All Soaps: Vintage Articles

[DRW50]

This is a TV Soap, which mostly focused on American soaps airing in Australia. There were a few bits on Neighbours, one on a former H&A actress (don't know anything about her character), and another dramedy I hadn't heard of.

[Ben]

Neighbours has always had love for a good ol' amnesia story. Harold's and Susan's stories have been the biggest amnesia stories that they've done. Both different. But, both retrograde amnesia. Harold's was done as a way to explain his 5 year absence. Ian Smith left the show in 1990-91-ish, and they had Harold fall off some rocks into the sea, presumed dead. He returned with amnesia, calling himself Ted.

Then in 2007, they had Paul develop amnesia after having surgery to remove a brain tumour, which was the result of his evil, outlandish behaviour the previous 2 years. They had hoped the show could move past the sensationalism, by making the character forget. When Susan Bower took over in 2008 as executive producer, she didn't want to acknowledge any of Paul's past, so it became a bit of a mess with what Paul could and couldn't remember.

In 2008, Nicola West faked having amnesia after being mowed down, so she could win back her sister, Miranda's love and forgiveness. This all climaxed in Nicola trying to poison her brother-in-law Steve after he twigged she was faking.

Zeke Kinski went into a fugue state after he nearly drowned in a rafting accident in the 2008 season finale. He had amnesia, but was living as another's man son.

And this year, Sonya suffered short-term amnesia after the wedding explosion. She couldn't remember any of the wedding at all, or the robbery that she witnessed.

I think the Sarah story did revitalise the characters at the time, especially for Sarah. I think there are more instances of actors pitching stories over the years. I know in 2005, Carla Bonner pitched the idea about Steph dreaming of the long-dead Drew, coming back to warn her that her breast cancer had returned. And in 2010, Ryan Moloney (Toadie) jokingly pitched the idea that Sonya should be Callum's bio mum, which TPTB ran with.

Yes, Jackie does look better with the shorter hair; it suits her more-so than the long hair.

That H&A actress played a character that was before my time... or I just can't remember her due to age. She did seem to play a popular character at the time. Lots of media interest, etc.

[DRW50]

Thanks. Wow, far more amnesia stories than I'd expected.

Do you remember Simon Baker's character?

[Ben]

I love Simon Baker, but he wasn't on Neighbours. He did appear in H&A in the mid-90s, but as a guest character. I've just Googled it, and he appeared in 6 episodes. I don't remember his character at all.

This is way OT Carl, but what do you think of OLTL 2.0? I've not seen any of your comments in the episode threads (when I've posted).

[soapgirluk]

I remember Roxy, well enough to reconize her lol. Not sure of her storylines but I think she dated/lived with Nick the Policeman who was Shane's Brother. Also think she was nearly raped? Might be completly wrong though as I was very young.

[DRW50]

I have been commenting in some but long after they aired, as I'm weeks behind.

I think it's going decently. I enjoy the Shelter group, which was a surprise. I think they've done a much better job with Tea and Dani and the Mannings in general than OLTL had in many years. I'm happy to see Vimal again and hope he will have more to do than whine. I like seeing more of Viki's work life and the consequences of her not adapting to changing times. I like seeing Bo and Nora as an older but passionate couple. Dorian's story is hard to invest in and I don't like seeing her feud with Viki, I think it's beneath them at their ages at this point. I like the chemistry between the younger set, but Jeffrey is too perfect for me to invest in. Matthew is mostly a new character to me, unfortunately.

It's going along nicely, I just don't have the emotional connection.

[Ben]

A few articles on the Susan / Alex Kinski story.

Timeline wise: The Karl/Izzy story came after the amnesia, before Alex; their reunion came after Alex, but before their London wedding. This maybe quite obvious, but one never knows.

[DRW50]

Surely they could have come up with a more flattering photo of Bridget than a weird mesh of Bianca and Robbie from Eastenders.

Katya's insecurities and regrets leading her to scheme sounds interesting, although I'm not sure if it worked as well onscreen. I guess she was out of the story soon after this.

Reading about these stories, I can see why the Parkers were so hated.

What bizarre writing with the Zeke story. His friends thought he faked his death...why? And then it somehow becomes about Donna's birth control pills.

[Ben]

Bridget didn't have many flattering photos.

Yeah, I think the Katya vs. Kennedy story did sound better on paper. Dichen Lachman's acting was really bad when she first begun (you could tell she was nervous in her first scenes, and that seemed to stay with her for a while), but she improved over time. Not award winning or anything, but generally better, IMO. Katya came off quite unlikeable, instead of sympathetic. It wasn't until the mediation hearing that Katya realized that the Kennedy's were suitable parents for Rachel & Zeke, and they decided to have equal share, and Katya even moved in with them. Katya stayed with the show for a year and a bit. It was the OTT years, so she had a lot of big, sensational stories. You'll remember from a few articles back that she featured in the evil twin story with psycho Robert Robinson. She was a fun character, but a lot people couldn't get past her acting. But, she must having something going for her, considering she finds work in Hollywood.

The Parkers: they really divided viewers, especially Bridget, who captured fans thanks to her romance with Declan. For me, they were horrible characters, who were selfish, judgemental, cold, blameless, very unlikeable... they ate through loads of big storylines one after the other from the moment they arrived.

The Zeke story: welcome to Susan Bower's era of the show, Carl. This was the period that lasted from mid-2008-mid-2012. She wanted to take the show in a Party of Five direction, so incorporated a lot of teens into main story and relegated the adults to supporting / after thought roles. This is the worst period the show has ever gone through. She managed to flatline the ratings! This is the type of thing she did. They should have known that Zeke wasn't the type to fake his death given that there was never any logical reason for it. A video diary of him paying out his friends is no reason. At the time, they thought he was unhappy enough to want to disappear. I think having to veer off into Donna's birth control pills was their way of telling an umbrella story, and worse still, it had no lasting affects - Ringo forgave Donna and that was that.

[DRW50]

What did you think of the drug company story? It feels a little forced on paper. I guess the secretary was a double agent.

[Ben]

I thought it was pure fantasy - at least the outcome was. It was a typical Neighbours story that had a feel good, inspired ending, where good triumphs over evil, even when realistically, a lowly doctor would not bring down a pharmaceutical company. I did like it overall, as it was different. The PA was a double agent. Vivex planned to dump the dodgy drugs by sending them as aid to Africa. They wanted the PA to stall Karl overnight in the storage facility, while they framed Karl for the dodgy drugs. But, when they were busted by security, the PA had a crisis of conscience, and 'fessed up to Karl, and then to the cops.

I see you've changed your user name. That was a bit confusing at first.

[Ben]

2009

2010

[DRW50]

What did you think of the stalker story?

Kind of sad that Kym Valentine's run as Libby didn't get to end on a stronger note.

I remember reading some of the TWOP forums when Susan was pregnant and many of them hated, hated Libby and Susan, especially Libby. They had before the story too, but that just made it even worse.

Would people really vandalize a house because a woman is carrying a child for her daughter? How much repressed rage is in Erinsborough?

I saw that little photo of Sunny. I remember people talking about how they hated her and how they didn't understand why she had a huge goodbye episode.

[Ben]

I didn't like the stalker story. It lasted for 2 weeks and was over before it had really begun. The climax was terrible and the reason given was so lame. I think he turned out to be a disgruntled ex-student who had been carrying around this grudge for so many years. Yawn. It was unbelievable b/c the viewers knew that Susan was a good teacher. It was such a mismatch muddle of a story, as it started out showcasing the dangers of cyber bullying, but all of that was forgotten the moment he was revealed. And mature-aged student Susan was also dropped. In fact, they spent money on that university set, which ended up being a complete waste of money as it hardly ever got used again.

Kym Valentine didn't leave after the surrogacy story. She stayed around for another year, then went sick again with depression, and returned for 3 months, but had a relapse and left again - permanently. Libby at this time was a lot more positive and had just mapped out her 5 year plan, and was kind of scheming to become Principle. But then suddenly, Libby left off screen.

Yeah, Susan and Libby were hated during 2009, and Libby more so. It was the terrible writing that almost destroyed the characters. The way Susan treated Dan during the surrogacy was appalling, and Libby wasn't much better, forgetting that she already had her miracle son with her dead soul mate Drew. Karl was the only one who stayed in character. Libby had become hated in 2008, during the bipolar story with Dan's ex-wife Sam. Sam became a fan favourite, but to balance that all out, when Susan Bower took over as executive producer, she turned Sam evil and made Libby a victim. So, we now had 2 ruined characters or the price of one.

So many people thought the same thing as you, DRW50. Who would really throw a brick through the window of a surrogate? I guess they were trying to showcase the controversy surrounding a 50 year old having a baby. But it ended up being this anti-surrogacy religious thing. It felt unrealistic and OTT.

Sunny was a terrible character. She had been brought in to beef up their ethnic quota, as the show came under fire for being too white in the media. She got all these immature, ridiculously stupid stories, like how Donna stole her first kiss (it was a thank you peck on the lips kinda thing), and falling down a ravine for no real reason. She was also another teen, in the long line of teens, so that immediately made her a hate figure. LOL.

[Ben]

2011

2012

2013

1999 (these should probably come with a WORK WARNING!)

1996 or 1997: Sarah Storylines

NOTE: I'll be mixing it up soon, and posting articles from other soaps. So, that'll be great for anyone who's bored!

My next batch of Neighbours articles will be on these characters: Katya Kinski, Sky & Lana, Nicola West, Harold/Madge/Lou, and Drew & Libby. After which, I'll start on other soaps.