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.