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Neighbours: Discussion Thread


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Thanks. I guess Paul was a nice guy at this time.

The show is a little busy to me, but that may be due to it being a special episode.

Errol said that he thought OLTL and AMC were somewhat similar to Neighbours. If you ever get a chance to see them, I hope you can weigh in.

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Never thought of it like that before, but yeah it has a similar feel to AMC. As it's quite family based but a bit more realistic lol

Past few years its not had as many familys but its going thru a revamp, and we've had the Turner family join. Lauren the Mum is actually a old character from the mid 90s recast( Lou Carpenter is her Dad. & theirs the Willis family joining soon the Dad Brad is another recast from the 90s. Brad & Lauren had a affair in their previous stint so should be intresting.

They also have had a few past cast doing brief stints recently, Sarah Beaumont(who's gone) & Steph Scully( just started back)plus another character soon

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Paul was a nicer character back then, but he did have his bad boy moments - he's always been a bit of a schemer at heart, just a generally nicer guy at heart.

Really, Errol said that?! I guess he's talking about the 2.0 versions, right? Oh, I'll be watching new OLTL for sure (thanks to Google Chrome and a handy little plug-in, I'll be able to watch on Hulu, which is so awesome). I guess, from what I've seen of the previews, and if I imagine Llanview as a suburban street, I can see what Errol kind of means. I'd say it could be Neighbours with a PG rating.

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For anyone interested who doesn't know these exist.

Steph Webisodes 1-4 detailing her time in prison just before she was released. These were directed by Scott Major who plays Lucas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_kmPRC5Ds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCbmNpbzlsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjCnat9XWiA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCOlC1CBpSg

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Hey Ben,

I've been seriously slack with replying to you over the last little while, I think I've been avoiding it because I know how much I enjoy chatting to you about the show and know I won't shut up if I get the chance! :) Plus I've had a few personal problems which have stopped me contributing to things online as much as I'd like :(

The show is in a weird place at the moment and if I'm honest I think a lot of work that was done over 2011 and 2012 to improve things has quickly been undone. Don't get me wrong, I loved Sarah's return (even though I wish it was longer) and I even think Steph's return was great despite most people protestations. But it seems like Richard Jasek is very keen to wipe the slate clean and in many ways erase the very damaged rep Neighbours has developed over the past few years but IMO he has gone in all guns blazing trying to fix everything at once when things could have taken place at a much slower pace.

I love the return to the focus on families but I think the Turners are badly miscast, Bailey is the only one I can say I actively love from the whole bunch of them, to begin with they were a lot better but they seem to be gradually getting worse. Amber, Matt and Lauren are the worst, Mason was fantastic to begin with, I'm not sure why so many people consider him a bad actor because I don't think he is, the only problem being the writing. The lead up to his and Kate's relationship was great, lots of fun banter, reminiscent of old times, but now with this stupid pointless Mark return all the good work has come undone.

Since the eclipse almost everything has been plot driven. Kyle turning blind from the eclipse is up there with the worst stories of all time, and Kyle and Kate sleeping together is totally implausible IMO and terrible viewing. The writing hasn't been consistent throughout since Mark's return. As a viewer I feel that Mark is the love of Kate's life. He's not my favourite character in the world but I don't believe for one moment that Kate wouldn't choose him over Mason. Mason is lovely but Mark and Kate have that history and were deeply in love, and she was heartbroken when he 'died'. Likewise Mason is supposed to be deeply in love with Kate but quickly went after Imogen despite Kate saying she wanted to get back together...? Then there's Amber pining after Josh 2 seconds after having feelings for Chris. I just find myself losing interest because things are all happening way too fast. The young characters make me miss Andrew, Tash and Summer, who, looking back, were quite developed after all. Something needs to be done with this lot who basically have no personality whatsoever. I don't believe in the characters because the writing is weak. And mainly, the casting is bad. Jan Russ left in 2009, she had a special eye for talent and cast many of the best characters, I think she needs to be brought back to sort things out.

I'm also annoyed at the high cast turnover and the seemingly pointless decision to bring in the Willises. Brad Willis is such a pointless return, he's only back for Lauren, who in herself needs to be developed. Matt is basically a mannequin. The Turners should have received more development before any thought was made to bringing in a whole new family. If Pam or Doug return, I think thnigs will be a lot easier to accept, but until then, I'm not happy with the decision to bring back Brad Willis. Having said that, I love Terese. Rebekah's trying her hardest to bring Terese to life, which must be difficult considering she's lumbered with Paul Robinson, who is a parody. He goes round in circles and needs something to do other than be hated. Paul and Kate's interaction was fantastic which is why I abhorr the decision to move them out of No.26, they have fantastic chemistry, I love their scenes and relationship in general. Putting Kate in 26 was a mistake. However, I LOVED Rhiannon, I want them to bring her back.

I'm wondering if there was some way Richard could have persuaded Valentina, Jordan & Jordy to all (or some of) to stay on. Chris was the weakest of that gang, I think keeping these characters would have allowed an easier transition for the Turners to settle in. I also wish we saw more of Lauren and Lou's relationship, apart from the arrival of the family we've seen none of this.

The Kapoors leaving is a massive blow for me, and a step backwards. Losing Priya was bad enough (Okay, so she was pregnant - someone with insider knowledge apparently said she'd been offered the chance to return after maternity leave but declined) I find this hard to believe because in January Menik was doing interviews with radio shows in the UK saying how hard it had been for ten years to get a permanent role on a show. Menik was great as the school principal and such a layered character. I miss her massively and I'm sad they decided to kill her off.

At first I think Ajay and Rani struggled as characters without her, but months later I'm starting to love them on their own even if I think Priya should be with them. I'm just so gutted about them going, more thought should have been put into them. Once the affair came out Menik and Sachin had some fantastic confrontation scenes and I really loved them, plus Ajay is starting to become one of the beeter characters, just before he's shipped off to India. Apparently it was Sachin's decision to go, as he had aspirations in LA, though I'm not sure of this. Hell, I would have even preferred Rani to stay in with Karl and Susan rather than losing the Kapoors altogether, despite how unrealistic that would have been, and you know how I wasn't a fan of the ridiculous Karl/Summer/Tash household! Another option would have been bringing in an Aunty of Rani's to stay at no.24 while Ajay attended a family emergency in India. There were so many ways to sustain the Kapoors, but the producers were far more concerned about the Willises >:( Callum/Rani/Bailey are one of the friendships I actually believe in and want to watch though you see so much hate for them on Facebook etc. Rani is way underrated.

Don't get me started on Georgia. Terrible character. And 'actress'.

Let me know what you're thinking, Ben :D

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