Homeandawayfan.

Emmerdale has so many one dimensional characters in it who are totally unlikeable. Some think they are multi layered and just misunderstood. Nothing to misunderstand about a violet thug like Ross Barton. And Cain Dingle is a highly one dimensional charmless man. Jai, Rachel, Laurel, Moira, Debbie and Charity, there is no character to them, they are just plain one dimensional characters who think of No 1. Yet Val Pollard and Diane Sugden and even Chas have more layers to them.

2005-2008 did see a much more faster and sensational show but was Shakespeare compared to the past 3 or 4 years.

1988, the arrival year, full of exotic locations and the bedding in of the regulars. 1989-1990 The Minogue and McMahon era. 1991-1993 The Dean, Roberts and Ross era. 1993-1994 The Tug, Damo, Shane, Shara and Angel era. 1995-1996 the Shane and Angel swan song era. Also the Rob and Roxy and Donna era. 1997-1999 The first meh period for the show, a pretty dull era for H&A. 2000 The rejuvenation of H&A, The introduction of the Sutherlands and Leah. 2001-2004, a fab era, Sutherlands, Hunters and Leah and Vinnie. 2005-2007, the Kane, Martha, Lucas and Mattie era. 2008-2010 the Martha MacKenzie era continues. 2011-present the Braxton era. 2012-Continuation of the Braxton era and the meh period settling in. Lets hope 2015-2016 marks a new era for the show.

While Brax is a criminal, I would not call him evil, a psychopath. He is always there for his family. I dont say he is misunderstood but is not a totally one dimensional villain, he does care for his family. Same goes for Casey and Heath and Kyle. There are only a few H&A villains that can be seen as psychopaths. Perez, Ailsa's attacker.

Ross acts hard but comes across as a wimp when challenged, begging for mercy off Charlie, and doing the same with Pete.

It does seem one here there seems to be a Braxton Lovers vs Braxton Dislikers/Haters. They would be a lot better if they were written better and had not taken over the show like they did.

I always respect others opinions but H&A cannot rely on the prospect of bringing back characters within a year of their departure. Brax ran his course when Casey died, I feel he should have left then. I agree with LOTB that Peacocke may just be saying he may return to keep his fans happy. Why over egg the pudding? Brax has run his course and the family have had their time in H&A. When Shane died of an infection in 1996 Angel left as she came to a natural end. The Fletchers, Nashes, Sutherlands etc were likeable and compelling whereas the Braxtons are like Ronnie and Reggie Kray, career criminals. Since 2011, as much as some may sugar coat it H&A has turned into The Braxton Show. Lucy Addario's view is that if you are not a Braxton fan you can go and whistle. When fans complain she says "Well H&A has to move on and many want the crime stories". Yet she is the same era as me I think and I started watching a quarter of a century ago. LOTB, myself and Cadyctslover (plus some other BTTB viewers) dont moan for the sake of it, we moan because we care about H&A. And Cadyctslover did say a while ago that Lucy Addario has overtaken Susan Bower in showing the most contempt to fans and I am 100% in agreement.

I have just read that Steve Peacocke has not ruled out a return to the show. God help us. Why cant the door be slammed shut and bolted and the key thrown away forever? I hope he makes it big in Hollywood just so the Braxton knuckle heads as Alf calls them do not darken the doorstep of Summer Bay again.

In July 1988 Alan Fisher copied his dads signature for a scam to get his dad sacked and if you look you can see Donald signed his name as D M Fisher. This means he had a middle name. I like middle names as an initial, gives you a guess as to whether the middle name was embarrassing such as Marlon or Melvin.

Oh so there has been other refs to Alf's age. He was 45 in April 1988, and turned 60 in 2005 but in late 1993, Shane looked at his police records which gave his DOB as 16th January 1943. That would tie in with his age he gave in 1988 so the continuity was there until they magically made him 60 for the 4000th episode in July 2005. This means originally Alf was 2 years older than Don and Barbara and 4 years older than Tom Fletcher. I love refs to characters ages and middle names even if occasionally they may not tally.

I think this great guest character deserves her own thread. She should have been made a regular. Alison appeared from 19 Feb 1988 to February 1989 and was quite bitchy. I think her appearances became more frequent in the second half of 1988. I think Emma Jackson, Hannah Wilson and Sasha Bezmel remind me of Alison in looks. I love watching the catfights between Alison and Bobby.

I think it is time for the current producer Kate Oates to stand down from her role. She has introduced even racier storylines, more disasters, psychos, more vulgarity, and personality changes. She was rubbish on Crossroads Mark 2 in 2003. Women producers tend to prefer the aforementioned storyline formats over male producers (Susan Bower and Lucy Addario lol).

The mentions of characters toilet activities of Emmerdale characters is quite unnecessary I think for a 7pm show. And they can be quite detailed as well such as Carly Hope mentioning she did a pee in a field and Bernice saying she was having to pick through Gabby's No 2 (she actually said the 3 letter p word) when finding if she had swallowed an earring.

I still watch EastEnders but get a bit tired of this "Wannabe King" Phil Mitchell fiasco. He would not survive 5 minutes in the real East End, I suppose neither would have Den Watts or Nick Cotton. Alf Stewart is the King of Summer Bay as the descendant of the founding family but he is likeable even if he does blow his stack at times. Mitchell is charmless and talks to everyone like dirt.

I always thought the new SBH was a new location away from Kenthurst, or at least the original location in Kenthurst, but it is apparently the exact same spot the previous SBH stood, am I correct?

Also now the house has returned on screen in the UK, I have noticed the house seems more open at the front, the trees were much closer to the front in the old set and now they are further back, the driveway seems bigger. Then again the geography of Summer Bay as a whole has never made total sense.

It is just good to have the exterior of the iconic house back, even if there are one or two modifications. In the series fiction this can be down to a refurb. I am rewatching 1988 again and in Episode 175 in September 1988, Bobby said goodbye to Ailsa and it looks similar to the Rozelle area of Sydney where they have filmed on occasions before. Can anyone confirm this? I could see skyscrapers in the background. Was it Sydney or Melbourne, as they did film a brief scene in Melbourne around the same time involving Roo Stewart in an episode shown in late Sep 1988.

I find Oscar a very dull and boring character TBH.

In the first few months, Fisher was deffo very one dimensional and a villain. He tried to stop Tom getting a job, harassed Bobby, tried to get Nico locked up and was generally insulting esp to Tom about his Vietnam days. But he mellowed when Alan Fisher died.

So glad that the exterior of Summer Bay House is returning to the show. Nice replica as well even if not an exact one.

Actor and character ages can vary in years. Morag is about 6 or 7 years younger than Cornelia. I always feel Morag looked the age the actress was when she first appeared in 1988, 47 if Cornelia was born 1941. I did read once that Morag was born in 1948 making her 40 in 1988 but as discussed on the Neighbours forum, lots of people aged 40 dressed and acted like they were 50. Madge in Neighbours was 43 in 1986 but looked about 50.

Andy Barrett, clearly the worst character in Home And Away history. And I thought Sophie Simpson was bad lol.

I think the current producer of Emmerdale, Kate Oates, is not really up for the job. She has introduced a lot of unnecessary innuendo to the show and made many characters unlikeable such as Robert, Ross, Kezzaman Wyatt, Marloon Dingle etc. I find Ross is the most loathsome and unbearable character in the show.

I am watching 1988 and am up to episode 91 now, so have watched over 4 months worth of the first season again. And it has made me realise how much more modern and exciting it was in content than Neighbours at the time.

Yes the show had character issues even back then in the golden eras of the show but compared to the past 2 or 3 years the characterisation was much better. I think 1993 and 1994 were 2 of the best years in the show ever. 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003 and 2005 are my faves. Hardly any atrocious harsh background music in 1993 H&A.