Home and Away
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| Home and Away | |
|---|---|
 2007 - present opening credits |
|
| Genre | Soap opera |
| Created by | Alan Bateman |
| Starring | See cast |
| Opening theme | Home and Away - Luke Dolahenty |
| Ending theme | Home and Away - Luke Dolahenty |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 21 [Current 2008 Season] |
| No. of episodes | 4656 [as of 9th June 2008] |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
John Holmes |
| Producer(s) | Cameron Welsh |
| Running time | 22 minutes [Approx.] |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Seven Network |
| Picture format | PAL (576i), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | 17 January 1988 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Home and Away (also commonly abbreviated in writing to H&A) is a Logie-winning soap opera that is produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered on 17 January 1988 and is now one of the longest-running series on Australian television.
The show initially focused on the characters of Pippa and Tom Fletcher who ran the Summer Bay Caravan Park and lived there with a succession of foster children, most notably their adopted daughter Sally (Kate Ritchie), but the show has expanded and now focuses on the Stewart family along with the rest of the residents of Summer Bay.
Home and Away is most successful television series in Australian history having won 31 Logies since 1988. It took this title at the 2008 Logie Awards where the show won an impressive four awards.
Contents |
History
In 1985 the Seven Network axed the poorly-rating soap Neighbours[1], but they were unaware that Network Ten, a rival television network, was in talks with the production team to air the soap on their network in 1986.
When Neighbours returned to television on Network Ten in 1986, it initially attracted low ratings.[2] The Network worked hard to publicise Neighbours[3] and their hard work was paid off when its popularity grew, by the end of 1987 it was attracting high ratings in Australia.[4]In October 1986, Neighbours started to broadcast in the UK, where it began to attract strong viewing figures.
In late 1986, Network Seven's head of drama, Alan Bateman was tasked with creating a pilot for a soap opera that was in no way a copy of Neighbours. Bateman soon found his inspiration when he stopped in Kangaroo Point, New South Wales on a family outing. Chatting to locals, Bateman discovered that the townspeople were angered over the construction of a home for foster children from the city. Seeing the degree of conflict the plan for the new youth centre had produced within the community, Bateman recognised the drama that could be generated by this situation and began to develop it as the basis for the new soap opera.[5]
Storylines
The soap originally centered around Pippa Ross (Debra Lawrance) and foster children, right up until Pippa's departure in 1998. Notable foster children include Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson), Sophie Simpson (Rebekah Elmaloglou), Carly Lucini (Sharyn Hodgson), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits), Shannon Reed (Isla Fisher), Justine Welles (Bree Desborough), and one of the longest-serving cast members, Kate Ritchie who has grown up on screen as Sally Fletcher. The Stewart family was also featured since the series' premiere. Town veteran Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) lived in the bay with his daughter Roo Stewart (Justine Clark) and sisters Celia (Fiona Spence) and Morag (Cornelia Frances). He married Ailsa Hogan (Judy Nunn) in 1988 and this couple was a mainstay in the show up until Ailsa's death in 2000.
From 2000-2004 the show centered around the highly dramatic Sutherland family, who provided many storylines, including a mine shaft collapse, long-lost children, switched-at-birth babies, a sexual assault, criminal charges, and fake miscarriages. 2003 saw the emergence of the Hunter family and the eventual merging of these two families through the marriage of Rhys Sutherland and Beth Hunter. Since the divorce of Rhys and Beth, the Sutherland-Hunter clan has seen its numbers dwindle in the Bay; Matilda Hunter (Indiana Evans) is the sole remaining member.
In 2004, the show returned to its roots with Sally Fletcher and her now late husband Flynn Saunders (Joel McIlroy) fostering children at Sally's childhood home; Summer Bay House, in a similar arc to how Pippa once fostered Sally herself. The fostered children included Alf's long-lost grandson Ric Dalby (Mark Furze) and orphan Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson).
2005 saw Summer Bay in the clutches of the Summer Bay Stalker and Sally was later kidnapped by Zoe (aka Eve Jacobsen). Zoe was revealed to have a connection to Sarah Lewis, a psychopath who had the year before shot and killed Summer Bay local Noah Lawson (Beau Brady) and then herself. Zoe later returned in 2006 to wreak havoc on Jack Holden (Paul O'Brien) and Martha Mackenzie's (Jodi Gordon) wedding, injuring many but was killed herself.
In early 2006, Flynn died from skin cancer, with Alf Stewart moving in to help run the Caravan Park. Sally later found love with Brad Armstrong (Chris Sadrinna). In the 2006 season finale she was stabbed; a culmination of Sally fostering a young teen, Rocco, whose family had connections to gangs and who pressured him to rid Sally from their lives. By the end of 2006, Jack and Martha had also separated.
As 2007 drew to a close, Dan Baker (Tim Campbell) departed Summer Bay, Brad Armstrong left Summer Bay for a teaching job in Tasmania along with his half-sister Tamsyn and her mother Heather McCabe, while Jack and his new love Sam were wed, despite there being unresolved feelings between Jack and Martha, his ex-wife. Meanwhile, Ric's relationship with Matilda was all but over after newcomer Viv Anderson, who successfully lured Ric from her, fell pregnant with Ric's child. Matilda found out at Jack and Sam's wedding, and told Ric to stay out of her life for good.
In 2008, Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) who has been in Summer Bay for 20 years departed with daughter Pippa.Lucas Holden (Rhys Wakefield left for university, Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson) also left with Sally & Pippa. Sam Holden (Jessica Chapnik) helped Summer Bay villian Johnny Cooper get back on his feet and ended up murdering him, she also commited suicide and made it look like murder.Drew Curtis (Bobby Morley) left Summer Bay.Jazz Curtis (Rachel Gordon) returned on a recurring basis but left again in May 2008.
Cast
Current cast members
| Actor | Character | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Meagher | Alf Stewart | 1988- |
| Cornelia Frances | Morag Bellingham | 1988-1989,1993,2001-2007, 2008- |
| Lynne McGranger | Irene Roberts | 1992- |
| Lyn Collingwood | Colleen Stewart | 1988-1989, 1999- |
| Ada Nicodemou | Leah Patterson-Baker | 2000- |
| Christie Hayes | Kirsty Phillips | 2000-2005,2008- |
| Indiana Evans | Matilda Hunter | 2004 - 2008 |
| Mark Furze | Ric Dalby | 2004 - 2008 |
| Jodi Gordon | Martha Mackenzie | 2005- |
| Todd Lasance | Aden Jefferies | 2005, 2007- |
| Jon Sivewright | Tony Holden | 2005- |
| Paul O'Brien | Jack Holden | 2005- |
| Amy Mathews | Dr. Rachel Armstrong | 2006- |
| Jessica Tovey | Belle Taylor | 2006- |
| Lincoln Lewis | Geoff Campbell | 2007- |
| Charlotte Best | Annie Campbell | 2007- |
| Conrad Coleby | Roman Harris | 2007- |
| Josh Quong Tart | Miles Copeland | 2007- |
| Tessa James | Nicole Franklin | 2008- |
| Jordan Rodrigues | Jai Fernandez | 2008- |
| Esther Anderson | Charlie Buckton | 2008- |
Recurring cast members
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Liz Alexander | Christine Jones |
| Sam Atwell | Kane Phillips |
| Bob Baines | Martin Bartlett |
| Trent Dalzell | Axel Hay |
| Oliver Davis | Oliver Phillips |
| Felix Dean | V.J. Patterson |
| Celeste Dodwell | Melody Jones |
| Rebecca George | Const. Lara Fitzgerald |
| Paul Gleeson | Larry Jefferies |
| Lisa Hayson-Phillips | Nurse Julie Cooper |
| Katrina Risteska | Danielle Hay |
Coming cast members
All the below information has been confirmed by either TV Week or Bevan Lee
| Actor | Character | Arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Breeds | Ruby Buckton (regular) | Debuts 20th June 2008 |
| Paul Pantano | Elliot (regular) | Debuts July 2008 |
| Luke Jacobz | Unknown (regular) | Debuts August 2008 |
| Celeste Dodwell | Melody Jones (returns as a regular) | Returns 2008 |
Deceased cast members
| Actor | Role | Duration | Year of death | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Megan Connolly | Rebecca Nash | 1998 (temporary recast) | 2001 | |
| Gwen Plumb | Doris Peters | 1988 (guest) | 2002 | |
| Belinda Emmett | Rebecca Nash | 1996-1999 | 2006 | |
| Richard Morgan | Donahue | 1989 (guest) | 2006 | |
| Heath Ledger | Scott Irwin | 1997 (guest) | 2008 | [6] |
Production and broadcast schedule
The show is filmed five days a week for 46 weeks of the year. The crew is given a four week holiday at Christmas and a two week break for recuperation mid-year. There are an average of eight weeks between shooting and airing the program. All interiors for the show are filmed at Seven Sydney's Epping studios. The exterior scenes are filmed on location mainly at Palm Beach and at Fisherman's Beach, Collaroy in Sydney's Northern Beaches region.
Australia on Seven
Home and Away is broadcast in Australia on weekdays at 7:00 p.m. The show airs for 46 weeks each year (except for occasions where worldwide events take priority such as the Olympic Games). Each new season usually begins on the second Monday in January, and the season finale airs on the last Friday of November (the 2006 season started and finished one week later than this schedule). The 2008 season will begin in the last week in January, on January 28 with episode 4561.
The show rates extraordinarily well and is consistently the highest rating programme in its time slot, usually receiving between 1.3 and 1.8 million viewers per episode (nightly). In special circumstances, storylines have the ability to attract a national audience of well over 2 million.
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Belgium on 2BE
The show has been showing in Flanders (northern Belgium, with Dutch language subtitles) since Kanaal Twee (VTM's commercial sister channel, renamed 2BE in 2008) opened in 1995. Episodes currently being shown aired in Australia in September 2006. The show originally aired once a day at 6.30pm (5.30pm GMT and 4.30am Sydney), but since January 2008 airs twice a day; currently each 25 minute episode first shows at 5.55pm (4.55pm GMT and 1.55am (3.55am between October and March) Sydney) and is repeated the next day about 1.30pm (12.30pm GMT and 9.30pm Sydney (late March/Early April-late October) in some cases the time in Sydney could be 11.30pm (Late October/Early November- late March).
The next episode scheduled to run is episode 4331 which aired in Australia on 15 January 2007 and in the UK on March 30, 2007. The 2006 season finale is expected to air in Belgium on May 30, 2008. The 2007 season will be starting on June 2, 2008, with Australia and the UK's current season beginning in June 2009
Ireland on RTÉ One and RTÉ Two
In Ireland, the national state broadcaster RTÉ has shown the programme since its inception.
In Ireland, the show airs every day of the week, but there are no new episodes on Saturdays or Sundays. New episodes air at 1.25pm-1.55pm most weekdays, but on special occasions such as Christmas, episodes have been known to start airing as early as 11.15am. The Omnibus unlike the way Five airs it is played over two days.
The 2008 season commenced in Ireland on 4 March at 1.25pm on RTÉ One. It is 7 weeks (35 episodes behind Australia), it was originally 6 weeks 1 day (31 episodes) to start with, but due to Five having the rights to premiere the show in Europe and them taking 3 days off, it has meant that RTE will also be behind. RTÉ One and RTÉ Two WILL NOT be airing the show for the 3 WEEK period beginning June 9 and ending on June 27. This is due to a European football tournament known as Euro 2008. Episodes will resume on June 30 and at that stage be just under a month behind episodes airing on Five. Five WILL NOT BE TAKING THE SHOW OFF at that time because, Home and away's Former Broadcaster ITV 1 and Neighbours's Former Broadcaster BBC One have both bought the rights to the tournament and therefore it will fail to interrupt with Five's or Fiver's scheduling. Due to the fact that RTÉ DO happen to be the only mainstream television in Ireland except TV 3, RTÉ will have no choice but to show the tournament and consequently alter their schedules. Consequently this means that 2008 will mean the shortest amount of episodes Ireland has ever aired of the show, with just over a month of what would have been New episodes, devoted to other programming.
Dublin City University students set up their very own Home and Away society in 2006 which garnered a huge response from DCU students. One of the societies biggest achievements was meeting Ray Meagher who plays one of Summer Bay's most important residents, Alf Stewart.[citation needed]
New Zealand on TV3 (New Zealand)
Episodes of Home and Away currently screen in New Zealand on Channel 3 weekdays at 5:30pm (with replays on 10:30am the following morning, and a week's worth of omnibus from 10:15am on Sunday). Current New Zealand episodes are 4 weeks (20 episodes) behind Australia.
United Kingdom on ITV and Five
Five and Fiver's current schedule:
| Day | Fiver | Five | Fiver | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.30am† | 2.15pm | 6.00pm | 6.30pm† | ||
| Monday | E | A | A | B | |
| Tuesday | A | B | B | C | |
| Wednesday | B | C | C | D | |
| Thursday | C | D | D | E | |
| Friday | D | E | E | A | |
| Saturday | Omnibus edition on Fiver†* | ||||
| Sunday | No episodes (new or old) air | ||||
From 1989 until 2001, Home and Away aired throughout the United Kingdom on ITV stations. The rights to screen the show were purchased by Five in 2001. Five subsequently purchased the rights to Neighbours from the BBC, and now shows the two popular Australian soaps together.
Now Home and Away airs on Five and Five Life in the Uk and Five and Five Life are approximately 6 weeks behind Australia with Five (29 episodes behind) and Five Life (28 episodes behind).
Elsewhere in the world
During the 1990s, Home and away was a runaway hit in Canada and saw audience figures that Neighbours would never see over there. However, it doesn't show there anymore, likewise with the USA, which just like Neighbours, Home and away had only lasted for 6 weeks because of competition from other afternoon soaps such as The Bold and The Beautiful and Days of our Lives
Due to phenomenal public demand, Canadian television networks are locked in a battle for current broadcasting rights. This ultimately means that Home and Away will return to television screens across Canada in the not too distant future. Similar discussions have also been occurring amongst the major U.S. networks. It has been suggested that a commercial relaunch of the show throughout North America is on the cards following its consistent primetime success in Australia. The Seven Network has welcomed this support announcing that expansion into the international market will allow for a larger production budget (and ultimately better viewing).
Theme song
The theme's lyrics have remained the same since the pilot episode, but have been gradually reduced in length to keep newer versions of the song at a shorter length. The theme was released as a single in the UK in 1989 and peaked at #73 on the UK single charts. [7] The single track includes the opening and closing themes and an additional saxophone section. Since the launch of the 1995 version of the theme tune, extracts from the second verse of the full-length soundtrack have been used to close the show, as opposed to an edited version of the opening song which was used until this point. The theme was shortened in 1996, and again in 2004.
The current theme was recorded by 20-year-old actor and musician Luke Dolahenty. Originally, Israel Cannan sang the theme in early 2007, but due to complaints from fans, Network Seven decided to re-record it, making it the shortest running theme song in the program history.
In the first part episode of the two-parter where Sally Fletcher left Summer Bay in 2008, an softer Piano instrumental of the theme was played.
| Version | Artist | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Williams & Karen Boddington | 1988-1995 |
| 2 | Doug Williams & Erana Clark | 1995-1999 |
| 3 | The Robertson Brothers | 2000-2003 |
| 4 | The Robertson Brothers | 2004-2006 |
| 5 | Israel Cannan | 2007 |
| 6 | Luke Dolahenty | 2007 - present |
Merchandise
Books & Annuals:
| Name | Release Date/Year | Type Of Annual/Book |
|---|---|---|
| Home and Away Annual | 1989 | Annual |
| Home and Away Special | 1989 | Annual |
| Home and Away Annual | 1990 | Annual |
| Home and Away Special | 1990 | Annual |
| The Official Home and Away Annual | 1992 | Annual |
| Home and Away Annual Authorized Edition | 1992 | Annual |
| Home and Away: Behind The Scenes | 1989 | Book |
| The Frank Morgan Story | 1989 | Book |
| The Carly Morris & Steven Matheson Stories | 1989 | Book |
| The Bobby Simpson Story | 1989 | Book |
| The Matt Wilson Story | 1989 | Book |
| Home and Away: Carly's Crisis | 1989 | Book |
| Home and Away: Bobby & Frank | 1989 | Book |
| Home and Away: 2 In 1 | 1990 | Book |
| Home and Away: Dangerous Ride | 1989 | Book |
| Family Matters | 1990 | Book |
| Home and Away Volume 1: Summer Bay Blues | 1990 | Book |
| Home and Away Volume 2: Scandal At Summer Bay | 1990 | Book |
| Hearts Divided (Novel) | 2003 | Book |
| Dani On Trial | 2004 | Book |
| Prisoner No. 2549971 | 2004 | Book |
| A Place In The Bay | October 2004 | Book |
| The Long Goodbye | November 2004 | Book |
| Mayday | June 2005 | Book |
| Second Chances | September 2005 | Book |
DVD, VHS & Soundtracks:
| Name | Release Date/Year | Type Of Annual/Book |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Home and Away | 1993 | VHS |
| Home and Away: The Official Summer Bay Special | 1996 | VHS |
| Home and Away: Secrets And The City | 2003 | VHS/DVD |
| Home and Away: Hearts Divided | 2003 | VHS/DVD |
| Home and Away: Romances (Includes Pilot Episode) | 2005 | DVD |
| Home and Away: Weddings | 2006 | DVD |
| Home and Away Hits | 2002 | Soundtrack |
| Home and Away Hits 2 | 2003 | Soundtrack |
Other:
| Name | Release Date/Year | Type Of Annual/Book |
|---|---|---|
| Fan Cards | 1988 - present | Cards |
| The Game Of Home and Away | ??? | Board Game |
| Home and Away The Magazine: Issue 1 | 1993 - 1994 | Magazine |
| Home and Away Calendar | 2005 | Calendar |
Awards and accolades
Home and Away has been nominated for, and won numerous awards throughout its twenty year broadcast history. Most notably, the show has won 31 Logie Awards making it the most successful television series in Australian history.
Australian Nominees and awards
Digital Spy Soap Awards
The first set of nominations the UK has nominated for Home and Away 2008 were the Digital Spy Soap awards. Home and Away was up for 12 out of 14 awards- the most in the UK Home and Away has ever been nominated for. However, Home and Away obtained no awards. Here are the categories Home and Away was elected for.
- Best Soap- beaten by Eastenders
- Best Actor- Ray Meagher, (Alf) (nominee)- Beaten by James Sutton, Hollyoaks
- Best Actress- Kate Ritchie, (Sally) (nominee)- Beaten by Jo Joyner, Eastenders
- Best Single Episode- Disaster at Sea, (aired in UK October 2007- the episode where Brad is turned down by Sally, and the boat disappears) - Beaten by Eastenders
- Storyline of the year- Kelli's revenge (nominee)- Beaten by Hollyoaks
- Best on screen Partnership- Martha and Jack (nominee)- Beaten by Eastenders
- Villain of the year- Kelli Vale (nominee)- Beaten by Coronation Street
- Best Newcomer- Jazz Curtis (nominee)- Beaten by Eastenders
- Best child actor- Ed Wills (Rory Tolhurst) (nominee)- Beaten by Hollyoaks
- Sexiest Male- Mark Furze (Ric Dalby) (nominee)- Beaten by Eastenders
- Sexiest Female- Jodi Gordon (Martha) (nominee)- Beaten by Hollyoaks
- Best Exit- Kim Hyde (Chris Hemsworth) (nominee)- Beaten by Hollyoaks
British Soap Awards
Home and Away, for the 7th year (out of 10), has not been nominated for any awards at the British Soap Awards. Fellow Australian soap, Neighbours, was still up for the awards, but they too got dropped in 2005. The reason is because ITV1 is still seething with Five for taking away Home and Away, which used to be the foundation of their daytime audience. Due to this move, ITV1 have had to replace Home and Away with chat-shows such as Jeremy Kyle and Ricki Lake, which attract a significant amount less than what Home and Away was achieving before June 2000, when it began the 13 month move to Five.
Classic showings in the UK
Although, ITV are allowed to show episodes 1-2840 (episodes which aired between January 17, 1988 and May 30, 2000 in Australia), ITV had only decided to play. During the year-long abscense of new episodes during the move, ITV had decided to fill the void with airing 2 episodes per day on sister channel ITV 2, from late 2000, with classic episodes from 1996-7 airing. Home and away on this channel was given a slightly earlier slot than what it had enjoyed on ITV 1 (where it was 1.25pm-1.55pm most days (ITV always aired early as they didn't want a ratings war with Neighbours as the results of Daytime TV were already low) of 1.00pm-2.00pm, 5 days a week. When new episodes recommenced airing on Five on July 16, 2001, ITV 2 had a completely new revised schedule, and had Home and away gradually removed from it by early 2002. Living had then purchased the rights to air the show. However, on both Living and it's timeshift channel, the show was not fareing well in it's mid-morning and mid-afternoon slots (when it was repeated.) (episodes from 1988-1991 were used on this channel and later episodes from 1996-1998), and bosses had decided to put the episodes on at 1.30AM. This had completely dropped numbers even more, as most viewers would be in bed at that time. Living then decided to axe the show, but then in 2003 Teen Channel Trouble had picked it up. It wasn't enjoying the same ratings it was having with classic Hollyoaks episodes, and therefore was ditched in a short amount of time. In 2007, Five Life- (now known as Fiver) began reairing episodes 2841+ (they are not allowed any prior to that as they are still in contract to ITV 1). Episodes ceased airing on December 28, 2007 as with airing 2 episodes per day, it was calculated that within a 3 year timeslot these "classic" episodes would be up-to-date with the present storyline. The episode they finished with was the 2001 season finale. It is not known when the show will be returning, but it is likely to be returning at some stage in 2009 with the 2002 premiere.
Sources and References
- ^ "Home and Away". tvweek.ninemsn.com.au. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 208
- ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 208-9
- ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 231
- ^ "Home and Away". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- ^ "Heath Ledger's autopsy results 10 days away". http://www.news.com.au. Retrieved February 19, 2007.
- ^ "Home And Away single". www.chartstats.com. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
