Neighbours: Discussion Thread

[Ben]

This looks interesting, and not simply reruns; the interviews will be a nice element, and the 2012 previews will be a good way to promote the show during the holidays.

ETA: I'm a bit disappointed with the episode selection.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Ben

[DRW50]

At least this shows they still support the programs.

[Skylover]

I think you're right there, Carl. It is nice to see some backing for them.

I voted for 'Jade's crush on Kyle'. Easily blows everything else out of the water for me. 'Summer and Paul Erinsborough News scholarship'

[Skylover]

It appears that the Kapoor family are the new regulars in Ramsay Street. As confirmed on the official site: Ajay, Priya and Rani are regulars from 2012. As well as new character Vanessa Villante...

[Ben]

OK Ed, time for another mammoth post.

You're right about your thoughts on this year, but I do think the first half had it's own issues going on. It was definitely better than the latter half, but it suffered from the same writing that dominated 2010 - teen domination with the fire, the rushed exits of Rebecca, Declan, Zeke, and Tash lurching from one plot to the next. It wasn't until Sonya's secret was bubbling away that the show started to focus on character-driven material, and they delivered some awesome moments when Sonia's secret was exposed; Troy's arrival and him taking Sonya hostage; Harold's return; Mark's "real-time" exit; Lucas' drag racing, and later dealing with his father's death. During the second half of year, the show had to start new stories, and with the new character-driven direction, the show started plotting out some mundane storylines, like Sonya's nursary, Dial-a-Kyle, etc. But it hasn't all been boring - this format has allowed them to explore the will-they-won't-they relationship of Kyle & Jade, Michael's secrets, and the misguided Susan/Jim/Karl story. Tash has got to be the most improved character this year. She went from being scarred in a fire to faking a pregnancy (which had its moments), to sending naked photos of herself to older b/f Ivan, to having insecurities about her appearance and wanting a nose job, which climaxed in her nearly drowning, which ended up being the turning point for her character. (Those insecurities of hers sure disappeared quick - over night to be precise!) If I had to choose I'd pick the second half over the first - you can't beet all the character dictation, and the show has improved greatly under this format. Granted, it has been dull in a lot of places, and Summer has become annoying, and I haven't enjoyed the contrived Kate/Noah stuff, but it's been a million times better than the last couple of years, IMO.

Valentina has improved her acting leaps and bounds, and Sandy Winton has proved that he can act. Freya Stafford is awesome, and for a new character she sure has fitted in real fast. I love the dynamic that she has brought to Michael and Tash, and her relationship with Lucas is great, too. I wish she was staying, and I'm disappointed she isn't.

ITA with everything you said about the Ks; their break up hasn't improved much, and really Susan hasn't been doing any soul-searching at all. I'm glad they have something to do, and it's kinda new, but something about it isn't quite right. Susan's motives haven't been made as clear as they should have been.

Jade and Mal are awesome, and they do indeed have great chemistry. Mal fits in well with Karl & Susan, and I too would love to see him make a permanent return. I'd also love for them to recast Catherine and explore their relationship. Jade is all kinds of love, and she just gets better and better. Her fear of not wanting to be hurt, protecting her heart, and locking her secrets away is very relatable and complex; she doesn't let people in easily. Yeah, she sleeps around, but she's not a slut or anything, just a normal person. I don't think her getting with Kyle will change her, but in fact it'll develop her; I can't see her losing who she is, and she'll still be the vault that she is now. I like Kyle, but I want to see more of his goofy-ness, as he's become a bit too serious with the development story. Dane is awesome, and Luke is a good actor; he works very well with Jade and Rhys. Speaking of Rhys, he's shaping into a great character, so very Darcy-esque. He also doesn't seem to be as cold as he was, possibly b/c Ben Barber has settled in more? I do miss Libby, but now that her contract has officially run out and she's been removed from the credits, it looks like she isn't returning any time soon.

I do agree with you about Toadie to some degree. I think the Steph baby lie from 2010 has tainted him, and it's something he hasn't been able to come back from. I still like him, but he's changed, and not for the better. I don't mind his role in the development story, as really, he's only been doing his job, and it would be stupid and unrealistic for him to quit. I quite like how they've managed to keep his integrity-ish in tact when dealing with everyone. And I love how Sonya has stood by him like a couple should. I don't think Callum has no purpose, just that he hasn't had a meaty story or any kind of story really since the Troy drama. But I've liked what development there has been, like him calling Sonya 'Mum', or how he and Sophie have drifted apart. I don't think Callum needs to have some purpose at his age, as he doesn't need to have a story all of the time. What he does do is enough for me. I guess, the one thing I'd may change is have him share scenes with Paul more, and get to know Jade more, too, as they haven't really shared many scenes really. I think his quirkiness has developed into a techno wizard (for want of a better term) and I think that's quite natural and realistic in some way. I didn't mind that scene with the book comparison as it felt like something a kid Callum's age would say. Of course, I'd prefer it if they didn't stereotype and switched up the players by having Susan being a fan of the Kindle and someone younger liking a book. I'm young and I prefer reading a book "naturally", while my uncle (who is 50-ish) loves ebooks and reading from his Kindle. You'll hate me for this, but I like the on-screen text for texts, other mobile content, internet searches... I think it's an innovative way of not having to shoot cut away shots of mobiles and laptops. I wish that they would avoid displaying the text on a white background, as it blurs it out and makes it pointless displaying it.

While Jordy Lucas is an OK actor, I find Summer highly irritating and annoying. Her crusade to save PirateNet (why can't they burn down that damn set?) and the drama with her exams was so vexing. How could she possibly have believed that the council would reopen PirateNet just b/c a bunch of kids were threatening to fail their VCE?! She is not that important! How can you say Valentina and Sandy Winton are ropey? They been awesome during this whole dead mother story. Like I said further up, Valentina has really upped her game, and those scenes where she blamed herself were so sad and very moving. Michael was too, every time he started to well-up. This story has been so sad and tragic, and all those involved have done a great job. Michael has been looking like a zombie for weeks, and Sandy has pulled that off brilliantly - very believable, IMO. OK, the constant beach scenes of Michael staring out to the ocean were repetitive and boring, but that's was then and this is now, and a vast improvement has taken shape. Andrew isn't that bad, he's just middle of the row, IMO. I'm enjoying him being a supporting player for once. I don't think Jordan not putting on an accent to cover his natural twang means he's a bad actor, more the opposite really. His Scottish accent only really comes out when he's doing emotional scenes, like being angry and such, and this is when he's putting his all in to it and his accent slips out. He's nowhere near the level of where he can do those scenes and hold an accent, too, so I don't think Jordan not having an Aussie accent all the time means he's a bad actor.

I do like the development of Sophie; it's been natural and believable. But, the Kate/Noah story sucks. That kiss was so contrived, in fact, Mark's off-screen death has been one giant ball of contrived plot device. And lets not mention the time-lapse footage. This whole story has highlighted Kate's selfishness and negative traits. Andrew is family when she needs him to be, but when Paul wants to be family, she's pushing him away and telling him not to sink so low. Hypocrite!

I know what you mean about the current state of the show. As much as I love the character-driven nature and the slower pace of storytelling, the downtime has been boring, and that is an issue. Cast interaction is also an issue, but I do like how everyone is getting screen time. I've loved seeing Andrew interact with Karl and Susan; seeing more Michael/Lucas scenes, and Chris & Tash are just great believable BFF's. But, the teens and M&L are the only real friendships they have on the show, everyone else is isolated to their groups -- wait, I'm forgetting Kate/Jade. They do need a bigger cast in order to mix everyone up in a believable way so we can avoid snarky Lou for the sake of earning some dialogue or Paul turing out a zany one liner at whomever he bumps into at Harold's or Charlie's. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Kapoors, but I hope they give Ajay a major personality transplant, b/c so far, he seems so dull and uninteresting. I'm really happy that they're an ethnic family, too, and it seems that Bower was right to introduce diversity at a slow pace judging from some of those very racist comments left on the Neighbours Facebook page. However, I do believe that this is her compromise on the "war" against nuclear families - she was always opposed to the idea, but the fans were not, but this way she keeps them to a minimum of 3. If she had really wanted a nuclear family, she could have expanded them at introduced a grandmother and another kid, as Asian families are usually quite big. At least Toadie/Sonya/Callum won't be the only nuclear family on the show... People seem to forget that are now a nuclear family.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Ben

[Ben]

Neighbours cast wishing the UK a Merry Christmas.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xRKCZHwHIaQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

James Mason is funny. Jordan's RL style is not what I expected.

[august1229]

that's a nice Christmas video.

The show doesn't go in for big cliffhangers at the end of a season. Not really a bad thing. I look forward to figuring out just what the secret is between Michael and Emilia. Emilia really ought to stay, too. She's a good character.

[Ben]

http://www.channel5.com/shows/neighbours/news/take-our-neighbours-character-survey

New survey is available - and this one is better than the last. No Q's about clothes and sets.

Also, if you answer 'yes' to the last question, you'll be able to take part in monthly Neighbours related surveys.

[Skylover]

Right, mammoth post in store now...

The second half has been a lot more character driven but I'm not sure if I preferred the second half over the first half overall. Although the second half was very character-driven, I think by that point I'd lost a lot of passion for the show which is gradually fading away as I see the show become worse and worse. It's nice to see the characters being a priority, but the small cast undermines everything; all the characters are over-exposed and storylines which are meant t be good turn out boring. The earlier half of the year was superior IMO because it had more characters in it, but by the time they'd left the show just felt desserted. Chris, Kyle and Jade have all been great characters, but I feel like the show has got good characters and stories but it somehow isn't enough. I just loved the Sonya/Callum story at the beginning of the year. A lot of fans are unhappy with how the backstories were changed but I personally feel that the revelation that Sonya is Callum's mum is actually far more believable than Karl and Susan splitting up again. The Sonya story gave us so many brilliant scenes, and Eve shone throughout. Perhaps it was the focus on Sonya's character which made this part of the year so special for me. So many scenes stand out - her chat with Jade on the couch at no.30, Callum telling her on the couch that story of how his mum stole money from his piggybank. At the same time there was other brilliant stuff, loads of great comedy, Libby bringing Lucas over 'for dinner', Rebecca's scene revealing to Paul how she felt that he'd succeeded in bringing her down to his level. I don't particularly see Harold's return as a highlight.

Kyle and Jade's romance has been the highlight of the year for me, but even then, there's been parts where I've got bored due to over-exposure of the characters. There have been a lot of times where it feels like the story isn't moving forward at all. The Kyle/Jade and Michael/Tash plots have been amazing in parts. Tash finding Emilia, Helena's ghost, the pictures of Helena the Teen Beauty Queen™. I think Karl and Susan's story has been a total disaster. It's mainly the tail-end of the season where things started to pick up for me. Perhaps from about September onwards or whenever Malcolm and Jade started their affair. The Michael/Tash thing picked up a hell of a lot when Tash found out the truth and Val did a geat scene telling Chris that she was responsible for her mother's death. Unfortunately the episodes before Val and Sandy did a terrible revelation scene. I can't see Natasha working when Michael's gone. While most of the stories have picked up come November, the Karl and Susan plot has just got worse really. There were some great flashbacks to The Slap™ and their fight in the street when Susan thought Karl was having it off with Jade, bu we still have no idea why Susan wants to separate. The Kate/Sophie/Noah stuff as well as the text on the screen has undermined the second half of the season for me. I still can't accept that Neighbours has no proper families in it and that is ruining my enjoyment of the show. When you look back, the show has always flourished when it has established families. In 2004, we had the Kennedys, Scullys, Hoylands, Bishops etc the show just feels like a vital element os missing. The way Paul flits around annoys me no end, and Lou literally just says lines now he may as well be an extra.

Rhys has come a long way. I guess you could say he's an another example of the character driven direction they've gone for. Working in medicine and his mum is paralysed. I think it's great to see why he is so motivated to work his way up the ladder an I felt really sorry for him when he was denied entry to the surgical programme. As for the development story, do you not think it's terrible? It's by far the worst story for a long time and I find myself just falling into a coma while watching it. I don't see what the point of it is? I don't really care about Toadie as a character anymore, and watching him struggling at work isn't something I would consider entertaining. It's jsut eating up screen time and is another exmple of why the small cast doesn't work. Had there been say another 5 characters in the cast at the time, not all screen time would have been to associated with the development and a wider variety of (hopefully interesting) stories could have been told. I guess it's meant to show the effect it's going to have on the family but I couldn't care less. Bring back Angie I say! She'd cause some friction and I'd love to see her trying to get Sonya and Toadie to marry. I guess you're right about Callum, I think the kindle/book comments were just technology being shoved in our faces rather than having any substance. I rolled my eyes at that. I also way prefer books to ebooks so I was on Susan's side! I think Jordan is a fairly poor actor - I don't know if I'm repeating myself now but there was recently a comedy plotline involving Andrew getting a tattoo at schoolies and Jordan's portrayal just failed to evoke any emtion from me whatsoever. Considering Neighbours can do comedy quite well (or used to, at least) it wasn't very good. The writing wasn't too bad, I think another actor could have carried it off better. He's also really monotone a lot of the time and the accent bugs me because I don't see why it was necessary for the writers to edit Anrew's backstory just so Jordan could play the role. If he wants to be a serious actor, he needs to be able to master different accents because I don't think he'll get roles using his natural accent. April in Home and Away originally comes from Canada and has a very strong accent, but Rhiannon puts on an Australian accent and you can barely notice.

Very interesting what you say about friendships. Now you've come to mention it that is a huge issue which needs to be addressedand maybe that's why the show falls flat a lot of the time. There are good characters but when essential elements are missing it's hard for it to all come together. I guess it's like baking a chocolate cake without eggs - the chocolates still good but you can't make the end product without those essential ingredients. Someon pointed out the other day that the cast is very male-heavy at the moment and it is true that the balance is all wrong. The Kapoors should be good hopefuly and I am glad they're an ethnic family too, but it being a family of three kind of defeats the object. What we need is a family similar to the Scullys, 3 kids, or even perhaps the Timmins. 3 kids at east with some off-screen and a grandmother or grandad. I am sure that if they did this the show would be brilliant again. It's hard to explain why Neighbours doesn't have that spark that it once did. It was that spark the made it so special, which was achieved through a variety of very specific things which come together and make magic. The film effect needs to go, the dialogue and sound has become distant since the show's move to Five, on the BBC you felt involved with the action, the sunny/warm/inviting aspect has gone, perhaps also linked to this visual change. The dark sets need to be revamped but it looks like they're doing something about that if you read PB depsite the fact the logisitcs of the sets don't make sense. And adding a family likke the Timmins to keep the show fresh, lively and to bring some energy and shake things up would be a good start.

[Skylover]

I bought Final Draft 8 today, Ben.

[Ben]

I can see where you're coming from; the show did seem to be deserted once everyone had left during the first half, and of course that was a problem as it meant there wasn't enough characters to fill the episodes and space out storylines. I went the opposite way to you, and actually my faith in the show was renewed due to the character driven direction - it was a God's send after the last few years in which I came *very* close to tuning out. There have been a lot of stories that have ended boringly or started of with some fire only to end with a damp squib. IA that the Sonya/Callum story turned out to be the best thing the show did, even if it did retcon their histories, I think they did it in a way that allows a pass (Jade's inclusion is a whole other issue, and one that was not thought through at all and taints the good work they did with S/C) and some of that is down to Eve's excellent portrayal. I don't think anyone came off bad in this story at all, and it is deffo one - if not the only - success story of 2011. May be Harold's return wasn't a highlight, but I did enjoy it, and may be a lot of that is down to the nostalgia factor. I just loved his scenes with Sonya, and Troy, Callum... I loved having him back in the show and his general presence. I do also see what you mean about there being something missing from the show - it never took itself too seriously, and it was never dull during the good eras. I think when shows get to a point where they are struggling, they tend to look back on past successes and try to recreate (repeat) those stories, characters, when in actual fact they should look at what worked then and why, and fuse that with the present set-up. I don't think Bower tried hard enough with this, which is why we got the misguided Steph/Toadie/baby lie and Karl/Susan/Jim stories trying to recreate the 2004 heyday, not to mention the development story.

The show definitely picked up around the time of Mal & Jade's flirtations. I've enjoyed this block a lot, and so has a lot of others judging from DS. I've enjoyed the Mal & Jade affair, even though some fans haven't. I like that it was simple and uncomplicated in its premise - Mal's ego is boosted by Jade's attention. Simple and classic motivation for any affair. Having yet to see the outcome of this, I do hope there are some great scenes with Mal/Karl/Susan, as this creates a lot of character development for Mal. I would love for him and Catherine to come back full time next year, but I know that's probably just wishful thinking. The K's without any Kennedy kids will be weird. (I know it's happened before, but this time it feels more important.) Lets just pray that next year they will through more insight into Susan's motivations and save this sorry excuse for a story. The only scene I found ropey was when Tash got that e-mail of her mother's death certificate in Charlie's and ran out in clumsy and emotionless fashion. Val's improved a hell-of-a-lot, but still has the odd ropey moment. it's weird seeing your love for Tash diminish so much since we started talking. Families are an element that has been a success for the show, and one that is sorely missing now and in a way hurting the show. Who has ever heard of a show set in suburbia that doesn't feature any families? (Toadie/Sonya/Callum aside, but they came together late in the day). There are times when the fans could do a better job, and it annoys me when Bower says they contact this and that actor and they: refuse/no longer act/are busy. Like we will only be happy with the original actors. If they're not iconic then recast! I don't understand why they haven't done more with Robert. Just b/c he's in jail doesn't mean they can't develop him or his and Paul's relationship; there's a lot of story that can be mined from this set-up, and it would serve to create a sense of the Robinson family being more than just Paul and Andrew. There is also the prospect of Amy, or bringing back Christina (I say just recast if she can't return). Why are they so against bringing back any of Lou's family? I think they've ruined Lou for the sake of giving him something to do every 2 months; he was never a bully, and the way he's treated Kyle has been out of character. To think this is the same guy they turned into everyone's loveable pop.

I love Rhys, and I love how they've given him a mother who is in some kind of care facility. You can see why he wants to be a surgeon so badly so he can help his mum. Is it b/c the development story is dull that you don't like it, or is there another reason? I really haven't been bothered by it as much as others have. I've enjoyed the conflict it has created between Toadie/Kyle/Lucas, and there were some good scenes with Paul/Kyle. Actually, I think it's those Lucas/Toadie scenes where Toadie discovered bulldozing Lucas's business to house a car park and had to tell him, and serve him with an offer to buy the business, that has stuck with me the most. I found them relatable, and they provided some good natural drama. But, as you say, this is really a B-plot dressed up as an A-plot 90% of the time due to the small cast. If they had a bigger cast and more stories, the development wouldn't be highlight so much. Is it a pointless story? Sure it is. We all know what the inevitable outcome will be. I guess at its core it is about Toadie. If you don't care about him, then you most certainly won't care about the story. And in that case, is it really the story that's at fault, or the fact that your love for Toadie has disappeared? I would be against a story that was about pushing for T&S to get married, as not every damn couple needs to be married, and I like that Sonya is not ready and is quite happy with how things are. Why must everyone get married? It's so overrated IMO. I don't want to see Angie return just so she can force T&S into a wedding in comical fashion, where Sonya forgets all her issues and randomly realises that she should marry Toadie b/c it's what he wants/"is the right thing to do" or whatever. For once I'd rather see the pro-marriage character compromise and be happy with his partners decision not to want to marry. It's just not necessary. Plus, T&S are a modern family, and them getting married feels too traditional, IMO.

Jordan's never been very good at comedy, and he can be very monotone a lot of time. May be we are meant to assume he was the best actor to audition?! Doubtful. There was no need to cast Jordan, but we will never know why they did. I don't think an actor needs to be taken seriously just b/c he can do accents. Yeah, he should take vocal classes to hide the Scottish twang, but painting over that with an Aussie accent is a lot harder to disguise than a Canadian accent with an Aussie one, and really it isn't a priority to him when he's basically starting out. I will say I had no idea Rhiannon is Canadian, but I have always thought she sounds "American" half the time anyway. A better example would be Lisa Gormley, who really hales from Yorkshire!

LOL - I think you mean without flower, as you can get cakes that are eggs free, as some people are allergic to eggs. Now flower and sugar are essential ingredients, much like characters having strong friendships and not being isolated. I hadn't really noticed that the canvas is male heavy. Do you think that is really a problem? I don't think there is a soap that has equal genders; and does it really have to? The Kapoors are a compromise by Bower. Yeah, it's a bit of a slap in the face, but at least there is room to expand further down the line... as long as Bower doesn't have Priya revealing that she's infertile after having Rani, or Ajay saying that their parents are all dead, and they are both only children! Do you know if they were an arranged marriage? I'm curious to see which subjects they touch on, but I hope they don't ignore all cultural/religious aspects all together for the sake of creating a general family. I want to see them celebrate Diwali. LOL.

You can't get rid of HD. That's here to stay. I don't think that everything is darker, it's just become dull looking. I think the lighting has been improved a lot and is more realistic now. I wouldn't want it to be like H&A as it looks too fake on that show. You are right about the sunny aspect disappearing. I think this happened when they decided they were no longer going to portray it being summer all year round, which is why everyone now dresses like it's winter when it is and it's grey when it actually is instead of being sunny. Also, no-one wears bikinis any more; no pool parties or other things that built on what Neighbours was about. Why is it characters are only in bathing suits in the opening credits? Who cares if they're filming episodes in the summer that will air in the winter - just get them having pool parties again like the good 'ol days. I don't like the changes to #30. That was one set that was fine, IMO. It didn't need changing or modernizing. And I hate it when they justify these changes with: "it captures the character's personality," or some crap. No it does not. Sonya would not modernize in this way. Now all the sets are open plan! Why? One of the reasons I loved #30 was b/c it didn't look like all the others. And it does not make sense. Why have they stuck a random fireplace in there when there is no chimney? That kitchen doesn't make sense either. These kinds of things really bug me.

How are you finding Final Draft? Are you going to start writing spec scripts, Ed? Are you planning on a writing career?

Did you see those recap shows? I was surprised at the top 10. How could Dial-A-Kyle beat the Kyle/Jade romance and Tash's fake pregnancy? Seriously! The nominations were terrible. None of Lucas' stories or the Ks made the mark, but Toadie's 1st day and Dial-A-Kyle did!? I did like the interviews though. Gemma is love.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Ben

[Skylover]

Yeah, for some reason the retconning of those characters doesn't bother me much at all. You're right about Jade. When she arrived I thought it was fairly obvious that a line was going to be thrown in about Jade having a different father to Sonya or something about the fact that she is quite obviously of Asian heritage. I am quite appalled that TPTB let that one slip - you'd have thought someone running a professional operation would have noticed this quite obvious problem? But then, this is Neighbours... I did vote for Harold's return in the Top Soap Moments, and I did enjoy it on the whole, but I do think it could have been so much more. I would have liked it to have been mentioned that Harold was Kate and Sophie's Great Uncle, but I suppose the fact it wasn't mentioned means they can forget this connection further down the line. But considering at this point in time Kate and Sophie are 'Ramsays' it should have come up. It also annoys me that we've never seen Lou mention it considering how close he was to Madge. You have to wonder wht the actors think in these situations. Why hasn't Gemma Pranita or Eve Morey pointed out that they clearly couldn't be full-blood sisters? Are Ian Smith and Tom Oliver aware of Madge's connections to the kids and do they think it's ridiculous this hasn't been mentioned? So many questions that we'll never know the answers to...

interesting point about trying to recreate the heydey.I guess you've got a point but personally I would be surprised if Susan Bower watched it in those days. She probably just thought it would provide some conflict between most of the long-stnading cast members in the show's 25th year and experimented a bit. She failed LOL. It's a real shame about the Karl/Susan and Jim story because it had so much potential. Nearly all of the legends/long-term characters have been tainted in some way on Neighbours, even characters that are long gone such as Helen who supposedly abandoned her illegitimate granddaughter.

I've loved the Mal/Jade affair but a lot of fan have said they're struggling to understand Mal's motivation and would like Catherine to return as well. I don't agree with that, I quite like that aspect of the affair - that Catherine is half way across the world - because it shows how easily Mal can forget about her and carry on what he's doing with Jade. I would love for Mal and Catherine to return next year. You're right about Karl and Susan. Perhaps it's more important for kids to be there this time because characters over 40+ don't have personalities anymore and need to pander to the younger generations so they wouldn't functon on their own. A spoiler released says that there are some previous characters returning; the nature in which it was written makes me think it could be Mal and Catherine returning but another poster has suggested that it could also be Libby and Ben (recast). I can't imagine who else could return unless the returnees are not actually linked - i.e. Angie and Boy to return for their respective family members.

Sorry, Ben, I'm afraid I'm very fickle when it comes to the characters I like and that has got me into trouble in the past. What it comes down to though is that I love Neighbours so much that I only want the very best actors on the show so when a poor performance comes through I get annoyed by that character. For me the big emotions/dramatic scenes are the test for any character/actress and the ones that carry off dramatic and comedic material with ease are the ones I like. For example, you always know, that no matter what the material, you'll always get good scenes from Jade, Sonya, Susan etc. Tash, Andrew etc not so sure. I used to love Andrew when he joined the cast but then I easily fall for the good looking young guys in soap Yeah, I'm very fickle when it comes to characters. I HATED that scene with Tash getting the email of her mother's death certificate. Did I mention it before? It was SO insulting and possibly the most unrealistic moment of all time. No birth/marriage/death certificates are ever emailed, seriously, what a joke. The writers shouldn't just assume that everything is done online and actually check first.

I think the lack of family is a huge problem and I think it could lead to the show's demise if they don't sort it out. To be continued...

[DRW50]

This was mentioned in the feud thread at DS. Had you ever heard of this?

Neighbours' Sue Jones (Pam Willis) and Terence Donovan (Doug Willis) didn't get on.

Janet Andrewartha (Lyn Scully) and Shane Connor (Joe Scully) really didn't get on.

Have you heard the rumors that a past character is returning?

[Skylover]

Yes, I was aware of that but it is interesting though! Also a notable feud, the actors behind Rosie and Frazer didn't get on which is surprising given their onscreen chemistry.

[DRW50]

Interview with new EP.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1609292