Is it double posting when there's been at least 2 weeks between posts?

For the first episode back, Tragedy rocks the Sutherland family. Tasha discovers who her mother really is. Apparently DuckButt has swelling on thr brain (he has one?), and there's gunna be a tug of love between Alex, Noah and Hayley.

Big hairy deal.

I am finding myself in some trouble...actually finding Scott sexy and keep imagining him with Josh..weird I know....damn need to get off the singles market....

CarpingSlav, a great big hello, welcome and EWWWWWWWWWWW to you!

13/1 will bring Dani and Beth struggle to pick up the pieces of DuckButt's brain. Hayley begins a desperate search for Alex's brain. Can Noah save the Drop In Centre? Hayley makes a life changing decision - hopefully it will be to leave this crappy show and get a real job.

Which one is duckbutt again? I need a fresher course for the lame characters in H&A.

Andrew's Mommy, can you expand on those spoilers a bit?? What's happening with Alex and Duckbutt respectively??

Rhys? Well, the Sutherlands are found after Tash blabs about Max's shrine. They are all rescued and they think that it is all over. But it's not. Rhys is in critical condition! He is in a coma in the hospital and WonderDoc Flynn doesn't know if he is going to be okay. It's just another vehicle for Dani to cry and be a princess, because the writers think we love her.

Alex? He's back from being on the run. Hayley is extremely upset at what he has doen to her and Leah and she has had enough! Shes tired of Alex's 'bad boy' antics and he has changed since he started taking steroids. Noah is on the sidelines watching and waiting for Hayley to come back to him, because their's is a twu wuv!

Kirsty and Kane? They're gonna get hitched! Kane has finally popped the question and Kirsty is torn, after all Kane said he was going to kill him and now he's lying in the hospital in critical condition (I didn't really understand how this was Kane's fault, but than again he did hurt Dani. HE BROUGHT EVEEEL TO SUMMBER BAY!!). Flynn tells Kane to make peace with Kane but Kane tells him to piss off. Kane also tries to convince Kirsty to leave the Bay. Will she?

Other spoilers Leah will get another phone call on VJ's birthday, just like the one where she got the terrible news of Vinnie's death. Will it be more bad news?

Noah learns that Josh has gone bankrupt and his creditors are after the drop in centre. Can Noah save the srop in centre?

Tash will find out who her mother is.

Beth is worried she may lose Rhys. I don't know why, she should be happy to get rid of him.

What I'm getting is from the Online TV Guide. Just'sin has given a pretty good idea of wassup. Rhys is DuckButt. Hey, now we know that Tasha is Angie's spawn, does this mean we can start calling her DuckSis??

Dammit, it looks like the Fugmo bunch is going to be a permanant fixture on the show. And since we know nobody is going to die in the mieshaft we should at least get Angie as a consolation prize.

In the TV Week they said the other new guy was the son of the principal. Is it possible that he is actually the poor orphaned nephew of Paris so he can come back? Since Paula is leaving All Saints there's no need for Paris anymore. I actually didn't mind Paris as a character unlike every other person on this show. BTW, please, please, please let Hailey be the scarred one.

It sounds like there's going to be a new principal to go with the son. Paris isn't that old, I don't think he could have a 16-ish son. We can't yet call Tasha DuckSis, because it's quite unlikely she's Duckbutt's kid too. He never admitted to cheating on Shelley twice, and it'd take a lot of bullshit writing to make it so. And she can't be Dylan's twin, because she's got to be about 30 years younger than him.

I find it very crappy that they will be rescued straight away. What's the point of sticking them down there for two episodes. Since I hate them, they should have been stuck down there for a few months, off-screen of course.

I have to admit that I only started watching H&A six months ago but like Neighbours, it does not take long to get into it. In the UK so we are now progressing towards the end of Angie -- as the voice-over commentators keep telling us...over, and over, and over - but of course, it is all a surprise. One thing I have noticed is that H&A story lines are better written than in the other Antipodean soap and that tells us a lot about the residence of Erisborogh (sp? ehhh...who cares....). How old is DuckFace Jnr...I swear he is in his twenties and he badly needs some Decleor to cheer up his face...I recommend he watches Alison Young on QVC UK.....

The actor is currently 26 or 27, but during filming he was 25. The character is supposed to be 16 or 17.

...and he had so many facial lines, hence the name DuckButt Jr

14/1 brings Is it over for Alex and Hayley? Well, since Danny Raco is leaving, it will all be mercifully over sometime soon! The tragedy leaves Kane reassessing his future - brain surgeon? investment banker?. Noah is devastated at losing his livelihood, but I guess he could always become a male gigolo

The whole Angie murder investigation was over in the blink of an eye, so it seems reasonable to the monkeys that the DuckButt clan will be rescued first night in.

ETA [ot] I swear, if Ch7 stuff us around now that regular programming is coming back, and leave us in the lurch with BOTH Scrubs and That 70's Show I will be a very unhappy Mommy[/ot]

Thanks for all the spoiler info guys. It might save me having to actually watch this show for a few weeks. I knew we wouldn't get our Christmas wishes and see all the people die, who we wanted to die.

CarpingSlav, it's interesting that you think that H&A is the better written soap. I have always thought that Neighbours was actually far superior, as it's storylines are much more realistic, ie the kids are just allowed to be kids, instead of falling in love and having these ridiculous relationships as though they are all adults. H&A also have far too may teen pregnancies and other life and death storylines. *coughallthesecharactersbeingslalkedallthetimecough* I also think the family dynamics have always been portrayed much better on Neighbours too. The Kennedy clan, and the scullys are a really well written, natural sort of family, not to sickening sweet, kinda normal. H&A also often suffers in the location of the show, ie they can't ever have anybody go off to university normally. Remember when Damo went away to Uni and came back a hippie, wearing one of those jamican hats?? Laughable, totally ridiculous!

I know. As if Selina would have EVER gone near him and his filthy hippy penis.

Or did I make up that one night stand and resulting pregnancy/miscarriage.

Or was it Steven's?

As for which is the better soap, I would say Neighbours. It is superior to this show (Except for Angie - Congratulations to the typist who thought her up!). Although, Serena is in dire need of raping.

Nah, you're not delusional. Yep, that pregnancy was ridiculous! The totally dumb thing about that storyline is the way they resolved it all. I remember that I missed a few eps and then suddenly she wasn't pregnant anymore, and I asked a friend what the hell had happened and basically she had a miscarriage and then was over it all, in like, two eps or something like that.

I think the writing on H&A sucks as they only have about 3 storylines that they rehash:

* somebody being stalked or kidnapped by a deranged killer
* girl falls pregnant and either has miscarriage or has the baby (heaven forbid they should have an abortion)
* people falling in love against the wishes of family/friends.

And have you noticed how the kids either totally ace their final school year or completely flunk out so they have to repeat? Nobody is just an average student who does an average course like nursing or accounting or something.

I definitely think that Neighbours is the better written soap, maybe we should do a little poll on this thread and see what everybody else thinks?

And isn't it amazing how how many abandoned or given-up children "accidentally" find their way to Summer Bay to reunite with mommy or daddy (or grandys). Let's see. Bobbi, Seb, now Tasha, Ailsa's daughter. Who else was there?

As for more TV guide, 15/1's craptacular includes Summer Bay learns the shocking identity of Tasha's mother which, we hope, will lead to the revelation that it was really Angie's good twin who died, meaning that Angie will return, wreaking havoc on the whole DuckButt claim, Colleen, Alf, Irene, everyone except of Beth's snarky son! . Beth faces a major decision as she looks towards her uncertain future so, do I bring the WHOLE family here and inflict them on viewers, but then of course, it will piss LooneyFreakStripperTwin off - I'll do it!.

I can't think of any others off the top of my head, but there are more, because that story has been done more than 4 times on this show.

In Neighbours vs H&A, I easily pick Neighbours. H&A is a better location to look at, but Neighbours is more realistic, better written, and actually has some likeable characters, and with the exception of a few, less that I totally despise. Which is almost everyone in Summer Bay. Also, Neighbours is usually first when the two "co-incidentally" end up doing the same story within a few weeks.

True, I think that's why the poms love it so much, the beach and sunshine they're not getting, but Neighbours doesn't need to rely on pretty backdrops in order to distract viewers from their hateful characters and pathetic storylines, which are at times almost as ridiculous as those we see on america soaps such as Days of our Lives or something. I am, and always will be, firmly in the Neighbours camp when it come to the battle of these two soaps. It's just a far superior product. And WORD bluezombie on the continual "accidental" identical storylines that H&A has.

I think Angel started out as a street kid as well, and I'm pretty sure Shane didn't arrive with a family in tow either. I don't believe that they ended up reuniting with family, but they certainly seem to prove Summer Bay as a very popular runaway destination.

Street Kids that have ended up in Summer Bay: Will, Nick, Hayley, Angel, who else?

Bobby was a street kid wasn't she? Mitch? Brodie? Justine? Selina? Chloe? The question marks are because I can't remember. If I sat down and thought about it, there'd be a list a mile long. Basically half the characters ever.

Ok, so we've worked this out. H&A is made up of street kids, long long spawn, psycho ex-lovers, flamin' mongrels, pregnant teenagers, kidnap victims, various criminals, old nags, etc, set in a place where the majority of Aussies would never live 'cos the house and rent prices would now be way too high. Natural disasters and tragedies are a regular occurrence.

And pretty well much Neighbours is made up of families living in a suburban setting, in varying classes, with regular teenage and adult problems. Ok so there's a smattering of gay hairdressers, mothers who look like transvestites, pain in the arse child actors, but these people have pets! Have I missed it, but does nobody on H&A own a pet???

In 16/1 action, Will Tasha come to terms with her true identity? and can she become the Evil Angie clone we're all hoping she can be?? Leah struggles to cope on the first anniversary of Vinnie's death. I'm actually hoping that the "much loved character" that is coming back will be Vinnie. The V-Man was a legendWill Noah and Hayley give in to temptation and kiss? and I bet Alex walks in on them, she drives off in the pink bug and hits a tree. Or could it be Alex driving off in a huff??

Bwah! You're in excellent form once again, Andrew's Mommy. But seriously, you've summarised everything about H&A that I think shows it to be a very inferior soapie to Neighbours.

Hey, that flamin' mongrels thing reminds me of something funny. About 5 or so years ago the student paper at Melbourne University, Farrago, ran a huge campaign in their TV columnt to try and get the guy who plays Alf (somebody Meahger or something, isn't it??) to be win the gold logie. It was priceless stuff. Any other Melbourne uni students ever read these articles???

Gee, after reading my own summary, I've realised that the scriptwriters for H&A could go and get a job on Passions

Ray Meagher would have only just more chance of winning the Logie as the chick who plays Colleen!!

edited 'cos it's hard to type with 2.5yrs old Andrew terrorizing me to play Wiggles mp3's.

Are any of you familiar with the tripe that are soap operas in the UK - like Eastenders and Coronation Street? Oh boy...it there something the scriptwriters have not stooped down to...and besides, I hate all soap operas but as a bona-fide university student, I am duty bound to watch the crap along with geriatric orange faced presenters presenting antigue roadshow games...

Actually, as I understand the whole Angie = Who killed her? (Is there someconvention were soap-writers meet in the world and discuss plots as I can swear that we've had such episodes before...in abundace

Drat...computer gone all funny so typing funny...Anyway so plot is crap? does that mean I can actually go do some work for an essay??

Yes Andrew's Mommy, I would absolutely LOVE for Vinnie to be the returning character. It kind of fits in, since he 'died' a year ago, but is out of the show for about 2 years. And since it apparently means the lover leaves with them, Leah, who has become a totally annoying character, steals Sally's baby, leaving the bay with Vinnie, dumping Jesse, who commits suicide, as does Sally. Leah becomes the third to leave of the four who are going, because Ada and Danny decide to go look for more work together, playing bro and sis.

Ray Meagher would barely beat out Serena, Trixie or Lou from Neighbours for the Gold Logie. But I'd love to hear his flamin' victory speech if he flamin' won the flamin' gold flamin' logie. Which leads me to wonder of the origins of "flamin'" in the show. Did the writers put it there as part of the character, or did Ray let it slip during a rant one time, and they went with it? I'd be interested to know, or at least hear an interesting possibility.

I believe that Ray Meagher has always played similar characters. I saw him in a very early episode of A Country Practice one, and I swear I was hanging for him to say "flamin'" or "strike me pink". No one I know says him, and this character has to be purely writtewn for o/s audiences. Cos we all have kangaroo outside our houses abnd jumping down our street (actually a likely scenario given where I now live!)

Did anyone bother to watch the repeat of last yr's final episode last night?

If Sally dies, we're left with a moping FakeFlynn. Think about how BAD that would be.

Since we got cable last month, have caught about 30 seconds of Coronation Street and Eastenders. My god, they look like dreary loads of crap. Not even steaming crap. They're not interesting enough for steam! Translate them to a radio play and you'd lose nothing!

I will say this for Eastenders and Corrie, they have at least had gay storylines. Something which so could have happened between Nick and Seb.

Or Chris and Seb. Or Nick, Chris and Seb. Or Seb and Robbie. Or Seb and New Guy being played by Chris Hemsworth (Most recently seen as Lisa McCune's teen slampiece on Marshall Law). Or Robbie and New Guy. Also, Robbie has one baaaaaaaaad mullet

Awww, but Robbie is cute in that "heh I am so going to snark at LooneyFreakStripper Twin" kinda way.

If my husband was allowed to think that Brooke Satchwell was cute, then I'm allowed to think that Robbie is cute!

Yeah, but Robbie does need a haircut or two. I think the new guy could use one too if the picture I saw is anything to go by.

Word on the gay storylines. I think it's about time there was one, and a proper one, not "Shannon or Gypsy has decided that she'll be a lesbian today, let's have her kiss a chick." Seb and Nick had so much potential.

Gypsy: I Love you, Shelly.
Shelly: No you don't.
Gypsy: No, you're right. I don't

Now, who saw this coming?? From this Week's TV Week.

Marry me, Alex

Brodie Hanson makes a shock return to Summer Bay this week. And her words will stun her former love, Alex Poulos. She loves him and wants to marry him!

While Alex (Danny Raco) recently wrote a letter to Brodie (Susie Rugg) telling her it was all over between him and Hayley (Bec Cartwright), he never expected his ex-lover to show up. What’s more, things now finally appear to be back on track between Alex and Hayley. But that’s all about to change.

“All Brodie knows, going from the letter Alex sent her, is that he and Hayley have broken up,” Danny says. “Now she turns up and we learn that her feelings for Alex never died. She was just waiting for a sign to give her the chance to come back to town and express her feelings to Alex.”

As viewers may recall, when Brodie left the Bay, Alex had proposed to her, but she was not willing to commit to him.

“It’s the biggest shock in the world for Alex when she comes back and says she wants to marry him,” Danny says. “He had never really thought about what the repercussions of the letter might be.”

And things are about to get even more complicated. Alex is unable to tell Brodie he is now seeing Hayley again. And when he meets up with Brodie on the beach, they end up sharing a passionate kiss! Stay tuned.

SO this is the much loved character?? Excuse me while I go gouge my eyes out.

19/1 Brings Tasha saves Robbie's life. She reminds him that to spite the Sutherland girls is a death sentence, so he must snark on the sly. Noah is offered a new job at Summer Bay High. How will SBH cope with Noah running his gigolo shop on campus? How will Kirsty respond to Kane's ultimatum? Are you leaving the crapola show with me, or will you waste away here forever?

What show is this guy from the SMH watching???

In this first episode of the year, there is an uncharacteristic high drama. WHAT THE??? Last year's nail-biting finale saw four characters trapped in a disused mineshaft and in this show, the SES, friends and neighbours join forces to locate and rescue them.

ETA: Just watched tonights episode. Andrew's Daddy was wondering when all of the bodeis had been pulled out of the mineshaft, why is it that they appeared to be tending to the worst injured e.g. DuckButt, last of all?? And, remember, all of this was ALL ABOUT DANI and how it would affect her!

That guy certainly isn't watching anything they screened tonight. It sucked so much. You know it's bad when the most interesting thing was the new credits featuring Robbie and Kane. Of course, with Kane's addition, he will promptly become a smug, whiny, self-centred, self-righteous asshole. Especially now it looks like he and Seb are becoming friends, and everyone's going to start to forgive him.

And I don't like the direction they're taking Tasha. She showed so much promise last year with what she did to Max, Kit and Morag. But tonight she saves the Sutherlands, and next week, Robbie. She needs to be evil, especially now we know who her mummy is.

Damn that Dogface bitch returning. She better not stay long or I will be forced to stop watching. Of course, I regularly stop anyway, and it's a good thing, so maybe she should stay. And she's blown our hope of Vinnie returning yet.

I suppose the bodies were teleported to the top of the mineshaft. I find it difficult to believe that someone could carry an unconscious person up a rope, and there's no way a stretcher would have fit in the hole. I guess we were supposed to be too focused on how upset Dani was, and how much this affected her, and was totally all about her, that we weren't meant to think of that.



Bwah! And what's sad is that that's pretty much a word for word copy of the script.

And yes, I forgot, the new credits Are. Complete. Crap. What are they meant to do, endear us to the characters or something.

Bet Tammin "World Idol FameWhore" Sursok is steamed that she don't get first billing on the credits. Because, It's. All. About. Dani.

Yes I forgot to mention how crappy and completely fake they looked. And that the closing credits looked like the closing credits from when the show first started. Tammin is probably pissed, hopefully she'll quit over it.

Don't tease me so.

I think that Tammin is probably best friends with Alyssa Milano. I swear they share so many of the same characteristics - sluttiness, ho-ness...anyone watching the last few episodes of "Charmed" would be surprised by the prominence played by the latters mammary glands. And she took first billing as well.

Well the shocking conclusion to last Friday's episode was Jesse entering Angie's house and finiding something? What did he find audience? Tune in next week - same Crap Channel, same Crap Show. But as most of you are Austrialians, then you know and frankly could not give a piss...

Andrew's Mummy - glad you agree about the crappy shows we get in the UK...though in fairness one of the best plot lines I saw was in the now expired "Brookside" where an abusive father/husband was bumped off by the family and buried in the back garden under the patio. Then family has a few years of fun with people not remotely suspicious as to the disappearance of the said man. Then the loony ex-criminal of the show goes digging in their gardens and finds the body. Family flees to Ireland...ah....get caught by police and get banged up. You never get good script writers any more...

Yes, but I doubt Tammin has had anyone fired. Well, anyone the fans ever cared about.

20/1 - Peril strikes the Drop In Centre. Noah and Max's lives are put in grave danger - is Max a complete idiot? He's only just risked death down a bloody mineshaft, and he's at it again??. A faux-pas threatens to ruin Seb and Jade's relationship. I hope it's that when they're kissing that one calls the other by their ex's name. Hee!

[OT]Next week the Tennis starts and starts screwing with my Scrubs viewing. I'm not happy[/OT]

Despite claiming I wouldn't watch H&A for weeks, I did end up catching most of last night's show. How lame was it that they were too cheap to show any footage of them actually treating the family from hell and getting them out of the actual mine shaft. I guess a couple of orange jumpsuits and some hard hats was all the props department could spring for. It was a lame conclusion to a rescue they had built up to so much. Oh, and great work Alf, super SES guy who lets civilians down to mineshaft. And GEEZ!! Could they have sprung for a few extra extras, instead of pretending like half the bloody cast is in the SES!

Major WORD to all the calls on it being All. about. Dani.

Who is Tascha's Mum? I didn't catch the name on the birth certificate properly. Is it supposed to be a big secret? If so, why did whoever got the certificate leave it lying around like that?? Bwah! My head hurts from all the lame plotlines.

You know, I could be wrong but I thought the name in Tasha's mother's spot was *wait for it* Angela Russell. Yep. The one and only. It fits with what Irene told her, that her mother had died awhile back.

Do I need to use spoilers if it's aired in Australia?

Thanks Sarahj, but who is Angela Russell?

The UK is about 18 months behind us, so it would be difficult reading for "current" events if everything was in spoilers because of that. What does anyone else think?

That aside, and I'll answer in spoiler tages Angela Russell was EvilBitchPsycho Angie, the ex-school vice principal who met a grisly end, her son DuckButt Jr (allegedly the son of DuckButt, but it took them a year to get blood tests!) killed her 'cos he was sick of seeing her hurt people. Like playing a bit of "naughty schoolmarm" with Nick, and generally being a conniving bitch. When she was murdered it was expected the murder investigation would go on for weeks, but the bumbling Summer Bay PD solved it.

The feeling you get that everyone thinks that Tasha will turn all PsychoMummy on everyone.

What is up with distances in Summer Bay. That mine was a five minute walk from the Sutherland house and yet it took 15 minutes by car from the surf club. I never got the impression that the surf club was far from the caravan park, and they expect us to think Max walked there. Whatever.

Brodie is the much loved character coming back? I don't know anyone who actually liked her. Well, she can listen to Dani whinge about how much her life sucks. The best part of last nights episode, Irene calling Angie a 'Mad Harpy'. Heh.

Yeah, I was half expecting Tasha to run off and have people follow her to the mine.

Plus I really imagine the SES let untrained people help rescue, or even stand around a rescue site (hello! I'm looking at you, Dani "All About Me" Sutherland!)

I liiiiiike Robbie.

Was anyone else a bit "ahem" about Beth lying on Rhys' bed? I mean, I know they're together and all... but he's in a COMA.

ETA I totally sympathised with Kit in todays episode. Telling Noah she didn't want to be with him was so hard for the poor girl.

I like Robbie too. But only with one 'i.' Anyone who gets Dani to run out of the room, upset, and off-screen scores major points with me.

I found it wrong that Beth got on Rhys's bed. Only because she could get in the way of some medical thingy he needs, and kill him. So really, it's a good thing. Unless she starts doing him.

And if Dani wasn't on the show, I would hate Jesse so. damn. much. Actually I do anyway, but without Dani I'd have so much more hate to direct at him. I wonder if the writers, when writing his lines about not running away from possible jail time, remembered how they wrote him out a few years ago. Let me think...had he been caught up in crime? Was Joel going to arrest him? Did Jesse run away? Yes, yes and yes? Hypocritical asshole. Die right now. (take Leah too, you've ruined her.) And his crappy apology. "Is the plastic wrap around? I don't know how else to apologise." Well dickwad, there would be less talking of plastic wrap, more use of the word sorry, then jumping off the nearest cliff to redeem yourself. Try it.

Irene put the birth certificate there in a rush to hide it from Tasha, then forgot about it. We found out last year that Angie was her mum, but Irene wants to hide it from Tasha.

Apart from the dearly lamented and much missed Angie...who do the Austrialians actually like on H&A? What ideas do scriptwriters used when they want to get mass redundancies? Here in the UK - we have had massive fires...planes crashing into annoying villages...exploding boats...

Hmmm, we like Angie. And there was that Angie lady. And of course, Angie. But then you have the sad little obsessed kids, who love Dani, and Duckbutt, Hayley, the twins, Noah and basically any other character the writers want you to like. On here we have more taste, which is why Angie seems to be the only one. And Bobby, if you want to go back 15 years.

If we're talking about mass redundancies on H&A, from my memory it's never happened. The cast is too small really. We get all the same things, like massive fires and such, but no major character ever dies in them, it's either nobody, a dayplayer, someone we haven't heard of, or a short-term guest star so they can pretend somebody meaningful is going to die, but then doesn't.

Generally the only time characters leave H&A is when they think they're going to make it big o/s or start a music career. The majority have crashed and burned. when they are written out they leave for the city, or the Navy/backpacking adventure/interstate. And the really pretentious ones don't even come back if their brother/sister/parent gets eaten by a shark or anything. Like Kylie when Madge died on Neighbours.

It appears that Robbie is becoming Nerdish Snark-Boy. Or issat Snarkish Nerd-Boy. He's been on the show 15 seconds and he's my new fave character. He made Dani go away.

But she came back. And he made friends with her. Yuk.

I think Tasha is my favourite/only slightly likeable character. I still have some love for her for smacking Kit and Max, and pushing Corny into the water. Splash!

I reserve the right to hold off on a decision on Robbie, until he gets a storyline and we can tell the direction they're taking with him.

So we are 15 or so months behind you lot. Peculiar. So does anything actually happen after the murderer has been discovered that merits me taking time of from baking chocolate cakes? I swear I have a problem...I am a horrible cook but for the last month or so, I have really got into baking and keep turning cakes on an average of every four days. It is - oh dear - quite fun. In fact, I have one cooking right now and I have overdone myself...I've used 2.5 bars of dark Lindt chocolate and sugar and what not. As I said - worried...must get back to writing essays.