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Home and Away

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Home and Away
File:Home and Away Logo.jpg
2009 title card
GenreSoap opera
Created byAlan Bateman
StarringSee cast
Opening themeHome and Away (Short Theme) - Luke Dolahenty & Tarryn Stokes
Ending themeHome and Away - Luke Dolahenty & Tarryn Stokes
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons22 [2009 Season]
No. of episodes4776
[as of 26 January 2009]
Production
Executive producerJohn Holmes
Production locationPalm Beach, New South Wales
Running time22 minutes [Approx.]
Original release
NetworkSeven Network
Release17 January 1988 –
present

Home and Away (also commonly abbreviated in writing to H&A) is a Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera that has been 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, next to Neighbours which began in 1985. It is also the most-awarded television series in Australian history, having won 31 Logie Awards since 1988.

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.

History

The Surf Club's Outside Eating Area

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.

Cast

Current cast members

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 (recurring), 1997 (guest), 1999-
Bernard Curry Hugo Austin 2009-
Jodi Gordon Martha Holden 2005-
Luke Jacobz Angelo Rosetta 2008-
Tessa James Nicole Franklin 2008-
Todd Lasance Aden Jefferies 2005 (recurring), 2007-
Lincoln Lewis Geoff Campbell 2007-
Amy Mathews Rachel Armstrong 2006-
Lynne McGranger Irene Roberts 1992-
Ray Meagher Alf Stewart 1988-
Ada Nicodemou Leah Patterson-Baker 2000-
David Jones Roberts Xavier Austin 2008-
Jordan Rodrigues Jai Fernandez 2008-
Jon Sivewright Tony Holden 2005-
Josh Quong Tart Miles Copeland 2007-
Sonia Todd Gina Austin 2009-
Jessica Tovey Belle Taylor 2006-

Recurring cast members

Actor Character
Jaclyn Albergoni Const. Watson
Sam Atwell Kane Phillips
Bob Baines Martin Bartlett
Oliver Davis Oliver Phillips
Kieran Darcy-Smith Tim Coleman
Felix Dean V.J. Patterson
Celeste Dodwell Melody Jones
Christie Hayes Kirsty Phillips
Lisa Hayson-Phillips Nurse Julie Cooper
Maria Matteo Nurse Gloria
Ross Pirrelli Matthew Lyons
Joy Smithers Bridget Simmons

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
Chris Hemsworth Kim Hyde 2004-2007
Martin Henderson Geoff Thomas 1996
Stephanie Jacobsen Charlotte Adams 2001-2002
Ryan Kwanten Vinnie Patterson 1997-2002
Heath Ledger Scott Irwin 1997
Isabel Lucas Tasha Andrews 2004-2006
Julian McMahon Ben Lucini 1990-1991
Justin Melvey Harry Reynolds 1999-2001
Dannii Minogue Emma Jackson 1989-1990
Guy Pearce David Croft 1991-1992
Tammin Sursok Dani Sutherland 2000-2004
Sharni Vinson Cassie Turner 2004-2008
Naomi Watts Julie Gibson 1991
Kristy Wright Chloe Richards 1995-1999, 2005

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 [5]

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.

Jodi Gordon and Ben Guernens during filming

Home and Away is broadcast in Australia on weekdays at 19:00. 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 usually airs on the last Friday of November. The 2008 season (which started and will end two weeks later than usual) began on 28 January with episode 4561 and will end on November 28 with episode 4770. The show rates 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 over 2 million.

During the 2004 Olympics, there was a 17-day gap beginning after episode 3805 on Friday 13 August 2004 until Monday 30 August 2004 when episode 3806 had aired. The same is to be said for the 2008 Olympics, with the 18-day gap beginning after episode 4700 on Thursday 7 August 2008. Just like with the 2004 Olympic cliffhanger, in which a character was killed off, there was a cliffhanger of a similar sort in 2008.

 France on NT1

In France, The show is not referred to as Home and away, but is referred to as Summer Bay. The Digital network NT1 has been showing episodes from Monday 4 September 2006. It is unclear how far behind they are, but it is thought that episodes currently airing are running at a similar pace to those airing in  Belgium at the moment. The timeslot is currently afternoon/evening.

 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 18:30 but since January 2008 airs twice a day; currently each 25 minute episode first shows at 17:55 and is repeated the next day about 13:30.

The next episode scheduled to run is episode 4346 which aired in Australia on 5 February 2007 and in the UK on 20 April 2007.

In Ireland, the national state broadcaster, RTÉ, has shown the programme since its inception.

The show airs every day of the week but there are no new episodes on Saturdays or Sundays. New episodes air at 13:25 weekdays, but on special occasions such as Christmas, episodes have been known to start airing as early as 11:15. An Omnibus is played over two days (Sat & Sun). The show has consistently been RTÉ's most popular televised drama, regularly topping the ratings over the past 21 years.

The 2009 Season Premiere will screen in Ireland on Tuesday, February 3 at 13:25 on RTÉ One. Due to the UK's Five having the rights to premiere the show in Europe, it cannot be shown on RTÉ when it is not shown on Five.

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 society's biggest achievements was meeting Ray Meagher who plays one of Summer Bay's most important residents, Alf Stewart.[citation needed]

RTÉ are 11 episodes behind Australia.

Episodes of Home and Away currently screen in New Zealand on TV3 weekdays at 17:30 (with replays on 12:30 the following afternoon, and a week's worth of omnibus from 10:40 on Sunday, with only one or two advertisements from 10:40 to noon). Current New Zealand episodes are exactly 4 weeks (20 episodes) behind Australia.

The 2009 season (Season 22) will premiere in New Zealand on Monday February 16, 2009.

Home and away has been aired on TV3 Norge and TV2 Norway since 1994. TV3 Norway started to screen the series, but they chose not to show the series from the beginning but instead jumped right into action to the year 1993, just before Bobby's tragic death. After a year TV2 Norway took over. They showed the series from when Shannon and Curtis came to Summer Bay in 1994 and aired every weekday at 15:40. Currently screened on TV2 Norway weekdays at 15:40 (with replays on 12:30 the day after). Norway are exactly 2 years behind Australia.

Five and Fiver's current schedule:

Day Five Fiver Five Fiver
5:35-6:00 7:35-8:00 10:30-11:00 12:00noon-14:15 14:15-14:50 18:00-18:30 18:30-19:00
Monday No Episode E E No Episode A A B
Tuesday A A A No Episode B B C
Wednesday B B B No Episode C C D
Thursday C C C No Episode D D E
Friday D D D No Episode E E A
Saturday E No Episode F No Episode
Sunday No episodes (new or old)

* NOTE: F is the omnibus compiled of Fiver's 6.30pm Monday-Friday episodes. The omnibus runs for about 1 hour 45 minutes, with the rest of the slot being filled up with advertisements.

Home and Away first appeared on British television on Saturday, February 11, 1989. It was broadcast on ITV 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. At the time, ITV were 9 episodes behind Australia, hence the reason for the regular breaks at Christmas and Easter.

Five acquired the rights to broadcast the show in February 2000, four months before the contract with ITV ended. However, a clause in ITV's original contract meant the network could delay transmission by another broadcaster for around a year. It finally returned to British television at 6pm on Monday, July 16, 2001 with episode 2841 and, at the time, gave Five one of its best audiences to date.[6]

Episodes at this stage were broadcast exactly 50 weeks (250 episodes) behind the Seven Network, where episode 4591 had been shown on the day of the show's return to British television. 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 exactly 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 when Five's other soap, Family Affairs, was dropped from its schedule after a fall in ratings.

There have only been 30 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 16 July 2001 (episode 2841) until 4 May 2007 (episode 4355). Subsequently, it hasn't been shown on Bank Holidays or during the Christmas and New Year period as well as taking a summer break during August 2008.

No episodes were shown on the following dates:

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

2008: Tuesday 1 January; Friday 21 March; Monday 24 March; Monday 5 May; Monday 26 May; Monday 4 August-Monday 25 August; Monday 22 December-Wednesday 31 December.

2009: Thursday 1 January; Friday 2 January.

* Note 1: The reason why the show took its first summer break of three weeks (the same as in New Zealand) is because the production team took that amount of time off filming for their summer (winter in Australia & New Zealand) break.

* Note 2: The programme will not be shown between Monday, December 22, 2008 and Friday, January 2, 2009 to avoid loss of viewers over the Christmas period.

* Note 3: Due to the unexpected success of the early morning slot on Five at 5.35am from Tuesday to Saturday, Home and away is now repeated on Fiver in a breakfast time slot of 7.35am on weekday mornings. Both programmes run for 25 minutes.

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 had been shown in Australia on Tuesday, June 20, 2006. By this time, Five was 85 episodes (exactly 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.

Home and Away is currently sponsored by Ragú in the United Kingdom, Alan Dale is the voice of the sponsor whose famous for the role of Jim Robinson in rival soap Neighbours between 1985 and 1993.

From Monday October 27 2008 all episodes on Fiver have had an extra advertisement break inserted. The 18:30 episode starts at 18:28 and used to finish at 18:54 instead of its projected time of 19:00. This has now prompted Fiver to add in additional commercial breaks (akin to Australian screenings) which run from18:35-18:40 and 18:52-18:55. This is not happening with episodes on Five, but is exactly the same process all reruns of Neighbours, and Home and Away are going through.

Home and Away returned to UK screens on Monday 5 January 2009, with the remaining 4 weeks' episodes from 2008. The official UK Season 22 premiere will be between Friday 30 January 2009 (on digital television) and Monday 2 February (on analogue television), resulting in the UK being only two weeks behind Australian broadcasts (based on the broadcasts on Five).

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. However, due to intentional competition with other afternoon soaps such as The Bold and The Beautiful and Days of our Lives, both Home And Away and Neighbours were taken off the schedule.

Due to phenomenal public demand, Canadian television networks are locked in a battle for current broadcasting rights of the show. 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 re-launch 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).

On 5 January 2009 Home And Away started to air on Net 5 in the Netherlands. It is shown twice a day at 14.30 and 18.30. The show started at the same day as Out of the Blue (2008 TV series) which is show on Net 5 at 14.00.

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.[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.

The Home and Away theme is also used as an instrumental underscore on special occasions. It was last used during Sally's final scene and was heard several times throughout the storyline (most notably Sally and Flynn's wedding).

In 2009 the show debuted with a revamped opening and closing theme; however, for timing reasons the lyrics have been shortened slightly and the tune now runs at around 15 seconds. The theme has returned to a male/female duet, after eight years of male group/solo singers. As it is much shorter, the theme will once again play at the start of every episode. From June 06-Nov 08 the opening titles were played on a completely random basis, depending on the episodes' length. The theme is accompanied by the show's first set of castless opening titles. The design of the titles is that of a collage, made up from many pictures of Palm Beach, the location used as 'Summer Bay'.

Version Artist Duration
1 Mark Williams & Karen Boddington 1988 - 1994
2 Doug Williams & Erana Clark 1994 - 1999
3 The Robertson Brothers 1999 - 2003
4 The Robertson Brothers 2004 - 2006
5 Israel Cannan January - April 2007
6 Luke Dolahenty April 2007 - 2008
7 Luke Dolahenty & Tarryn Stokes 2009 -

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
Home and Away Annual 20 Years January 2009 Annual

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.

Surf Club Sign

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 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
  • 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.

Classic showings in the UK

Although, ITV are allowed to show episodes 1-2840 (episodes which aired between 17 January 1988 and 30 May 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 16 July 2001, ITV 2 had a completely new revised schedule, and had Home and away gradually removed from it by early 2002. Living, who had been airing the show since early 1999, 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 its 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 28 December 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.

References

  1. ^ "Home and Away". tvweek.ninemsn.com.au. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  2. ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 208
  3. ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 208-9
  4. ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 231
  5. ^ "Heath Ledger's autopsy results 10 days away". http://www.news.com.au. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  6. ^ "Home and Away boosts ratings". http://www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  7. ^ "Home And Away single". www.chartstats.com. Retrieved 31 October 2007.

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