 2007 has had its odd moments of fun and laughter, but there has been quite a but less than last year, but again that is due to the darker stroylines e.g Martha at the Rocket Club .

Anyhow I love Home and Away, i'm prefering the episodes being shown in Aussie at the moment to the ones in the UK, they are great!!

[Mistified]

Wow, long posts!! I loved reading them both .

I agree with alot of what you have both said, about certain characters. I'd also love to see some more Rachel and Brad 'big bubba' interaction. 2006 was great in that way, but the storylines have been quite different this year from what they were last year, so thats most likely why. 2007 has had its odd moments of fun and laughter, but there has been quite a but less than last year, but again that is due to the darker stroylines e.g Martha at the Rocket Club .

Anyhow I love Home and Away, i'm prefering the episodes being shown in Aussie at the moment to the ones in the UK, they are great!!

Me too!

[bttb-rox!]

^ At least its not long until we get to see them in the UK!!

I'm trying to think of which character has changed IMO, the most this season. Its pretty hard as alot of the characters have changed either slightly or a fair bit this year. But I would say Ric has changed the most...he has become more mature in his manner and way of dealing with things. The last couple of years he has been quite a cheeky young character, which he still is, may I add , but there is defiantely something more mature about him, and I like that, its nice to see something about a charaters personality change a bit because, because it gives the show a great mixture of personalities and brings variety too .

There is a point where characters can become too 'mature' for their age. I think Lucas is a good example of this, sometimes he comes across a little too zealous in that way. This is not to say that Lucas being mature for his age is a bad thing, because it is not and as I pointed out, its great to see a variety of different personalites mixing togeter. So I guess, there has to be a bit of each really, and I think the producers and writers have got it spot on this year!!

[bttb-rox!]

I was thinking last night about how most of the recent guest characters have kind of changed the long-term charaters a bit. Ric for example, he has always had quite a temper on him, but until Rocco came along we never really got to see this to its full extent. Just a thought .

[claire_louise]

I agree with Mistified about Sally being too grown up for her age. When you think about it, Cassie and Ric are less than ten years younger than her and yet she's taken on the role of their mum - how many people her age would do that? Don't get me wrong, I love their whole family dynamic, but it would also be nice to see Sally being immature sometimes and making mistakes. She's turning into Pippa way too quickly. To be honest, I would have liked to see her with someone a bit more interesting than Brad. He's a sweet guy and they suit each other, but I'd have preferred it if she'd gone out and had some fun after Flynn. A few drunken nights out with Leah and Rachel would have been fab.

[bttb-rox!]

To be honest, I would have liked to see her with someone a bit more interesting than Brad. He's a sweet guy and they suit each other, but I'd have preferred it if she'd gone out and had some fun after Flynn. A few drunken nights out with Leah and Rachel would have been fab.

I see what your saying about Brad. The producers/writers probably thought it would be good to pair Sally with someone that's been through what she has though.

Brally make a sweet couple but like you said Claire_louise, Sally having a bit of fun before getting into a new relationship would have been brilliant!!

Sally has been interesting to watch this year. She has taken on a bit more of a central role again which is great. It would be nice to see Brad and Sally together more though sometimes I forget they are an item. There's a thread about 'what would you like to see happen for the 20th anniversary', I popped in there the other day and quite a few people would like to see Brad and Sally get married!

What would you guys like to see happen to Sally this year? E.g Should she get married? Get a dog?

[claire_louise]

I think she should remember that she isn't even 30 years old yet, let alone a middle aged woman! I don't think she and Brad should get married, at least not yet. Then the writers would end up with the exact same problem they had with Flynn - what to do when Chris wants to leave (unless Kate finally decides she's had enough, of course). I don't want Sally to end up the black widow of Summer Bay like Pippa was!