2025 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[James Martin]

Conflict of interest much?  Leah's fate depends on the father of The Reason Theo Is Dead™ - and said father uses "police discretion" to let her go on a warning when he was pushing for an AVO a few days ago?

I get production has to deal with a million moving parts - not least the "3 episodes" thing - but it's a shame we missed out on the confrontation.  I appreciate that would have meant a location, extras and actors to play the various cameos of the newspaper staff as well as the cops (Cash has used his episodes up too so we can't send him in for this one!)

The "she didn't come last night" promos Channel 7 ran at the time and then were lent to Channel 5 to use on their socials over the break turned out to be a bit underwhelming.  She crashed at Sonny's.  I get why she's doing it but it could drive a wedge between him and Dana.

And Palmer is back, surprisingly chirpy for a man who's just done Charles De Gaulle to Sydney via somewhere in Asia in steerage.  Irene supposedly was able to process Theo's passing, as it's suggested they found out whilst in France (not hard in this day & age.) Because of our transmission break it feels like he's been gone forever but in reality it's been a month or so I think?

[H&Alover]

On 16/01/2026 at 18:46, CaptainHulk said:

She's been calling herself Leah Patterson for the last  decade. She dropped the 'Baker' in the mid-2010s.

 

Oh I know that and seeing how many marriages she's had it would be a real faff changing  your surname every time, but I would have thought that maybe this time she would have become a Morgan.

Another thing to do with Leah - in the promo we did hear her call Sonny Theo again when she was telling Justin where she'd  been overnight, once could have been an error but twice? 

Was a shame we didn't see Leah at Coastal News but as been  said it would have cost to have all those extras and new set for just one scene.  She, Leah, was just as stroppy at Yabbie Creek nick and she chose  Sonny to be her one phone call not Justin which understandably he was disturbed by.  She was more willing to listen to Sonny but went back into 'why are you picking on me' mode when Justin came and took over.   David, I think, was trying to help by using 'his police  discretion' to let her go not that helped her mood. 

At least we knew Leah wasn't alone with Sonny but Justin doesn't so must be thinking all sorts.  Dana can't have been comfortable with Leah invading  her and Sonny's space and him sitting up all night hearing her woes. 

If Harper had kept quiet about her connecting with Kerrie and going to see her  Dana would have then accused her of keeping secrets from her. 

Lovely to see JP back and very typical  of him bringing back 'presents'  for everyone as in the Hotel pens.   Not surprising  to know he and Irene had been told about Theo and had sent  flowers.   He did mention Irene was having good and bad days so her dementia hasn't been forgotten.  He did say he would visit Leah but was advised not to as she wasn't in a good place so said he'd leave it and get some kip. 

[CaptainHulk]

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Oh I know that and seeing how many marriages she's had it would be a real faff changing  your surname every time, but I would have thought that maybe this time she would have become a Morgan.

Another thing to do with Leah - in the promo we did hear her call Sonny Theo again when she was telling Justin where she'd  been overnight, once could have been an error but twice? 

Was a shame we didn't see Leah at Coastal News but as been  said it would have cost to have all those extras and new set for just one scene.  She, Leah, was just as stroppy at Yabbie Creek nick and she chose  Sonny to be her one phone call not Justin which understandably he was disturbed by.  She was more willing to listen to Sonny but went back into 'why are you picking on me' mode when Justin came and took over.   David, I think, was trying to help by using 'his police  discretion' to let her go not that helped her mood. 

At least we knew Leah wasn't alone with Sonny but Justin doesn't so must be thinking all sorts.  Dana can't have been comfortable with Leah invading  her and Sonny's space and him sitting up all night hearing her woes. 

If Harper had kept quiet about her connecting with Kerrie and going to see her  Dana would have then accused her of keeping secrets from her. 

Lovely to see JP back and very typical  of him bringing back 'presents'  for everyone as in the Hotel pens.   Not surprising  to know he and Irene had been told about Theo and had sent  flowers.   He did mention Irene was having good and bad days so her dementia hasn't been forgotten.  He did say he would visit Leah but was advised not to as she wasn't in a good place so said he'd leave it and get some kip. 

I think it worked out better because Leah's approval rating right now is tanking faster than Will Smith's most recent album. Maybe they could film it as a flashback during a therapy session.

And as for the name thing some women decide "I've been that name long enough" (Pauline Fowler, Terese Willis,etc) or run back to one they were most known as (Kathy Beale, Annie Sugden though the latter was mainly the actress' request) 

[Red Ranger 1]

It's hard to say what was motivating David here. Maybe he feels some sympathy for Leah despite trying to convince Lacey she's the devil recently, maybe he thinks it'll make things harder for Lacey if he comes down hard on her. He probably should have passed it over to someone else but Leah would probably have just seen them as his stooge. Leah did quickly slip into "Anyone who disagrees with me is the enemy" mode, and for someone who supposedly didn't want a fight she seemed to start one pretty quickly, but Justin didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. I had to laugh at him implying David not taking out the AVO was down to him when it was entirely down to Lacey, and why would he obsess about Sonny instead of making sure Leah isn't going to do something like this again?

Leah turning up at Sonny's place and staying all night really does show a lack of boundaries and I think we're at the point where Sonny isn't really helping at all and is just being an enabler, much like Tane with Mackenzie. He admits that it's weird but he's kidding himself if he thinks Leah will stop using him as her safe fallback option. I wasn't sure what Leah was meant to be feeling when she was listening in on everyone but I guess she was annoyed they were talking about her? Not sure about Justin distancing himself from David but I understand the thinking behind it.

Marilyn was at her slappable worst with her cloyingly intrusive behaviour towards Dana. A woman who was an even worse mother than Dana's, giving her daughter absolutely nothing her whole life and pretending she didn't exist (both before and after she turned up), simpering on about what a great reunion it must be? At least Leah gets called out on her behaviour.

Great to see John back and he seemed to get a good reception from everyone as well.

[CaptainHulk]

Getting real tired of Leah's s*** now. I bet Ada was exhausted doing that. 

She's gonna drive Justin away like with Zack if there isn't a leash put on her soon. I've been over socials and everyone's over it.

I wonder who they will pass the nuisance stick to next. 

Edited January 19 by CaptainHulk

[James Martin]

Finally a breakthrough tonight with the photo, but we've got a way to go with the whole Sonny/Theo thing.

Is Remi being a bit pig headed shutting Eden out like that?

And the promo confirms Eddie has previous with the Langhams...

[H&Alover]

Leah is totally overreacting but there was a tender moment from her towards Justin when Cash brought round that photo of Theo from the Wedding.  What I'd like to know is how she would have reacted if Justin had been doing the same, vanishing overnight and not saying where he'd been and talking to say Eden instead of her?  She did admit she should have told him where she was.   TPTB must have been reading my mind because Sonny was taken aback when Justin revealed to him Leah had called him Theo twice.  I know he feels he thinks he is helping Leah by being her sounding board but this may make him  have  a rethink.  it was kind  of amusing that when Justin revealed to Alf and someone else - forget who - their reaction was 'Oh' and raised eyebrows suggesting there was a lot more to it and Justin had to assure them there was nothing like that going on. Which says a lot about how much he trusts Sonny and Leah.

As you said  CaptainHulk it must have been exhausting for Ada playing Leah the way she is, proves what a good actress she is seeing as a lot of people are hating her - Leah that is -so much. 

Don't forget Marilyn didn't know what Harper & Dana's relationship was like with their parents, they hardly mentioned them.  Maz may not have been there for Hazel but at least she wasn't a drunk/drug addict. 

I don't think Remi was being pig headed/sexist with Eden by seemingly shutting her out, Remi's never come across to me as thinking women aren't into music, treated Kirby and  Eden as just members of the band.  When Remi  first mooted his setting up his own recording studio, Eden wasn't that interested and she had her Wedding to plan for so was rather caught up in that. Plus she's got a full time job and she and Cash are still in their honeymoon phase. But now she's seen the studio and what he's got planned she is interested.  She did grumble to Cash that Sonny hasn't got a musical bone in his body, but he's got other talents he brings to the company/firm. Not sure how Eden  would feel if she finds out Cash has had a word with Remi about it, hopefully Remi will be discreet if he approaches Eden with maybe  an idea she help out at the studio, as in setting up the equipment etc. 

That was a tease at the end with Eddie and David running into each other  and that  they know each other.   On  H&A's fb page there is a lot  more to know thanks to the people who insist  on putting up spoilers. But I'm sayin' nuffin. 

[James Martin]

Eddie's connection to David is all over this website to be fair and was unveiled before he even appeared on Australian screens back in October.

Another reason why we need to get same day airings, at least across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland.  That was something Neighbours got right towards the end of the original run and then during the reboot.  With the changes in the UK December would have been the ideal time for International territories to catch up too.

[Red Ranger 1]

It's hard to say what Remi's thinking was here. I don't think it's related to Eden being married, so is it as simple as him thinking she doesn't want to be involved and not picking up on her hanging around looking for scraps? Eden does have a point about Remi and Sonny using her to help get Eddie out of the line and then locking her out of the loop, but what sort of role does she even want? I'm not sure she knows. Does she plan to ignore her full-time job and spend all her time in meetings with Remi and Sonny? Or does she just want to be a kind of unofficial adviser and sounding board?

So...have Eden and Cash now got a blank page in their wedding album? It didn't really seem necessary for them to give Leah and Justin that photo instead of getting a copy made. Do they not want a photo of Theo in there? Odd logistics aside, it was a nice thought and Leah took it in the spirited it was intended. And she did seem to realise it was unfair to disappear for a night and ignore Justin. He chose not to say anything to her about referring to Sonny as Theo, and went to Sonny instead. I can't see Sonny cutting her off still, but it might make him think a bit? It felt like Dana was very much biting her tongue when Sonny was saying he can't turn Leah away.

As for same day broadcast, the answer is the same as it is every time this comes up: It's not going to happen while Channel 7 are unwilling to commit to a consistent schedule and just show however many episodes they have space for in a given week, and it's been like that for years so it's unlikely to change any time soon. Unlike Neighbours, which collapses into non-existence when its foreign investors pull out, Home and Away's owners don't need to keep the international buyers happy because they can manage without them. And there's no chance of every country in the world who broadcasts the show agreeing to adjust their schedule on a weekly basis to match Channel 7.

EDIT: Oh, and I have to laugh that now that the "Marilyn's overworked" storyline is over, they're trying desperately to pretend that she's not still spending all her time at the Diner with little or no assistance!

Edited January 20 by Red Ranger 1

[c120701]

The random reshuffling on the opening titles is really odd, I don’t get why that really quick Levi & Mac hand grab is at the start. After Irene & Theo I’m starting to suspect that the fewer (and less prominent) times you appear the more likely you are to be leaving soon.