Skylover

Thanks for the clip, I fancy Ace sooo bad. He's absolutely gorgeous!

Do you guys also think that the Noah character could be a love interest for Chris? The actor looks hot and a bit camp looking so I thought it was possible...?

Thanks for the link. Oh that brought back some wonderful memories. Pepper truly is a classic character. What do you think of my thoughts, Carl?

I posted this on NFans but thought I would post it in here too to see what you think: Would Neighbours be in a better state if the people that mattered cared about the show? What I mean by this is that for years Channel Ten hasn’t had faith in Neighbours, never promoting the show and making it painfully obvious that they only air it to satisfy the UK audience. But if the Channel Ten bosses believed in it, and trailed it non-stop like Channel 7 does with Home and Away, would it have moved to Channel 11 and be on the verge of getting the chop? It’s obvious that Australia is not ready to let the show go, seeing as it has become the no.1 digital show in the country, so why didn’t Channel Ten see that they had a great show? I know its ratings weren’t amazing, but not many shows on Ten have fantastic ratings and as we’ve seen, its replacement has actually been beaten by Neighbours itself many times. Then there’s Fremantle. When the show moved to Channel 5, of course there was more promotion, more time slots etc. But essentially viewers were lost and the show’s reputation was damaged. C5 might not be the awful channel it was, but people will still frown upon watching Neighbours simply down to the channel it is on. But Fremantle were greedy and demanded a price four times what was being paid for Neighbours (the BBC were paying 25k per episode, Five offered to pay 100k per episode) and Fremantle went with Five’s offer even though the BBC were willing to up the price to 75k per episode. Fremantle’s greed hasn’t stopped there. Despite the fact Five were pumping money into the show, this wasn’t ever seen on screen. The cast may have increased in size, but the sets continued to be pathetic, lagging behind Home and Away, whose channel clearly cares about its wellbeing. Harold’s Store continues to look like a dungeon, with some Starbucks reject paint covering the walls and draining all natural light that dares to enter the room. I don’t know if this is a problem with the producers or production company, but whatever the case, it is a symptom of the fundamental lack of care the people in charge have shown. Ironically the fans never give up. Despite the awful way the show is shot and produced, the fans continue to tune in (in the UK at least and digital in Oz) and are committed to the show but Fremantle doesn’t see what a worthwhile investment it could have long-term. Cutting crew members and reducing the cast to an almost unmanageable size when Five continue to pay so much for the show. I know Richard Desmond wanted to re-negotiate the contract but it’s clear to me that Fremantle are not fulfilling their role in the production of the show. They could invest money into their show but instead it’s obvious that they pocket the money for themselves with little regard to the show’s welfare and they obviously have no interest in keeping the show running long-term despite its mass appeal. I see no reason why it couldn’t run for as long as Coronation Street because the format works and it is a wonderful show. But I dread the day that the show comes to an end thanks to greed and lack of judgement on a grand scale from all the people who matter, but don’t seem to care. Why don’t the bosses care anymore? The situation with Harold's Store should really have a thread of its own, but here are pictures to compare: 2004 and Natural Light: 2011 - The Uninviting Look:

Interesting to read your thoughts, Ben. I definitely agree that they need to bring back a past character to fill the void or at least to fill the gap while Libby's gone. And seeing as she's taken indefinite leave I don't expect to see her back until 2012 episodes now to be honest. Awful that Kym Valentine is suffering from a depressive illness, she's one of the biggest stars on an international show, and is absolutely stunning too. I think bringing back Christina Robinson is the best idea. They've kind of explored all avenues with Paul and Gail (though I would lvoe her to return regardless, especially if they bring her back as permanent and she falls in love with Paul again). But I think there are more opportunities with Chris considering she is Andrew's mother. Plus we really need some 40+ characters back in the show as that age bracket is starting to feel depleted again with both Lyn and Rebecca gone. If they can't persuade the actress to return, then Gail is next best thing. They need to bring someone back for Paul though, as he's becoming quite isolated although there is now the opportunity to further explore his relationship with Andrew. The Kennedy's will need something to do while Libby's gone. Bringing back Mal would be great. He was last seen in 2004 and it would be realistic to see him again after so much time has passed. Ben - what do you think of the new characters like Jade, Chris and Kyle? And were you upset that Mark decided to leave so soon after signing his contract?

Your description of Sid is pretty good, I have to say. Having said that, though, I think they are mainly just characteristics of Robert himself rather than Sid, so I don't think of him as being a very interesting character. I guess he is quite relatable, maybe it's the fact that I'm nothing like him and actually a lot more like Dex, that is making me find it difficult to like him. I don't see his oppositeness to Marilyn as making their relationship work. I suppose you could say he was like Donald in a lot of ways, and maybe that is why the writers chose to bring the Walkers back and set Sid up with Marilyn. For me he lacks the screen presence of Donald, who I found interesting and funny to watch. The oppositness of Donald and Marilyn was often capitalised upon, which would lead to many comedic moments, but the differences between Sid and Marilyn rarely lead to comedic moments. Rather than using the characters to their strengths, the writers seem to be making things too serious between these two, and it seems to be sucking the life out of Marilyn for me. Having said that, I would still rank Marilyn as one of my favourite characters past and present - even taking her current stint into consideration. Emily Symons is simply a brilliant actress, and I hope she sticks with the show for a long time. I definitely see the problems with Marilyn's character as related to Sid's introdcution though. If you look back at Marilyn's first few months in 2010, when Sid wasn't there, she was full of energy and had some fantastic comedic plots; throwing out all the food at Summer Bay House, Mr. Oddly, her conflicts with Miles and Colleen. The thing with Elijah just annoys me beyond belief. I HATE how they ruin religious characters, as I said before, but they always do this. I'm currently watching Viv and her psychotic priest of a father from 1989. I just wish they introduced a religious character who actually followed their religion ather than just doing whatever they want regardless of what the bible says. I do like Grace, despite the cliched and stereotypical lines they give her, I think the actress is fairly strong, and I feel sorry for how she's got tangled up in this mess with Leah and Elijah. As with Sid and Marilyn, I feel that Elijah is sucking the life out of Leah. Her character has been a problem for years, IMO they can't seem to work out any long-term plan for the character. Apparently Roman Harris was axed back in early 2009, which is a great shame because when he and Leah got together, that was the first time that I felt she had any purpose again and they had bucket loads of chemistry. As for Nicole, I can take her or leave her. Her character has changed a lot from the beginning, and not for the better IMO either. I hated it when they made her and Aden a couple, as I think it failed to capitalise on the wonderful brother/sister chemistry they had going on. In fact it's a big regret of mine that they didn't cast Tessa James as Aden's sister, I thinkit could have been absolutely brilliant. I find Tessa's acting fairly annoying most of the time, she's quite monotone and it feels like she's reading a sript rather than playing a character. Bianca, I adore - from the beginning Lisa Gormley has been an astounding performer. The writers made her seem quite hard in the beginning, but luckily a more fun side has come out in her lately, and I'm so glad Vittorio is out of the picture. John and Gina - John is one of my favourite characters to be introduced of recent seasons, and I know this is an unpopular opinion. I see many aspects of early Donald Fisher in him, which is a great thing, and I also think his character is very true to life. I wish they would build on his past, and let us find out more about him. I know he once said that his father was an alcoholic when he was advising Romeo what to do about his mother, and I think that's a huge thing which drives John's behaviour. I expect he probably hada very troubled child-hood and is resentful to later generations such as Xavier et al. for just getting what they want all of the time. What can you say about Gina? She's extremely bland (apparently Sonia Todd is one of the most beloved actresses in the country ) and David Jon es-Roberts who plays Xavier is difficult to take seriously as his lines are rarely pronounced properly. Having said this, he's started to grow on me simply for coming across as such a drip and I quite like him now. I think Gina and Xavier represent the weaker aspects of the cast at the moment. What are your opinions?

Ok, I might be forced to eat my words. Having posted on here just a few hours ago that EE was awful lately, I then watched Thursday's episode. I thought it was great to have Lauren and Janine be the ones to find Whitney. And God I love Janine. She's probably my favourite soap character of all time, though I have never been happy with the stereotypical way they've written the character since her 2008 return. But I liked the way Simon Ashn showed that caring side of Janine to get Whitney to come home with her. They always seem to write her as some panto villain, but I'm glad they have finally shown another side to her character which never seems to be shown. To be fair they did go a bit overboard with Janine in what she was saying to Whitney, I don't think she would have been so mellow in reality. I could have done with Janine saying something along the lines of "Can't you see what he's doing, you stupid little girl?!" but instead she acted far more adult. Lauren finally seems to have improved as well. And I think Shona McGarty has really proven that she can act serious storylines, and I would even go as far as to say she's a worthy replacement for Stacey. Of course Lacey Turner is a whole other league, but Shona comes pretty close IMO.

Thanks Dannigold. I've been watching EE the last few weeks to see just how bad it's got...and its got bad. There are so many inconsistencies at the moment and everything seems to be falling flat. Thank God for Carol and Janine. I loved the episode where Janine had a go at Lauren for being such a brat.

I see where you're coming from, as I initally felt like that about Casey. In fact, as soon as I heard Gina tell Miles that Casey was troubled, and she wanted him to chat with the boy, I was rolling my eyes thinking here we go again. I think this is different though. Lincoln Younes brings a hell of a lot to the role IMO. In fact I haven't felt emotionally attached to a soap character as I have to Casey in an extremely long time. Aden was similar and initally a fantastic character, but I don't think he had as many layers as Casey. He was more of a cliche cheeky Jack-the-lad turned good. Aden was troubled, violent, and a bit of a smart-arse etc. but Casey has so much more to him and I hope the writers continue writing him the way they are. Casey has never known where he belongs in terms of his family and just generally in society; he has extremely low self-esteem and Gina believes that he may have a learning difficulty but Cheryl Braxton fails to take the situation seriously, which I think re-inforces Casey's feeling of low self-worth. Ultimately I suppose Darryl and Heath are more unique characters in that they aren't similar to past characters, but I feel that Lincoln's the strongest actor out of the lot, and he has become a favourite very quickly. I think you'd enjoy the show a lot if you watched it regularly, I hope that Casey grows on you! Darryl is drawn to trouble, I think he likes to just have fun, even if his morals couldn't be considered great, I think at the end of the day there is part of him that has a conscience. Although Heath may have a conscience, I think he's so bitter and twisted from his upbringing he fails to see any wrong in his behaviour and I think he could be considered the genuine bad one. I like to think that there's a good side to everyone in society, even people who do the worst of things, so I would like to get to know Heath better, and even though I don't want him to turn good, I'd like to see a nicer aspect to his personality. I think it would also be unoriginal if he remained the 'bad' one, as that would also be cliche. It's that complexity that they need to srive for - Heath can show a good side, but he will always have the scars from his childhood which will inevitably drive his behaviour. I love Marilyn and could watch her all day, but they're definitely not writing her to her strengths. It's not like they can't write serious, issue-driven storylines for her, but why can't they write it with humour. Her character has become very serious, and as I'm watching the '89 season at the moment, her character has gone from one extreme to the other - in '89 she was a bit of a caricature, a thick air-head, always confusing words etc, now she's just a blonde. I honestly don't know what she sees in Sid either. You say they sometimes work, but over the l.ast few months I've seen no scenes which make them seem like they work. He's probably the most bland character on the show, he simply has NO characteristics whatsoever. They seem like they're never on the same wavelength ever. Ironicaly I love Indigo and Dexter, their sibling relationship is something that should be explored. The contrast between Sid/Dexter is interesting, but it often feels like Robert portrays Sid as not giving a dam about Dexter. Whatever the reason they've brought back Morag, I am grateful. She's easily the most complex character in the show's history, my favourite by far, and I can't think of any character in soap she could be compared to. Cornelia Frances must be the best actress in Australia, I simply love her. I don't want her to be watered down though. I still want to see that hard edge to her character. I simply CANNOT wait to see her scenes with Roo when she returns, it's going to be brilliant. They had such a wonderful relationship in the 80's, I'd like to see how things have changed. I went through a phase of hating Ruby, but now all I feel is sorry for her. She's like a lost little girl, and it's like she's desperate for someone to take her under their wing. Why she'd run after Romeo when she's got the gorgeous Casey making a pass at her I've no idea, but there you go Ruby is made bearable for me by Rebecca's acting. She's a lovely young actress. Don't even get me started on Elijah. If there's any character on the show who serves no purpose, it's him. He's only there to fill their 'ethnic' quota, and I hate how they've gone down the route of ruining a relgious character. Seriously, watching Home and Away makes you think that no Christians strictly follow their religion. The crazed priest trying to kill Rachel, Geoff sleeping with many girls before marriage, Elijah marrying someone and not being in love. I hope the producers axe the character soon but it seems unlikely. I hate to say it, but I think the show is hitting its stride out of luck more than anything. They can't see that Elijah doesn't work as a character, and Cornelia Frances is willing to be permanent and has been all these years but they won't make her more than a guest!

I am fluent in German!

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. 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: 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 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?