Classic Episodes on 5★

[James Martin]

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.

I remember that, she didn't even speak. I can only think it was done because Neighbours had pulled a similar stunt for their 20th a few months previously and, at the time, fans felt Home & Away should do the same thing. A good idea at the time, I guess.

[Skylover]

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.

I've been wondering about this character. For a character who obviously didn't make much of an impact (I assume, as I've never heard of her during my Home and Away fandom) I've been surprised to see her return not only for Shane and Angel's wedding, but also for the 4000th episode (which I actually watched yesterday). Why was her cameo pointless? I don't know much about her relationships or anything. Which other cameos did you feel were pointless? I thought the 4000th episode was fantastic! (except the crash at the end of course lol).

some weighed in at just 17min because so much was cut.

I honestly had no idea so much was cut! I think it's a must that 7Two at least reaches Sally and Kieran's wedding but in reality is that likely? I mean, most repeat runs finish after 3 years on the air or less apart from the Neighbours repeat on UK Gold but they played two episodes a day for that. In the digital age though, you'd think there'd be more room to keep it on the air. And perhaps 7 are keen to keep the repeats going as it also acts as good promotion for the current show. I certainly feel more passionate about the show past and present with the repeats on. Would be great to have access to all episodes especially without the cutting.

Neighbours had pulled a similar stunt for their 20th a few months previously and, at the time, fans felt Home & Away should do the same thing.

I think this is more coinicidence than anything to be honest. Apparently the 4000th and Neighbours' 20th aired the same month so there was no time for any copying to have taken place.

[Red Ranger 1]

I've heard that Sarah did have a bit of dialogue in Episode 4000 that got cut.(Someone around here's got the script.)I always thought that whole Shane/Angel/Damian/Sarah/Tug team group was fairly iconic but maybe I'm just showing my age.Sarah and Tug kind of seemed to go down in history as the secondary couple to Shane and Angel, ironic since they were never actually together at the same time.ITV's cuts got more and more blatant as time went on, I always remember one episode from the end of the storyline with Casey's mother which was completely nonsensical as a result of the cuts.

By the way, reappearing actors:Did anyone notice that the minister at Bobby's funeral was Andrew Foley's dad?(No, me neither.But IMDb says so.)

[James Martin]

I think you're right. I'm thinking of the UK airings. Home & Away's 4000th went out the day after 7/7 in Australia. However, in the UK, Neighbours was the same day as the Home & Away stalker reveal, and then Home & Away was the day before Christmas Eve, awkwardly with the fallout from Chloe playing out over that no-man's-land week between Christmas and New Year.

Infact Home & Away may well have been first, because that Neighbours ep went out in October over here and I can't think the UK have been that far behind on Neighbours for several years - the BBC only ever took it off for Christmas and Wimbledon.

[Dan F]

I've heard that Sarah did have a bit of dialogue in Episode 4000 that got cut.(Someone around here's got the script.)

*raises hand*

She talked to Alf about how she, Tug and their kids went to stay with Angel & Simon for a month in America - and how the time flies, what with Dylan being a senior in High School and Shane starting her first year.

We also missed out on Mitch talking about his grandmother's passing and his new fiancée; a speech from Blake amongst the others (representing the foster kids of Alf) and a small mention of Haydn between Sophie and Blake

But the one I'm disappointed about losing is a conversation between Donald and Barbara where she wants to explain and apologise about their last encounter (when she'd tried to kill him during her head transplant in 1996), but Don wouldn't let her as he understood that she was ill at the time. She then went on to inform him that Rebecca and Travis were expecting another child.

Edit: Knew I'd mentioned it a few times before - script for Sarah part here, and part of the between Barbara and Don here - don't bump those topics though

[Si-Co]

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.

I assume they were rebadged for international distribution, possibly to promote Seven as a producer? 'Australian Television Network' (or ATN) is the Channel Seven owned and operated TV station in Sydney (normally just referred to on air as Seven or Seven Sydney). The network as a whole was never known as the Australian Television Network, and in particular outside Australia this name would not be familiar to viewers or TV networks.

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!

Yes, three ad-breaks in a half-hour show (including the pre-credits break). I think it was around 2000 that the third break was shifted to within the show itself, although the 'next time' promo still ran before the end credits - until this was incorporated into the end-credits themselves in 2004.

I have to say that, in fairness to ITV, they did a much better job of disguising the original break points than Five have done. A caption appeared at each break point but without a freeze frame, so effectively as the action continued. ITV cross-faded the action and music quite well, whereas it's pretty obvious on Five they're cutting away early to fade to black.

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.

It's funny you should say that about Bobby and Ailsa having a cup of tea. One of the promotional pictures released to the press back in 1995 showed Bobby and Ailsa sitting at the kitchen table, and it looked like they were doing just that! Of course, there was no such scene in the programme.

Seeing the episode in full, it's quite obvious the viewer is meant to believe Bobby is an hallucination, and not a 'ghost', however the cut version left me with more of an open mind.

[c120701]

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?

Steven.

[Red Ranger 1]

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?

Rob?

But the one I'm disappointed about losing is a conversation between Donald and Barbara where she wants to explain and apologise about their last encounter (when she'd tried to kill him during her head transplant in 1996), but Don wouldn't let her as he understood that she was ill at the time. She then went on to inform him that Rebecca and Travis were expecting another child.

Yeah, it always felt to me that that was the bit of unfinished business that most needed addressing;we got Duncan apologising to him for what happened with Seb but there was a distinct lack of a "Sorry I tried to kill you that time" from Barbara.Mind you, I'm not sure if a brief "That was a silly storyline, let's never mention it again" handwave would have worked either, although I'm not sure what else they could do.

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.

It's funny you should say that about Bobby and Ailsa having a cup of tea. One of the promotional pictures released to the press back in 1995 showed Bobby and Ailsa sitting at the kitchen table, and it looked like they were doing just that! Of course, there was no such scene in the programme.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of.It always disappointed me that the actual episode was a lot more mundane than that publicity photo suggested.

[alexx]

I have to say that, in fairness to ITV, they did a much better job of disguising the original break points than Five have done. A caption appeared at each break point but without a freeze frame, so effectively as the action continued. ITV cross-faded the action and music quite well, whereas it's pretty obvious on Five they're cutting away early to fade to black.

I read on a Neighbours site that both Neighbours and H&A's logo (before the Aus break) was either painted out, or covered with a stock shot of one of the houses for the UK audience (not sure if it was done in the UK or over here). I've also seen Living TV episodes of Home and Away that are uncut and the scenes prior the ad breaks are taken all the way until the underscoring stops, so they obviously painted the logo again. Maybe it was too much of a hassle for Five, so they decided to just black out. I also read that the freeze frames were done by ITV one frame before the logo zoomed onto the screen so that it was missed out.

The logo zooming onto the screen was stopped after the 1996 credit revamp as far as I can remember.

[Ryan]

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?

Rob?

Carly. I have Donna's first episode on a DVD somewhere, one which I've misplaced and Donna mentions that it's 5 years since her and Travis did their HSC, right towards the end of 1994. That would make it 1989. Carly started, but did not finish.