Should Seven put Home and Away episodes on Youtube?

[cymbaline]

I'd still like to see all those elusive seasons, despite their non-existent relevance to today. I sometimes set my VPN to Australia and see what they're showing on that rolling 7 Plus channel. It's lovely and frustrating at the same time. I enjoy the episodes but it's frustrating at the same time, because they're just showing one-off big events. 

[adam436]

It's a shame they've never really added episodes into rotation either as far as I know. They could add the missing deaths and weddings (including iconic non-weddings like Frank/Roo and Sally/Kieran), more major events like the 1996 earthquake, Bobby's ghostly appearance (iconic 90s moment!), episode 4000 and the 2005 conclusion to the Summer Bay Stalker story, as well as the departures of icons like Sally, Fisher and Pippa. It would also be nice to include part two of some of the episodes that end on major cliffhangers like Tom's death, the landslide, Duncan's bomb and the Diner siege - they've done it with others like Cyclone Raymond and the 2002 bus crash, so it's certainly possible.

Edited September 13 by adam436

[cymbaline]

Very true. I haven't paid much attention to the other series on there, but there seems to be far more episodes of those

[CaptainHulk]

On 11/09/2025 at 21:47, adam436 said:

I guess it's 2025, it's very easy to find out that information now though. 

As I said, I'd like to stat with the mid 90s where the Early Years finished off, but it's likely they would just kick off from the beginning again. It just feels like I've seen the 1988 season a few times - the early years reruns in the late 90s and late 2000s and on 7Plus, whereas episodes from the later 90s I've not seen since they originally aired. 

I can't see it happening though - the first 20 years has no relevance to the current show other than Alf, Marilyn, Leah and the original Roo, and of course, there are periods where other than Alf's presence, there is no commonality to the current show whatsoever. 

A little variety would be nice, Talking to *You*, 5star! 

[Jackpittorino]

Absolutely! The 80s/90s “Neighbours” episodes are being uploaded legally on YouTube so why not “Home and Away”?

[adam436]

On 02/10/2025 at 14:44, Jackpittorino said:

why not “Home and Away”?

Channel 7 proved they can because they uploaded the 1988 season over the summer break in the last few years. Maybe there were plans to continue but streaming figures were low? The "classics" are only available as a live channel rather than On Demand as well, which is kind of frustrating. Or maybe both of those were only ever intended to be "Summer specials". 

I've seen promos for other 7Plus dramas like A Country Practice and All Saints, so I feel if it was promoted it using old clips of Alf, Marilyn, a young Justine Clarke and perhaps even Sally (is she still relevant to current fans? the latest BTTB Character polls sugessts not?), I think you'd get some streams just out of curiosity. At the very least I'd love to see 7Plus do more curated collections - perhaps one dedicated to the big moments for Alf, Marilyn and Leah, "disasters", births, deaths and marriages etc. 

Is there some legal thing preventing it? I recall that being the official reasoning behind the Early Years reruns stopping in the 1996 season, though episodes from that period and beyond have been available for streaming at various points, so who knows? 

 

[cymbaline]

Money is probably the driving force behind it. I assume they have to pay royalties to all the people who made those old episodes. 

It's questionable how many people want to revisit the first two seasons. My understanding is that they've been repeated a couple of times over the years on Australian TV. And as anyone who can use Google knows, they're not hard to find online. I've said many times that they are very dated, look terrible and are not a good place to start for newbies. It's those elusive episodes from 1996 and onwards that many people would like to see. Have any of those been repeated at all?

[adam436]

2 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I've said many times that they are very dated, look terrible and are not a good place to start for newbies. 

I guess it depends. Current fans might want to watch teenage Roo, and the early days of Alf and Marilyn. Even the early 2000s, while looking less-dated, has little relevance to the current show with only Alf and Leah still around, so that might not be a great starting point either (though 2004 does have the Chris Hemsworth factor, which may be a drawcard for some!). I imagine any official re-runs/uploads would likely to start around 2011. It has enough current cast to still be relevant (Alf, Marilyn, Leah, John, Roo) and the current producers seem to deem that as the "Golden Years" of the show. I personally wouldn't mind re-watching that era, since the early Braxton years were during my non-viewing years, but my preference would be 1996-2000. 

 

  

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

It's those elusive episodes from 1996 and onwards that many people would like to see. Have any of those been repeated at all?

Certainly not in their entireity. I remember Channel 5 may have repeated some about 10 years ago - I can't rememember why they were shown, but I rememember watching Angel's last episode, an episode from 1999 where Joel and Natalie were running the caravan park and something with Shannon, Mandy and Shannon's mum. And then obviously those that have popped up on 7PLus streaming, but not on broadcast TV. 

 

[Jackpittorino]

9 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I assume they have to pay royalties

Shouldn’t be a problem since Seven makes money every day, it’s pretty silly if they think paying royalties is gonna bankrupt them lol

[cymbaline]

13 hours ago, adam436 said:

I guess it depends. Current fans might want to watch teenage Roo, and the early days of Alf and Marilyn. Even the early 2000s, while looking less-dated, has little relevance to the current show with only Alf and Leah still around, so that might not be a great starting point either (though 2004 does have the Chris Hemsworth factor, which may be a drawcard for some!). I imagine any official re-runs/uploads would likely to start around 2011. It has enough current cast to still be relevant (Alf, Marilyn, Leah, John, Roo) and the current producers seem to deem that as the "Golden Years" of the show. I personally wouldn't mind re-watching that era, since the early Braxton years were during my non-viewing years, but my preference would be 1996-2000.

I don't know why anybody in the old episodes should have any relevance to today's show. I'm not even sure if modern-day viewers particularly care what Alf, Marilyn, or Leah did years ago. The old episodes might not even be watched by current fans, but by a different audience altogether. There's a lot of nostalgia out there for the early years, and perhaps that's partly fuelled by so many 1998-1995 episodes being out there. There could well be an untapped audience for those missing years. 

 

6 hours ago, Jackpittorino said:

Shouldn’t be a problem since Seven makes money every day, it’s pretty silly if they think paying royalties is gonna bankrupt them lol

7 is so indifferent to old Home and Away, I doubt they want to waste any time or money on the old episodes. They'd rather spend it on the next explosion/fire/car crash.