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

[pembie]

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

Duncan would be a good returning character, but that probably won't happen because of the Martha nonsense. 

No I don’t think Alf is that good of a character anymore really to have Duncan back 

[Red Ranger 1]

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Duncan would be a good returning character, but that probably won't happen because of the Martha nonsense. 

Why would that make any difference? They handled having Martha and Ryder around at the same time and that was far more problematic!

[Dag Dog]

3 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Why would that make any difference? They handled having Martha and Ryder around at the same time and that was far more problematic!

I'm with you, Red. In fact, I think it could propel massive Stewart strands - you already have the previous feud thanks to Alf neglecting Duncan when he was in hospital, and focusing his energy on suing the council rather than tending to his son. For Duncan to learn his parents' marriage was founded with a secret of this magnitude, it could bring some serious (and much needed!) family drama...

[adam436]

12 hours ago, Dag Dog said:

For Duncan to learn his parents' marriage was founded with a secret of this magnitude, it could bring some serious (and much needed!) family drama...

With Martha not around, that would just get brushed over, if mentioned all. He would probably just be Alf's son/Roo's brother with no mention of who his mother was.

Duncan's son would be around 15/16 now, wouldn't he? At this stage, it's probably more likely we'd see a SORASed Bryce in the regular cast as a young adult. Unless we lost Roo, David or Justin, I can't see Duncan being a regular character again.

[Zig]

On 06/10/2026 at 06:38, adam436 said:

When did Miles and Leah get together? If it was in 2011 (I recall Miles left in late 2011), there were probably a couple of other factors there. The Braxtons had arrived in 2011, so the producers kind of lost sight of classic H&A for a while so having Miles and Leah as "head of the main house" probably wasn't a priority for them. The second factor was Roo returned in late 2010, and she needed a room at Summer Bay House, and eventually she was paired off with Harvey and then fostered Maddie and Spencer. The third factor was potentially that they knew Josh Quong-Tart wanted to leave (in which case, I would argue why bother with Leah and Miles at all?), so they probably didn't see the point in "moving the unmovable Leah" when they knew it wouldn't last. 

It was very early 2011. I saw someone said it should of happened earlier and I agree. Maybe instead of the whole Elijah arc they should of put Leah&Miles together at that point.

 

I get maybe they thought Marcus would of been longterm but i personally feel like Roo/Sid would of been better long term and I could imagine them fostering.

[adam436]

On 23/10/2026 at 23:39, Zig said:

It was very early 2011. I saw someone said it should of happened earlier and I agree. Maybe instead of the whole Elijah arc they should of put Leah&Miles together at that point.

Or even earlier and drop Kirsty/Miles and Leah/Roman. I know Dan died not long after Miles arrived, but it wouldn't be the first time a widow has moved on super quickly in an attempt to restore the "Status Quo" at Summer Bay House. We saw it with Pippa and Sally moving on pretty quickly after losing Tom and Flynn, and then Beth moving on relatively quickly after Shelley's exit. 

 

On 23/10/2026 at 23:39, Zig said:

i personally feel like Roo/Sid would of been better long term and I could imagine them fostering.

I find it interesting that Sid was paired with both Marilyn and Roo for a period, yet didn't stay with either long-term. I think something happened between Robert and the producers behind-the-scenes, so that might have impacted those pairings too if they didn't see a long-term future for Rober/Sid on the show. 

[Zig]

3 hours ago, adam436 said:

Or even earlier and drop Kirsty/Miles and Leah/Roman. I know Dan died not long after Miles arrived, but it wouldn't be the first time a widow has moved on super quickly in an attempt to restore the "Status Quo" at Summer Bay House. We saw it with Pippa and Sally moving on pretty quickly after losing Tom and Flynn, and then Beth moving on relatively quickly after Shelley's exit. 

 

I find it interesting that Sid was paired with both Marilyn and Roo for a period, yet didn't stay with either long-term. I think something happened between Robert and the producers behind-the-scenes, so that might have impacted those pairings too if they didn't see a long-term future for Rober/Sid on the show. 

Thats a good point but Sally could never really move on from Flynn, in the end.

 

I did always wonder re Sid as well as he exited quickly but came back for the Dex&Indi one. Its the same with Luke Van Os i always wondered if he had a falling out with producers as his exit was rather sudden and rushed.

 

I do think re Sid/Rob they had more planned with Sid/Roo but something clearly happened

[adam436]

13 hours ago, Zig said:

Thats a good point but Sally could never really move on from Flynn, in the end.

I'd say that was down to Kate Ritchie's exit though. Had she stayed, the producers would have likely stuck them together for as long as both actors were around. At least the writers opted to end the relationship and write Brad out, with enough time left over for Sally's exit to be about her. It definitely would have been easier for the writers to marry her off to Brad and have them ride off into the sunset together, which is what we got with Pippa and Ian. 

 

13 hours ago, Zig said:

I did always wonder re Sid as well as he exited quickly but came back for the Dex&Indi one. Its the same with Luke Van Os i always wondered if he had a falling out with producers as his exit was rather sudden and rushed.

I do think re Sid/Rob they had more planned with Sid/Roo but something clearly happened

If you google why Robert Mammone left H&A, there was clearly no love lost between him and the producers, but they still brought back for Dex's wedding. It's possible the producers saw the writing on the wall regarding Robert's future and opted to pair Roo off with a new character. At least Sid got an actual exit, and he didn't just vanish with an onscreen explanation later, which we got with Jasmine and Matt Wilson. 

[Red Ranger 1]

12 hours ago, adam436 said:

At least Sid got an actual exit, and he didn't just vanish with an onscreen explanation later, which we got with Jasmine and Matt Wilson.

Technically, Jasmine did get an on-screen departure, it's just it was supposed to be temporary.

[Zig]

On 26/10/2026 at 06:20, adam436 said:

I'd say that was down to Kate Ritchie's exit though. Had she stayed, the producers would have likely stuck them together for as long as both actors were around. At least the writers opted to end the relationship and write Brad out, with enough time left over for Sally's exit to be about her. It definitely would have been easier for the writers to marry her off to Brad and have them ride off into the sunset together, which is what we got with Pippa and Ian. 

 

If you google why Robert Mammone left H&A, there was clearly no love lost between him and the producers, but they still brought back for Dex's wedding. It's possible the producers saw the writing on the wall regarding Robert's future and opted to pair Roo off with a new character. At least Sid got an actual exit, and he didn't just vanish with an onscreen explanation later, which we got with Jasmine and Matt Wilson. 

Jasmine and Matt deserved better departures, at least they bought him back in  2002 and we found out where he was