Skylover

I definitely think it's improved. Have you been watching, Ben?

The River Boys have really re-vitalised the show, although I know there are many people who are not fond of them. Although it sounds sad to say it, I think Home and Away as always had a superficial appeal to it; the girls in bikinis, the hot guys with their tops off on the beach. 2010 failed to offer any male eye candy, and I think that made many younger fans tune out but older fans probably carried on watching as the older cast was pretty strong.

The River Boys aren't just attractive boys though. Well, Steve who plays Darryl has had some dodgy moments, as well as Daniel who plays Heath, butI really like hem both. But...I feel that Casey has the most potential out of them all. He has a very violent side. But can also be desribed as sensitive, vulnerable and s having a low sense of worth. But he is also very charming. I relate to him the most out of all the current cast. I suppose it's quite a cliched set-up with the Braxtons, but whatever the case may be, Casey is a very strong character.

Dexter Walker and April Scott are both extremely strong characters, too. Xavier seems to suck the life out of April's character, but now she's broken up wih him I really hope the relationship between April and Dexter can develop, as they are both similar in a lot of ways. They're definitely doing something right at the moment though, especially with Morag back and Roo soon to return. The only problems I have with the show at the moment are Marilyn, who is my favourite character, but has been given dull and depressing storylines which don't suit her, and Ruby, who sucks the face off any boy who comes within a mile of her.

What are your thoughts, Ben?

Interesting points from you all, Dion, Ben and Carl.

I enjoy reading your posts, as they come across constructive and well-informed. I can definitely see potential in them delving into Karl's profession. Very interesting, too, that Susan could perhaps fall for another guy. I agree that it would be out of character to act on those feelings, but I can definitely see it as a possiblity. One thing that came to mind was Susan's family. She has 2 sisters and a nephew in Darcy who always managed to cause some conflict in her life. I wouldn't be against Darcy returning, either full-time or in a guest role. I've recently been watching 2002, and a story strand early in the year was Susan's sister Liz dumping her daughter Elly on Susan, while she fell pregnant to a Norweigan(?) guy named Lars. I wouldn't be against Liz returning needing help, saying that her marriage to Lars has failed and he's thrown her out. Susan could help her sister out of a sense of obligation, while Karl is against Liz and her family coming to stay, recalling how wreckless she has been in the past and has failed to learn from her mistakes. The girl who played Elly was a shocking actress, but I don't see why they couldn't re-cast her.

I wouldn't be happy if Karl and Susan took in more teens, mainly because that has already been done many times, but also because I think it fails to draw on their history and is simply bringing new teens into no.28 because there are no other houses available. Having said that, when Susan invited Sindi and Stingray to stay in 2004, that was my favourite household to date, but I think that's partly because it gave Susan room to develop as a character without having Karl by her side.

What do you think of my idea? Is it about time Darcy returned to Ramsay Street? Could Liz provide some conflict between K&S?

I find it interesting that you think Lyn and Paul have received more stories than Karl and Susan. Although I do find the Lyn/Paul relationship interesting, I think aa lot of stuff between the has been overdone now, i.e Paul blackmailing her, even though the fire at the Scully's wasn't her fault. I wouldn't be against Lyn falling in love with a widowed father of two (or more) and for them to get married and move into no.26. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why the Williams family were ever brought into the show. I expect that once Rebecca's gone, Michael may be set up with Libby, which I really hope doesn't happen, bcause I find that they lack chemistry and Libby doesn't need to be shoved with someone she doesn't suit again, after how disastrous her marriage/relationship to Dan was, and how awful/unenjoyable it was to watch.

On 2/24/2011 at 9:31 PM, CarlD2 said:

Is it wrong that I think Karl is one of the hotter guys on the show.

I think that too.

I don't know what it is, the more I watch, the more I think that. He just oozes charisma.

Ben - what is your opinion of the Kennedy's? I've been thinking recently about why the show's fortunes have dwindled the past few years and it occurs to me that the long-term characters may have become a problem. I only watch the show for them, i.e. Karl, Susan, Lou, Lyn, but at the end of the day after so many years what can you do with them that will excite the audience? On a show like EastEnders, for example, with such a huge cast, the characters don't tend to be the centre of storylines for a long while before someone else gets their turn, but on Neighbours or Home and Away, the cast is so small that characters have huge storylines and receive a lot of air-time that they run out of steam pretty quickly in comparison.

Would you agree, or would you say there's still plenty they could do with them? I definitely think they should stay on the show but all I can think of them doing is never-ending comedy storylines. I look at shows like Coronation Street, with Ken Barlow, and wonder how they've managed to keep him fresh for so long in the show and so loved? I don't watch Coronation Street, so I wouldn't know how they've managed to do this, could anyone shed some light on this?

I can see opportunities for Toadie, having recently just got together with Sonya, obviously having children is an option for a storyline, but with Karl and Susan what can you do? Libby, also, being single, could get married again or be involved in love storylines, plus in a few years they can show her bringing up Ben when he is a teenager.

Thanks Carl, not many other people seem to be posting about this. Is it possible we could pin this or even make this news on the website? I am DETERMINED to get the teens not to be the leading group in this poll.

They take votes from all countries! Please comment in this thread if you have voted!

Thanks Ben.

I just thought I'd post in this topic that on the official website (www.neighbours.com.au) there'a poll if you scroll down to the bottom of the page.

What age-group do you want to see more of on Neighbours?

Most visitors to that website are teenagers which I suspect is why the poll has turned out this way but I plea with anyone who reads this thread to vote one of the other options as I know that the prodcuers take these polls very seriously for some reason (Once they asked what viewers opinions were on Lyn Scully and decided to bring her back based on a poll)

Please vote! The vote as currently stands:

What age-group do you want to see more of on Neighbours?

Teens 64.0%

20s 21.6%

30s 9.3%

40+ 5.1%

I can't believe Marienhof has been canceled. It is definitely my favourite of the German soaps, and I think it's such a shame that all that history has gone to waste when they could have easily turned the show around.

Shame the the hottest soap hunk Marlon will be gone now too! I've changed my avatar in memory of him. I hope he goes to another soap now!

Carl, I totally agree with everything you've said. Tuesday's episode was, I think, the strangest episode I've ever seen. I was surprised in so many ways. 1 - As you say, Shona McGraty pulled out all the stops. I've always thought her acting was mediocre at best, but she really managed to pull her scenes off realistically. 2 - Liam. I've always thought he was crap too, but I believed in his scenes a lot more than I would have expected to.

I think Carol is the best character and actress the show has got. The Brannings and Jacksons are definitely the best family unit. I'm kind of glad that the Carol/Bianca two-hander was scrapped in favour of the Max/Carol scenes, as I think they have fantastic chemistry as brother and sister and their relationship hasn't been explored in such depth before, unlike Carol and Bianca's. I'm another person who didn't notice the double, and I'm usually very observant about such things.

I lost interest in the show after the baby controversy too. Such a shame really.

Interesting news:

Monday's (17th January)

315,000

*2nd highest rated show on 11 on Monday (Futarama 318,000)

*4th highest rated show on Digital

*32nd highest rated show on ALL Channels

From DS and Media Spy. Well done Neighbours! Maybe Neighbours will still be on air if we ever get the chance to write for the show, Ben!

Well done Neighbours! The press in Australia is still reporting that the figures have gone down dramatically, saying that losing any more of a third of its audience on Ten is a 'haemorrhage' despite the fact that Tuesday's episode was the highest rating program of Eleven and the third highest rated show of digital as a whole. Seriously, Oz really has it in for the show.

I really hope it can go from strength to strength. The problem is, it really can't afford to go through rough patches now as the audience is so small as it is, so they really need to do all they can to keep this loyal audience. I wonder if it will get 300k+ come the winter?

It wouldn't surprise me if the baby swap storyline did influence Sam's decision to leave, but I doubt she had problems with it artistically. It's probably more to do with the fact that playing a character like Ronnie is so exhausting and emotional, she probably just want to try other acting projects. I will miss her, because Sam Womack is probably the best actress on the show now that Lacey's gone, and I do think Ronnie's a good character. I am glad that it will bring an end to the Jack/Ronnie pairing, as I've never seen them as a golden couple in the way the show seems to.

Definitely a good time to bring back Sharon now, I wonder if Bryan would prefer to create new characters though, rather than bringing back past ones.

Enders baby plot complaints reach 6000

The BBC has now received nearly 6,000 complaints about EastEnders' controversial baby swap storyline, it has been confirmed.

A plot which is currently airing on the Walford show has seen Ronnie Branning lose her newborn son James to cot death, before secretly switching him with Kat Moon's (Jessie Wallace) child in a moment of despair.

BBC News reports that a total of 5,826 complaints have been received by the corporation since the storyline was first announced last November. The number has risen in the past two days as 3,400 complaints had been confirmed on Tuesday.

Although the media regulator Ofcom is known to have also received 374 complaints over the plot, it is understood that an official investigation is unlikely as the episodes in question are not thought to have breached the broadcasting code.

A statement released by the BBC has insisted that "EastEnders has a long history of exploring difficult issues, and the storyline regarding Ronnie and Kat follows in this tradition".

Show bosses have also promised that "viewers will see the situation resolve itself over the coming months".

Meanwhile, EastEnders has today confirmed that Samantha Womack - who plays Ronnie - will be leaving the soap later this year.

I think all this fuss is ridiculous. If you don't like the storyline there's an easy solution, use your remote. It's a wonderful little device to change the channel if you want to.

That is a shame. I love Patsy Palmer. One of my favourite ever EE scenes is when Carol finds out about Bianca's affair with Dan!

I thought I'd share my fan card with you lot, which I recently received from Lynne McGranger aka Irene Roberts. They made a mistake in the programme, saying that she has played Irene for 14 years, when it's actually 18 years.

I wasn't a big fan of Dennis. He was hot, but that's not what should matter I guess. I found Nigel Harma's acting to be quite poor. Did you lot like the Sharon/Dennis partnership even during the rough patch that was 2004-2006?

You should write some best and worst stuff in the other thread - I don't watch the Australian soaps that often and would like to hear your thoughts on them.

Sure, will do, where's the best and worst thread?

Edward, what soaps do you watch? I think I've seen you on DigitalSpy before, but not sure. In any case, welcome to SON.

I'm sure you would have seen me on Digital Spy before. My favourite soap is Neighbours, which I am very protective of, and am still hoping it will pull out of its recent ratings slump, as it's totally unique to the other shows. I have ventured into that thread but it seems that not many people here watch it. Home and Away would be my second, and I collect the fan cards for these two shows. EastEnders has been a favourite in our family for absolute years, though I got totally put off during the time earlier this year when they sent all those dreadful teens into the woods. I'm not very impressed with Kirkwood for making Mercy and her grandmother permanent, as I never thought Mercy was a strong character in the E20 episodes. Vanessa and Jodie Gold totally make me cringe; whenever they get a big story I seem to lose interest, such as when Vanessa's ex was causing all sorts of trouble with her, it seems to me that Vanessa was a gold-digger and only stayed with Harry for his money, though I think the audience is supposed to feel sorry for her because of the way Harry treated her when they were together, but I just completely lack any sympathy whatsoever.

The Ryan/Stacey/Janine plot has put me off as well, though Stacey's Christmas Day exit was extremely well-done. I feel like Janine isn't developing much as a character, and before her return she was my favourite soap character of all-time on any soap. It seems that the writers have brought her back as a panto villian and she was such a complex character before. I like that she's fallen in love, but some of the lines they give her are so unrealistic. Ryan is a boring plank too.

I'm really enjoying Connor and Carol, which is a storyline that apparently not many enjoy. I think they have good chemistry, I care about Carol, Lindsey's a fantastic actress, and Connor is extremely hot so I'm not complaining

I'm loving this forum. The last week or so I've been reading the first 40 pages of this thead because the comments you guys have made are so insightful and intelligent, it's hard to not carry on reading.

As someone who is not an avid viewer of this show, I've found it interesting that you think Santer focused on the big reveals and controversial storylines rather than focusing on the truth of the characters, and telling the stories with integrity.

Without having time t look through the rest of the pages in this thread, what do you think of Kirkwood's reign so far? I've read that many people have been unhappy with the direction he's taking the show, and also many are unhappy with Kat and Alfie's return, although I personally like them both.