Home and Away
| Home and Away | |
|---|---|
| File:Home and Away 2010Logo.jpg 2010 title card | |
| Genre | Soap Opera |
| Created by | Alan Bateman |
| Directed by | David Gould |
| Starring | See cast |
| Opening theme | Home and Away (Short Theme) – Luke Dolahenty & Tarryn Stokes |
| Ending theme | Home and Away – Luke Dolahenty & Tarryn Stokes |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 22 |
| No. of episodes | 5060 (as of 23rd April 2010) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | John Holmes |
| Production location | Palm Beach, New South Wales / Sydney, New South Wales (1988–) |
| Running time | 22 minutes [Approx.] |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network |
| Release | 17 January 1988 – present |
Home and Away is a Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered in January 1988 and is the second longest-running drama on Australian television, winning more than 30 Logie Awards.[1]
The show initially focused on the characters of Pippa (Vanessa Downing/Debra Lawrance) and Tom Fletcher (Roger Oakley), who ran the Summer Bay Caravan Park and lived there with a succession of foster children, most notably their adopted daughter Sally, played by Kate Ritchie.
History
In 1985 the Seven Network cancelled the poorly rating soap Neighbours,[2] 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.[3] The Network worked hard to publicise Neighbours.[4] The publicity helped increase the show's popularity and by the end of 1987 it was attracting high ratings in Australia.[5]
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.[6]
When the show began in 1988 it focused on Tom Fletcher and his wife, Pippa.[6] They had four foster children, Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lyn Davenport, and an adopted daughter, Sally Fletcher. They soon fostered Bobby Simpson, a local tearaway, much to the annoyance of Donald Fisher. They bought the caravan park and quickly built strong friendships with the locals, Ailsa Stewart, Alf Stewart, and Neville and Floss McPhee.
Home and Away celebrated its twenty-first year in production with a celebration in Sydney on 23 July 2009.[1] Cast members were presented with the key to Palm Beach by the mayor of Sydney's Pittwater Council, where the show is filmed.[1]
Cast
Main cast members
- List of past Home and Away characters
- List of current Home and Away characters
- List of Home and Away characters
| Actor | Character | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Meagher | Alf Stewart | 1988– |
| Jodi Gordon | Martha MacKenzie Holden | 1988, 2005– |
| Lyn Collingwood | Colleen Smart | 1988–1989, 1997, 1999– |
| Emily Symons | Marilyn Fisher | 1989–1992, 1995–1999, 2001, 2010– |
| Lynne McGranger | Irene Roberts | 1992– |
| Ada Nicodemou | Leah Patterson-Baker | 2000– |
| Todd Lasance | Aden Jefferies | 2005, 2007– |
| Jon Sivewright | Tony Holden | 2005– |
| Amy Mathews | Rachel Armstrong | 2006– |
| Charlotte Best | Annie Campbell | 2007– |
| Josh Quong Tart | Miles Copeland | 2007– |
| Felix Dean | VJ Patterson | 2007– |
| Tessa James | Nicole Franklin | 2008– |
| Esther Anderson | Charlie Buckton | 2008– |
| Rebecca Breeds | Ruby Buckton | 2008– |
| Luke Jacobz | Angelo Rosetta | 2008– |
| David Jones-Roberts | Xavier Austin | 2008– |
| Sonia Todd | Gina Austin | 2009– |
| Axle Whitehead | Liam Murphy | 2009– |
| Luke Mitchell | Romeo Smith | 2009– |
Notable former cast members
Notable former cast members include Heath Ledger (Scott Irwin), Isla Fisher (Shannon Reed), Melissa George (Angel Parrish), Julian McMahon (Ben Lucini), Dannii Minogue (Emma Jackson), Simon Baker (James Healy), Guy Pearce (David Croft) and Naomi Watts.[7] According to Kip Gamblin (Scott Hunter, 2003–2005), "the acting apprenticeship so many had received on the set of Home and Away had paved the way for their success."[7]
Production
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.
Production team
Broadcasts and viewership
 |
Australia
Home and Away is broadcast in Australia on weekdays at 19:00 on 7. The show rates well and is often the highest rating programme in its time slot, usually receiving between 1 and 1.4 million viewers per episode (nightly).[8]
Home and Away 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 ended two weeks later than usual) began on 28 January with episode 4561 and ended on 28 November with episode 4770.[why?][9]
The 2009 season (season 21) began with episode 4771 on Monday, 19 January 2009 and included a mystery that was built-up throughout the season, leading to the traditional end of season cliffhanger at the end of the last episode (episode 4995) of the season which was on Friday, 27 November 2009.
In November 2009, Channel Seven utilised their new Digital TV channel 7TWO to start showing repeat episodes of the show from the start, beginning with the pilot episode. These episodes are shown weekdays at 9.30am. All five shows from the past week are shown Saturdays at 4:00pm on 7TWO. The series had previously been repeated from 1999 to 2001 on Prime.
Home And Away returned to Australian screens on 25 January 2010 with the season 22 premiere (episode 4996) after a longer than usual eight-week season break.
France
The digital network NT1 commenced airing episodes on Monday 4 September 2006. The series is titled Summer Bay in France.
Belgium
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 October 2007. 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. Episodes airing currently are thought to be those that aired in Australia in November 2007. Belgium will begin airing episodes from 2008 in June 2009.
Ireland
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 on RTÉ One, but on special occasions such as Christmas, episodes have been known to start airing as early as 11:15. An encore presentation is screened on RTÉ Two weekdays at 18:30 with an omnibus played over two days (Saturday and Sunday). The show has consistently been RTÉ TWO's most popular televised drama, regularly topping the ratings over the past 21 years. (Average ratings for the show are in the region of 250,000 viewers, with 130,000 for the RTÉ ONE lunchtime showing.)
The 2009 season premiere aired in Ireland on Tuesday, 3 February 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.
RTÉ's showings are currently 6 episodes behind Australia's.[when?]
New Zealand
Home and Away airs weekdays at 5:30pm on TV3. The previous day's episode airs the following afternoon at 12:30pm, with the exception of Friday's episode, which airs the following Monday afternoon. An omnibus also airs on Sunday mornings, which includes all of the week's episodes, at 10:40am. New Zealand were the first country, besides Australia to broadcast Home and Away, beginning six months after the show first aired in 1988.
United Kingdom
Home and Away debuted on British television on Saturday, 11 February 1989. It was broadcast on ITV for 11 and a half years, episodes 1–2840. The last episode on ITV aired on Thursday 8 June 2000. At the time, ITV were nine episodes behind Australia, therefore there were regular breaks at Christmas and Easter.
After a delay in screeing Home and Away made its début on Five on Monday 16 July 2001. At this point, there were still 24 weeks worth of episodes from 2000 to air. The night before the first episode premiered on Five on Sunday 15 July 2001, a new hour-long special recapped events from when screenings stopped, and previewed upcoming stories. Episodes screened on Five at 6 p.m. weeknights with a re-run at 12.30 p.m. (until 30 December 2005) and then noon (from 3 January 2006–8 February 2008). When Five picked up Neighbours the re-run slot was moved to the 6.00pm slot and the episodes now have their first airing on the channel on weekdays at 2.15 p.m. In the event of a football match, Home and Away will air one of its slots (the 2.15 p.m. one normally) and then do two repeats the following night from 6.00 p.m.-7.00 p.m.
Home and Away was first shown on Five Life (now Fiver) on Monday, 16 October 2006, the day after the channel's launch. Home and Away is no longer sponsored by Ragú in the United Kingdom. On 2 June, appliance rental retailer BrightHouse became the new sponsor.
The 2009 season premiered in the UK on Fiver on Friday 30 January 2009, followed by Five on Monday 2 February 2009. At the start of the 2009 season Fiver was 1 week and 4 days worth of episodes (9 episodes) behind Australia while Five was exactly 2 weeks (10 episodes) behind Australia. For the first time in ten years, this meant that the UK was ahead of New Zealand by a fortnight. The last time this had occurred was in 1999, a year prior to the year-long break in the UK. The gap between the Australian & UK broadcasts later extended due to Five & Fiver taking breaks during the summer and Christmas holiday period to prevent the UK from "over taking" the show's Australian broadcasts.
The 2010 season (season 22) is set to premiere in the UK on Fiver in their "First Chance" slot at 18:30 on Friday 29 January 2010, just four days after the season premiere in Australia. Season 22 will then begin on Five on Monday at 14:15. These episodes broadcast on Five will be just five episodes behind the Australian broadcasts.
Elsewhere
During the 1990s, Home And Away was a runaway hit in Canada (while airing on YTV). 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.
In Cyprus the show was first shown on CyBC 2 from September 1992 until March 1999 when it was cancelled.
In Norway the show airs on weekdays on TV2 at 2.30 pm. The channel is currently airing the newest season.
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.[10] 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. John Holmes, executive producer of Home and Away, explained the erosion of theme music in 2007. He said, "That's been a casualty of the accelerated flow which is the abolition of opening credits and having our closing credits condensed to such an extent that they are put on the screen at the same time as we are promoting the next episode."[11]
The 2007–2008 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 programmes 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 the early years, it was used for commercial break bumpers.
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 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 2006 to November 2008, 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. As of 2010, the opening theme is yet to be played.
| Version | Artist | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karen Boddington & Mark Williams | 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 – |
Controversies
In March 2009, it was alleged that the Seven Network agreed to censor a scene with a lesbian kiss, after pressure from religious groups.[12] This action was publicly condemned by several parties, including media commentator David Knox and award-winning novelist Jack Heath. Heath was quoted as saying "Imagine they decided to feature a black actor in an upcoming episode. And then the Ku Klux Klan started yelling about protecting the children. Would the network be justified in cutting all the scenes with the black actor? Of course not. Because the KKK doesn't represent the general population — they're just good at making noise."[13] Bevan Lee, Seven Network's Head Of Creative Drama, later denied the censorship allegations, calling it a media beat up.[14]
In July, 2009, a former Home and Away actor, Bryan Wiseman, wrote in The Sunday Telegraph alleging a culture of drug and alcohol abuse among the younger members of the cast.[15] The allegations followed incidents involving cast-members Lincoln Lewis and Jodi Gordon. Lewis was "disciplined" by Channel Seven after it became public that he had filmed himself and a "starlet" engaged in a sexual act and then shown the film to Home and Away colleagues.[16] Gordon and a male friend reported to police that they had seen, on a security camera, men armed with guns in the backyard of the friend's home.[17] No men were found and the pair later admitted to police that they had consumed drugs during the day. No charges were laid.[18]
Other media
Books and magazines
| Name | Release Date/Year | Publisher | Author | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home and Away Annual | 1989 | |||
| Home and Away Special | 1989 | |||
| Home and Away Annual | 1990 | |||
| Home and Away Special | 1990 | |||
| The Official Home and Away Annual | 1992 | |||
| Home and Away Annual Authorized Edition | 1992 | |||
| Home and Away: Behind The Scenes | 1989 | |||
| The Frank Morgan Story | 1989 | |||
| The Carly Morris & Steven Matheson Stories | 1989 | |||
| The Bobby Simpson Story | 1989 | |||
| The Matt Wilson Story | 1989 | |||
| Home and Away: Carly's Crisis | 1989 | |||
| Home and Away: Bobby & Frank | 1989 | |||
| Home and Away: 2 In 1 | 1990 | |||
| Home and Away: Dangerous Ride | 1989 | |||
| Family Matters | 1990 | |||
| Home and Away Volume 1: Summer Bay Blues | 1990 | |||
| Home and Away Volume 2: Scandal At Summer Bay | 1990 | |||
| Home and Away: Hearts Divided[19] | 2003 | Pan Australia | Leon F Saunders | ISBN 9780330364614 |
| Home and Away: Dani On Trial[20] | 2004 | Leon F Saunders | ISBN 0330364952 | |
| Home and Away: Prisoner No. 2549971 [21] | 2004 | Pan Macmillan | Leon F Saunders | ISBN 978-0-330-36496-6 |
| A Place In The Bay | October 2004 | |||
| The Long Goodbye | November 2004 | |||
| Mayday | June 2005 | |||
| Second Chances | September 2005 | |||
| Home and Away: Celebrating 21 Years (Official collector's edition)[22] | January 2009 | Pacific Magazines |
DVD, VHS & soundtracks
| Name | Release Date/Year | Type Of Annual/Book |
|---|---|---|
| Home and Away: The Movie (Original Pilot Episode) | 1989 | VHS |
| Classic Home and Away | 1993 | VHS |
| Home and Away: The Official Summer Bay Special | 1996 | VHS |
| Home and Away: Secrets And The City[23] | 2002 | 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: The Sounds of Summer Bay | 1996 | Soundtrack |
| Home and Away: Songs From and Inspired by the Television Series | 2000 | Soundtrack |
| 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 |
References
- ^ a b c Field, Katherine (23 July 2009). "Happy birthday for Home and Away". The Australian. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Home and Away". tvweek.ninemsn.com.au. Retrieved 31 October 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
- ^ a b Rand, Hannah (25 January 2009). "Home and Away in LA". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Kent, Melissa (8 February 2009). "Cast and fans of Home and Away well on the way to belonging forever and ever". The Age. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ http://www.tvtonight.com.au/category/ratings
- ^ http://www.tv.com/home-and-away/show/1580/episode_guide.html?season=21
- ^ "Home And Away single". www.chartstats.com. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
- ^ Elder, Bruce (5 November 2007). "Themes tuned out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Meade, Amanda The Australian, 28 March 2009
- ^ Heath, Jack jackheath.com.au/blog.htm, 28 March 2009
- ^ Christian Taylor, www.SameSame.com.au
- ^ Moran, Jonathon (26 July 2009). "Home and Away's culture of cocaine, sex". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Lincoln Lewis' sex tape was not as bad as having cancer, says mum". The Daily Telegraph. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Ramachandran, Arjun (5 June 2009). "False report: Home and Away star Jodi Gordon off hook". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Lawrence, Kara; Barrett, David (5 June 2009). "Jodi Gordon's bizarre police raid". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Home and away : hearts divided / Leon Saunders". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Home and away 2: Dani on trial. Google Books. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
{{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Home and away : Prisoner No. 2549971/ Leon Saunders". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Home and Away celebrates 21 years". Yahoo!7. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- ^ http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/224679