Home and Away

Home and Away
File:Home and Away Logo.jpg 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
Original language	English
No. of seasons	21 [Current 2008 Season]
No. of episodes	4668 [as of 25th June 2008]
Production
Executive producer	John Holmes
Producer	Cameron Welsh
Running time	22 minutes [Approx.]
Original release
Network	Seven Network
Release	17 January 1988 – present

Home and Away (also commonly abbreviated in writing to H&A) is a Logie Award-winning Australian 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 the most successful television series in Australian history, having won 31 Logie Awards since 1988. It took this title at the 2008 Logie Awards where the show won an impressive four awards.

History

The Surf Club's Outside Eating Area

In 1985 the Seven Network axed the poorly-rating soap Neighbours, 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. The Network worked hard to publicise Neighbours and their hard work was paid off when its popularity grew, by the end of 1987 it was attracting high ratings in Australia.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.

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

Main article: List of Home and Away characters

Current cast members

Main article: List of current Home and Away characters

Actor	Character	Duration
Esther Anderson	Charlie Buckton	2008-
Charlotte Best	Annie Campbell	2007-
Rebecca Breeds	Ruby Buckton	2008-
Conrad Coleby	Roman Harris	2007-
Lyn Collingwood	Colleen Stewart	1988-1989, 1997, 1999-
Indiana Evans	Matilda Hunter	2004-2008
Mark Furze	Ric Dalby	2004-2008
Jodi Gordon	Martha Mackenzie	2005-
Tessa James	Nicole Franklin	2008-
Todd Lasance	Aden Jefferies	2005-
Lincoln Lewis	Geoff Campbell	2007-
Amy Mathews	Dr. Rachel Armstrong	2006-
Lynne McGranger	Irene Roberts	1992-
Ray Meagher	Alf Stewart	1988-
Ada Nicodemou	Leah Patterson-Baker	2000-
Paul O'Brien	Jack Holden	2005-
Jordan Rodrigues	Jai Fernandez	2008-
Jon Sivewright	Tony Holden	2005-
Josh Quong Tart	Miles Copeland	2007-
Jessica Tovey	Belle Taylor	2006-

Recurring cast members

Main article: Recurring characters of Home and Away

Actor	Character
Bob Baines	Martin Bartlett
Trent Dalzell	Axel Hay
Oliver Davis	Oliver Phillips
Felix Dean	V.J. Patterson
Celeste Dodwell	Melody Jones
David Downer	Ross Buckton
Cornelia Frances	Morag Bellingham
Rebecca George	Const. Lara Fitzgerald
Paul Gleeson	Larry Jefferies
Christie Hayes	Kirsty Phillips
Lisa Hayson-Phillips	Nurse Julie Cooper

Notable former cast members

Actor	Role	Duration
Simon Baker	James Healey	1994
Chris Egan	Nick Smith	2000-2003
Isla Fisher	Shannon Reed	1994-1997
Melissa George	Angel Parrish	1993-1996
Daniel Goddard	Eric Phillips	1994-1995
Bec Hewitt	Hayley Lawson (#1)	1998-2005
Heath Ledger	Scott Irwin	1997 (guest)
Justin Melvey	Harry Reynolds	1999-2001
Tammin Sursok	Dani Sutherland	2000-2004
Naomi Watts	Julie Gibson	1991
Kate Ritchie	Sally Fletcher

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

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

Jodi Gordon and Ben Guernens during filming

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). It is unknown whether the Bejing 2008 Olympics in China will continue with this tradition or change it. Continuing is quite possible, because when the show airs in Australia, it is 5.00pm in Bejing, meaning that the olympics is more than likely to be be playing at that time. However, as well as a possible break off, it is also possible that the schedule may change, and Home and Away may temporarily air in a different slot for the duration of the Olympics, before returning to it's normal slot thereafter. 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 began 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.

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 4346 which aired in Australia on 5 February 2007 and in the UK on April 20 2007.

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 1 WEEK period beginning June 9 and ending on June 13. This is due to a European football tournament known as Euro 2008. Episodes will resume on June 16 and at that stage be just under a fortnight behind episodes airing on Five. Five will not be taking the show of the air 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.

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 11am the following morning, and a week's worth of omnibus from 10:15am on Sunday). Current New Zealand episodes are 6 weeks (30 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

• Template:Fnb Timeshifted by an hour on Fiver+1
• Template:Fnb Times vary

Home and Away first appeared on British Screens on ITV (now known as ITV1) in 1989. It remained on the channel for the first 11 and a half years of its British history, showing episodes 1-2840. The last episode on ITV aired on Thursday June 8, 2000.

Five, the BBC and Channel 4 were at a table meeting in February 2000 to discuss the future of the show on British television. The show's contract with ITV ended four months after this discussion because they had been outbid by Five, who subsequently acquired Neighbours, from the BBC, seven years later.

The Hiatus had began at 5.35pm on Thursday June 8, 2000 after episode 2840 had finished its daily repeat. At the time, ITV were 9 episodes behind Australia, hence the reason for the regular breaks at Christmas and Easter. The Hiatus had finished at 6.01pm on the evening of Monday July 16, 2001 when Five had began showing episode 2841.

Episodes were broadcast 50 weeks (250 episodes) behind the Seven Network, where episode 3091 had been shown that day. As there was a two-week break in Australia for the 2000 Summer Olympics and a seven-week break the following Christmas and New Year, the episodes broadcast in the UK were 59 weeks behind their original airing date. Each episode was repeated on Five the following day at 12.30pm, although this later changed to 12pm.

There have only been 14 instances when the show hasn't been shown on Five. In order to catch up with Australia, it was broadcast on Five every weekday (including during the Christmas and New Year period) for 303 consecutive weeks from Monday July 16, 2001 (episode 2841) until Friday May 4, 2007 (episode 4355). Subsequently, it hasn't been shown on Bank Holidays or during the Christmas and New Year period.

No episodes were shown on the following dates:

2007: Monday May 7; Monday May 28; Monday August 27; Monday December 24; Tuesday December 25; Wednesday December 26; Thursday December 27; Friday December 28; Monday December 31.

2008: Tuesday January 1; Friday March 21; Monday March 24; Monday May 5; Monday May 26.

Home and Away was first shown on Five Life (now Fiver) on Monday October 16 2006, the day after the channel's launch. It began with episode 4212, which was first shown on Five the following day and repeated the day after. This episode was shown in Australia on Tuesday June 20, 2006. By this time, Five was 85 episodes (17 weeks) behind Australia, whilst Five Life (now Fiver) was 84 episodes behind.

The final lunchtime repeat, to be broadcast on Five, was on Friday February 8, 2008. The following episode, shown later that day in the 6pm teatime slot, was only broadcast once. When Five began showing Neighbours on Monday February 11, 2008, the lunchtime episode changed its timeslot from 12pm to 2.15pm and it was the first of the episode's two daily transmissions on Five. The repeat was shown in the teatime timeslot for the first time later that day at 6pm.

Episodes currently being shown on Five and Fiver in the UK and are approximately six weeks behind Australia with Five 29 episodes behind and Fiver 28 episodes behind. If these breaks in transmission had not occurred, Five would be only 15 episodes behind (3 weeks) and Fiver 14 episodes behind. The reason why Five has had these breaks is so viewers don't have to wait too long for the 2009 season.

According to a BBC news report found in July 17, 2001, the return of Home and Away had given Five its best audience to date at the time.

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

Indiana Evans, Mark Furze and the crew during filming

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. 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

Main article: List of Home and Away awards

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.

Surf Club Sign

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 absence of new episodes during the move, ITV had decided to fill the void by 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

• IMDb page