Classic Episodes on 5★

[JimRRR]

I can't wait to see what episodes get shown, obviously we know there will be the Pilot - but Shane & Angel's Wedding would be high on my list and episode 2000 - I think they said that Marilyn & Irene's arrivals (and returns?) will be on there, possibly Leah. Irene's dinner party is another classic.

In a way though I'm hoping the 2000 onwards stuff doesn't repeat what we've seen in previous years, as much as I love Sally & Kieran's Wedding etc...

Sally's departure would be high on my list too.

I just started the "Home and Away" retrospective on TV5 about 4 days ago.

For me, it is great because I have no back story to any of the characters from 1988 through 2011.

I started watching in Jan. 2012.

So far, I've seen about 14 episodes including the very first one from 1988

The character of Bobby is my favorite. I also saw the episode where she died....Great actress.

[JimRRR]

I can't wait to see what episodes get shown, obviously we know there will be the Pilot - but Shane & Angel's Wedding would be high on my list and episode 2000 - I think they said that Marilyn & Irene's arrivals (and returns?) will be on there, possibly Leah. Irene's dinner party is another classic.

In a way though I'm hoping the 2000 onwards stuff doesn't repeat what we've seen in previous years, as much as I love Sally & Kieran's Wedding etc...

Sally's departure would be high on my list too.

I just started the "Home and Away" retrospective on TV5 about 4 days ago.

For me, it is great because I have no back story to any of the characters from 1988 through 2011.

I started watching in Jan. 2012.

So far, I've seen about 14 episodes including the very first one from 1988

The character of Bobby is my favorite. I also saw the episode where she died....Great actress.

By the way, in the old episodes I saw, lots of characters....especially the ones under 25....are getting killed off.....What's up with that?

[-Andrew-]

By the way, I really do like the 1999 opening titles. I wasn't really a fan of the 1996-98 'surreal' credits, but by late 1998-99 they seem to have got the balance right - retaining the style but less 'silly', and bright, sunny and cheerful to boot!

I see the 96-98 versions as a kind of 'musical genre' pastiche, with the bright colours/ props, filmic cinematography, and general bizarre occurences going on around an un-fazed cast (not to mention the dancers and neon logo). So the daftness has never bothered me. I like how they have random Summer Bay residents joining in, in almost every shot, it just adds to the community feel.

1999 strips away alot of the colour, props and extras so them seem more 'dream-like' than musical. They're still nice, but I think alot of the shots are mismatched in this year. In one set it cuts from bright orange (Hayley) to bright blue (Alf/ Ailsa), soft/ dark (Irene) to bright green + random frame effect (Duncan). It just doesn't gel as well as the earlier versions, imo. That said, some of the individual shots stand as the best, Natalie and Irene in particular.... though I still stand that the Sally/ Selina/ sunglasses guy shot, with the boat catching a wave in the background (1996) is THE BEST EVER.

I didn't catch the 1998 episodes to compare, but were the 1999 credits filmed at a higher framerate than the other sets? Sally, Sam and Irene's shots had a jarring 'fast-motion' look, on TV.

[alexx]

I'd say the 1996-1997 credits were all shot in 24 frames per second (the film frame rate) OR all output in slow motion. Whereas the 1999 credits look like they are in standard 'video tape' mode. To me it looks like they got a company in to do the first set and the ones in 1997, but the 1998/1999 ones look 'in-house' and then they've tried to emulate what the original company did.

[Red Ranger 1]

I guess killing Byron is one of those decisions that was right at the time but a shame in retrospect, much like killing Bobby in 1993:With Marilyn going and Donald staying, the only real alternatives were Marilyn walking out on her son(again)or taking Don's child away from him.Guess no-one could have predicted that 10+ years down the track she'd be back and her having a son would give the character another dimension.

I think some people forget Chloe and the Smiths crossed over:I remember when she came back in 2005, there was a letter to Inside Soap asking how she and Hayley could know each other.Typically, instead of going "Er, because they used to live together", the letters editor started waffling about the Bay residents visiting Chloe offscreen.(Which admittedly, given Olivia's familiarity with the likes of Irene and Sally, does seem to be the case.)

Anyway, just caught the 1999 online episode.Suddenly realised I'd never seen it before, I think I was travelling to Western-Super-Mare that day.Gypsy's red hair makes its appearance and possibly signals the point I really went off her:Even though I liked her and Jesse together, her petulance and tantrums here were more annoying than endearing.(Guess this is leading up to her and Tom's accidental date.)Sally and Vinnie doubleteaming Adam is slightly bizarre but quite fun.Ditto Alf and Don getting all competitive.The actual crash just made me go "What are you doing, you stupid woman?"I thought the cassette was going to block the pedals or something but no, Ailsa decides to lean down and try and get it while driving.Sometimes I wonder how she stayed alive as long as she did...

[James Martin]

What's with the removed recap?

[James Martin]

Kane's oncologist and later Rachel's boss in the first episode there.

[cadyctslover]

What's with the removed recap?

Yes some very strange editing of today's 2000 season episodes. No recap nor director credits at the end. The first episode with Gypsy's car accident is probably one of my earliest memories of H&A, apart from Marilyn giving birth to Byron in 1999, which funnily enough was shown yesterday! Anyway the first episode was quite well-paced and exciting, but the quality of the acting seems to have really taken a dive compared with the late 90's. As for the second episode, I didn't realise it was Ailsa's last until she mentioned Alf leaving the boxes in the hallway. When something as trivial as that is mentioned in passing in a soap opera, you know it's going to lead to something later!

[James Martin]

The odd thing is by now, C5 would surely be using their own stock - why would they be buying episodes they already have copies of?

[Red Ranger 1]

It didn't click at first but yeah, the missing recap, very strange.This was the point where they started putting it before the opening titles.I can understand Channel 7 might have given them a duff copy of the first one but why are they showing an edited version of an episode they already own?It made the beginning of the episode seem very abrupt.Incidentally, the online only 1999 episode actually has the closing credits intact, complete with website information, which is also a bit strange.

Even though we've seen those opening titles quite a bit in reruns, I haven't seen the first half of that season in twelve years, so it was a bit of a shock to realise "Wow, James was on that version?"Nice to know I did get the name of his girlfriend right, if not the spelling, and haven't gone crazy(some sources claim she was Julia).I remember the bit where she wins him over but I didn't realise it was to do with the Gypsy car crash.Ken restraining Will as he trashes his room is another of those scenes that stick in the mind.Stand-In Mitch:Man, he was wooden, Rebecca Cartwright had almost nothing to play against in what was apparently meant to be an emotional reunion scene.Remember being annoyed at Joel blaming Justine and Peta for everything at the time but he did realise it was misplaced eventually and, to her credit, Gypsy did take responsibility, which marked the end of her time as Joel's golden girl and, ironically, the start of me really liking her.

So, 2000 finale.Seen it a few times but interesting all the same.Sam taking the last few steps to redemption after his jerk stint a few months earlier:Not sure if his standing up to a guy who could break him in two on Sandy's behalf was brave or stupid but good on him all the same.Don being fine literally holding the baby was a sweet moment.I keep forgetting Harry ended up as Don's stepson(until they messed it up in 2007...), probably because June had such a longer presence on the show than him.I remember Dani's original frizzy hairstyle lasting a lot longer on the opening titles than in the show.Noah was pretty antisocial in the early days.Nice to see Hayley holding out an olive branch to Brodie, she'd given her a hard time beforehand(course, karma would bite her next time they were in a love triangle).Yikes, Leah looks young here.Nice Sally/Shauna girls talk and, yes, despite what I've said in the past, the Sally/Harry kiss was in that episode.And the ending.Whatever else you say about it, it packs an emotional punch, something of a throwback to those abrupt deaths of the early years.