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

[Dan F]

2 hours ago, cymbaline said:

At this point, it's impossible to know if that audio was in the original broadcast or added by a fan.

That was part of the original broadcast .

(a sidenote about the quality, that was a clip taken from our site which was uploaded over 20yrs ago - at a time when many were still on dial-up, and downloads had to be heavily compressed to be manageable)

[James Martin]

As Dan says, it's fully original. There was a fan made redux of Sally's exit that used the same audio, however.

I'm surprised that wasn't set up by Seven to be the last ITV episode, given how close to the switch it happened.  In the way Seven plots UK Christmas finales now.

 

On 30/07/2026 at 09:39, Light of the Bay said:

James, or anyone - do you think Bevan Lee would ever have another shot as showrunner? 2008 was a good year overall, there was a nice balance between the past and looking towards the future. 

Good question!  He's got to be getting on a bit now.  I don't think he was exactly a rookie when he came on board at the birth of the show in 1987 (where he completely rewrote the pilot episode and stayed on for a while as showrunner.)

I think Dan Bennett could come back, though. He wasn't everyone's cup of tea but he understood what had come before when driving it forward.  I was a bit alienated by the attempt to copy Lost in 2006 but the call to bring Amy Mizzi back as a semi-regular righted the historic wrong to axe Kit first time round and she became a standout character.  His plan for Fisher should never have been vetoed.  I also think he'd have pushed harder for an offscreen death/onscreen funeral for Morag after Cornelia Frances passed away.  Both of those robbed us of some excellent television and I felt then, as I do now, that the show owed Cornie the dignity of an in-canon tribute to an Australian TV legend.

I don't see 2000 as the BC/AD point.  That is definitely the end of 2004 and the start of 2005 in my eyes.  2004's season finale is somewhere you could have comfortably ended the show.  2005's opener, by the same token, really felt like the start of a new series.

[Revealed]

I'd say by the point of Bobby's death the new era was very much in full swing. The teen group of Shane, Angel, Tug, Sarah and Damien had all arrived and become a big focus of the show. Once they'd got older/moved on the new teen group were very much ready to step into their shoes. I recall Jack becoming the nemesis of Shane once he started to get along with Tug for example.

On the Sally non-wedding moment I take your point. I stopped watching when it stopped on ITV and then when I started again maybe a year or so into the Channel 5 era there seemed to be a lot of characters I didn't know such as the Sutherlands. Watching the reruns though it seemed more of a gradual transition.

On the point about 2005 being the start of a new era, in the UK the show just ran continuously so I didn't know what was the season finale/start of new season. However in 2005 I did notice it being the start of a new season for some reason. The thing that stands out most in my memory was Sally going from dressing conservatively to suddenly wearing short shorts, a very welcome change. I can't remember what else changed though, the Sutherlands gradually left and the Holdens arrived but the former continued into 2005 and the latter didn't happen until later on in the year. 

[adam436]

11 hours ago, Revealed said:

On the point about 2005 being the start of a new era, in the UK the show just ran continuously so I didn't know what was the season finale/start of new season. However in 2005 I did notice it being the start of a new season for some reason. The thing that stands out most in my memory was Sally going from dressing conservatively to suddenly wearing short shorts, a very welcome change. I can't remember what else changed though, the Sutherlands gradually left and the Holdens arrived but the former continued into 2005 and the latter didn't happen until later on in the year. 

Sally moving into Summer Bay House was the biggest onscreen change, but I think the darker tone was probably the biggest shift in the writing. 

Kirsty was the only Sutherland left by 2005, and she left early in the year. I'd say many of the exits that influenced the 2005 season happened in late 2004 - like Noah, Rhys, Max, Dani. They kept coming in 2005 though with Kirsty and Kane, Jesse and Hayley (with a short-lived recast), who had become staples of the previous era. 

[James Martin]

I discussed this all with a friend recently who is also big on H&A.  He suggested to have Cash & Eden move into the big house when they foster, which I think is an amazing idea and one I think the audience would accept.

[adam436]

7 hours ago, James Martin said:

He suggested to have Cash & Eden move into the big house when they foster, which I think is an amazing idea and one I think the audience would accept.

Do you mean Summer Bay House? It wouldn't seem realistic (to me, anyway!) unless Alf, Marilyn and Roo moved out. Having said that, the producers did find a way to move Zac and Leah in there when their family expanded, but at least Leah had a close relationship with Alf. 

I always think it was a missed opportunity not pairing Leah off with Miles and Zac earlier and having her move into Summer Bay House sooner, since both stuck around for 4 years and it was clear that Ada was in it for the long haul by that point. I don't know how long Miles and Leah were together since I wasn't really watching 2005-early 2013, but I know we had Leah/Roman, Leah/Elijah and Miles/Kirsty before they got together. And with Zac, we had less than 18 months of them as a married couple, so their family unit of Oscar, Evie, Matt, VJ and Hunter didn't really last that long. Ada had time off during her second pregnancy during that relationship though.

[Jamie!]

15 hours ago, James Martin said:

I discussed this all with a friend recently who is also big on H&A.  He suggested to have Cash & Eden move into the big house when they foster, which I think is an amazing idea and one I think the audience would accept.

I disagree with that. To me, Summer Bay House should always have links to the Early Years characters, and Cash and Eden have zero links to them. The fostering itself would be a link to the Early Years, but we don't even know for sure whether they are still going ahead with it or not.

[adam436]

4 hours ago, Jamie! said:

I disagree with that. To me, Summer Bay House should always have links to the Early Years characters,

Can I ask how you feel about the Nash and Sutherland eras then? I kind of agree with you, but I also loved the Nash era of the show. 

You could argue Rebecca has links to the Early Years since she is the daughter and half-sister of original characters and appeared briefly in 1989 as a different actress. I can't remember what point Sam moved from Summer Bay House to Donald and Marilyn's house, but he obviously had links to Bobby as well. I thoroughly enjoyed that period at the time (I was about 10 and haven't really seen it since), even though in hindsight it feels like bridging/transition period between Pippa and the Sutherland eras. The Sutherland era was a whole different scenario though, since there were a fresh unconnected family and really dragged H&A into a new era, as opposed to the Nash years, which kind of just felt like an extension of the Pippa years since many of the foster kids stayed behind. 

Aside from those periods, we've always had either Sally or Alf living there, which is pretty amazing considering the age of the show. 

I kind of agree with you that it should have links to the early years, but at the same time, it feels like a waste having the once-bustling heart of the show occupied by just 3 characters - and that's when they are all there!

A simple solution would be to bring in a new family with links to the past or giving Marilyn or Roo an "instant" family - they tried when Roo married Harvey, but Marcus Graham eventually moved on, and then again when Leah and Zac moved in there in 2015, but they wasted so much time with them that we didn't get long with the family as a unit, since Oscar died and Matt and Evie moved out.   

I'd like to see Duncan Stewart return with his son Bryce (who'd be 15-16 by now?), a new wife and a couple of step kids from a new marriage. That would give Alf a big family to play patriarch to as well. Even Ric has been away for 18 years now, so he could easily have kids who are in their teens, and there has definitely been calls for Jodi Gordon to return as Martha in recent years. 

 

4 hours ago, Jamie! said:

The fostering itself would be a link to the Early Years, but we don't even know for sure whether they are still going ahead with it or not.

It would make Cash and Eden interesting characters, so I kind of hope they do if we are stuck with those characters for the foreseeable future. It would also be hard to come up with a plausible reason for them to move in alongside Alf too - at least when Leah's house burnt down, she had a long/close relationship with Alf. If Cash and Eden lost their home for some reason, there are so many other characters they'd realistically move in with before Alf, Roo and Marilyn. Marilyn and John were also foster parents for a long time, and they didn't need move into Summer Bay House to continue that legacy. 

[Jamie!]

2 hours ago, adam436 said:

Can I ask how you feel about the Nash and Sutherland eras then? I kind of agree with you, but I also loved the Nash era of the show. 

You could argue Rebecca has links to the Early Years since she is the daughter and half-sister of original characters and appeared briefly in 1989 as a different actress. I can't remember what point Sam moved from Summer Bay House to Donald and Marilyn's house, but he obviously had links to Bobby as well. I thoroughly enjoyed that period at the time (I was about 10 and haven't really seen it since), even though in hindsight it feels like bridging/transition period between Pippa and the Sutherland eras. The Sutherland era was a whole different scenario though, since there were a fresh unconnected family and really dragged H&A into a new era, as opposed to the Nash years, which kind of just felt like an extension of the Pippa years since many of the foster kids stayed behind. 

Aside from those periods, we've always had either Sally or Alf living there, which is pretty amazing considering the age of the show. 

I kind of agree with you that it should have links to the early years, but at the same time, it feels like a waste having the once-bustling heart of the show occupied by just 3 characters - and that's when they are all there!

A simple solution would be to bring in a new family with links to the past or giving Marilyn or Roo an "instant" family - they tried when Roo married Harvey, but Marcus Graham eventually moved on, and then again when Leah and Zac moved in there in 2015, but they wasted so much time with them that we didn't get long with the family as a unit, since Oscar died and Matt and Evie moved out.   

I'd like to see Duncan Stewart return with his son Bryce (who'd be 15-16 by now?), a new wife and a couple of step kids from a new marriage. That would give Alf a big family to play patriarch to as well. Even Ric has been away for 18 years now, so he could easily have kids who are in their teens, and there has definitely been calls for Jodi Gordon to return as Martha in recent years. 

 

It would make Cash and Eden interesting characters, so I kind of hope they do if we are stuck with those characters for the foreseeable future. It would also be hard to come up with a plausible reason for them to move in alongside Alf too - at least when Leah's house burnt down, she had a long/close relationship with Alf. If Cash and Eden lost their home for some reason, there are so many other characters they'd realistically move in with before Alf, Roo and Marilyn. Marilyn and John were also foster parents for a long time, and they didn't need move into Summer Bay House to continue that legacy. 

I didn't personally mind the Nash and Sutherland eras. As you say, Rebecca had links to Donald Fisher and she became a Nash by marriage. The Sutherlands didn't have any links to past or then current characters, but the show still felt like the Home and Away I know and love, so I didn't really mind them living in Summer Bay House as such. Plus, with it being Pippa's house for ten years, we'd now gotten used to someone else living there, as they arrived two years after Pippa left.

I would also like to see Duncan Stewart return with his son. Or maybe Christopher Fletcher could arrive with a partner. When he came back in 2003 for Sally's wedding to Flynn, he was questioning his sexuality, (I'm pretty sure it was confirmed that this was the case). If he was gay, it would be interesting and also good for the show for there to finally have a full time, regular character that's gay. He could have met another man and be happily married to him. And he could maybe want to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a foster carer, thus continuing the trend.

[adam436]

5 hours ago, Jamie! said:

Or maybe Christopher Fletcher could arrive with a partner. When he came back in 2003 for Sally's wedding to Flynn, he was questioning his sexuality, (I'm pretty sure it was confirmed that this was the case). If he was gay, it would be interesting and also good for the show for there to finally have a full time, regular character that's gay. He could have met another man and be happily married to him. And he could maybe want to follow in his mother's footsteps and become a foster carer, thus continuing the trend.

I feel like that ship has sailed now. It would just be a new character with the Christopher Fletcher name, since all his connection left years ago. Plus Channel 7/H&A seem reluctant to have a full-time LGBT character in the show, despite all the high-profile guest characters like Alex Nielson, Joey and Ty generally being well recieved by viewers. If they did ever have one, there is no way they'd bring in a family with two dads/mums have them become foster parents. They'd more than likely have no romantic partners (which is pretty much where Willow ended up post-Alex) or the relationship would just be very quiet/non-eventful. They certainly wouldn't market them as a supercouple in the same way they do with Eden and Cash, or Hollyoaks often do with their gay and lesbian relationships. 

Perhaps the subject for a different thread, but did the producers miss a trick by not making Chris a regular in the early 2000s? He could have lived with the newly-married Sally and Flynn and been their soft launch into becoming parents/guardians, using some excuse like he was unhappy/being bullied etc at his school back home, or maybe Summer Bay High offering some kind of gifted program etc. As someone of a similar age also struggling with my sexuality at that time, it would have been welcome for me. It felt like an odd storyline to have and never mention again, and perhaps even ironic than he was living with Irene, given Irene's children were fostered by Pippa. Were there plans to have Chris that never eventuated for some reason? Always Greener was airing around the same time as this appearance, and that had a regular gay teenager in the cast, plus All Saints' Charlotte, so Channel 7 seemed less adverse to non-hetreosexual characters in their dramas back then.