The Early Years UK

[James Martin]

Anyone else looking forward to a rerun from Day One on 5Drama when it launches next month?

It does look like it'll just be 1988 and 1989 though.

https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2026/09/24/channel-5-to-show-home-and-away-from-the-very-beginning/

[Si-Co]

I believe the the first few weeks of episodes (and the pilot) have never been repeated in the UK. UK Living in the 90s started from about two months in, for some reason. 

I’m not sure I’ll have time to watch it religiously, but I’ll definitely check it out!

[Red Ranger 1]

The BTTB article suggests that 5Drama is a new Freeview channel but stuff I've read elsewhere suggests it's going to be on some sort of subscription service, so I don't know whether to be interested in this or not.

[Dan F]

16 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

The BTTB article suggests that 5Drama is a new Freeview channel but stuff I've read elsewhere suggests it's going to be on some sort of subscription service, so I don't know whether to be interested in this or not.

5Drama is replacing 5Select, and is then being swapped around on the EPG with 5Action, leaving it at Freeview channel 33.

[Red Ranger 1]

3 minutes ago, Dan F said:

5Drama is replacing 5Select, and is then being swapped around on the EPG with 5Action, leaving it at Freeview channel 33.

I heard something along those lines but I'm looking at the EPG and I can't see a 5Select. And I can't see it listed in my (admittedly fairly limited) TV listings either, so it doesn't seem to be a case of me having the wrong name listed.

[James Martin]

@Dan F as it's replacing 5 Select, will it be on Virgin Media?  On the channel lists in 5's PR, Virgin isn't mentioned - however, 5 Select is on Virgin as things stand.

Nevertheless I assume it'll be on the app, where on Firestick at least you can actually get an HD feed of 5 Star.

[Dan F]

13 minutes ago, James Martin said:

@Dan F as it's replacing 5 Select, will it be on Virgin Media?  On the channel lists in 5's PR, Virgin isn't mentioned - however, 5 Select is on Virgin as things stand.

Nevertheless I assume it'll be on the app, where on Firestick at least you can actually get an HD feed of 5 Star.

I would expect so, we don't know any more than what the release has stated at the moment.

22 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

I heard something along those lines but I'm looking at the EPG and I can't see a 5Select. And I can't see it listed in my (admittedly fairly limited) TV listings either, so it doesn't seem to be a case of me having the wrong name listed.

Whilst not HD itself on Freeview, it's broadcast in a MUX that's only available if your tuner is capable of receiving HD channels.

Freeview HD isn't part of a subscription though, it's just been the standard tech for the majority of TVs and set-top boxes for a fair few years.

[James Martin]

23 minutes ago, Dan F said:

I would expect so, we don't know any more than what the release has stated at the moment.

Whilst not HD itself on Freeview, it's broadcast in a MUX that's only available if your tuner is capable of receiving HD channels.

Freeview HD isn't part of a subscription though, it's just been the standard tech for the majority of TVs and set-top boxes for a fair few years.

I'd say are you in a Freeview Lite area, but you've got 5 Star access so I would wager not?

[cymbaline]

On 24/09/2026 at 18:26, Si-Co said:

I believe the the first few weeks of episodes (and the pilot) have never been repeated in the UK. UK Living in the 90s started from about two months in, for some reason. 

I’m not sure I’ll have time to watch it religiously, but I’ll definitely check it out!

That's TV 2 started showing the first season a few years ago but they only did that for a few weeks. 

I can't say I'm all that interested in the 1988/89 seasons being made legally available yet again. They were on the UK Amazon Prime streaming service for ages, giving anyone who wanted to watch the first 2 seasons plenty of time to do so. Further afield, 7 made 1988 available on its website and anyone with a VPN could watch those for free. They are what they are, and I'm not sure they'll appeal to anyone other than hardcore fans or completists. There seems to be no indication that they're willing to make subsequent seasons available. Many episodes from the Australian re-runs made their way online but there's a gaping black hole from late 1995 onwards. It's frustrating when you've seen re-runs of other soaps on TV or on the various streaming services. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

I look forward to H&A being rerun. The good bandwagonnery of iconic soaps being rerun in the UK, such as CS, ED, Brookie, EE, Neighbours and now H&A.