Ben

OK… Has hell frozen over! If this character lasts 6 months, I’ll be surprised.

I think it was obvious that Felix was intended to be a regular character from the get-go. The set up of him being JJ’s bio dad and the conflict that brought was evident for long term story. It also looked obvious that Felix was meant to fill the void left by Wendy during her break, which never transpired. I think TPTB had a lot to juggle BTS from the get-go of the revival with cast having other commitments, and then actors not able to commit, then Ian Smith’s health issues… that’s a lot of moving parts to pivot on the hop.

I miss characters like Annie, Olivia, Gregory…

I think that will be safe as it’s one of the very few Welsh language shows on air, so it has that in its favour. With River City, the budget will be used to produce other dramas and film in more locations across Scotland. Unlike trees, when one soap is cut down, no new one is planted in its place. In many ways, they’re going back to their roots as Casualty was never a soap to begin with, but in other ways it’s a sign that their budget has been cut. If they remember that they are a medical drama, then they should be able to thrive with the boxset format.

The anniversary week was awesome - brilliantly written/acted/directed. And the aftermath has kept up the momentum, too.

I wonder why they’ve never taken advantage of the story potential of featuring a remote based around London/Paris/New York/etc. Fashion Weeks. It writes itself. About 10+ years ago, these remotes became a thing to do just because, so now they have to come up with contrived and pointless reasons to justify them.

I think it’s difficult for EE not to fall into that cult mentality given the previous 6 years were some of the worst the show has produced. Chris Clenshaw is Shakespeare compares to his predecessors. The bar had fallen so low that creating an entertaining show was all it would take for fans to start worshiping him. There’s been a lot of positives over the past year, which I think overshadows a lot of the plotty-ness of stories. But I don’t think that will last forever.

Thanks for the link @Maxim.

As well as having two bodies, the threat was that, as women, they wouldn’t be believed because cops don’t believe women when they report rape, so why would they believe them now. We also have a law in the UK called Joint Enterprise, which means a group of people can be charged with murder, which added to the threat that they would all go down. Probably because she used to act on a kids show for preschoolers. I’m not that fussed in the introduction of Junior Knight, as I think the show is starting to gain a bloated cast. There’s so many characters that have no purpose and no story that I’d like to see be developed. Even in the Knight family, Gina and Anna do nothing. Johnny, Felix, Vinny, Callum, Priya, Martin, Ravi, Chelsea, Penny, Peter, Bobby, Cindy, Ian… all need something to do. It looked like they were starting a Ravi/Priya/Martin triangle but that’s suddenly gone quiet. Why not get Vinny out of this weird mini-Nish phase, give him his life back and pair him with Anna; give him a mate in Callum. Also, just pair Callum and Johnny up already.

I liked them to begin with, but having Lucas beat Dillon to a pulp in a fit of internalised homophobic rage, only to then self harm and bleed out in some odd homage to Romeo and Juliet, was too much. Soaps play up the whole “love conquers all” to extremes that no longer play well in 2024. Lucas has been nothing but abusive towards Dillion, and while it’s fine to have empathy for him, Dillon shouldn’t confuse that with something more. It sends out a bad message to impressionable teens and people who don’t have the self-worth or confidence to leave abusive relationships.

I don’t find the situation with Paul/Krista any different to his past crimes, especially the time he gaslit Steph Scully and tampered with her meds so he could drive her out of town because he believed she was a danger to his grandson, Jimmy. But out of those ashes developed a friendship between Paul and Steph after he was framed for the hotel explosion, a friendship that ended up being the best thing about that storyline. I think we have to allow characters to change as a result of tragedy. Paul admitting he judged Krista harshly for being a recovering drug addict and a threat mirrors how he treated Steph; his own guilt has allowed him to gain clarity and to see Krista as a human being. Paul is capable of a lot of kindness and love, but also a lot of cruelty, and I think Krista’s tragedy has allowed him to show that side of himself. But what I like is that Aaron is still suspicious and hasn’t forgiven him. Plus, fans are very quick to forgive Paul no matter what he does, regardless of the writing. It has, but more so because Mel can do so much better than Toadie. How he treated her was despicable. Terese can’t really be painted as anything but good in this story, really, especially after Toadie and Mel did what they did. Whether you buy into their relationship or not (I don’t), we have to go along with what’s in universe, and despite Terese’s own internal conflicts, she didn’t deserve to be treated the way Toadie treated her. This has been a disappointment, as that aspect of her character was one of the most interesting, not the gold digging. I’m not sure I agree with that. At the moment, Mackenzie is the only one that knows the truth, and I think they’ve made a point that what Haz and his crew did was wrong, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t also emphasise how wrong the new hacker is, too, especially as that’s a current threat. Haz did lose everything as a result of his past actions, so it’s not like he got away without consequences. Plus, the new hacker can be both a victim and an awful person, too, which is why he was hacked to begin with. I think they’ve struggled to adapt to writing 4 episodes a week instead of 5, so the pacing and juggling characters have been a bit all over the place. Certainly, I think it’s been obvious that they miss having the 5th episode in the week to pace stories out better.

Yeah, they unfortunately were introduced just before the show was cancelled in 2022, so they never really had a chance to be developed in any kind of way. Andrew had been a recurring cop for a few years prior to becoming a regular, though. I think it’s testament to all involved that they have slotted back in so well and have been so well received. I think he’s a very likeable actor, who has potential. The actor who plays Dex is pretty ropey, but he does get slightly better.

I’ve been meaning to come back here and post my thoughts on the show. I’m enjoying it a lot; the quality is back to what it was in 2022 after the bumpy return last year (let’s call that the Mischa Barton era 😉). I think what we’re seeing on screen now is everyone settling in, so all the initial nerves and excitement of being back have gone; new actors are bedding in and recasts are clicking into place (I’ve warmed to nuByron now). Production wise, the addition of 4th walls in some of the sets have been very welcome, which has given those sets a more real feel and allows for them to freshen up the directing of scenes; the incidental music is now really good, too. Neighbours have produced some outstanding episodes this year, especially the episodes around the death of a long time character, with the grief being played brilliantly by all involved. Krista’s traumatic birth went into the kind of detail I’ve never seen the show do before, and it really elevated Chelsea’s gold digging to a whole new level of villainy. (I’m being careful not to give away specifics for those who haven’t caught up, yet.) Chelsea, as a character, was difficult to get behind at first, as she seemed to be so cold and devoid of any caring side, even for her sister, Cara (I do like all the barbed exchanges between Chelsea and Remi and Leo describing her as a ‘trashy blow in’ 😁). But since the story has taken a dark turn with Krista, Viva Bianca has been able to show the guilt Chelsea feels (not enough to stop her from trying to push Krista into a drugs relapse, though), and I’m starting to love to hate her character now. I low-key want her to stay. I love the Rodwell and Varga-Murphy family units, and I thought the recent inclusion of Andrew’s brother Felix, was great, but his stint was shorter than I expected, which is a shame. I think the teen scene could be beefed up a bit; maybe give JJ a friend at least. Haz has suddenly become more interesting with his latest storyline exploring his past as a hacker. He definitely works better as this morally grey character instead of whatever they were trying to do before. I won’t say that I like him, but his scenes are certainly more interesting to watch now. The one area of the show that doesn’t work for me is the Terese/Toadie/Mel triangle. It’s terrible and really drags the show (and characters) down. The writing for Toadie has been especially damaging, and I’m happy that he’s currently off screen. I’m super-excited about the Emmy nomination for Best Daytime Drama and for Guy Pearce getting nominated, too. That’s a huge deal for the show in terms of publicity in the US.

You’re not alone in thinking this. She overacts in every scene she’s in unless it’s one that calls for “sad” acting. The squinting is particularly bad. Sadly, she does not get any better. Also, the tone of her line delivery is really annoying, with every line being said with such labour. That would be more interesting. Things definitely pick up with flashback week, especially with the returning characters it brings.

I’ll collate my thoughts soon, @DRW50. 😉 How many episodes are you behind? I advise dumping your entire life in favour of catching up. 😁

It’s not an “attitude”, NBC would have happily renewed the show had Spelling given up the international royalties, so it was never about ratings at that point. Let’s not forget NBC basically buried the show when they moved it to Noon in July 1999 to make way for Passions, which left many affiliates airing the show at 3am or just not at all. And we all saw how cheap Passions looked in comparison (nice location shoots for the first week to hook viewers in, then back to shooting the outside inside). Yeah, Channel 5 did offer to co-fund the show with NBC and Spelling, but they refused. Channel 5 also wanted to rerun the show immediately after the final episode, but NBC increased the licensing fee to some stupid amount, essentially pricing them out. Clearly, they were bitter over not getting those international royalties they so desperately wanted.

Yeah, it’s a little confusing, but all that seems to be known is that the back catalogue of Spelling Entertainment is now owned by CBS Paramount now. Given that the show has been rerun on international CBS channels in recent years, it seems like NBC no longer have the rights to the show. As NBC had broadcasting rights and were funding 50% of the show, my guess is those rights expired at some point and all rights reverted back to the production company, Spelling Entertainment. The rights for the show were a contentious issue, as NBC wanted to own the show outright, most likely to have more control, but also to get their hands on the international royalties, which were going directly into Spelling’s pocket. The more popular it became internationally, the more money they were making, which is why NBC pulled the plug as Spelling refused to share those royalties.

I loved Monday’s episode; it really packed an emotional punch with the resolution to last Thursday’s cliffhanger. Wendy putting her life on the line simply to make up for her meddling in the Varga-Murphy’s business said a lot about the integrity (and stupidity) of her character. Then JJ drops the paternity bomb… Everything with Eden suddenly ramped up. There has to be more to him than meets the eye. How is everyone else finding the show now it’s ramping up the drama?

I can’t wait until David and Aaron return. The show is stepping up a gear now, especially with the most recent cliffhanger. Although, Reece’s search for her MIA sister lacks energy, but so does Mischa Barton’s performance.

I’ve seen that promo live. It is one of the best made promos the show ever had, and one of the few special presentations made at that time. I think only EastEnders had similar ones made, but never that long.

I guess the 4-day model allows for a nice round number of episodes to be produced a year (200 per year). EastEnders has the same airing pattern on the BBC. That’s what they want to hear! Thursday’s episode was the best of the week for me, as it felt like proper Neighbours. Shame Mischa Barton is still phoning it in. Hopefully she improves once she’s settled into the role and the show.

Ooh, complicated answer alert! Historically, Neighbours has aired 5-days a week, but in 2020, UK’s Channel 5 cut their output due to the pandemic despite Neighbours continuing production, which left us falling behind. The contract with Fremantle was that the UK and Australia aired episodes on the same day, and the intention seemed to be that Channel 5 would catch up, but instead, they took a Christmas break and fell behind even more. In 2021, Australia’s Network Ten reduced their output to Mon-Thurs to help the UK catch up, even retooling the season finale. By this point Channel 5 had renewed their contract with Fremantle for a year with expectation that the UK would drop to 4-days a week in 2022 in line with Australia. But relations between the networks had soured by this point, and Channel 5 continued with 5-days a week, gaining the world premiere and pulling ahead of Australia for the first time ever. That left Ten to air triple episodes just so they could air the series finale first. In hindsight, Channel 5 had already decided to cancel the show so had no problems burning bridges. The irony is that Channel 5 and Ten are owned by ViacomCBS, so this must have caused some interdepartmental conflict. It seems like Amazon have continued with this model of producing 4-episodes a week in line with what Ten want (the Friday episode was notoriously low).

Now this I could get on board with. Shane would have been an interesting choice. I think if the show hadn’t of been cancelled, I could have seen them going down that route with Glen, but clearly during the hiatus, Jason Herbison lost interest in his character. No, none that we were aware of. She was scatty and bubbly, occasionally prone to childish revenge stunts, but nothing that screamed mental health issues. But as @DRW50 says, Mel was off screen for years, so it would be plausible that she might have an undisclosed mental health issue.

I get that - and I think any reunion between them needs to be earned by Paul - and I’m all for Terese being with a new man, just not Toadie. It’s not right on any level, and as you say makes no sense for him.

Agree completely. Joe Klocek brought a certain “roughness” to the role of Byron; plus, he has a spark about him and good chemistry with other characters. This recast is plastic and bland, too pretty boy next door for Byron. Blair McDonough who played Stuart had charisma and talent. Yeah, he wrote for Inside Soap Magazine, TV Week, then wrote into Neighbours and the rest is history. Not great from Melanie’s perspective. The explanation given trashed her character and what we saw on screen in 2022. I’m hoping there’s more to it. As you might have gathered, the Terese/Toadie pairing has not gone down well with the longtime fans, including myself. It’s so wrong and so alien. Imagine if Bo Brady randomly married Marlena on Days. It’s that kind of wrong.