If you had to pick a different original to still be in the show today

[adam436]

6 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I also rate Celia, though with better writing. When I watched Home and Away as a teenager, I saw her as a gossipy old bag who could be quite annoying.

I'm the same. Rewatching the early years in the 90s when I was about 10 years old, that's how I viewed her. In hindsight though, she's a tragic character when you consider how much the loss of Les defined her life - she never married or had kids and threw herself into religion. Had she married Les, being a wife and mother, likely with a large family would have been her life. Even her flirtations with Bob Barnett and Nigel never really came to anything either and you can see how much their rejection hurt her.  Had she stayed long-term, I wouldn't be surprised if we learn she had a secret child that she gave up for adoption, concieved before Les was shipped off to Vietnam. Or even Les being revealed as alive, having survived the war and living with amnesia somewhere. 

We also saw through her interactions with the likes of Lynn, Craig Barnett and Roo that she could work well with the younger cast, but she primarily relegated to the busybody role or as a foil for other characters. 

 

  

6 hours ago, cymbaline said:

If Bobby was still around, she'd have become the Irene of Summer Bay. They have a lot in common if you think about it. It'd probably mean no Irene though...

You're probably right there. Irene joined the cast full-time not long after Bobby's death, and had Bobby stayed, she'd have likely continued to foster so probably would have had Selina, Joey, Chloe, the Smith kids, Tasha etc live with her. They both also had a long stint owning the Diner too. Like Irene, hopefully she'd have remained single for the most part rather than Sally and Pippa's fate of a new husband/partner as soon as she lost one. Apart from Ken and Barry Hyde, Irene never really had a long-term love interest in the show. 

[j.laur5]

8 hours ago, cymbaline said:

Can we slow down the ageing process? If that were possible, it'd be great to still see Donald hanging around. I was a grown-up before I came to realise how good Norman Coburn was, and what a wonderful job he did of playing Fisher. He would be a good foil for John, and they would make for an entertaining chalk & cheese duo. We'd also see him having an "it's complicated" relationship with Marilyn. He's also Roo's uncle by marriage, so the potential for interesting material is there. 

I also rate Celia, though with better writing. When I watched Home and Away as a teenager, I saw her as a gossipy old bag who could be quite annoying. Again, as with Donald, I came to appreciate how good Fiona Spence was when I found those old episodes as a grown-up. I now see her in a more sympathetic light. 

If Bobby was still around, she'd have become the Irene of Summer Bay. They have a lot in common if you think about it. It'd probably mean no Irene though...

But Irene had as Lynne Mcgranger arrived before Bobby death .

Although she was only doing three month guest role at beginning of 1993 and then left before Bobby Death and return not long after Bobby death.

Other one I have in mind is Floss she work well as just supporting.

In fact I think Floss work better without Neville and had somehow Neville been written out in 1989 and Floss  stayed I think her character would work  have work well as long term character.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I agree about Floss, she would have been great if she had stayed on for several more years after March 1989. 

[cymbaline]

2 hours ago, j.laur5 said:

But Irene had as Lynne Mcgranger arrived before Bobby death .

Although she was only doing three month guest role at beginning of 1993 and then left before Bobby Death and return not long after Bobby death.

Other one I have in mind is Floss she work well as just supporting.

In fact I think Floss work better without Neville and had somehow Neville been written out in 1989 and Floss  stayed I think her character would work  have work well as long term character.

Irene would've remained a guest character in my alternative timeline. Sorry Lynne....

They could've simply killed Neville off and had Floss rebuild her life in Summer Bay. They were an inseparable couple so the grim reaper was the only good solution here. Perhaps Floss would've migrated into the Colleen role but with supernatural kookiness thrown in. Sorry Lyn...

[j.laur5]

Infect  I can’t imagine lot Oringal characters including Pippa not  fitting into more dramatic Home and away from 2011 . 
 

 

[c120701]

9 hours ago, j.laur5 said:

Infect  I can’t imagine lot Oringal characters including Pippa not  fitting into more dramatic Home and away from 2011 . 
 

 

Pippa today would be in the Diner filling the role Irene had been playing.

I think half the problem is no teens, so no parents with actual children (not adult children) in the Bay (except Tane & Harper).

As a result we have a cast the same size but filled with adults who now duplicate roles. Multiple doctors, nurses, cops etc… I think it only works having multiple employees where there’s difference in the roles, hierarchy or Doctor vs Nurse etc… or in Salt/Diner.

I don’t see what Jo adds that Dana doesn’t.

If there was more diversity then people could more naturally fit back in.

[project90]

8 minutes ago, c120701 said:

As a result we have a cast the same size but filled with adults who now duplicate roles. Multiple doctors, nurses, cops etc… I think it only works having multiple employees where there’s difference in the roles, hierarchy or Doctor vs Nurse etc… or in Salt/Diner

With all the crime how have we not had a regular lawyer? Am I right in saying Morag been the only one? I know Scarlett had law degree and think she helped Justin once but wasn't her full time job. And was she even regular? She felt very short lived if she was. When Marilyn long lost daughter came in she was studying law. Now I'm not fan of messing with characters history but they had so could least made it worth it made her a regular give Maz new direction and gotten a new lawyer in the show. Could still started off bad between them and built instead making her a psychopath.  So much wasted opportunity but instead mess up history for a guest of the week storyline and she a character who's name zi can't even remember right now

[adam436]

5 hours ago, c120701 said:

As a result we have a cast the same size but filled with adults who now duplicate roles. Multiple doctors, nurses, cops etc… I think it only works having multiple employees where there’s difference in the roles, hierarchy or Doctor vs Nurse etc… or in Salt/Diner.

I don’t see what Jo adds that Dana doesn’t.

  I guess it's also a lack of imagination on the writers' part too. There would surely be more emplyoment opportunities beyond those we see onscreen.. 

Does Summer Bay need a resident lawyer, with so many characters constantly in trouble with the law? Could one of the 20somethings be a teacher at the school? We wouldn't have to see them at work all the time, but it would be an avenue for guest character storylines in the same way that Roo's fostering is. 

[cymbaline]

That's a good point about the workplaces, and I'd extend it to include the school. I would like to see some teenagers again for all sorts of reasons. Bringing teenagers into the show doesn't mean they have to go the full hog and resurrect the school. All that's needed are some uniforms and the kids complaining about an unseen head teacher. 

In my experience, most people don't talk about their jobs in depth to their family and friends. It was a running joke in Friends that nobody knew what Chandler's job was. 

[adam436]

7 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I would like to see some teenagers again for all sorts of reasons. Bringing teenagers into the show doesn't mean they have to go the full hog and resurrect the school. All that's needed are some uniforms and the kids complaining about an unseen head teacher. 

It seems to be working for Hollyoaks. It used to be teenager-heavy with the high school a major focus/workplace for adults, but that kind of lost for a while when they had that huge cast cull a few yeaes ago. We just saw Nancy complaining about how busy her job was.

They seem to have found that balance again with aging up Hutchinson triplets and showing them in school scenes, without them taking over the show.

No reason H&A couldn't do something similar. Perhaps one young adult as a teacher, and maybe two or three teens - a foster child for Roo (though it's difficult with Georgie's filming breaks), a younger sibling/cousin for one of the twentysomethings and maybe a nephew/niece for Leah.