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

[Light of the Bay]

According to Google AI, Ailsa was last mentioned on screen in 2003, jeez. I do vaguely remember an episode from 2004 where Duncan was on the beach and he was looking at a photo of his Mother. 

[adam436]

10 hours ago, Light of the Bay said:

If they do kill off Alf when the time comes that Ray does retire, I hope they bring Judy Nunn back in a similar way as she appeared in episode 3445 when Alf saw Summer Bay in the future without him. I haven’t watched the show in many years now, anyone know when Ailsa last got a mention?? 

 In the unlikely event that Alf left alive, I guess there is still scope for Judy Nunn to return. When Harold left Neighbours in 2015, he left with Madge's ghost. 

 

17 minutes ago, Light of the Bay said:

According to Google AI, Ailsa was last mentioned on screen in 2003, jeez. I do vaguely remember an episode from 2004 where Duncan was on the beach and he was looking at a photo of his Mother. 

She definitely got a mention during the episode 4000 reunion in 2005. Celia mentioned her in her speech, and later Pippa and Alf have a conversation about her. I stopped watching H&A for a long time not long after that, so I can't comment on anything later. 

I assume she's not allowed to be mentioned now. Ailsa has pretty much been written out of existence since Martha returned and Martha is portrayed as the only great love of Alf's life. The way that storyline was written still irks me. A simple reference to Alf confiding in Ailsa that Martha was still alive and both agreeing to keep the secret would have sufficied for me. Given Ailsa's past, she would have understood better than anyone the need to start over again with a new identity etc. 

 

Edited July 28 by adam436

[Light of the Bay]

37 minutes ago, adam436 said:

 In the unlikely event that Alf left alive, I guess there is still scope for Judy Nunn to return. When Harold left Neighbours in 2015, he left with Madge's ghost. 

 

She definitely got a mention during the episode 4000 reunion in 2005. Celia mentioned her in her speech, and later Pippa and Alf have a conversation about her. I stopped watching H&A for a long time not long after that, so I can't comment on anything later. 

I assume she's not allowed to be mentioned now. Ailsa has pretty much been written out of existence since Martha returned and Martha is portrayed as the only great love of Alf's life. The way that storyline was written still irks me. A simple reference to Alf confiding in Ailsa that Martha was still alive and both agreeing to keep the secret would have sufficied for me. Given Ailsa's past, she would have understood better than anyone the need to start over again with a new identity etc. 

 

Hi Adam, I hadn’t thought of that, it’s a nice thought that Judy could return after all these years for Alf moving on. 
 

I haven’t seen episode 4000 in a long time, nice to know that she got a mention then. I would think it’s unlikely that she was mentioned after that. I really wish TPTB would acknowledge pre-2011. I think this is the sticking point as to why classic episodes are not available to fans. 
 

I am somewhat familiar with the Martha storyline, it just doesn’t ring true at all. As you say, Ailsa would have understood. 

[Revealed]

I keep forgetting about Coleen which kind of speaks for itself.

With VJ yes there was the hearing issues and I'm sure there were others issue too, I remember him not being in the best of health. I know he didn't really turn 25 over night, it's the fact he went from being a fragile little kid to a big macho bloke.

Anyway Big Alf was always going to be the biggest miss once he leaves regardless of whether he was the last original standing or not so we don't know what the show will look like once he's gone. When a long term character has left in the past though it's not been a huge loss. I'm not missing Irene at all and have barely noticed she's gone. I thought Fisher would be a big loss and whilst the only principal anywhere near as good as Fisher was Barry Hyde the show did fine without him. 

 

[j.laur5]

Ailsa was mentioned in 2015 and Alf had photo of her it was drinking storyline if him being stress over remembering Vietnam war .

In fact I think Alf mentioned just few years ago Roo gave Ailsa hell when he met  Ailsa .

[James Martin]

The show survived without Sally too.  I think Bevan Lee leaving as showrunner was of a bigger consequence than Kate's exit, in all honesty.  I think Bevan had recognised the show had changed out of all recognition in the 3 or so years since he last oversaw it, but he was able to interlace that new dramatic style with an "Early Years" aesthetic.  You had the return of Roger Oakley as a ghost, you had two returns of Pippa, you had Floss, Stephen and Carly back, you had all those nods and winks to the 80s and early 90s but alongside that you still had Johnny stabbing Sally, Cassie & Mac, Aden's complicated family relationship and the very dark storyline of Bartlett making a play for Kirsty once Kane left the scene.  Oh and Ric dragged into fight club.  It was a really happy medium.

The show has survived without Irene better than I expected.  I didn't really watch for some time and came back in specifically for Lynne's exit - in all fairness I'm still watching the show a year on when its UK profile has been completely tanked by ghettoising it onto an obscure channel.  I quite like the Langhams, Theo's death was done really well, the train crash looked good and whilst I question the speed of Sonny's recovery I like the fact six months on we're still dealing with that; I didn't expect the show to go full Chris Tate to begin with but he's also not completely had a miracle cure.  I think they could have gone harder on the 'Roid Rage storyline; I'd have gone as far as have him beat Dana up because the grim reality is that is what happens.

I think for that to play out publicly and watch how someone comes back from that would be interesting, although inevitably it would involve splitting the pair up.

[adam436]

I guess with Irene we had an extended period without her around, so we kind of got used to her not being around. Perhaps it would have hit harder if Lynne hadn't have had a long hiatus beforehand.

I guess it's a good thing in a way that many of these characters haven't been missed - it just proves that one character isn't and shouldn't be bigger than the show itself. The only Australian TV show where this has been the case was Claire on McLeod's Daughters. We lost one of the "daughters" and the sister dynamic with Tess, so I felt the character suffered as a result of losing that relationship. Every other Australian soap/show I've watched either adapted or transitioned to losing a major/central character without too much of a hit to the show itself.

[Red Ranger 1]

9 hours ago, Light of the Bay said:

According to Google AI, Ailsa was last mentioned on screen in 2003, jeez

Well, that's nonsense, she was mentioned in 2018 during the Martha's return storyline, possibly more than once. There did seem to be a distinct lack of mentions of her after that but I'm sure we must have had photos or clips of her during Irene's exit last year even if she didn't get mentioned directly. (I'm open to anyone proving me one but hopefully by the actual episodes, not AI!)

 

7 hours ago, Revealed said:

With VJ yes there was the hearing issues and I'm sure there were others issue too, I remember him not being in the best of health. I know he didn't really turn 25 over night, it's the fact he went from being a fragile little kid to a big macho bloke.

No, that didn't happen either. The previous VJ had been a perfectly normal healthy boy, so had the one before that. He wasn't "fragile" at all.

[Revealed]

You're taking a throwaway comment about the recast of VJ far too seriously.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm querying why you said VJ had health issues before the recast. Am I to assume that you don't know either?