Classic Episodes on 5★

[Ryan]

Also a copy of the lesser-spotted Shane/Angel joke credits.

[Dan F]

Mentioned that before it aired Ryan

One thing I have been wondering though for those with a good memory, in the previous episode (don't have a copy of that one) did we see a glimpse of Bobby (her handprint I think) just before the ad break, or is my memory playing tricks on me.....?

[Skylover]

Just watched the online episode. Loved the scene with Alf and Marilyn on the beach. It's so great that their relationship remains so strong in the present day.

[Si-Co]

I had no idea ITV were cutting that much material back in 1995. I do wonder if a lot of it was for timing reasons, the same reason they cut the end credits? Totally changes the perception of the 'Bobby' incidents!

I like the way we're seeing the caption on the end freezes, which ITV always removed. Was'nt there an ad break and promo before the credits on the original Seven screenings?

I meant to mention that one episode (I think it was the online-only 1989 episode) had the closing credits re-edited with a post-2000 Seven logo at the end. All the others have had the original ATN/Seven logos as first broadcast. I wonder why just one had been re-badged?

[beau_t]

Mentioned that before it aired Ryan

One thing I have been wondering though for those with a good memory, in the previous episode (don't have a copy of that one) did we see a glimpse of Bobby (her handprint I think) just before the ad break, or is my memory playing tricks on me.....?

No your mind is not playing tricks. I vividly remember this was about half way through the episode. Michael had just tried to visit to see how Ailsa was doing, but she flipped out and wouldn't answer the door, running through to the kitchen. Shortly afterwards, not sure if it was the same scene or not, she heard the whisper of "Ailsa" coming from the fridge where she saw a ghostly handprint appear on the fridge door.

This explains why she starts going towards the fridge when she hears "Ailsa" later on (otherwise it appears a bit random).

[Dan F]

Ah excellent - 17 years(!!) ago now so couldn't be sure, yet funnily there are other scenes which are vivid as day and I can remember word for word...

Do love the 'horror style strings' underscore kicking in as she steps out the fridge, I remember the same piece being used when Shannon found Mud's body in the bush (the ITV cuts were obvious in that one without even having seen the proper version)

[Skylover]

Just watched Shane and Angels's wedding ep. 1995 must be the first year I recognise the characters from my childhood, namely Selina, Shannon etc but for some reason Donna sticks out in my mind. I've accepted Jack looks like my ex and have put him as my avatar. Oh dear.

[Red Ranger 1]

Watched the Simon Baker episode online at lunchtime.Although the constant "Pal, there is no way you can keep this up" looks from Luke were amusing, again I was less interested in the celebrity guest star (curiously credited as Simon Baker Denny)and more in the Shane/Angel/Dylan stuff.For a moment, I thought it was the episode with the "You'll fall out of bed" scene.Guess that must have been the previous one.Or the one before that.

Ah, Shane and Angel's wedding.It can be hard to make a wedding interesting since it's basically a lot of people being happy and they usually have to stick in some drama to liven it up.Angel walking down the aisle isn't as absurd as it's often implied to be:She doesn't get out of the wheelchair and start dancing around, Don's having to hold her upright and she needs to sit again straight afterwards.Nice that they brought Damian and Sarah back, shame they never explained what happened to Nick and Frankie, both of whom had promised to be there.Selina giving Damian "Please impregnate me" looks.I'd comment on how big Damian's hair was at this point but compared to how he looked a few months later it's positively sensible.Shame the later producers ignored Sarah's law student boyfriend and announced she married Tug because they dated for a few months in 1993:I guess there is time for her to break up with her uni boyfriend and reunite with her ex but it's like suddenly announcing Curtis and Shannon got married.Nice touch that Michael and Pippa were too worried about Jack being hurt to bother scolding him but I was soon going "Sally, it's Jack.He's an idiot.Don't listen to him."You could tell that the insurance assessor knew he wasn't getting the full story.So, we finally get an episode without Alf and it's... Shane and Angel's wedding?!Was he away at the time or something?

Noticed the alternate Shane/Angel caption in the credits, I've never been entirely sure whether it's an outtake they liked the look of or a scripted gag.(There seems to be a moment where Melissa drops out of character before recovering.)Thank you, Dan, for convincing me I'm not losing my marbles, I was sure there was less of Bobby in the ITV version and thinking about it, we didn't find out about Jack's guitar being burned until he came into the house with it.One reason why I'd really love 7Two or Channel 5 to show all of the '90s because we missed out on so much.I still think that storyline was a missed opportunity:When I read the spoiler "Bobby's ghost turns up and helps Ailsa over her depression" at the time, it sounded great but it feels like they chickened out and stuck in weird camera angles and Bobby switching between acting normally and a cackling demon so they could write it all off as a hallucination from some out of date drugs.In later years, they'd probably just have a ghost turn up and sit down for a cup of tea.Ah, Sally and Gus, the beginning of a long tradition of her dating total losers that continued, on and off, right up to her meeting Flynn.Travis seems oddly laddish in this episode, not the reassuring big brother figure I remember him as.Did he mellow later?One odd thing about this run is the complete lack of school scenes:When Jack and Sally get togged up in SBH uniform near the end of the episode, it's the first time we've seen it.Weird and slightly disappointing, I was looking forward to seeing successive age groups wearing the same clothes.

[Ryan]

The thing that I always forget is that Sarah made an appearance in Episode 4000. In an episode full of pointless cameos, hers was the most pointless of all.

RR, one thing that I had noticed was that for a few years there one of episodes appeared to be right towards the beginning of the season and featured Summer Bay House decked in Christmas decorations.

Trivia question here: Donna and Travis were apparently in the same year at Summer Bay High, but which other character who made the opening credits was in the same Year 12 class as them?

[James Martin]

Si-Co... let's talk pres for a bit (zip me up!)

Yeah, a number of the "online-only" episodes appear to have had the endcap rebadged, but it's the very early 00s Seven logo, not the sung #Se-ven!# one still used today, but introduced at the time of Seven's "lucky number seven" idents down under in 2003.

It seems to be the ones credited to ATN, rather than Seven, which would make sense; I know Freemantle stick a modern ident on the end of Grundy Television productions from the 80s, but re-badging 20+ year old content with a 10+ year old ident rather than the present one seems a bit odd, especially as the Seven Two episodes seem to have gone out as broadcast in Australia.

End credits were definitely a timing thing but I see no reason to edit the episode's content. Episodes should have run to about 21 minutes each without the end credits, but some episodes weighed in at near-enough 21min, some weighed in at just 17min because so much was cut. There were two excellent websites back in the day during the relative infancy of the web, one with RealVideo clips of cut scenes from Seven and RTE transmissions, and another by someone who obviously got tapes sent from Oz, with episode durations and lists of what precisely was cut, and what UK viewers could expect to lose in coming weeks. Certainly the second one is no longer online, although fragments do exist on the Wayback machine.

I didn't realise the episodes ended with the Home & Away logo on-screen over the freeze frame - it all makes sense why the picture was held for so long now! When I went to Australia in 1998 I watched a couple of episodes over there (during the first pitches for Bonza Burger, I remember - didn't The Bayside Diner get a short-lived makeover to compete with it, before it got torched and they moved to The Beachside Diner?) and they definitely had a break before the end credits. Having only ever seen the show with one commercial break in it, I found it rather annoying how many breaks were in a half-hour programme!