Debra Lawrance joins Tak for a warm, candid and deeply personal conversation

[asafmn]

 

[adam436]

Thanks for sharing. I stopped listening to these podcasts after a while because I can't stand Matt and Takaya, but I made an exception for Debra. It's always great to hear her being interviewed.

I listened to the audio version - it was mentioned on the audio that the "full"/unedited version is in the video, so I don't know if I misser anything significant?

I knew Debra moved to Melbourne to be closer to her mum, but I never really heard her speak about her in interviews before, so that was quite nice to hear.

I also liked Debra on Blue Heelers (moreso than H&A), so it's always great to hear her mention that too.

I guess I was hoping for more behind the scenes tidbits from H&A. I've heard the story before about how her 2009 appearance came about, but she does sound a little cynical about it - "they ran out of adults". I guess to Debra, it probably feels a bit like she was a last resort because they needed someone rather than actually wanting Pippa/Debra, and it must have been sad for her that final ever H&A appearance wasn't working alongside the long-term cast like Ray and Lynne. Overall, she seems grateful for what H&A has provided her personally and professionally.

[cymbaline]

I feel the same. Matt and Tak aren't half as hilarious as they think they are, and perhaps that's why the original Bin Night pod didn't work out. This didn't seem much better, but it picked up once Tak started talking to Debra. I watched the YouTube version, but I think it's the same as the podcast. He has a Patreon, so the longer version is behind a paywall. 

I've heard Debra speak about that 2009 return before, though without any mention of her sister dying. I didn't get the impression that she was offended by why they'd sent for her, but she saw it as a brief and lucrative gig. She never spoke fondly of 2009 but I always took it at face value that it was because she knew nobody. It certainly felt like the producers had gone back to the well one time too many. 

 

[adam436]

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

I feel the same. Matt and Tak aren't half as hilarious as they think they are, and perhaps that's why the original Bin Night pod didn't work out. This didn't seem much better, but it picked up once Tak started talking to Debra.

Tak on his own felt like was talking to his Play School audience in this one. Not sure if they are all like that, but I ended up skipping through to the interview.

 

2 hours ago, cymbaline said:

I've heard Debra speak about that 2009 return before, though without any mention of her sister dying. I didn't get the impression that she was offended by why they'd sent for her, but she saw it as a brief and lucrative gig. She never spoke fondly of 2009 but I always took it at face value that it was because she knew nobody. It certainly felt like the producers had gone back to the well one time too many. 

I am sure it was lucrative, but she was quite realistic and cynical about why the producers wanted Pippa back.

In some ways, it's a shame that was her final appearance. Sally's exit in 2008 was obviously the natural end for the character.

[cymbaline]

I was being diplomatic about Tak's intro. If I were his friend, I'd be having a tactful word

Debra’s cynicism probably went up several notches in 1995—the day they told Dennis he was for the chop. 

[adam436]

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

Debra’s cynicism probably went up several notches in 1995—the day they told Dennis he was for the chop. 

I agree. I know she wanted to move to Melbourne to be closer to her mum, but would she have stayed an extra year or two with them both leaving together if Dennis was still on the show?

I guess we will never know when she gave the producers her notice, but she was gone within two years of Michael's death, so I suspect it was quite soon after Dennis wrapped up filming. There was certainly enough time to craft the slow-burn romantic reunion with Ian anyway, rather than rush her out the door in the space of a few episodes.

She was clearly happy to keep coming up throughout the 2000s, but other than the money, I suspect that was possibly just as much for Kate Ritchie/her journey, since they are clearly close.

She's clearly grateful for what H&A gave her personally and financially and enjoyed the years she spent there (at least the Dennis years anyway!), but it must be frustrating at times that H&A is all many people want to talk about when she's done so much great stuff since both on TV and in theatre.

[cymbaline]

That's a question even Debra might not know the answer to. Human nature being what it is, it would have been difficult for them to say goodbye to the comfort zone they'd found themselves in for so long. With the producers making Dennis's mind up for him, it may well have started Debra's clock ticking. Ian first appeared in September 1997, but the wheels would've started turning on that story several months before. They had filmed Michael's drowning in February 1996, which suggests she might have only stuck it out for a year before telling them she was going. 

I'm sure being asked about Pippa does get irritating, and I find it the least interesting thing she's ever asked about. It might be because it was so long ago, or that she has settled for telling the same stories over and over. 

[adam436]

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

Ian first appeared in September 1997, but the wheels would've started turning on that story several months before. 

I didn't realise he first appeared that late. I had it in my mind he arrived much earlier, but time does feel longer when you are a kid (I would have been 9 when Pippa's exit aired!). The planning and pacing would have been mapped out months in advance though, as you say.

Was an official reason ever given by the producers as to why Michael was axed? Was it simply a budget thing, since we had a raft of younger characters start appearing in 1996 which outnumbered exits? His axing meant we had two huge deaths (Shane being the other) in the space of a few months. 

 

1 hour ago, cymbaline said:

I'm sure being asked about Pippa does get irritating, and I find it the least interesting thing she's ever asked about. It might be because it was so long ago, or that she has settled for telling the same stories over and over. 

I guess it's her longest-running role, and it was during the peak H&A years when everyone was watching. At the time, Pippa was probably more recogisable and iconic than characters like Alf, Sally, Marilyn, Irene and Donald, but obviously that changed as the show got older and those actors stayed on. 

She clearly loved her Harry Potter stage role and Please Like Me, the latter she won an award for, yet you rarely hear her being asked about that in interviews. I imagine that Debra probably sees it as inevitable that she will get asked about Pipp at this point. For me, Grace in Blue Heelers is my favourite Debra role, but there seems even less chance of her being asked about in interviews, than there is of the other productions I mentioned. 

Edited August 12 by adam436