Home and Away
Home and Away (often abbreviated as H&A) is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, New South Wales, where he noticed locals were complaining about the construction of a foster home and against the idea of foster children from the city living in the area. The soap opera was initially going to be called Refuge, but the name was changed to the "friendlier" title of Home and Away once production began.
For other uses, see Home and Away (disambiguation).Home and Away
"Home and Away"
(short theme)
"Home and Away"
(international broadcasts)
Australia
English
37 (+ pilot TV film and 5 specials)
8,248
- John Holmes
- Julie McGauran
- John Holmes (1988–1989)
- Andrew Howie (1989–1994)
- Russell Webb (1994–2001)
- Julie McGauran (2001–2007)
- Cameron Welsh (2007–2012)
- Lucy Addario (2012–present)
22 minutes
- Seven Studios (formerly Seven Productions)
- Seven Network Operations Limited
- Red Heart Entertainment
- Kepper Media
17 January 1988 –
present
The show premiered in what Bateman classified as a ninety-minute telefeature[1] (subsequently in re-runs and on VHS titled as Home and Away: The Movie), as opposed to a pilot. Since then, each subsequent episode has aired for a duration of twenty-two minutes. Home and Away has become the second longest-running drama series in Australian television, after Neighbours. In Australia, it is currently broadcast from Mondays to Thursdays at 7:00 pm.
Home and Away follows the lives and loves of the residents in Summer Bay, a fictional seaside town in New South Wales. The series initially focused on the Fletcher family – Tom (Roger Oakley) and Pippa (Vanessa Downing), and their five foster children, Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson), Lynn Davenport (Helena Bozich), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits) and Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) – who moved from the city into the Summer Bay House, where they assumed the new job of running the caravan park, and eventually took in a sixth foster child, Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson). Home and Away was not without controversy. During the first season alone, it featured several adult-themed storylines such as teen pregnancy, rape, drug and alcohol addiction, drug overdose and attempted suicide. The series has dealt with similar storylines over the years which have often exceeded its restricted time slot. Palm Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches district has been used as the location for Summer Bay since 1988. The exterior scenes are filmed mainly at Palm Beach, while the interior scenes are filmed at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern.
Home and Away has been sold to over eighty countries around the world, making it one of Australia's most successful media exports. In the UK, it and Neighbours, another Australian soap opera, are the most popular of the genre that are filmed internationally, with them both airing on Channel 5. It is one of the highest-rating shows on RTÉ Television in Ireland and TVNZ 2 in New Zealand. In Australia, Home and Away is the most awarded program at the Logie Awards, with a total of forty-nine wins, including Most Popular Drama Program. Some cast members have won several other awards such as the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor, and Most Popular Actress. In 2015, Home and Away was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.
Production[edit]
Conception[edit]
After the Seven Network cancelled their soap opera Neighbours on 12 July 1985 due to low ratings, rival Network 10 picked it up and turned it into a success.[2] A couple of years later, Seven's head of drama, Alan Bateman, became desperate to get back into the soap market and began to work out how to launch another soap that was not a copy of Neighbours.[3] While on a trip to Kangaroo Point, New South Wales with his family, Bateman began talking to locals who were "up in arms" over the construction of a foster home for children from the city.[3][4] Seeing the degree of conflict the "influx of parentless children on a tight-knit community" was having, Bateman came away with the idea for a new serial.[4] He explained "Nobody in the community wanted them to move in and I began to wonder how streetwise city kids would adapt to the new lifestyle. Suddenly I thought, there is my slice of life in a community."[3] Bateman began outlining the storyline and set the serial in the fictional town of Summer Bay. While Seven Network executives were unconvinced by the idea, audience research was positive.[3] The soap opera was initially called Refuge, but the name was changed to the "friendlier" title of Home and Away once production began.[3]
Home and Away has since become the second-longest drama series in Australian television after Neighbours.[5][6] In 2002, several former characters such as Frank Morgan (Alex Papps), Carly Morris (Sharyn Hodgson), Steven Matheson (Adam Willits), Blake Dean (Les Hill) and Sophie Simpson (Rebekah Elmaloglou) returned for a special storyline to mark the 150th anniversary of settlement in Summer Bay.[7][8] The storyline featured a majority of the cast boarded onto a ferry boat for a night cruise; however, a massive storm ruined the celebrations, leading the boat to sink.[9] In July 2005, Home and Away celebrated its 4000th episode, which saw many former cast members return for Alf Stewart's (Ray Meagher) surprise 60th birthday party.[10][11][12] In March 2007, the commercial television industry's Annual Code Complaint Report revealed that Home and Away was the eighth most complained about show on Australian television, and the only drama series in the top ten complaint list.[13] From 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006, there were 23 written complaints about the show as viewers thought it was inappropriate for it to be shown in its 7:00 pm timeslot.[13]
Home and Away celebrated its 21st year in production in Sydney on 23 July 2009.[5] The mayor of Sydney's Pittwater Council presented cast members with the key to Palm Beach, the exteriors setting filming location for the show.[5] At the end of 2011, Cameron Welsh left his role as the series producer.[14][15] Welsh previously played the character Mitch McColl from 1999 until 2001 and then became the series producer for Home and Away in 2007.[14] Former All Saints producer Lucy Addario took over as series producer in January 2012.[14][15] In August 2012, Home and Away's official Australian Facebook page reached one million likes, becoming the first Australian television show to reach this milestone.[16] The Facebook page was established in November 2009 and is followed by fans mostly in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.[16] In 2013, Home and Away celebrated its 25th anniversary and former cast member Kate Ritchie (Sally Fletcher) returned for a special storyline to coincide with the celebrations.[17][18] For the first time in the show's history, Home and Away aired a two-hander episode, featuring only the characters Ricky Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen) and Darryl "Brax" Braxton (Steve Peacocke), on 14 February 2016.[19][20]
Storylines[edit]
Home and Away's storylines have ranged from mild to serious issues throughout its run. While the central stories revolve around fostering children, family and teenage problems, school problems and romances,[121][122][123] the series has covered several controversial, adult-themed and detailed issues not suitable for young audiences, despite its early evening time of 7:00 pm. Storylines covered include abortion,[123] accidental death,[123] adultery,[124] adoption, alcoholism,[125] amnesia, amputation,[126] arson, autism, bereavement, brain aneurysm, bullying,[123] cancer, cage fighting,[127] career problems,[128] child abuse,[129] cults,[130] cyberbullying, domestic violence,[123] depression, drink driving, drug overdose, drug trafficking and drug use,[123] eating disorders, gambling addiction,[131] health problems,[132][133] hit-and-runs,[134] HIV and AIDS,[135][136] homosexuality,[137] Huntington's disease, incest,[123] imprisonment,[138] kidnapping,[123] marriage problems,[139] miscarriage,[140] murder,[123] obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), paedophilia,[141][142] phantom pregnancy,[143] pole dancing, post-natal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, prostitution, racism,[123] rape,[123] revenge porn,[144][145] robbery,[146] self-harm,[129] sex,[147] sexual grooming,[148] shootings (including drive-by shootings),[149] stabbings,[123] stalking,[123] stroke, SIDS (cot death),[150] stillbirth, suicide,[122] surrogacy,[123] teacher-student relationships,[123] teenage pregnancy,[151] terminal illness, and witness protection.[152]
The show has also featured many natural disaster storylines, including a cyclone, storm, flood, landslide, earthquake, and bushfires.[63][153] There have also been several storylines involving car, bus, plane and boating accidents.[123][153][154] Furthermore, in addition to the show featuring scenes of moderate to strong violence in past episodes, the special episode, Home and Away: All or Nothing, which became available for online streaming in January 2017, was intended for "adult-only" viewing as it was described as the most violent episode of the entire series, as it contains scenes of strong violence.[155]
Reception[edit]
Popularity and viewership[edit]
The launch of Home and Away in 1988 was hoped to help boost the Seven Network's early evening ratings which had been underperforming in previous years.[63] However, the show struggled to attract high ratings, particularly when compared to rival soap opera Neighbours, which was a huge ratings success at the time.[63] By the end of 1988, Home and Away's ratings had improved.[63] In January 1992, when Neighbours' high-rating era was over, Seven moved Home and Away to the 7:00 pm timeslot, putting both shows up against each other.[63] This caused Network Ten to move Neighbours to the 6.30 pm timeslot two months later.[63] During the early 2000s, Home and Away was averaging 1.3 million viewers[163][164] and in 2007, viewing figures rose to 1.4 million.[165] However, by the end of the decade, the ratings had dropped to an average of 1.1 million viewers.[164] During the early 2010s, viewing figures had further decreased to between 800,000 and 1 million an episode.[166][167] In 2012, Home and Away was averaging 981,000 viewers, down from 1.039 million in 2011 and 1.021 million in 2010.[168]
In 2015, the show began going through a serious ratings decline.[115][169] A July 2015 report revealed that the ratings were down 14% compared to the first six months of 2014, which translates to about 140,000 fewer viewers per episode.[115][169] On 6 July 2015, Home and Away ranked 16th in OzTAM's overnight ratings with 750,000 viewers.[115] The following night, the show fell to an even lower figure of 701,000 viewers.[170] A writer for the Australian Associated Press stated that one of the reasons for the ratings decline could be "the viewing habits of Gen Y, which the show is aimed at, have changed dramatically in recent times thanks to the launch of streaming services, Netflix, Stan and Presto. The exact age demographic that Home and Away targets are the same people who do not subscribe to appointment viewing. They prefer to watch shows when they want and don't want to be dictated to by the commercial networks."[115] A Seven spokeswoman commented that Home and Away was still performing well on digital and social platforms and that the overnight ratings were not the only measure of the show's success.[169]
In 2019, Home and Away returned at the later date of 18 February, after the summer series of cricket concluded.[171] Pippa Doyle of 96FM reported that declining ratings in 2018 and Seven's decision to push the show back had created doubt about its future on the network, and whether or not a timeslot change or a move to a multichannel was likely.[172] The season returned to a series low of 620,000 viewers and ranked 13th for the night.[173] The following night, the viewing figure fell to 581,000 and the show ranked 10th for the night.[174] The first triple bill on 21 February pulled in 577,000 viewers and ranked 8th for the evening.[175] The ratings for the triple bill episodes continued to fall from 524,000 to 414,000 viewers,[176][177] and on 28 March 2019, the triple bill pulled in a series low of 383,000 viewers and ranked 14th for the night.[178] April 2019 saw a slight rise in the viewing figures; the first episode of the month drew in 740,000 viewers and ranked 9th for that night.[179]
The triple bill episodes continued to receive low ratings until the Thursday, 9 May episodes, which improved with 617,000 viewers.[180] The following week's triple bill saw a further rise with 627,000 viewers,[181] while the episodes broadcast on 30 May received 638,000 viewers and ranked at 7th place for the evening.[182] The 2020 season return saw a series low for a premiere with only 548,000 tuning in.[183] The opening episode of the 2021 season saw a rating of 597,000.[184] The 2021 season has seen an increase in ratings with most episodes attracting over 600,000. June saw a rise in viewers when the month peaked at 650,000 for episode which aired on 22 June,[185] while in July, the show continued to receive steady ratings, and again saw a further rise in ratings with 657,000 viewers tuning in on 7 July.[186] The 2021 Olympic return episode, which aired on 9 August 2021, attracted the highest rating in over two years, with 710,000 viewers,[187] with an even higher increase of 733,000 viewers tuning in on 10 August.[188] On 31 March 2022, two episodes achieved new series lows of 382,000 and 364,000 viewers respectively.[189]
The 2023 season return was watched by an audience of 519,000 and was ranked 6th for the evening.[190] The 8000th episode, which aired on 27 March 2023, drew an audience of 512,000 and ranked 10th for that night.[191] The 2023 finale triple bill was coded by Seven into one figure which was an average of 395,000.[192]
Merchandise and spin-offs[edit]
Since 1988, Home and Away has generated a range of merchandise, including books, magazines, VHS tapes, DVDs and soundtracks. Various annuals and books about the show and its cast and characters were released in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[197][198] Between 2003 and 2005, several fictional books by Leon F. Saunders and Jane Anderson were released and based on characters from Home and Away.[199][200] Episodes of the show have been released on several VHS and DVDs. Home and Away: The Movie was the first VHS released in 1989 and contained the 90-minute pilot episode.[201] Another VHS tape, Home and Away: The Official Summer Bay Special, was released in 1996. It celebrated 2,000 episodes of the show and looked back at memorable moments throughout its earlier years.[202] Home and Away: Secrets and the City and Home and Away: Hearts Divided were the first DVDs released in October 2003, and both contained exclusive episodes that were never aired on television.[203][204] Two further DVDs, Home and Away: Romances and Home and Away: Weddings were released in November 2005 and March 2006, respectively, and featured clips from the most popular romances and weddings in the series' history. Romances featured the pilot episode, while Weddings featured two episodes containing Leah and Vinnie's wedding as a bonus feature.[205][206] Four soundtrack albums were released between 1996 and 2003 that featured music used on the show as well songs from some of the cast members.[207]
Home and Away has also produced several spin-off episodes. headLand was a spin-off series focusing on a university. It ran from November 2005 until January 2006, when it was cancelled due to low ratings.[208] In 2013, the show launched their first webisode series titled Home and Away Extras, which introduced new characters Andy (Tai Hara) and Josh Barrett (Jackson Gallagher) before they appeared on-air. The four-part websisode series was released on the show's Yahoo!7 website from 7 August 2013.[209][210] On 19 August 2015, it was announced that former cast members Dan Ewing (Heath Braxton) and Lisa Gormley (Bianca Scott) would be returning for a special spin-off episode titled Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye. The episode was commissioned specially for the local streaming service Presto and did not air on the Seven Network. It centred around the Braxton family and was a feature-length episode running for over an hour. Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye was made available to watch on Presto from 9 December 2015.[211][212][213] Following the success of Home and Away: An Eye for An Eye, it was announced on 6 May 2016 that two more feature-length episodes had been commissioned.[214] The first episode became available on 19 December 2016 and is titled Home and Away: Revenge. The second special, Home and Away: All or Nothing, became available for viewing on 26 January 2017.[215]
From 25 November 2019, a web television series called Home and Away: Christmas in Summer Bay will begin airing weekly on video on demand and catch up TV service My5 in the UK, as the show takes its annual Christmas break. The series is presented by former Home and Away actor Jason Smith, who interviews the show's cast members at various Summer Bay locations. The series also features clips from past episodes and behind-the-scenes footage.[216] The series consisted of six episodes – "The Summer Bay House", "The Morgan Family", "The Mangrove River Gang", "A Surf Club Celebration", "A Home and Away Family" and "Home and Away in 2020: New Decade, New Attitude".