Home & Away - Take me back to the Bay (Home and Away)

Member Name: clumsy221

Product:	Home and Away
Date:	13/11/09 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good mix of drama, comedy, thrills, sadness and romance

Disadvantages: Each episode in only 30 minutes

***Why Home and Away***
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I openly admit H&A is one of my few guilty pleasures in life. I have set it on series link so I record it every night at 6.

I have never normally shouted out loud that I watch and love H&A mainly because you never normally hear people saying 'did you see last nights H&A?" instead you hear 'did you see last night Coronation Street?'.

But I have to admit that lately I have found more and more people admitting to being a closet H&A fan!


***The bay***
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H&A s a fictional Australian soap set in the seaside town of Summer Bay.

It was first introduced in 1988, hot on the heals of 'Neighbour's' another famous Australian soap.

It has won a legion of fans all over the world and has totted up a number of awards making it the second longest drama on Austrailian tv.

The show has switched channels whilst being aired in the UK, it was first shown on ITV for 11 years but it eventually was taken over by Five in 2001.

The soap is centered around a close knit community who happen to live in gorgeous beach resort filled beautiful people.

Most of the scenes are centered around Summer Bay Caravan Park, Bayside Diner, the Surf Club, Stewart's Point and Summer Bay High School (to name just a few).

Its one place where the weather is as beautiful as the people but whent he weather turns things seem to get really nasty in the Bay.


***The characters***
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Many cast members have come and gone since H&A started in 1988.

The most memorable for me was the Fletcher family (Tom, Pippa and their bunch of foster children) who started of as the original owners of the Summer bay Caravan Park.

Most of the original characters have now left however some make guest appearances every now and again when there is a wedding or funeral etc. At the moment the longest cast member is Alf Stewart who has been the center of many storylines.

During his time in the Bay Alf has lost his second wife (Ailsa), had trouble with both his rebellious daughter (Roo) & wayward son (Duncan), faced battles with his two sisters (Morag & Celia), suffered heart attacks & a brain tumur, found grandkids (Rick & Martha) he never knew he had & a third sister (Colleen) and did this whilst being one of the most respected business and family man in the Bay!

The current cast:
- Alf Stewart, Colleen Smart (Stewart) & Martha MacKenzie
- Miles Copeland, Kirsty Phillips, Jai Fernandez, Nicole Franklin & Oliver
Phillips
- Irene Roberts, Annie Campbell & Geoff Campbell
- Charlie Buckton, Ruby Buckton, Leah Patterson & VJ Patterson
- Tony Holden, Rachel (Armstrong) Holden and baby Harry
- Hugo Austin, Xavier Austin & Gina Austin
- Aiden Jeffries, Angelo Rosetts, Liam Murphy & Romeo Smith


***In my opinion***
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I used to watch Neighbours when it first started and a few episodes of H&A, but since it has switched to channel Five in 2001 I have watched every episode.

I now don't watch a single episode of Neighbours!

The characters for me are very interesting, even the quietest person always has a secret past or can guarantee to be met with some heartache when they get to Summer Bay.

he storylines have been brilliant, we have had a good mix of murders, attacks, drug abuse, brainwashing cults, serial killers, stalkers, love triangles .... the list goes on!

H&A has featured its share of controversial scenes but personally I think they have all been portrayed in the best way possible and I have never been offended or upset by the way any subject has been dealt with.

The perfect setting of summer bay and beautiful people can easily confuse you so that you think H&A will be the perfect place to live and possibly another boring soap.

Think again, if you want a good mix of drama, comedy, thrills, sadness and romance H&A is just for you. 10/10

Summary: May only be the 2nd longest running Austrailian drama but its the best!