Home and Away
Home and Away is an
Australian weeknightly half-hour
television soap opera produced in
Sydney by the
Seven Network since
January 1988. It is broadcast on the
Seven Network and its affiliates in Australia and is exported to many countries, most notably the
United Kingdom, where it briefly became the subject of a bidding war between
ITV and
five which five won. The show has more overall viewers in the larger UK market than it has in its home market, but a higher proportion of viewers in Australia, due to Australia's smaller population. The shift in the UK from ITV to five damaged its ratings popularity; contract obligations kept it off air in the UK for a year and the smaller audience share five has are believed to contribute to the show achieving ratings significantly lower than those it enjoyed on ITV. Its UK ratings are less than half those of
Neighbours on BBC1. five funds more than half of the production costs, and is officially five's second highest rated show.
It features the travails of the inhabitants of a fictional small coastal town in
New South Wales,
Australia called Summer Bay.
Stories originally revolved around one family, which was Pippa and Tom Fletcher, and their foster children, who included Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport, and
Sally Fletcher who was adopted by Tom & Pippa. The family expanded with the addition of Bobby Simpson (daughter of Donald Fisher and Morag Bellingham) and that of her adopted younger sister Sophie years later.
Currently the series focuses on several new families: the Hunter family, the Holden family, the Fletcher-Saunders family, the Patterson-Bakers, along with original character
Alf Stewart and his grandchildren, Ric and Martha.
Like
Neighbours, Australia's other current daily half-hour homegrown soap, it attracts a mainly teenage audience and features a constantly-rotating and attractive teenage cast, with a smaller band of older actors who tend to last considerably longer.
See main articles: Current Home and Away charactersList of Home and Away charactersList of cast members of Home and AwayCurrent cast members
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Ray Meagher (Alf Stewart) (1988-)
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Kate Ritchie (Sally Fletcher) (1988-)
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Lynne McGranger (Irene Roberts) (1992-)
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Lyn Collingwood (Colleen Smart) (1999-; recurring previously)
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Ada Nicodemou (Leah Patterson Baker) (2000-)
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Clarissa House (Beth Hunter) (2003-)
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Isabel Lucas (Tasha Hunter) (2003-2006)
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Jason Smith (Robbie Hunter) (2003-2006)
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Indiana Evans (Matilda Hunter) (2004-)
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Chris Hemsworth (Kim Hyde) (2004-)
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Tim Campbell (Dan Baker) (2004-)
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Mark Furze (Ric Dalby) (2004-)
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Sharni Vinson (Cassie Turner) (2005-)
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Jodi Gordon (Martha Holden) (2005-)
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Jon Sivewright (Tony Holden) (2005-)
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Paul O'Brien (Jack Holden) (2005-)
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Rhys Wakefield (Lucas Holden) (2005-)
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Holly Brisley (Amanda Vale-Walters) (2005-)
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Amy Mathews (Rachel Armstrong) (2006-)
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Jessica Tovey (Belle Taylor) (2006-)
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Bob Morley (Drew Curtis) (2006-)
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Chris Sadrinna (Brad Armstrong) (2006-)
Recurring cast members
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Cornelia Frances (Morag Bellingham)
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Trent Baines (Macca McKenzie)
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Gary Burn (Dean Sliverman)
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Cashelle Dunn (Tara O'Neill)
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Isaac Gorman (Ryan Baker)
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Amy Mizzi (Kit Hunter)
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Libby Richmond (Emily Armstrong)
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Cooper Scott (VJ Patterson)
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Emma Terracini (Vanessa Covacs)
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Linden Wilkinson (Mumma Rose)
Leaving cast members for 2006
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Isabel Lucas (Tasha Hunter) (until late October/early November 2006)
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Jason Smith (Robbie Hunter) (until late October/early November 2006)
The show is filmed five days a week for 46 weeks of the year. The crew is given a four week holiday at
Christmas and a two week break for recuperation mid-year. A normal shooting day is 7 :00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., but can go later if shooting goes over time. There are 3 to 4 months between shooting and airing the program. The interior shots are filmed at a permanent set for the show in
Seven Sydney's
Epping studio. The exterior scenes are filmed on location at
Palm Beach in Sydney's
Northern Beaches region.
Australian broadcast
Home and Away is broadcast in Australia on weekdays at 7:00 p.m.. The show airs for 46 weeks each year (except for occasions where worldwide events take priority such as tennis and Olympic Games). Each new season begins on the second Monday in January (an exception to this was the 2006 season where it returned on the third Monday), and the season finale airs on the last Friday in November.
During the broadcast there are three ad-breaks and immediately following the broadcast of each episode is a short promotional trailer for the next episode.
Repeat episodes of the series were broadcast between
1999 and
2002, with a one-year break in
2000. The first 623 episodes (except for Episode 469, which was overlooked when Seven were showing the tennis in September 2001) were shown in this run, before it was taken off in
May 2002, and so far has never returned.
International broadcasts
As of 2006, in the UK, the show is broadcast weekdays at 6:00 p.m., (repeated 12.00 p.m. the following weekday) on
five. In accordance with
European Union regulations for shows of this time-length, only one ad break is inserted into the programme at approximately the halfway point. An omnibus edition aired on Saturday mornings when that week's episodes were all repeated. As of
October 2005, there has been no airing of the omnibus.
In New Zealand, the show used to be broadcast on TV 2 but now screens on TV3 on weekdays at 5:30 p.m., (repeated 10.30 AM on weekdays and an omnibus airs on Sundays at 10:15 AM). 1997 episodes are currently shown on Prime TV at 3:30 p.m. weekdays.
In
Ireland the show is broadcast weekdays at 1:25 p.m. on
RTÉ One and repeated at 6:30 p.m. on
RTÉ Two regulary getting into the top 5 ratings for that week.
Estonia is quite behind various other countries. Currently episodes from 2002 are shown on Kanal 2 every weekday at 6:30 PM. In summertime (June-August), two episodes are shown instead of one.
Other countries that broadcast
Home and Away include:
Belgium on
Kanaal Twee;
Denmark;
Iceland;
Israel;
Lithuania;
Norway;
Poland;
Serbia;
South Africa;
Sweden;
France.
The series is also broadcast in the following countries via the
Australia Network:
American Samoa;
Cambodia;
Cook Islands;
Federated States of Micronesia;
Fiji;
French Polynesia;
Guam;
Hong Kong;
India;
Indonesia;
Japan;
Kiribati;
Laos;
Macau;
Malaysia;
Maldives;
Marshall Islands;
Mongolia;
Niue;
Northern Mariana Islands;
Pakistan;
Palau;
Papua New Guinea;
Philippines;
Samoa;
Singapore;
Solomon Islands;
South Korea;
Sri Lanka;
Taiwan;
Thailand;
Tonga;
Vanuatu;
Vietnam.
Blank Roles
Ernie Dingo (Paul (19??))
Lloyd King (Peter Jeffries (19??))
Scott Major (I) (Murray (19??))
Anthony Simcoe (Gerry Davis (19??))
Robert Taylor (Nic Walsh (19??))
Michael Trafford (Tony (19??))
Lyndon Pullen (Gary Smith (19??))
Patrick Ward (Snowy James (19??))
Kate Agnew (Lindsay Simons (19??))
Suzanne Dudley (Janet Briggs (19??)/Avril Webb (2001))
Maureen Green (Belinda Jackson (19??))
Lisbeth Kennally (Elaine Gardiner (19??))
Ben Hamilton (Young Damian (199?))
Lloyd Morris (Raoul Irving (1995)/Max McCarthy (199?))
Ashley Murray (Young Shannon Reed (1993))
Bruce Samazan (Brad Cooper (1996-1997)/Mick (199?))
Anthony Wong (David Lee (199?))
Dimitri Giameos (Wilson (1997))
Jessie Bullions (Young Finlay (199?))
Bec Cartwright (Key-Guest Star (199?)/Hayley Smith/Lawson (#1) (1998-2005))
Megan Connolly (1974-2001) (Rebecca Nash (#4) (1999))
Sophie Heathcote (? (199?))
Tammin Sursok (Key-Guest Star (199?)/Dani Sutherland (2000-2004))James Russell (? (200?))
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List of Australian television series*
Current Home and Away characters*
List of Home and Away characters*
List of cast members of Home and AwayOfficial*
Channel Seven (Australia) - Home and Away*
five.tv - Home and AwayFan Sites*
Back to the Bay*
Home and Away Central*
Home and Away Forever*
BayLinks- A Directory of Home & Away related websites*
Fans of Home and Away
