Neighbours: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I've only seen Declan 2.0. I can't say I'm impressed. He's sullen, his hair sucks (he looks like a homeless vampire), his personality is unpleasant, he can't act.

[Ben]

Get well soon, Kym.

I do find Susan Bower's comment about being prone to illness due to it being winter, kinda strange. It's a blood clot, not a serious dose of the flu! It's not like blood clots are more common in winter, than any other time of the year.

[DRW50]

What an odd headline over the guy who plays Karl saying the show has moved on from Kylie and Jason. They say he "berates" the show nostalgia. With that headline you'd think he took a piss on a copy of Especially For You.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s14/neighbours/news/a239869/neighbours-star-berates-show-nostalgia.html

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Maybe if she wants better ratings and more fan support, she should step down?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s14/neighbours/news/a243537/neighbours-boss-calls-for-fan-support.html

[Ben]

This woman seriously annoys me. She wants fan support b/c of the terrible ratings, and yet advises people to write to the cast!? How's that gonna help the ratings rise? If she would just listen to the fans, then maybe there wouldn't be terrible ratings. It's not neurosurgery. Just common sense. She's killed (with or without Ten's help) the shows rep, and that is something that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, otherwise no amount of fan calling is going to increase ratings. Why would viewers return to a show that is still playing the same tune that drove them away?

[DRW50]

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s14/neighbours/news/a245700/network-boss-neighbours-needs-work.html

[Ben]

I'm glad Ten have finally admitted that the show needs work, b/c it really can't continue how it is. They need the show to support their local drama quota, and really should be doing something with the show to make it the best it possibly can. And I think that's one of the fundamental differences with the present and the past - in the past, the show has always tried new ways of attracting new viewers, and when that's failed, they've tried something else, but under Bower, the show has tried something new, it failed, and has stuck with it.

2004 was such a successful year in characters, storylines, and ratings, that ultimately, they've never been able to get that back due to one very bungled idea rooted in greed. They (either the show or Ten) wanted more than that success, which gave birth to the OTT years, in an attempt to compete with the OTT Home & Away. That is where it started, and has yet to end, only being made incredibly worse by Bower.

What I find interesting with the shift in teen dominance and the really mundane, lifeless, boring stories that game with them, and associating those restrictions to the 'G' rating, is other teen shows on earlier, with the same 'G' rating, are able to tell more interesting, realistic teen stories. That to me says it all. One of those shows, I think it's called Dance Academy, featured a realistically written gay story, so it will be interesting to see how Neighbours' attempts at their first gay male storyline works out... Lets hope it lasts longer than 6 weeks.

[Dion]

As of tonight in New Zealand (we are two weeks behind Australia), and I'll put this in spoiler tags because I know you guys are watching at UK pace

[BadBoy93]

Can someone who is watching through the UK catch me up on what the storylines are right now.

I`m just curious because i am starting to watch it now and want to be quite knowledgeable come the 6000th episode.

[Ben]

I'll come back later to fill you in (unless someone else beats me to it), as I have to go out, now.

Edited August 10, 2010 by Ben

[Ben]

OK, BadBoy, here goes...

#22 - The Robinsons & Napiers:

Paul Robinson is in the midst of a financial crisis - he owns the local newspaper, Erinsborough News, and bought the local indie radio station, PirateNet, to help keep Lassisters Hotel from going under. He used to be a shareholder in Lassisters, but those assets were taken from him, and he appears to be in a managerial position, now (the business structure is kinda confusing). Lassisters is/was losing money; the newspaper's circulation is down, and PirateNet is haemorrhaging cash (a business that is in his wife Rebecca's name). Rebecca's unaware of the true extent of Paul's financial woes, but did agree to him doing whatever it takes to save their businesses...

Paul's son Andrew, is jealous of step-bro Declan, and has schemed to undermine him and win his father's acceptance. Declan distrusts him and Paul, but puts up with them for Rebecca's sake. When one of Andrew's pathetic plots went awry, that cost the hotel several long-term clients, Paul decided to refurbish Lassisters by installing a mezzanine terrace, and using the reopening as a publicity stunt to bring in new clientèle. But, Paul wanted to save money by not paying Dolan (the builders), who later threatened to sue. Paul spontaneously decided to sabotage Dolan's construction site, but was interrupted by Declan. Paul's actions nearly cost Donna her life, when the scaffolding that he tampered with, came crashing down on top of her. To cover it all up, Paul and Dolan signed a confidentiality agreement with Paul having to pay the builder what he owed.

During a corporate dinner for advertisers, Declan got into a fight with an important ad exec, who was harassing his girlfriend (and Paul's niece) Kate Ramsay, and subsequently lost a valuable client. Needing money fast, Paul transferred $100,000 from Lassisters into PirateNet's account, under the guise of paying Dolan the money he owed. When Declan found CCTV footage from the construction site, he realized that Paul had doctored it to make it look like Declan was the saboteur.

Declan asked local lawyer Toadie Rebecchi to help clear his name (who's also Paul's lawyer), and together they uncovered Paul's embezzlement. Toadie wanted to go to the cops, but Declan decided to keep it in house in order to protect Rebecca; Declan contacted Diana Marshall - one of the Lassisters execs in New York - who has now launched an investigation, and will soon be making a surprise visit. Meanwhile, Kate discovered that money from her trust fund (set-up by Paul) was mysteriously being withdrawn and put back a day-or-so later. After Declan's baby daughter, India, stopped breathing, Paul saved her life, and reaffirmed his love for all his family. Delcan decided to hand over all his ammo to Paul, who pointed out that if he goes down, then so does an oblivious Rebecca.

#24 & #30 - Steph/Toadie/Sonya/Lucas/Lyn:

Basically, Steph had a one-night stand with her best friend Libby's husband Dan Fitzgerald, after seeing Libby lock lips with Lucas Fitzgerald (Steph's love interest), and is now pregnant with Dan's baby. Dan & Libby had separated after the surrogacy saga tore them apart, and Dan subsequently left town. Steph and Lucas got together, but when she learned she was pregnant, she left town. Fearing losing Libby's love and friendship, and unable to have a termination due to previously battling breast cancer, her best friend Toadie decided to claim the baby as his - in order to protect Libby (she is like a sister to him).

So, they concocted a fake relationship, which broke Lucas' and Toadie's current love, Sonya's hearts. But Steph's mum Lyn, found the DVD of her ultrasound, and realized that Steph was lying about her conception date. Backed into a corner, Steph told Lyn everything, who struggled with the secret, especially from best friend Susan (Libby's mother). After having a cancer scare, and seeing how Lyn couldn't be trusted to abide by her wishes, Toadie proposed, under the guise of making him her next of kin in case the cancer was to return. Unhappy with the sanctity of marriage being desecrated under the mountain of lies, Lyn refused to go along with it, until she spoke to the priest who assured her that friendship is the most important part of a relationship, and love can follow later. This inspired Lyn to scheme to make them fall in love for real, by planning a huge romantic wedding.

Meanwhile, Sonya decided to move away; knowing that her and Toadie would split 6 months after the baby's birth, Steph decided to stop her from going, by explaining that Toadie is not her baby daddy. Sonya soon figured out that Dan was the real father. On the day of the wedding, Sonya and Lucas showed up, where she agreed to wait for Toadie. Lyn was far from pleased.

To complicate matters, Libby is dating Dr. Doug Harris - Steph's doctor. Libby also saw Toadie & Sonya kiss, and isn't happy that he's still in contact with her.

Elsewhere:

Ringo & Donna are getting married (they're being billed as the new Scott & Charlene - but they're not). They had opposition in the form of Donna's new-found dad Nick, but after she realized that she doesn't need his approval on everything, and he's still going to love her, she agreed to marry Ringo. There is history between Ringo/Donna/Andrew, as the later had an affair with Donna at the start of the year.

Susan's suspicious about the Dolan cover-up, and believes Paul is involved in something dodgy. She wrote a uni assignment about her suspicions, and posted it on Facebook, where she received a very personal, slightly stalker-y reply...

Michael & Natasha Williams have a very tumultuous father-daughter relationship. His wife/her mother is dead, and Natasha reminds him a lot of her. She wants to be a model, and is currently the face of PirateNet. That ad campaign didn't go down to well with Michael, who started feuding with Paul. Natasha is the female version of Andrew, and constantly plots and schemes, which totally gets at Michael; he doesn't know how to handle her, which she takes as him not caring. One heated argument ended in Natasha slapping him, in order to get a rise out of him. Natasha and Andrew are dating, and she loves to pay out Summer.

Summer Hoyland (Steph's ex-step daughter) is currently in a slow burning relationship with Chris Papas. But he has a secret... Summer hates bitchy Natasha.

Lucas is best mates with Michael, and has recently got a second job teaching the kids mechanics.

Kate recently set-up her dance instructor Terry, with Lyn, who he fancies, but she loathes. Lyn is beginning to soften towards him.

The Kennedy's pet Galah, Dahl, recently escaped, and is now missing. This story will be brought back up, soon. Also, Dr. Karl doesn't get on with his boss and daughter Libby's boyfriend, Doug.

Lou Carpenter was the Ramsays legal guardian until Kate turned 18. Now he simply lives with Kate, Sophie and until recently Harry, as their surrogate grandpa. He's currently in Sydeny helping Harry adjust to city life.

Edited August 10, 2010 by Ben

[JamesF]

Woah just seen the 6000th episode preview:

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Dare I say it looks like the show seems to be hinting at a creative upswing? I'll not get too excited just yet but the preview does look good. I like the fact that Paul's in a business story and Libby/Steph's meltdown. Even the teens are vaguely interesting with the new gay character and the actress playing Summer is pretty good.

I'm about a week behind at the mo so yet to see Jane Badler's character onscreen...hope it's worthwhile.

[Ben]

Don't jinx it, James!

That preview was awesome. The music they used to showcase the whodunit was very affective, and really shows that they don't need to be using a whole bunch of fancy effects, like they do for the recap and previews. Less is more.

I'm a fan of business stories, and this one is OK. Tighter writing would make it seem less contrived and random in places, but I'm just happy that they have two long running stories going on at the same time. Maybe this is why the teens are working better, b/c Declan, Kate, Donna and Ringo are now involved in more mature stories, and Natasha/Andrew/Summer/Chris aren't saddled with lame plots, either. The balance is better.

So far, Diana is pretty cool. I know Jane Badler has said that her first 2 days were pretty nerve racking for her. It's been a long time since the show has had a "super bitch", so her stint should be interesting.

[Ben]

[DRW50]

Well that can't be good.