Does the show need an injection of life, if so, then what?

[adam436]

7 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Travis was said to have gone to SBH with Donna, so he likely knew Alison Patterson, Judith Staples, Bobby, Carly, Roo and some others, as Travis and Donna were about their age. 

It's been a while I watched those episodes, but weren't Travis and Donna in the same year as Steven? I remember them living together pretty quickly though, so maybe that's why I think that though. I guess he still would have known of all the characters you mentioned though, if he'd grown up in Summer Bay. 

Alison Patterson is an interesting one too, as they linked her to Vinnie later on. I feel like that was a retrospective thing though, since she would have been remembered from the Early Years repeats, and they coincidently had the same surname. Patterson seemed to be a popular name, as Sally's first teacher was Mrs Patterson, and as far as I know, was unrelated as well, just as Vinnie was until much later. 

Edited July 21 by adam436

[Revealed]

Did Natalie and Joel actually foster anyone?

I went through a period of not watching the show after the Nash family were put on the opening titles. When I stopped watching they had their own house and Joel was the PE teacher at school. When I started again they'd moved into the caravan park with Travis and Rebecca and whoever else was there at the time, Joel had become a policeman and Natalie had become a different person. 

[adam436]

29 minutes ago, Revealed said:

Did Natalie and Joel actually foster anyone?

Peta Janossi. Natalie and Joel didn't really stay long enough to take in any others.

Justine also kept living with Joel and Natalie after Travis and Rebecca left too, but she may have been 18 by then and/or nothing was ever formalised.

[Revealed]

Oh yes of course. Peta was another short lived character and the actress has since completely disappeared off the face of the earth.

There were a lot of short lived characters from this era and many were at least distinctive. My main criticism of recent years is too many characters stay too long. I cannot think of a single character from the last 10 years who became iconic enough to warrant staying more than 3 years. 

[adam436]

16 hours ago, Revealed said:

Oh yes of course. Peta was another short lived character and the actress has since completely disappeared off the face of the earth.

There were a lot of short lived characters from this era and many were at least distinctive. 

Peta is probably only really remembered for her romance with Edward. From what I remember, she didn't really have much time to develop as a character or come into her own really. The characters in the late nineties/2000 era were certainly hit and miss. Characters like Edward, Gypsy and Will are probably the most iconic characters introduced during that era, but then there were others like Harry Reynolds and James Fraser who were pretty forgettable, and Judith and Peta, who are really only remembered because of their role in the Edward story arc. 

It's a shame really, as some of the characters could have become long-term favourites. Edward unfortunately had a limited shelf-life due to his condition, but I feel we could have seen that arc continue over a few years. Joel and Natalie had long-term potential too given half a chance. Joel could have become a stalwart both as the "father of Summer Bay House" and as the dependable local cop (think Tom Croydon or Frank Gilroy has he got older!). Natalie 2.0 didn't really seem that naturally maternal though, in the same way that Pippa, the original Natalie and future Summer Bay House mums Shelley and Beth were, so that could have perhaps been a contributing factor to them not staying. 

As Ailsa's daughter, it's a shame Shauna didn't stay longer either, as it would have been nice to have that link to an OG character for a little longer. But from what I remember (having not seen 2001 episodes since they aired), she didn't really have to do with much to do with Alf anyway after Ailsa died. 

 

  

16 hours ago, Revealed said:

I cannot think of a single character from the last 10 years who became iconic enough to warrant staying more than 3 years. 

There's definitely been a few, I think Dean and Ziggy spring to mind in the wider fan base, but certainly not many I would consider iconic. There's been others I quite like - Willow, Brody, Nikau, Mali, Ben and Maggie, Ryder - but they were either let down by the writers by some of their storylines (or lack thereof in some cases), or they were likable enough but didn't achieve iconic status.

The cast since 2020 or so has just been a revolving door of cookie cutter twentysomethings in my opinion. It's a shame really, as the show really needs to starts to considering its succession plan: Irene is gone, Alf won't be around forever and once Alf goes, based on Georgie's comments in interviews, I can see Roo either leaving with Alf or definitely within months of him going. That would leave us with Leah and Justin, who don't seem to be overly popular these days based on social media comments, and John and Marilyn. Characters like Mackenzie, Tane and Cash are certainly clocking up the years, but they aren't very interesting characters that it's hard to see the long-term potential in them. 

[Red Ranger 1]

7 hours ago, adam436 said:

Natalie 2.0 didn't really seem that naturally maternal though, in the same way that Pippa, the original Natalie and future Summer Bay House mums Shelley and Beth were, so that could have perhaps been a contributing factor to them not staying. 

Really? I always thought the exact opposite, that the second Natalie (who was the one that actually lived at the caravan park) felt like a natural earth mother character in a way that the tougher first Natalie never really did.

[Revealed]

Peta also had her relationship with Will and her pretend grandmother. She's a memorable character to me. Also thought Harry was memorable but agree James and Judith weren't. I thought both Natalie's were quite similar, certainly more so than the other characters where the actor/actress changed.

Completely disagree about Dean and Ziggy. They certainly overstayed their welcome and Dean is the most unconvincing bad boy I've ever known. Ziggy was more masculine than he was.

Ryder also overstayed his welcome, liked the spin of Big Alf having a namby pamby grandson but he annoyed me most of the time. Nikau also annoyed me. I liked Ben and Maggie though I've already talked previously about how they wasted Maggie and I think when they left it was the right time.

Not a fan of the Morgan family overall, particularly Justin who can't act. I liked Leah much more when she started. 

In terms of newer characters I think the Langham family have been a breath of fresh air though it seems like they're softening David up now which I don't like. That said Fisher was a good long term character despite him being softened up after the first year or so.

[adam436]

13 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Really? I always thought the exact opposite, that the second Natalie (who was the one that actually lived at the caravan park) felt like a natural earth mother character in a way that the tougher first Natalie never really did.

I was 10 when the Nash family were on the show, so maybe I would have a different opinion now if I rewatcehd as an adult. 

 

3 hours ago, Revealed said:

Also thought Harry was memorable but agree James and Judith weren't. I thought both Natalie's were quite similar, certainly more so than the other characters where the actor/actress changed.

Harry's mother was meant to be Donald's happily-ever-after ending and they eventually married and divorced  off-screen. He was probably the first character to be involved in a witness protection story though, and he also dated Shauna, but I don't think they had much/any chemistry. I just found him another generic twenty-something really, which is probably why he literally got subbed in with the equally generic Jude Lawson, bu both are probably still memorable than many of the current ones. 

[James Martin]

It's always been a case of The O.Gs plus a revolving cast which turns over every three years but as others say, succession planning is vital now. Ray will surely be looking to retire soon - how do you manage that, because you've either got to have Alf die or find a very good reason for him to relocate from the Bay permanently.

There's also no real central family either now, analogous to the Fletcher/Nashes or Sutherlands and I'm not sure the Langhams are there to fill that gap, although there's certainly some interesting character work going on there.

I'd love the idea of fostering to be picked back up (I was hoping Eden & Cash might do that!) but I can't see it happening.

[adam436]

24 minutes ago, James Martin said:

It's always been a case of The O.Gs plus a revolving cast which turns over every three years but as others say, succession planning is vital now. 

Part of that succession plan now only involves cultivating long-term characters, but also replacing Alf as both the "father/guardian of Summer Bay" and the icon that is rolled out for the promos, publicity etc (if that makes sense). I always saw Irene filling that role before Lynne McGranger quit. John Palmer was not around for the "Early Years", Roo is an original character, has the Stewart name and is played by a mainstay of Australian television, but I can't see her sticking around too long after Alf. That leaves Leah and Marilyn - Ada Nicodemou is certainly a familar face to many non and lapsed viewers and is the currently the longest continuous appearing character after Alf, but I don't think Leah is that likeable anymore. Marilyn was around for the peak 80s and 90s years, and fondly remembered from those years, but she's still nowhere near as synonymous with Home and Away as Alf is, and to a lesser extent Irene was. Part of the succession planning should involve a transition period where Alf hands the baton to whomever the producers decide will replace Alf in that role. 

Home and Away's problem seems to becoming that they have quite a few long-running characters, but other than Alf and Marilyn, I wouldn't call any of them iconic. Roo is as an original character, but it's a different acress 

Hollyoaks feel like it's in a very different position - if Nick Pickard, the show's remaining original cast member quit tomorrow, there would be enough characters to replace him as the "face of Hollyoaks" with Mercedes, Ste, Warren, Darren and Nancy, and now Cindy again. I can't really speak for any of the other UK soaps and what their succession plan might look like as I don't watch them though. 

  

16 minutes ago, James Martin said:

Ray will surely be looking to retire soon - how do you manage that, because you've either got to have Alf die or find a very good reason for him to relocate from the Bay permanently.

There's always moving to be closer to Martha, but given he's not made the move in 6+ years, it seems unlikely there would be a very good reason for him to relocate now. He could always move away to be with Duncan for whatever reason, but likewise, Duncan doesn't even get a mention these days. The only way that I think viewers would accept Alf exiting is through death I think

 

 

19 minutes ago, James Martin said:

There's also no real central family either now, analogous to the Fletcher/Nashes or Sutherlands and I'm not sure the Langhams are there to fill that gap, although there's certainly some interesting character work going on there.

The Langhams don't cut it for me. You could argue we've had central sibling families in the past - the Braxtons, the Morgans and perhaps now to an extent the Fowlers, but yes, nothing of the mum, dad and teenage kids. The last time we had anything close to that really was with the Astonis, though Ziggy was older and Coco left pretty quickly, but before that we were probably looking back to the Hunters, Holdens and Sutherlands which is 20 or more years ago now. I thought the show might have gone down the route of pairing off with David with Roo, since that would have put Alf as the patriarch of a new family with two "granddaughters" and son-in-law and filled up Summer Bay House once more, but that ship has sailed now. 

 

 

18 minutes ago, James Martin said:

I'd love the idea of fostering to be picked back up (I was hoping Eden & Cash might do that!) but I can't see it happening.

There's so many characters to fill that role - Levi and Mac with their struggles, Cash and Eden have discussed it, plus characters like Leah, John, Marilyn and Roo have all had experience with fostering. Even David, as the local cop, is an avenue for taking in wayward teens etc., which we saw when he got involved in some of Roo's fostering storylines.